Spotlight to Spreadsheet: Your Passions Belong Everywhere - episode 272
What do theater, Disney, and corporate IT have in common? For Carl, the answer is everything. In this inspiring episode, Carl takes us on his unconventional journey from training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art to leading in the world of tech.
He opens up about the power of authenticity, the impact of mentorship, and how his grandfather’s encouragement fueled a path rooted in passion—not just profession.
Dive into Carl’s unique approach to personality and purpose through his consulting work, the importance of honest communication in leadership, and why following your interests might just be the smartest career move you make. Carl Walsh is our guest this week for the series It’s Raining Men - What do they really think?
Relentless if interested.
— Carl Walsh
Toast, Lay-away and Caramels
Thoughts from Spotlight to Spreadsheet…
Are good things worth waiting for? That’s a question I’ve been thinking about. A small example: getting this photo of Carl took some doing. He sent me others and they didn’t have the spark that this one has. Oh sure they would do just fine but I wanted to showcase the essence of what the above picture captured: playful, approachable and a joie de vivre that comes through. I had seen it on his google account and asked specifically for it. I was about to settle for another one when voila! his wife found the original as the resolution was better than the thumbnail version. This time a good thing was worth waiting for.
What if we got everything we wanted whenever we wanted it? Some people may live that way, a very small percentage to be sure. The rest of us? We wait, we persevere, we endure. And the taste is oh so sweet when we’ve had to wait. So is deprivation a positive thing? Sometimes it is. When we are forced to be patient our character is built. We may not want to build it, as in that is not the goal, however it’s being built just the same. I imagine you can find an exception to this but I think it holds up as a generalization.
The summer I was sixteen I got my first job. I’ve written about it before in these pages. I made toast. Six hours a day, six days a week at a local hotel. Yes, that’s a lot of toast! What I remember was my friend, who had a job right next to my toast station taking room service orders, and I would spend part of our paychecks buying clothes. We didn’t seem to have enough money to buy them outright so we went with the “lay away” plan. You youngins likely have no idea what that is but it’s where you keep paying for the item until you’ve paid for it in full. The store keeps the clothes until then.
There was something so satisfying about being able to pay off the bill and to bring the clothes home. It was also motivating to keep paying because you really wanted to get those outfits and get them into use - stat. Of course now there are credit cards and you get your items right away without any waiting. Instant gratification? Would it be better to wait? Maybe. But it doesn’t work that way anymore. When you buy a car or your house you get a loan for it but you get to drive the car, you get to live in the house. Maybe that’s different. Not sure.
So which things should we wait for and which things should we get right away? The primary goal is not to intentionally deprive ourselves but isn’t it interesting that in doing so other virtues of value can be cultivated. Like right now I am thinking about dinner. It’s too soon to have it (according to who?) and I am already really looking forward to some lentil soup, avocado on pita and a caramel for dessert. Just another hour and I’ll dig in. And it will be worth waiting for.
This was likely an outfit I had to “lay away.”
That’s what toast money can buy.
