SPONSORED BY THE INCREDIPAUL HUB
Four companies, Four lessons corporate training never taught me
Someone asked me a loaded question last week: "Out of all the companies you’ve worked for, which one was your favorite?"
My default answer, of course, is IncrediPaul®.
Jokes aside, people are usually looking for a deeper takeaway. The truth is, I don’t have a single favorite because every stop served a distinct purpose. Each chapter gave me the exact experience, resilience, and perspective I use today to help others Be Incredible.
Company 1 (The Foundation & Culture): Taught me what a truly people-centered environment looks like. I fell in love with talent development here and was able to work directly with interns, many of which I’m still in contact with almost 10 years later! I also had to opportunity help plan a nationwide conference at the company headquarters that brought Early Career employees together.
Company 2 (The Operational Crucible): Hands-down my most critical growth phase, and my longest tenure. I learned world-class systems while managing a brutal schedule, starting at 75% travel and ramping up to 90%–100% near the end. It tested my work-life balance, but the operational mastery I gained was worth every mile.
Company 3 (The High-Stakes Leadership Test): My first official management role, overseeing supporting operations of almost 100 people. The culture wasn't a long-term fit, but balancing the needs of a strong union against senior leadership that wasn't listening to its workforce where I was caught in between was an invaluable masterclass in grounded, empathetic leadership.
Company 4 (The Vision & Alignment): A great, people-first environment that lacked efficient systems at times. My biggest impact came from stepping up as a unifying voice, casting vision, aligning teams, and keeping people motivated through operational ambiguity.
If you want to play detective and map these milestones to real company names, feel free to dive into my LinkedIn profile, and yes, I intentionally left one out because the tenure was too brief to count… less than 3 months.
Looking back, I wouldn't trade a single leg of the journey in my 10 years of working. Without the constant travel, the union dynamics, the conference planning, working with early career teams and internship programs, working through system gaps; I wouldn't have the credibility or playbook I bring to my work today.
What is the hardest career lesson you’ve learned so far, or what challenge are you trying to navigate right now?
Hit reply and share your story with me, and if you're ready to tackle that challenge with expert guidance, reach out today to book a free coaching discovery call!
NEW EPISODE OF BE INCREDIBLE PODCAST!
In this episode of the Be Incredible Podcast, Paul sits down with Aneesa Valentine, a computational scientist and engineer with deep experience in computational genomics, data science, data engineering, and applied machine learning. Aneesa shares how her journey from Brooklyn to Dominica shaped her early interest in biology, why she pursued STEM, and how she eventually built Impakt Bio to provide educational training and enablement in bioinformatics. The conversation goes beyond career highlights and gets into the deeper work behind growth: navigating identity shifts after stepping away from a PhD path, finding peace in transitions, and learning how to balance purpose with professional demands. Paul and Aneesa also discuss the future of AI, the impact it’s having on entry-level jobs, and why human judgment and context still matter.s it as a springboard to define what “being incredible” actually means. He breaks the idea into three personal anchors - intentionality, positivity, and faith in Jesus, and explains how those values shape his work, mindset, and response to adversity.
PICK UP INCREDIPAUL MERCH!
CHECK OUT PREVIOUS EPISODE OF SHOW
Reminder new episodes come out every Monday at 6am Central Time. Check it out by going to incredipaul.org/podcast or stream on the following platforms: YouTube, Apple, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon and More.
Reply back to this email and let me know if you have any key takeaways or if there’s a particular topic or person you’d like to see on a future show!
I know newsletters aren’t for everyone or maybe this isn’t what you thought. You won’t hurt my feelings if you unsubscribe using the button below.
IncrediPaul
