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Good morning Launch Key 🚀 community!

I had to face the facts: there just weren’t enough hours this week. I thought I could handle packing, moving and writing a newsletter in the middle of the disruption to close our 25-year house. But I was wrong.

Instead, I’m delivering one of your top poll requests: Career Portfolio case studies.

All 3 of the highlighted subscriber stories are over 50, experienced professionals who have succeeded in creating unique Career Portfolios instead of just a career path.

Food for thought.

Comment below and let me know if we’re on the right track.

Table of Contents

• Career Portfolio Examples

  • Subscriber Stories: David Oakley

  • Subscriber Stories: Tom Hewitt

  • Subscriber Stories: Walker McKay

• Free Knowledge

• Recommendations

• Visual Crapshoot

Career Portfolio Examples

Did you know?

• The majority of startups in the U.S. are launched by people over 45.

• Baby boomers own 51% of all private businesses in US and many are looking for buyers.

• Older entrepreneurs have exponentially better success metrics than 30-somethings.

One of the motivations for starting this newsletter was that we’re not finished after 50. In fact, we have a lot of advantages that allow us to be successful at new things.

Each month I highlight subscribers in our tribe who veered away from the crowd, created unique content, edited their portfolio, started new ventures or have gone into completely new fields.

Experience is a helluva differentiator.

Subscriber Stories: David Oakley

David Oakley: Creative Director | Author | Ring Leader

Oakley has been crafting witty copy since his late 80’s New York ad agency days. After moving his family to Charlotte and winning awards for others, he co-founded BooneOakley which he’s been leading for the last 24 years.

His career portfolio includes authoring 2 books; Nobody eats Parsley, and Why is Your Name Upside Down? while winning a slew of awards from the likes of Communications Arts, Clio, One Show, Advertising Age, SXSW, Webby and American Advertising Awards.

He’s got some chops.

In 2017, he was inducted into the NC Media and Journalism Hall of Fame alongside luminaries like Charles Kuralt, Roger Mudd and David Brinkley.

But he’s not finished.

I caught up with Oakley earlier this year and learned about their latest outdoor award: OAAA custom installation that made me laugh out loud. Even he leveraged AI to create the Deer, Wild Boar, and Elk for the billboard. Oakley admitted, “AI made producing the idea much faster and easier.”

Knowing full well that the decoys would be stolen, the hang tags might be the best part of the campaign. 😂 

Carnivore pizza will never be the same! 🍕 

Subscriber Stories: Tom Hewitt

Tom Hewitt : Marketing | HR | Training & Development | Leadership

Tom is a corporate marketing pro who leveraged his business acumen first into a completely different industry and later into a whole host of other corporate disciplines. In the past he led strategy and digital integration at some of Charlotte’s largest names: First Union, Duke Energy, Red Ventures, Wells Fargo and TIAA.

Then he took a turn no one but he saw coming – as Director of Marketing for Octapharma Plasma.

An industry not known for strategic marketing.

Tom’s insight as a business guy with marketing skills, has opened up all types of leadership roles for him because he’s competent - and it stands out to everyone in the company.

With success comes opportunity.

Tom has worked his way into leadership of Marketing, Human Resources, Learning & Development, and internal and external Communications. All for a $1.4b company with more than 6500 employees.

Pretty incredible career portfolio additions.

But it all started with the ability to see possibilities in an industry not known for them.

Subscriber Stories: Walker McKay

Walker McKay : Founder | Trainer | Consultant | Podcaster | Author

Walker and I met, in our 20’s, around a bonfire. Truth is, neither one of us knew where we were headed, but we shared some laughs and our love of the outdoors. Flash forward to my Launch Key kickoff and we reconnected because I thought he probably had an audience like mine.

And did he.

Over the past decades, Walker has built a reputation transforming hundreds of sales teams with his no-nonsense content. He’s the Founder and Principal of the No BS Sales School and has created over 500 Podcasts. He’s coached businesses in nearly 100 industries. With incredible results.

He recently launched his book "Some Will. Some Won't. So What. Who's Next? revealing a straightforward, no-nonsense approach to selling.

Just the next portfolio piece in the career of Walker McKay.

Just 3 examples of the more than 10,000 of you who are reading the Launch Key.

Do you know someone else who should be highlighted next year? I’m always looking for stories of adaptation or late-career startups. No two stories are the same.

Introduce them to Launch Key!

Now go launch something 🚀 

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Free Knowledge

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AI won’t take your job, but a person using AI might. That’s why 800,000+ professionals read The Rundown AI – the free newsletter that keeps you updated on the latest AI news and teaches you how to use it in just 5 minutes a day.

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Recommendations

🧠 Seven Deadly Stupidities : Discover the patterns that lead to failure and learn how to avoid them.

🗃️ Dealroom Business Success Uncovered : Learn directly from billionaire entrepreneurs on how to grow a business. Join a community of 2,000+ innovators.

📕 MGMT Playbook : Practical management insights straight to your inbox every Wednesday.

Visual Crapshoot