Brett N. Axler - A Theatre Geeks Guide to Disney, Google, & the NFL: What It Takes to Land a Job with the Worlds Most Sought-After Companies

A Theatre Geeks Guide to
Disney, Google, and the NFL

Advance Praise for A Theatre Geeks Guide to Disney, Google, & the NFL

Brett N. Axler leads us on an honest and sometimes self-deprecating journey as a knowledgeable tour guide, navigating readers through the straits of career advancement. With comedy, empathy, and common sense, this is a great read for those embarking on their voyage into the work force.

~ Robert Alberino , NFL Executive and award-winning storyteller

Brett Axler provides an incredibly comprehensive, actionable guide that leads its readers through the complex, often confusing maze of career advancement. His upbeat, refreshing perspective makes it easy for anyone to follow, and should be a must-read for anyone looking to progress further towards their dream career goals.

~ Graham Stephan , Entrepreneur and YouTube Personality

Brett has done an excellent job of taking his many professional and personal experiences and woven a story that is insightful and entertaining. His story takes you through the highlights and lowlights of his high school, college, and career experiences. Best of all, Brett explains how he created his own luck, and what he learned from the more difficult moments. If you are starting your career, or looking for a change, Bretts approach to life will help you think of how to move forward, and more importantly to keep moving forward.

~ Dan Cockerell, Magic Kingdom, Vice President (Retired)

Brett has written a must read for every dreamer, ambitious young professional who wants to know the secrets to success and how roadblocks are only a redirection for your career.

~ Ricki Wax , Author of 99 Prompts to Mindfulness & Well-Being

This is the consummate instruction manual for generating personal career growth in the information age. Brett does a fantastic job of bringing together the age-old skills of networking and knowledge-building with the 21st century skills of self-marketing and leveraging technology to grow your career.

~ Esteban Morales, Google, Technical Lead

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A Theatre Geeks Guide to Disney, Google, and the NFL

What it Takes to Land a Job with the Worlds Most Sought-After Companies

2022 Brett N. Axler

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in New York, New York, by Morgan James Publishing. Morgan James is a trademark of Morgan James, LLC. www.MorganJamesPublishing.com

I have tried to recreate events, locales, and conversations from my memories of them. In some instances, in order to maintain anonymity, I have changed the names of individuals along with their titles and place of work. All of the opinions in this book are solely those of the author. All of the examples that name companies I have interacted with, interviewed for, or was employed by are only named for the purposes of the lessons this book is supposed to teach. I have a strong respect for every employer or company I name, whether or not they hired me, and whether or not I enjoyed my time partnering with them. I do not intend to cast a poor light on any individual or employer. For that reason, some names and details have been altered or left out entirely.

Morgan James is a proud partner of Habitat for Humanity Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg. Partners in building since 2006.

Get involved today! Visit
MorganJamesPublishing.com/giving-back

Id like to start with a heartfelt thank you.

Thank you for taking the time to read my book and listen to what I have to say. Life is short, and you should always choose how you spend your time wisely, so I appreciate that you have chosen to spend this time with me. For the past few years of my career, Ive had friends, family, and coworkers ask when I was going to write my book. I have to admit that just a few years ago, my response to that question was a pretty deep laugh. I was never much of a reader until my mid-twenties, and my grammar is absolutely horrific to this day, but Ive gotten pretty far in my life and my career, so I think Im doing okay.

People have been asking me to write a book about professional networking and career growth for a while now. I never really considered myself as more than an ordinary young professional, but when everyone from Disney executives to Google recruiters raised their eyebrows at my career journey, I started to get on board with the idea that maybe I do have some knowledge and useful experiences to share. My number one hesitation remains the same though: I believe I am very young. I still have a ton to learn myself, and, most importantly, Im just getting started.

As I write this book, I am twenty-seven years old working for Google in Silicon Valley. If just two years ago my most trusted confidant (or even my clone claiming to be me from the future) told me I would be a Project Manager at Google, living in California, after having left Disney, I would have burst out laughing (but, actually, I almost didnt even respond to the Google recruiter who first reached out to me because I thought it was a spam message) . Only a year before that my reaction would have also included me asking what a project manager was. Three years before that, I likely would have responded, Wait, did you say Disney?

If theres been one recurring lesson in my life, it has been that life moves incredibly fast and in completely unexpected ways. While rather short, my career has taken some pretty crazy twists and turns over the past decade with a variety of gigs, jobs, and experiences across the countryand worldI would have never dreamed of in high school or college. Although I try to plan everything and consistently update my one-, five-, and ten-year plans to set myself up to reach my goals, life throws a lot of curveballs. Some seem to rip goals and dreams right out from under you but present completely unexpected new opportunities that push you to places you never dreamed, which is really just another way of saying, When one door closes, another opens. And, wow, has that been the truth Ive experienced over the past decade.

I am beyond thankful for all of the experiences I have had up to this point. Some experiences have been once-in-a-lifetime, amazing experiences I will cherish for the rest of my life, while others were not so great and I struggled to understand why I had to go through them. In the end though, no matter what the experiences were or the impact they had on my life, every last one of them taught me lessons that better prepared me for the future. As Steve Jobs said in his 2005 Commencement speech at Stanford University, You cant connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward.