#MCM: Bryan Wish & The Wish Dish

On Mondays, The Dean's List team wants to celebrate the men who are making change in the world. One of our main focuses is women empowerment, but as one of our inspirations, Sheryl Sandberg, would say: "Getting to equality is not just good for women—it’s also good for men. Men who support women at work outperform their peers. It is about lifting up everyone—not just providing opportunity to women, but making men’s lives better too. Women, celebrate men leaning in." Want to become one of our #MCMs? Send us the answers to the following questions and a picture of yourself to info@thedeanslist.me.

Quick Summary About Myself?

My name is Bryan Wish and I am from Fairfax, Virginia. I am 22 years old and I graduate from the University of Georgia in May 2015. The best part about my life is my amazing family; a mother and father who have provided countless support every step of the way, never placed limits on me, and have developed me into the man I am today.

Growing up in Virginia was not always a pretty road; I had to work for everything I ever wanted because athletics and academics were always a struggle. My early struggles taught me to persevere as I learned the valuable traits of hard work and persistence. Those traits carried me into college at the University of Georgia.

My time at UGA has been by far the best four years of life. I have developed incredible relationships with friends and have memories that will last me a lifetime. I have been fortunate to work worthwhile internships, create my own jobs, and find mentors who I speak to on a weekly basis. Simply put, it is the relationships I have developed these past four years that have made my time at UGA so special.

When I’m sitting on my death-bed I hope to have impacted the world in a better way and touched many lives. How I am going to do that still remains a mystery, but I continue to work towards that goal every day.

What is The Wish Dish and where did I get the inspiration to start The Wish Dish?

The Wish Dish is a website (www.thewishdish.com) which creates a common-ground for people to share their story and connect with others on a more personal level.

Growing up I have always been a writer. It has always been my way of expressing myself opposed to speaking. I also truly enjoy connecting with others on more than a surface level relationship. Over the summer, I took the summer to myself and did a lot of self-evaluation work with a life coach. Through this experience I learned a lot about myself and ended up doing a lot of writing as a result of my work.

When the summer was over, I truly wanted to start a blog. But I didn’t just want to start a blog like everyone else (no offense to people who blog), but I wanted to make mine different. I reflected on my summer writing, and it was deep/transparent writing about who I was, so I started asking other people if they would like to write on the blog I made called “Influence.” I started to find like-minded people who loved writing, and would write authentic pieces about themselves, their struggles, and accomplishments. They asked me what to write about and I told everyone of them “No limits, No boundaries, it’s your story, and don’t be scared to be transparent.” This led to a series of impactful story submissions, and I saw I was connecting with the writers in an entirely new way, creating deeper and more fulfilling relationships.

Then a friend in my Entrepreneurship class, Michael Garigulo suggested I build a website. It was a “why not / nothing to lose” decision, so then The Wish Dish was ultimately born. (I have to give a huge kudos to Aalok Patel for teaching me every step of the way)

Why do I think online portfolios are important?

Online portfolios are important because they give you an opportunity to showcase yourself outside of your resume and LinkedIn profile. The ability to show people who you are, your interests, in an aesthetically appeasing way is very helpful! It also allows employers how you are separating yourself from the herd.

What motivates me? / What is “My Why” for doing what I do?

This is actually a really interesting question for me to answer. Over the summer I read a book called “Start With Why” by Simon Sinek. He had given a TED Talk called “How Great Leader Inspire Action” and talked about his Golden Circle, which reflects on how successful people and companies know “why they do what they do.” This really started to get me thinking about “My Why.” In January 2015, I reached out to his team on Facebook and connected with Simon’s right hand man, Stephen Schedletzky. We spoke for almost an hour about a variety of things, and he offered me the online course to determine “my why.” After 10 hours of working through the course and a valuable partner exercise, what I came to realize is what motivates me is “To create opportunities that empower others so that they can discover and express who they are”

Interestingly enough, after looking at some of the experiences the past few years … they fall right in line with “my why” statement.

What advice would you give to young professionals?

1. Network: The best piece of advice my father gave me coming into college was “network” So to return the advice to young professionals … I’d say the same, but I’d call it “strategic networking”

Network with people your own age who are like-minded. They know people who can help you and you probably know people that can help them. The more you associate yourself with people who are constantly bettering themselves, it results in you becoming a better version of yourself. I’d also say to network with people who are older than you, people who are already successful, so you can learn from their wisdom, failures, and mistakes.

2. Mentors: How do you find a mentor? Find someone you look up to and want to model when you are their age. While I am extremely close with my father, I have multiple male mentors at different stages of life who are all invaluable resources.

3. Be Resourceful, Create Your Own Niche, & BE ENTREPRENEURIAL

Rarely in my life have I ever had a door open up for me. From a job/career standpoint, I have had to figure out how to make it on my own. For instance, one time I was so frustrated driving home to Virginia on I-85 N from Atlanta because there were no Dunkin' Donuts off the exits. I connected with the COO, Paul Twohig, on LinkedIn and asked if I could be a brand ambassador for Dunkin' ... before I knew it, I had submitted a 10 page market research and program proposal and had a job lined up. While this never panned out, I took the self-initiative where I saw an opportunity/gap in the marketplace. Find a need in your workplace environment, and you will never have to be fit into the job hole you are subject to in the job description. This mindset creates value for the company as well, and you become a linchpin to your company.

What Books Would I suggest?

• Start with Why - Simon Sinek (why do you do what you do?)

• Tribes - Seth Godin (once you find people who believe what you believe, build a tribe around them, and your movement will spread)

• Linchpin - Seth Godin (be so good your employe cannot get rid of you)

• The Alchemist - Pablo Coehlo (follow your journey, don't be scared to go after your dreams in pursuit of finding your personal legend)

• How Google Works - Eric Schmidt and Jonathan Rosenburg (Company Culture, Strategy, Hiring, and Decisions) great for business owners

• Zero to One - Peter Thiel (don't build something already invented, that adds no value to society)

• The Happiness Advantage - Shawn Achor (just because)

• Good to Great - Jim Collins (have the right people on the bus - it is essential to building something great)

• Think and Grow Rich - Napolean Hill (a classic)

#writing #advice #mancrushmonday #mcm #rolemodel