The Career Suite

The Career Suite Podcast
Season 2
Episode 1

A Story of Career Transition – Playing to a New Beat
Host, Helen G. Sneed, Principal Partner of Drive The Goal, LLC
Guest, Gregory Sneed, Retired Chief of Police and Saxophonist

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Welcome to the Career Suite where we focus on driving your future forward!

I'm Helen G Sneed, CEO, wife, mother, and philanthropist; so join me for career conversations inside The Suite, you'll be glad you did.

Hello and welcome to The Career Suite, I'm Helen G Sneed, Principal Partner of Drive The Goal, LLC. I’m glad you're here!

For Season 2, We've made several changes including our logo, it’s a little different. We have a mini-icon so you don't miss that microphone. We have a little swag, even something to throw over your shoulders when it gets cool. Hang on, I'm not sure everyone saw that.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
And we've added guests!

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Hello everybody

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
We have goal getters and that's really what this is all about, so thank you again for joining us. We're going to introduce you to several different types of goal-getters. They might be college graduates, high school graduates, law enforcement, or military personnel, they could be entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, and professionals looking to find their next career.

Our overarching theme for Season 2 is Talent Acquisition. Talent Acquisition is a little more strategic than recruitment. With talent acquisition, we're looking at assessing talent, acquiring it, and networking with people we think can move our organizations forward; even if there isn't an open position at the moment.

Thank you for joining us for Season 2. Please welcome my very first guest, someone you're going to love who will talk about a story from the 1980s that's relevant today. And in Full disclosure, he is my husband of 24 years, retired Chief of Police Gregory Sneed.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Hello, everybody, thank you for having me.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Thank you for being here, we're very excited because your story is relevant and amazing. So let's jump right in. Give us a sense of what happened in the mid-80s that got you into law enforcement.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Well, it actually started before the mid-80’s I was working out all the time at the gym and I
met two gentlemen there and one gentleman did not care for me, didn't care for my antics.

I was playing football and I had this dream of going to the NFL and I was going to be this NFL football star wide receiver, that's how big my head was.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
I feel it.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
It was huge, and I was full of myself.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
That's Okay.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And so I would go and do a set of curls and in between I would put the curls down and run
and Juke and get to the bench press and do some bench pressing and then run, Juke and go back to the next machine; and I would do this in between all of my sets. And there was one officer there who really didn't care for my antics. He didn't care for it. He just didn't

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
He didn't see the talent, he did not see it.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
There was another officer there, however, who encouraged me and he spoke to me, he showed me how to do certain workouts. He asked me about, you know, what I was going to do, where I was going to go. Well, I went off to college. I'm a starting wide receiver for the team and in the final game; I get to kick off because I'm also the punt returner and kick-off returner. I get to kick off , I'm running down the field, I beat everyone, I got all the blocks and I got one person left to beat. Well, I juke to the right and plant my foot to the left and he went for the Juke. But unfortunately, my knee was still planted and he hit it.
And that was the end of that story and the end of that dream really. And there was no Plan “B”. I didn't have a Plan “B”. So I got the surgery and went back to the gym.

Eddie Lynch is that person who saw something. And I don't know what it was he saw at the time but he saw something. And he said, what are you going to do now? And as your husband says, I said: “I don’t know”.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
That is an inside joke.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
So next, Eddie says here's a piece of paper, I want you to go to West Farms Mall (in Connecticut) and hand the boss this piece of paper

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Okay.
Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And when I got there, I walked upstairs and asked for the boss and, handed them a piece of paper, and he says, you're hired.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Wow, talk about a warm introduction, good referral.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And so I worked at West Farms Mall for about a year at that time, and Eddie comes back in
He says, hey, I hear you're doing a good job.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Nice!

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Here's a piece of paper he (Eddie) writes a name again on it, he says, take it to the Farmington Police Department and hand it to the Chief of Police.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Again, Eddie saw talent.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
So I go down to the Farmington Police Department, I hand the paper to the Chief of Police and he says you're hired. And I become a supernumerary police officer for the Farmington
Police Department until 1985 when I got hired by the Middletown Police Department.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Congratulations! Great story! Okay keep it going.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
I'm at the Middletown Police Department, I was pretty much taken in under the wings of
Sergeant Mitch Ward and Louis Tosto and they became my next two mentors. They really to helped guide me through my time at the Middletown Police Department.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Appreciation to both of them.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Appreciation and shout out to both of them. They're both have passed but God bless them.
And they helped me along the way, and to the point where Louis called me his son.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Nothing like 2-3 good mentors!

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Great mentors who saw something and helped me
Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And as you said, you know, they saw a talent that I didn't even realize that was there and they believed in me.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
It's interesting right? Because they saw the talent and they helped you with your goals.
You weren't quite sure what it might look like but you knew you needed to do something.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
I knew I needed something, and again, you know, here are two people or three people who really, took the time, nurtured me, help me grow and then set me on my path and let me
make the mistakes or grow where I could and they, were there for the whole time.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
That's great! It really is. As I mentioned early, even though this was somewhere around the 80s it's relevant today when we talk about networking and seeing talent in other people and being mentors and identifying those opportunities, that's also what we're talking about right, identifying opportunities that may or may not be ready or immediately
available.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
I want to talk about your career transition, I think it's very important, because I'm not sure how many people know and recognize that although you retired from law enforcement, you have a new career. You play the saxophone, you're known on stage as GB Saxplayer.
I'll let you tell the rest of the story because again, it’s a great story. That skill of focus and drive and setting goals comes into play yet again.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
So you know we talked about building bridges too and part of this is as you know, Eddie and Mitch and Louis, taught me how to communicate with other people, build those bridges and so now, 36 years later it's time to retire from the Police Department and I want to be a saxophone player, I want to start performing in public. Now there's another whole story behind this. Somebody who might be sitting right next to me, had to kick me out of the house and make me go perform.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
But that's a whole another story because they saw talent.

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And so after I got the foot out of my butt and went out and started performing it really was
something that just took off. But it wasn't until you know, I used some of the same tools that I was taught by these three gentlemen. I went to the Chamber of Commerce, I went to the things that I knew the people that I knew that would help me make that transition; But it's all about building bridges. And how did I learn about building bridges? It was from the Middletown Police Department and from Eddie and Mitch and Louis teaching me how to do these things.
Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
That's great! So I do want to take the time for those of you very interested in listening to GB Saxplayer play and perform because you can find him live and in person primarily in Winter Haven FL, but also in Connecticut. So tell the good people you have three songs out
and where you're going to play, I believe Hotshots is one place, The Social, the Union Taproom and then back to Connecticut in August. So I'll let you finish this up

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Well, you pretty much nailed it right there. So I'm performing in Winter Haven FL, she says primarily. I'm all around Florida really but primarily in the Winter Haven area. And as she just said, HotShots and shout out to Melissa for every other Sunday gig there. [HotShots]. So I appreciate that, thank you, Melissa. The Social Cocktail Lounge which was the 1st place to actually hire me and I'm there about once a month and the Union Tap room, I'm also there about once a month; all places in Winter Haven. [Florida].

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
And the three songs that we talked about; I have 3 singles that are out there now; My one and only love, Tickle and, Imagine are my 3 singles out and you can find them on any of the social downloads. That's where we are now.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
That's great! And I do want to go back very quickly again, our appreciation to all of the venues that have hired GB Saxplayer, especially Melissa who has put you on a semi
regular schedule of every other Sunday, starting at 10:30am or 11am, it does change a little bit with the seasons and beginning August 4th you can start to count every other Sunday. And I think you're working on a new venue, I'm not sure, is it confirmed yet?

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
It's confirmed. Okay, so I will be at Kimber’s Bar and Grill and we start that on the 10th of August.

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Wonderful! Thank you for joining us. Thank you for sharing your story and how relevant
it is even today. And to any of you who are goal-getters, whether you own a business or you're looking to change careers or make a difference, reach out to me through The Career Suite or Drive The Goal and we'll help you get those goals!!

Host, Helen G. Sneed, is speaking:
Thanks again, Gregory! Thanks again, GB SaxPlayer!

Guest, Gregory Sneed, is speaking:
Thank you for having me!

Gregory Sneed and Helen G Sneed are both speaking:
All right everyone, take care, Bye!