127: Improve Your Job Search with Email: Tammi Scott
Apple Podcasts 
Tammi Scott shares her unique approach to finding new job opportunities by emailing people she knows.
Tammi and I were a money coaches together at Capital One. Tammi shares insights from her extensive coaching background, including her experience at Nordstrom selling shoes. She emphasizes the critical role of building and maintaining professional relationships during a job search.
One of Tammi’s key strategies is sending regular email updates to her network, sharing her progress, goals, and offering mutual support. This approach not only keeps her connections informed but also fosters ongoing engagement. We also explore the importance of aligning personal values with career decisions and the benefits of combining traditional online job applications with proactive networking efforts.
Key Insights
- Combining online applications with networking efforts improves job search results
- Understanding personal values helps in finding suitable job opportunities
- Career coaching can provide valuable insights and strategies for job seekers
- Regular practice and continuous learning are essential in careers and personal interests
- Offering mutual support in networking efforts creates goodwill
- Tracking networking efforts and job applications is important
- Previous work experiences, even in different fields, can provide transferable skills
- Providing an easy opt-out option in networking emails shows respect for recipients
- Balancing online job applications with in-person networking yields better results
- Curiosity and willingness to learn can lead to unexpected opportunities
- Sharing specific job interests and companies in networking emails facilitates connections
- Regular updates to your network keep you top-of-mind for opportunities
Contact Tammi Scott
## Related Episodes
– [Career Coaching Isn’t a Crystal Ball with Tammi Scott (131)](https://johnpoelstra.com/career-coaching-crystal-ball-tammi-scott-131/) — Tammi back to talk about career coaching
– [Avoiding Networking and Job Search Futility with Stephen Warley (125)](https://johnpoelstra.com/avoiding-networking-job-search-futility-stephen-warley-125/) — Stephen Warley on networking
– [Searching for a Job in Today’s Market with Greg Sterling (123)](https://johnpoelstra.com/job-search-greg-sterling-123/) — Greg Sterling’s job search
Credits
All songs licensed under Creative Commons
## Transcript
*This transcript was created automatically and may contain small errors.*
**John:** Alright, today I’m talking to Tammi Scott. Tammi and I met as money coaches at Capital One in— I think it was a long time ago, 2019 or so. So Tammi is, is currently doing— well, she’ll— I’ll let her explain in her own words— a sort of job search. And she sent me a newsletter the other day that totally caught my attention, and I wanted to talk to her about it because I thought that it could help other people that are looking for jobs. And we’ll probably get to that in a little bit. But before we do, Tammi, good to see you today.
**Tammi:** Yeah, it’s good to see you too, John. And it was 2018 that we started with Capital One together.
**John:** Whoa.
**Tammi:** I know.
**John:** And you were in Southern California. I was in— well, I still am in Oregon. And where do you find yourself today?
**Tammi:** I find myself up in the Pacific Northwest, just north of you in Washington State. In the greater Seattle area.
**John:** And tell— set a little background, like, who are you? What are you up to? Why did you send me this newsletter?
**Tammi:** Oh, big questions that you’re asking. It’s great. Um, so yeah, so I’ve been, I’ve been coaching really since I finished my coaching certification back in 2005, but I knew nothing about building a coaching practice at that time. So I, I did my best and I just kept my foot in the— kept my one foot in the water in coaching and then went on to work at other jobs in corporate America and other nonprofit organizations over the many years. And then after Capital One, so that was focused more on money coaching, although, you know, it included a lot of their lives besides money, as you know. And I got into, I started doing more executive coaching. And I love executive coaching. I love working with leaders. And so that just morphed into doing a lot of collaborating with some other coaches, doing some training and like leadership training in a few different companies, pharmaceutical and also in the healthcare industry. And this year, I was thinking I really miss working with a team. So I thought, I think I want to get back to maybe a job as a coach, like as an internal in an organization. So I hired a career coach, somebody I know, and started on that exploration. And it’s been very— it’s a very revealing process. It’s been great. And the networking email that I sent you was part of the process of sending out an email that says, here’s what I’m up to. Here’s why you’re getting this email, because I trust you. You’re part of my support system. And then what I did as part of the email is is also include companies I’m applying to, what I’m up to, how can you help me, and then how can I help you? So it’s a very generative kind of an email to keep the energy of the whole process moving forward.
**John:** So what was most revealing?
**Tammi:** What was most— in terms of the—
**John:** Well, you said you set out to work with this career coach, and the process has been very revealing.
**Tammi:** Oh, yeah. So it really helps to start looking at, like, what do I value? Where am I at today? Because we all evolve, right, over our career process, like our whole career journey. I mean, you think about who we were at 20, 30, 40, depending on what age you’re at. I’m in the next decade.
**John:** I was wondering if you were going to
**Tammi:** say— Yes, I’m in the next decade. Yes. And so who I am today is very different than who I was even 5 years ago. And so this process has been helpful to uncover like, you know, what’s important to me, how, like what kind of workday, who do I wanna work with? What kind of culture do I see myself working in? Do I wanna have direct reports and be in that kind of leadership? Or do I want to be a solo inside of an organization? You know, all those questions. And it’s just been very clarifying.
**John:** What’s something surprising you’ve learned?
**Tammi:** I think what came to light in this process, and I don’t know if it was completely surprising, is how much I enjoy collaborating with others. And I think that’s what I most have missed in being in having my own coaching business. And even though So I have clients that I’m working with, and I certainly network with other coaches. And there’s something like for me that’s really fun about collaborating and creating together and generating something together. Like, I love that process.
**John:** So when you trained as a coach in 2005, where— what type of collaborations were you doing then?
**Tammi:** I don’t think I was doing any collaboration at that time. I mean, I finished the whole coaching certification process. I graduated, I got certified. Then I happened to be involved in some different groups of workshops that I did and participated in or volunteer work that I did. And so I would meet people and Then we would— there, maybe somebody was looking for coaching, or we would have a conversation. It led to, uh, having a, a coaching relationship together. Um, it was more at that time, it was more like, I hope I’m gonna get another client. But it— I didn’t have any— I didn’t have that, um, that structure To, or, or anything, any understanding of what it actually takes to build a coaching practice as a business. And so I, I thought if I keep going— when I was doing it back then, I thought if I keep going the way I’m going, I’m probably going to be, uh, on the, on the street pretty soon.
**John:** Now I have in the back of my mind you worked at Nordstrom’s, is that right?
**Tammi:** I did.
**John:** And you loved that job for some reason.
**Tammi:** I did. I— and this was after getting my coaching certification, so I think I started at Nordstrom maybe a few years later. I, I, I was only gonna go work at Nordstrom for a few months, but I thought, well, it’s commission, it’s a great company, I can sell shoes, I can make good— some good money while I’m figuring out what’s next. And I loved it so much, I ended up staying there for 5 and a half years. And I found that everything I’d learned in my coaching school— and I also did before that, I did a master’s in spiritual psychology— everything that I’d learned in, in both of those programs, I, I really— it helped me in relating to my customers at Nordstrom. And so I built up quite a customer following, I guess is one word way to put it. So I had quite a customer list that I would call on, you know, on this special occasion. And it was something about how I related to them and how I, that level of listening that I had with them that really enhanced our relationship, you know, them as my customer. And so that really was very fulfilling. And I also loved selling shoes. Like there was just something, you know, when I put a shoe on somebody and it has the right fit and the feel and the look that they’re looking for, it’s like the whole, it’s like their whole being lights up. You know, similar to a coaching experience. It’s like when something lands for somebody and they have this insight and you can see it in their whole being, then like, you know, that there’s a special note has been sounded.
**John:** And you would see that fitting people for shoes?
**Tammi:** I did.
**John:** That’s so beautiful.
**Tammi:** I did. And I also had a— this— an acceptance for people, women, And I don’t know how it is for you as a man, but for women, and maybe it’s because of all the different shoes that are out there, you know, the shoe styles and styles of sandals and so forth. And so many women were so self-conscious of their feet, and especially if they had problem feet, if they had bunions or, you know, anything that was an issue in their mind. And I really, I think I provided a really accepting space. Like I wasn’t there to judge their feet and I really made their feet okay. And that there’s a shoe for their feet no matter what they think.
**John:** What were some of the other things from Spiritual Psychology that mapped to your job there?
**Tammi:** There were principles and practices that we learned at the— and this was at the University of Santa Monica, for anybody who might be familiar with that program. And one of the principles was to see the loving essence. And to put that into just regular, non-spiritual terms is really to see the essence of somebody, like see the best in everybody. Like, you know, whether we go— and sometimes I just practice that when I go to the grocery store and I just walk around and I just, I look for the best in everybody. Like we all have it. It’s not exclusive. And I think that that was like, it’s just one of the foundational principles. I think that really served me when I was working there.
**John:** Wow, I want to come buy a pair of shoes now.
**Tammi:** Yes, yes. Except I’m no longer there. And the company, Nordstrom, and this speaks to really the job search, the values that Nordstrom and their mission and their corporate values really matched up with my values. And don’t ask me to say exactly what their values are. You could go on their website. But at that time, it was such a clear match for me. So it just felt like an extension of me in a way to be working there.
**John:** And when you say values, for people that aren’t familiar with personal values, or how do you— how would you explain what those are?
**Tammi:** Well, I would say that when I’m working with a client and we are identifying their values, what’s important to them, I always refer back to have them think back to any time in their life, like different moments, different experiences in one’s life where you felt the most joy or you felt the most alive. Or you’ve— or they’re like that feeling of like timelessness, you know, it’s like you’re so engaged in the moment that you forget about anything else than what’s going on. And so depending on what those moments or experiences are, that your values are really— they’re in that story. They’re in that experience. Like, for example, If somebody says to me, you know, when I went traveling with my family and we were learning about new cultures and we just, we really loved connecting with people that were local to the town that we were visiting. And, you know, and you can hear. And so I listen for it. It’s like, well, what is it about that experience? And some of the things I’ll hear in that is maybe it’s connection that’s important to them, right? Connecting with other people or learning. I like to learn about other cultures. So learning. Or I was with my family. You know, maybe family is one of somebody’s values that are really important to them. And so it’s important. It’s like when we’re in the job search too, it’s like when we’re clear about what’s important to us and what our values are, then we can also look at a company’s value and they’ll usually have them on the website. It’s pretty common anymore and you can see what a company values. And so then you can— and it doesn’t have to be an exact match, but it’s like, does that fit in with my values?
**John:** What are you seeing these days as you look at companies, like as you go through the application interview process. What are you seeing in that process today compared to what it was when we first got out of school?
**Tammi:** I would say that while there’s things that have changed and things that haven’t changed, like the thing that hasn’t changed, and I’ll just speak from my own experience in being in this process as well, is how important it is to keep building on our relationships and to keep nurturing our relationships of our professional and personal relationships, because they— when I look back on the jobs, and I’m curious for you, John, if this is true for you too, but when I think back on the jobs that I’ve had, it was usually because of a relationship. Somebody I knew that knew somebody. You know, it was like, it was like 1 to 2, like that job was just 1 to 2 degrees of separation.
**John:** Hmm. You know what’s funny? It’s now, well, I would say some of my clients, or a lot of my private clients have come from previous employment relationships. And although, when I, but however, when I think of the jobs that I had, most of those were cold. Most of those were not actually people that I knew. Let’s see, my first job out of college was cold. The second one was a recruiter. And then the other ones were more cold. Like, just, I got a contact from somewhere, I reached out. But what you’re saying is what I’m encouraging people these days, because a lot of the things that I’m hearing is people are applying to jobs on LinkedIn or LinkedIn slash online, and then— Hearing nothing and it’s not working for them. And then my challenge is, okay, well, if that’s not working, what, you know, can we, can we add a human element to this? Who do you know? Who can we, who can we be talking to?
**Tammi:** Yeah. Yeah. And even like when you speak about your recruiter, and I remember getting a job many years ago through a recruiter as well, but even that recruiter is just a couple degrees away from the job, right? So they have the connection, you have the connection to them, and they get to know you. So in a— in the way— in that way, it kind of speaks to that. And yes, certainly once in a while some random things can happen where it’s like, I just applied online and I got it. Like, I heard about a coach— I was talking to a coach the other day who applied. This was 5 or 6 years ago, and she applied to an executive coaching job within a very large corporation, and she got it. Now, is that a common occurrence? No, that’s probably more the needle in the haystack. And what you’re speaking to, a lot of people apply for jobs on LinkedIn and it just, you never hear anything.
**John:** Mm-hmm.
**Tammi:** Yeah, yeah. I find that whether it’s as a coach and you’re creating clients or you’re in your own business and building clients, there’s just something about the human connection that’s like, oh, there’s almost like a built-in level of trust that’s there.
**John:** So how are you finding that this newsletter that you started sending out is building relationships?
**Tammi:** I have found it’s been surprising. So the very first one I sent out, I had a— because it was new, right? I had a lot of response like, go Tammi, or, or, hey, I have this connection I want you to talk to. I want to introduce you to this person that I know. So I have received a lot of connections. And so I’ve made, you know, and I I would prefer to have a lot of those connections on my calendar and spend more time there than in the world of LinkedIn and applying for jobs. And in— and again, it’s— it goes back to that, that building, just building relationships and, and then as importantly, tracking all of that. So, which we can talk about too, but the email itself, I I made it personable. I maybe I shared a story about, you know, where I’m at, what I’m looking to create, and then I put the requests in there. Here’s what I’m looking for from you, and then here’s what I, what I can provide as I can be a resource for you as well. So it’s, it’s not that I’m just asking for something. Um, and that’s it. I’m also offering as well. So it’s a give, it’s a, it’s a both giving and receiving.
**John:** How many of these have you done? Like, how many have you sent out?
**Tammi:** I have sent out maybe 6 or 7. So not a, not a lot.
**John:** Okay. But what I thought was great about it, because you and I hadn’t talked in maybe a couple years, Yes. And anyway, we were talking, we talked, and then you sent this to me, I don’t know, maybe a week later. And I was, I don’t know, I was touched by it on so many different levels that I was just like, my clients should be doing this, or anyone looking for a job should be doing this. This is so easy. And what I— so yeah, I’m just curious to know where, like, what’s the Well, I do want to say too, when I received it, I was not put off by it. I was not like, what’s Tammi like spamming me with this email? Like it was, it was more of like, oh, this is such a great idea. It’s, and it’s what I love about it too, is you’re just sending it from your Gmail account. Like you didn’t sign me up to MailChimp or some mail platform. It’s like coming from your email.
**Tammi:** It is. It is. So I thank you for saying that, all of that. It’s— it can be really simple. And, you know, if you look around again for anybody who might consider doing this, and I do highly recommend this if you are in the job search mode, is to consider doing this. And if you want, you can reach out to John and we can get you just what I’ve sent so you can have something to work off as a sample. And it can be that simple. And now it takes me about 15 minutes to write the next one. And I might even include a picture. Like, I included a picture of my dog Maggie, and I included a story about tying that into the job search. It can be really fun, but it’s really meant to be your calling card, like who you are. So if you’re a funny person, then You know, have some fun with it. If you’re, if you’re really creative, then be creative about it. It can be that simple. And I think the important thing is, is like to have— think about all the people in your, in your circles, whether they’re in your inner circles or outer circles or further out circles. Think about all the people out there. And you just never know. who has somebody they’d like you to meet. And you can, even if they don’t, like, they can just be silently cheering you on and rooting for you. And that’s important too.
**John:** Where— how did you get this idea?
**Tammi:** I got this idea from the coach that I’m working with as well as another coach. And I think it is Depending on the career, if you are working with a career coach, they might say, hey, this is— you want to send out an email update. And so I just took a little bit from one coach and a little bit from another coach, and then I just made it my own. And I recommend to the— I send them out every 2 weeks. Some people send them out weekly, some people send them out monthly. So there’s no— There’s no perfect formula for it. You can, you can just check in for yourself and see what feels right.
**John:** What I loved about it too is there’s— so there’s— I’m looking at it now. There’s like a, here’s what I’m up to. And this one, there’s a picture of you and your dad playing golf. Then what I loved is there’s like some built-in accountability, or that’s what I— that was my interpretation of some of this. Like you talk about, this is what I’m emphasizing next week. This is what I’m going to be doing. Then this is what I need. And then you offer to help whoever’s reading it. And then what I even liked, what I thought was really cool, was even down below you list the specific places that you’re applying as well as the ones that you previously applied to. I’m guessing the ones that have a strikethrough are the ones that didn’t go anywhere or done or something?
**Tammi:** Correct, correct. And I include the link of the company So, I include a hyperlink for the company. So, if somebody wants to look through it, they can click on the hyperlink. Because again, if I list the companies that I’m applying to or have applied to, and maybe somebody knows, has a cousin that works for one of the companies on my list, then they could make an easy introduction.
**John:** Right. I mean, what’s great is now you and I are competing for some of the same jobs. I’m kidding.
**Tammi:** No competition, John. There’s plenty for everybody. everyone. That’s how I see it.
**John:** I know. 100%. 100%. Yeah, I guess the other thing that, that, that I thought was so great and that I want to encourage people is that you did not ask me if it was okay if you sent this to me. You just sent it.
**Tammi:** I did.
**John:** I thought that was kind of courageous. I thought it was kind of, uh, gutsy. And, and I wasn’t offended. Like, I think a lot of times we would make up a story of like, Ooh, I could never send something like this to Tammi because, you know, I didn’t talk to Tammi to see, is it okay if I send you this thing of what I’m up to and my request for help? So, uh, that’d be a little spammy. I better not do it. But you just did it, and I did not receive it as spammy.
**Tammi:** Oh, that’s good, because I, I certainly— my first couple that I sent out, the first couple emails I sent out, I— believe me, in my mind, I, I had all that conversation going on, like, oh, I’m going to be intruding on somebody’s, you know, in their email inbox. And I know how much everybody already probably receives in their inbox. And I, I really grappled with that. That was, that was not an easy, easy process for me. And, and then I just got over it.
**John:** And you didn’t— yes. And there’s no big apology at the beginning or like, hey, I’m sorry to like You’re just like, hi, this is what’s going on. And then I thought it was great at the very end, you just say, if you wish not to be on this email list, send me a note and I’ll take you off. This is the best part. No questions asked. I promise. I was like, oh yeah, I totally believe you. I could have easily just written back and said, oh yeah, please take me off and you wouldn’t have cared.
**Tammi:** Yeah. Yeah. Just make it, make it easy. I think it’s always good when you’re sending out that kind of email to always have the permission in there. Like, hey, Always permission to say no.
**John:** Totally. What are some other things that you saw other people include that you chose not to?
**Tammi:** I don’t think there’s anything that I see in other— because I do receive these kind of emails from other people, and I don’t think— I haven’t seen anything that I don’t include in there. It’s more just style. I think everybody has their own style of their email. And it— which is great because we want it to be a reflection of us. Yeah.
**John:** How many people have said they don’t want to receive it?
**Tammi:** Nobody.
**John:** Ah, really?
**Tammi:** Nobody.
**John:** Wow.
**Tammi:** Yes. I, I know of somebody that’s also in, in this group of the, of the career coaching, and she has a list of over 200 people, which is Amazing. I don’t have a list that big, but she has a list of over 200 and nobody has said that they don’t want to receive her email. Now, one thing about sending, because that’s important to note on here, is that it always puts everybody in the BCC because we don’t need to be sharing everybody’s emails. That’s really—
**John:** That would make some people mad.
**Tammi:** That would make some people mad. And it’s, and it’s just too much junk in the, in the body of the email anyway. So sometimes what can happen is that when the list is that big, it can land depending on somebody’s email, their filters, it can land in somebody’s spam folder. But I think that’s just part of sending anything out like that, which just makes it okay. And but yeah, over 200 and nobody said, don’t send it to me anymore.
**John:** That’s so interesting. What’s been the most surprising or interesting thing that’s come as a result of sending this out besides my reply?
**Tammi:** I would say the level of support and all the resources that have come my way to reach out to people to consider this. I’ve had people send me job postings. People invite me on a podcast. That’s you, John.
**John:** Wow, I was late to the game.
**Tammi:** No, it was you. You were the only one who invited me on a podcast. So I would say the level of support, like, it was just, it was really, it was just great feedback to receive all that. You know, we don’t walk around acknowledging people, our friends or people that we haven’t talked to for a long time. Like, we don’t walk around necessarily acknowledging people or saying, hey, I’m rooting for you, because we don’t really always know what’s going on in people’s— in their lives unless maybe it’s on Facebook or something. But this is very specific. And so it’s been— I I’m really a fan of like, like doing this more.
**John:** Well, what I’m also seeing here in a lot of the people that I talk to is the whole loneliness of the job search process. They either lost a job or they’re looking for a job and they spend their whole day sitting in front of the computer applying for jobs and it’s lonely. And this seems like you’ve, intentional or not, created an antidote to that.
**Tammi:** Yes, yes, there— it’s, it’s, it’s another way of connecting and building relationships. And I, I have so much compassion for that process of sitting in front of a computer all day. And, and it can be, you know, where somebody’s mind and where their thoughts can go when they don’t hear back from somebody or they receive a no. And just having some kind of support, but also engage— like finding a different way to engage in the whole career search process. Applying online is one part of it. This is my opinion on this. I would say making the networking and building relationships ideally would be a bigger part, maybe 70% and 30%. I’m just throwing these percentages out, but making it a bigger portion of— You know, when I look at my calendar for the week, how many conversations, how many networking conversations do I have on my calendar, and how much time am I spending on that? I think it’s much more valuable use of time.
**John:** You know what, I’m totally gonna bust myself. The, the opportunity at Capital One came about as a personal contact.
**Tammi:** Ah, see?
**John:** And I think, I think, was it— wasn’t it Alene that You took her position in Santa Monica?
**Tammi:** Is that right? It was— no, it was another coach. And I found out about it at a friend’s birthday party. And somebody came up to me who I had worked with in a previous job, and she was working with Capital One in one of the cafes. And she said, hey, we’re looking for a money coach. That’s how that happened.
**John:** Amazing, amazing. Okay, and then you— I think you knew Elaine. Elaine Gabriel?
**Tammi:** Yes.
**John:** Shout out to Elaine. So I had been talking to her. I took— I did my coach training with her. We were in some of the same classes. And then she had somehow along the line mentioned she was doing this cool thing with Capital One. And I said, oh, are they ever doing that anywhere else? And she said, I think they’re opening a Portland cafe eventually. And know, one thing led to another. So yeah, I don’t know. I think my sense is that times have changed. In other words, the jobs that I got a long time ago that were just, you know, applying and kind of black hole— I don’t know, maybe it’s technology or the internet. I mean, the internet didn’t exist then, right?
**Tammi:** Right.
**John:** I’m really dating myself. But yeah, the internet didn’t exist. So I guess the volume and the ability to Maybe it worked better then, but yeah, now it’s just— there’s just too much going on.
**Tammi:** Yes, yes. And, you know, so there is something that people are getting jobs online. I mean, it’s— it, it is working in some capacity, and there is something that can feel and be more empowering about really creating your own one, your own network, but Also creating— it’s like what your ideal job is. And I know sometimes people just blast many, many resumes out there without doing a lot of research on a company, and they just looking at the job title and maybe the job description. But there’s something much more— can be much more empowering about really just slowing down and getting not only clear about what’s important for each of us in how we want to spend that chunk of time each day in a career, a profession, but also to look and see, really take a deep dive into the company and get a sense of the culture or talk to people who work at the company and find out what is it like to work there? What’s the culture like? Does that make sense?
**John:** No, it totally does. I guess where my mind was going was so often when I talk to people, maybe it’s the stage that they’re at, that they’re, you know, it’s been a number of months since they were laid off and they’re in more of that mode of like, I just gotta find something.
**Tammi:** Sure, understandable. Yes. And, and, and so that, that can be okay. That can be, you know, it’s when I, I got lucky with Nordstrom You know, I thought that was going to be like, I just need income right now, and it ended up being a really great fit for me. And so, you know, sometimes you just got to do what you got to do to take care of yourself financially, for sure. And you can still do that and still work on, you know, crafting your ideal career as well. So you can take the job, but, you know, spend some time on the other part of it. So that you find something that really feels like a good fit.
**John:** So how does swimming relate to all this? I know Tammi’s a swimmer, and I’ve always thought that was fascinating.
**Tammi:** I am. I do swim. I swim a couple days a week. And there’s— and it’s a practice. And I think that with anything, to get better at something, we have to practice and we have to learn that, like in swimming, it’s a very technical sport. So there’s a lot of technique to swimming. So there’s— and learning that technique and building on that is a lifelong endeavor. I mean, the elite athletes are amazing Olympian swimmers, you know, Katie Ledecky and so forth. They’re always learning. They’re always learning and always growing. So I think that swimming, as with any kind of sport, that it’s like once you start to learn the techniques and you stay, but you got to stay in the practice of it. And it’s, it’s very similar when, when you think about our careers, you know, and over time. And to me, the building relationships is a great practice. to get into and to not stop doing that even when you find your ideal job. Because you might just be in that position for 2 or 3 years and then you might be ready for the next level. And if the company you’re at doesn’t have that next level for you, then you want to be able to go, oh, I have— To really have all these relationships you’ve built upon. And then you— it’s so much easier to put yourself out there and say, hey, I’m looking for this next thing, what, what that next level for myself.
**John:** I don’t know anything about swimming. It looks like you just like put your arms and kick your feet, like move your arms and kick. But what’s the— That’s
**Tammi:** how I used to swim. I must have looked like a— I must— I, I used to— I never really took lessons. I think I took lessons when I was like, I don’t know, 5 or 6 years old. And, and At the local Y, but I was never on a swim team. I was a late bloomer and I started swimming about, actually about 10 years ago. And I started, I just went to the local community college. This was in Santa Monica and they have 2 amazing outdoor pools and I just started swimming laps. I didn’t really know what I was doing, but I knew enough to kick and move my arms. Like I had the general— idea of freestyle swimming. And then I saw a few lanes over for— and I did this for about a year— and I saw a few lanes over in the morning, I would see this group and it looked like they had a coach who was standing up at the edge of the pool and coaching this group of people, you know, 5 or 8 people in a couple lanes. And they looked really good. They looked like they really knew what they were doing. And so I finally got up the nerve to ask the coach, like, what is this? And he said, oh, this is the The Masters Adult Masters Swim Club. And I said, well, what is that? And he said, well, you’re welcome to come check it out. Any level, like any level of swimmer. And I said, really? I said, I don’t know that I really know how to swim. That’s okay. Come on in. So that’s how I got involved in the Masters Club. And then I learned how to properly swim. Like the basic techniques, at least something to start to build upon.
**John:** So you just followed your curiosity?
**Tammi:** I did. I just— I, I— it took me a while. I had the curiosity, but then it took the courage to actually ask the coach what the heck was going on over there.
**John:** Now, you used to swim in the ocean too, right?
**Tammi:** I did. I— and I, I still do once in a while. I, I don’t do that up in Washington State. It’s too cold for my taste, but I am doing an ocean swim race at the end of this month in Santa Monica. It’s a quick swim. And yes, ocean swimming is fun. It’s not for everyone. I love being out there. I’m okay with not seeing what the bottom of the ocean looks like. So, yes, it’s not for everybody’s taste.
**John:** Well, anything else about the job search? selling shoes, swimming, or your newsletter or anything else?
**Tammi:** Well, I would say that for the job search, I mean, if anybody’s out there doing it on their own, you know, to consider— there’s a lot probably. I can’t speak on off the top of my head. I’m sure YouTube has plenty. But to really, if you’ve been just in that process of just sending out resumes and you don’t feel like you’re getting any traction, to One, to get some support, whether it’s the local— there are services that are local that I imagine you could have access to. There are many great career coaches out there. And also, you can do your own research, and there’s probably some online educational-type programs you can just take yourself through. But if you’re just sending resumes out, And, and again, not getting any traction, consider just looking at, you know, one, doing— consider a networking email to send out and, and then start looking around in your world and, and start asking for introductions to people. Not introductions to say, hey, do you have a job for me? Introductions to meet with people, to learn from them, to maybe they have another connection that they could connect you with to share what you’re up to, what you’re looking for, not to be needy and say, hey, do you have the job for me? But to just to connect and build relationships.
**John:** So, if people wanted to have a conversation with you, find out more about you, reach you, what’s the best way to do that?
**Tammi:** Yeah, they could find me on my— they can go to my website on Tammi, T-A-M-M-I, Scott, S-C-O-T-T, tammyscott.com. You can put your contact information and you can put a note Hey, I heard this podcast. I’d just like to learn more, and I’d be happy to have a brief conversation with you.
**John:** Excellent.
**Tammi:** Yeah. And if you also would like to just get a sample of the email, any of the emails that I’ve sent out, that I do send out on a regular basis, you can just ask for that and I’ll be happy to— I’ll forward you or put you on my list so you can receive the emails and then you can You can take what you want from it and build your own.
**John:** Thanks for listening to The John Poelstra Show. Notes, links, and all that other good stuff for this episode are at johnpoelstra.com/podcast. Send your questions, ideas, or a simple hello. Hello to REDACTED. Want to stay up to date on new episodes and receive notifications of upcoming events? Register your email address at johnpoelstra.com/updates.
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