1 00:00:12,030 --> 00:00:14,550 Hello everybody, and welcome to the SAP Learning Insights 2 00:00:14,550 --> 00:00:16,670 podcast. I'm your host, David Chaviano. 3 00:00:17,080 --> 00:00:19,680 Today we're going to discuss a different approach to engaging 4 00:00:19,680 --> 00:00:22,680 with the SAP ecosystem. Normally, we're talking about 5 00:00:22,680 --> 00:00:25,520 sort of like the individual learner newcomer who's just 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,160 approaching SAP for the first time. 7 00:00:28,360 --> 00:00:30,560 But we want to talk with somebody who founded an 8 00:00:30,560 --> 00:00:33,600 organization dedicated to training individuals while 9 00:00:33,600 --> 00:00:35,480 simultaneously being a beginner herself. 10 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:38,880 It was very impressive to see the speed at which she learned 11 00:00:38,880 --> 00:00:41,320 everything and then turned around and started training 12 00:00:41,320 --> 00:00:44,040 others. So I wanted to bring Rejoice 13 00:00:44,040 --> 00:00:46,440 Jones on the podcast today to tell her story. 14 00:00:47,120 --> 00:00:50,920 She found an organization called Evour VOWER. 15 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:53,120 Welcome, Rejoice. It's great to have you on the 16 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:54,600 podcast. Thank you. 17 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:57,480 It's so great to be here. Thank you, David. 18 00:00:58,120 --> 00:01:01,000 All right. So our collaboration goes back a 19 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,920 few years, starting with our Digital Skills initiative. 20 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:07,440 It was a program I was involved with to upskill individuals 21 00:01:07,440 --> 00:01:10,040 considered to be underrepresented in the tech 22 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:13,240 industry, introduce them to SAP, hopefully get them certified, 23 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,440 and hopefully find them jobs at the end of that. 24 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,360 You played a crucial part in that entire program. 25 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:21,720 So I wanted just to Share your story to the world, the SAP 26 00:01:21,760 --> 00:01:23,960 ecosystem. And we always like to start on 27 00:01:23,960 --> 00:01:27,400 this podcast with our Heroes origin story, OK, to learn a 28 00:01:27,400 --> 00:01:30,960 little bit about you, where you came from, how you found SAP and 29 00:01:31,480 --> 00:01:34,040 where you are today. Yeah, thank you so much and 30 00:01:34,040 --> 00:01:38,320 thank you for having me. So our journey, my name is 31 00:01:38,320 --> 00:01:41,920 Rejoice. As you mentioned earlier, I run 32 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:46,960 this amazing skills first tech company called Valor where we 33 00:01:46,960 --> 00:01:50,160 are upskilling people and getting them directly into jobs 34 00:01:50,160 --> 00:01:54,480 and we focus on entry level workers, but we'll get into that 35 00:01:55,040 --> 00:01:58,160 shortly. But so my introduction to SAP 36 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:00,800 was actually from the pro bono side. 37 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:07,480 They had a program maybe like in 2020 post sort of a lot of civil 38 00:02:07,480 --> 00:02:11,280 unrest and, and they wanted to, and it was during COVID and the 39 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,280 pandemic and so many things or what's happening in the world 40 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:18,520 host George Floyd post sort of a lot of things. 41 00:02:18,520 --> 00:02:23,400 And so SAP came out with a program with Pyrexa. 42 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:28,440 It's a pro bono program where basically some the volunteers 43 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,520 within the SAP community would work with tech startups that 44 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:34,760 they believed had some good things going on. 45 00:02:34,760 --> 00:02:37,600 And we were a part of that inaugural class in Atlanta. 46 00:02:37,600 --> 00:02:41,720 And so we got three very highly skilled professionals in SAP to 47 00:02:41,720 --> 00:02:47,320 join our team and in eight weeks literally took us from sort of 48 00:02:47,320 --> 00:02:53,960 scrappy startup to now a global training and hiring partner in 49 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:57,160 this workforce, workforce development, future workspace. 50 00:02:57,160 --> 00:03:02,400 And so, and that kind of blew my mind and just how well teams 51 00:03:02,400 --> 00:03:06,760 work on an enterprise level. And I think as a startup founder 52 00:03:06,760 --> 00:03:09,560 and someone who was just getting my footing, it was like, wow, 53 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,600 like there are very much levels to not only learning, but also 54 00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:15,560 doing business and doing business well. 55 00:03:15,560 --> 00:03:20,200 And so I think that was the first start of my curiosity of, 56 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,760 you know, sort of head being down and and focusing on 57 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:27,600 building this company for entry level workers to now saying, 58 00:03:27,600 --> 00:03:31,280 wow, we can not only do this for folks in Atlanta, but possibly 59 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:33,960 we can do this globally. And we just needed the right 60 00:03:33,960 --> 00:03:36,000 tools, right, the right help and resources. 61 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:41,560 And so from that relationship, we actually had someone within 62 00:03:41,560 --> 00:03:44,320 the SAP kind of service like a mentor for me. 63 00:03:44,320 --> 00:03:47,320 And it sort of helped guide me along the way of thinking about 64 00:03:47,320 --> 00:03:50,480 how to build deeper community around learning how to build 65 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:53,640 deeper community about working professionals that want to 66 00:03:53,640 --> 00:03:57,720 continue to upskill themselves. And so when we found out about 67 00:03:57,720 --> 00:04:00,880 the Digital Skills Initiative, it was literally aligned 68 00:04:00,880 --> 00:04:05,200 perfectly. We were already over 5000 users 69 00:04:05,200 --> 00:04:10,400 of high school to post college using us to find internships and 70 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:14,240 early entry jobs. And we were already patent 71 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,519 pending for what we believed would be how can you accelerate 72 00:04:18,519 --> 00:04:21,240 this learning into jobs? You should be able to look at 73 00:04:21,519 --> 00:04:24,840 job descriptions and say, oh, I don't have that skill and then 74 00:04:24,840 --> 00:04:28,280 immediately go into that upskilling phase, right? 75 00:04:28,280 --> 00:04:31,440 And so that was our vision for the future in this partnership 76 00:04:31,440 --> 00:04:35,760 with SAP really just helped us to on ramp that from vision to 77 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,120 actual practicality. So the digital skills 78 00:04:38,120 --> 00:04:41,640 initiative, as you mentioned, and this, these numbers aren't 79 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:44,960 as sort of unknown to those in the tech community, but there 80 00:04:44,960 --> 00:04:49,080 were less than 3% of non traditional underrepresented 81 00:04:49,080 --> 00:04:53,600 folks in tech at that time. And I think SAP wanted to answer 82 00:04:53,600 --> 00:04:55,320 that question. Well, why is that? 83 00:04:55,840 --> 00:04:59,560 I think since SAP is such a global program and you have 84 00:04:59,560 --> 00:05:02,520 teams from all over the world doing great and innovating great 85 00:05:02,520 --> 00:05:05,680 ways, like why? Who's going to sort of lead that 86 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,560 charge to invite everyone in, those who are capable, those who 87 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:13,320 have a willingness and a desire to create and beyond these 88 00:05:13,320 --> 00:05:15,120 innovative teams creating cool things. 89 00:05:15,120 --> 00:05:19,920 And so to watch SAP sort of take that and sort of own that was 90 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:25,600 very inspiring for us. And so actually, I didn't know 91 00:05:25,600 --> 00:05:28,920 that there was such an appetite when we first started. 92 00:05:29,200 --> 00:05:32,960 We probably literally put the application out and put a few 93 00:05:32,960 --> 00:05:38,480 videos on TikTok and it kind of just went viral and hundreds of 94 00:05:38,480 --> 00:05:42,200 people were registering. And then, you know, our first 95 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:47,240 inaugural class, shout out to you and, and Jim and a lot of 96 00:05:47,240 --> 00:05:50,720 people in Audrey who sort of helped to curate this. 97 00:05:50,720 --> 00:05:54,760 But we worked with a professor, Professor Bob from Georgia 98 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:58,640 Southern, who at the time was the former SAP North American 99 00:05:58,640 --> 00:06:01,040 learning Chair. And so we got someone very 100 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,080 highly skilled and training individuals and how to 101 00:06:05,080 --> 00:06:09,800 understand ERP and how do you wrap your mind around this? 102 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:14,320 And you know, our first sort of cohort and teaching them. 103 00:06:14,760 --> 00:06:18,080 And I think the certification was the SAP Esperhana at the 104 00:06:18,080 --> 00:06:21,040 time, it was implementation like the implementation 105 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:24,600 certification. Now what this story is this sort 106 00:06:24,600 --> 00:06:26,840 of the Esperhana Public House edition. 107 00:06:27,160 --> 00:06:32,760 And so that group of 10, we did 8 weeks with Professor Bob and 108 00:06:32,760 --> 00:06:36,320 it was like sometimes every day from like 8:00 AM to 2. 109 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:39,880 And so we're sort of back in school, I, I actually took the 110 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:44,080 course as well. And so to kind of just see what 111 00:06:44,280 --> 00:06:48,640 could be described as maybe a few years of college packed into 112 00:06:49,120 --> 00:06:53,560 this accelerated very intense learning journey of how do you 113 00:06:53,560 --> 00:06:55,920 think about business from an enterprise level? 114 00:06:55,920 --> 00:07:00,480 How do you implement solutions and operations for different 115 00:07:00,480 --> 00:07:04,280 modules, financial accounting, warehouse management, supply 116 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:05,720 chain? And so we're we're all sort of 117 00:07:05,720 --> 00:07:08,840 just like minds are blown of like, man, this is how the world 118 00:07:08,840 --> 00:07:11,800 works. And from there, most of that, 119 00:07:11,800 --> 00:07:17,080 maybe nine of those 10 people are now working as full time SAP 120 00:07:17,120 --> 00:07:20,360 consultants with folks like Accenture and my going different 121 00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:24,840 SAP customers. So to just watch the learning, 122 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:29,800 first of all, the morality of people wanting to know more 123 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:33,520 about SAP, this German company that sort of sits on the side 124 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:36,640 and kind of head down to like, 'cause you know, we hear about 125 00:07:36,640 --> 00:07:39,160 other companies, 'cause they're from from America and German is 126 00:07:39,160 --> 00:07:43,360 this, I mean, SAP is this German company that, you know, is just 127 00:07:43,360 --> 00:07:47,920 busy doing work. And so to introduce that to sort 128 00:07:48,000 --> 00:07:52,240 of the public and our audience to then go to training and then 129 00:07:52,240 --> 00:07:55,160 go and to see folks get into jobs within a year. 130 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,600 And we're not talking about jobs that sort of sort of tap the 131 00:07:59,600 --> 00:08:01,160 pockets. We're talking about jobs that 132 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:04,160 were life changing and generational changing for our 133 00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:07,360 learners. Going from $46,000 to like 134 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:10,520 $86,000 is a generational change thing. 135 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:14,960 It helps you to reach parity. And to see that work so 136 00:08:14,960 --> 00:08:17,960 seamlessly with just a few resources was mind blowing to 137 00:08:17,960 --> 00:08:19,480 me. And so then we were hooked. 138 00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:23,240 And so now, you know, this is what we're doing full time, 139 00:08:23,240 --> 00:08:27,040 helping as many people as we can gain skills that we know the 140 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,160 market needs and and wants and accelerate them into jobs. 141 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:33,799 So that's sort of the back story of how we're here. 142 00:08:34,640 --> 00:08:36,280 That's awesome. And it was really cool to see 143 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,440 that all happen end to end. But just for my own personal 144 00:08:39,480 --> 00:08:42,720 curiosity, just to rewind all the way back to the beginning. 145 00:08:43,120 --> 00:08:46,840 So how big was the time gap between you founding Bauer and 146 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:50,360 finding SAP? Was it rather relatively small? 147 00:08:50,720 --> 00:08:53,920 Yeah, very small. I started Bauer when I was still 148 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:59,840 a full time teacher in 2019, so April 2019, and then we started 149 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,680 this partnership. I started my pro bono journey 150 00:09:02,680 --> 00:09:08,440 with SAP in 2021 and then we started the Digital Skills 151 00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:13,600 Initiative in 2022. So what, what kind of blessing 152 00:09:13,600 --> 00:09:18,160 is that for me to go from starting a company to them 153 00:09:18,160 --> 00:09:20,640 partnering with the largest enterprise resource in the 154 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:22,480 world? So yes, thank you for saying 155 00:09:22,480 --> 00:09:25,360 that out loud there because I needed to hear and feel that 156 00:09:25,640 --> 00:09:27,560 that things aren't so bad in the world. 157 00:09:27,560 --> 00:09:30,480 You know things are working out. Yeah, that's really impressive. 158 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,320 The stars aligned, everything works out. 159 00:09:32,440 --> 00:09:36,440 Yes, very cool. So you've got on to actually 160 00:09:36,440 --> 00:09:40,240 begin taking your experiences with Bob, and everybody now is 161 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:42,800 channeling their inner Bob and sharing the wealth of 162 00:09:42,800 --> 00:09:45,880 information and the skills to your own candidates who are now 163 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:49,280 joining the SAP ecosystem. So have you been able to get 164 00:09:49,280 --> 00:09:51,960 some people on board? You've run your own events, 165 00:09:51,960 --> 00:09:53,960 gotten to your own folks, certified. 166 00:09:55,440 --> 00:09:56,480 We've gone on to fly on your own. 167 00:09:56,800 --> 00:10:01,200 David, it's taken a world of its own when we talk and think about 168 00:10:01,200 --> 00:10:04,160 network effects, this is really what it has done. 169 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,680 So we've gone from 10 cohort members to now registering over 170 00:10:08,680 --> 00:10:13,480 1500 learners globally, over 27 countries. 171 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:19,520 We've hired and supported over 20 people getting full time jobs 172 00:10:19,520 --> 00:10:24,080 going from an average, I would say an average salary jump of 25 173 00:10:24,080 --> 00:10:30,600 K, which really puts a dent in when we say reaching parity or 174 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:34,080 having economic mobility. So it really puts a dent in 175 00:10:34,080 --> 00:10:35,520 that. I don't know if you heard that 176 00:10:35,520 --> 00:10:40,480 part. So and then now we have several 177 00:10:40,480 --> 00:10:43,040 different access points in which we're helping. 178 00:10:43,040 --> 00:10:46,600 Again, non traditional folks find us on Twitter, folks find 179 00:10:46,600 --> 00:10:49,440 us on TikTok, folks find us from every walk of life. 180 00:10:49,440 --> 00:10:54,040 And I think one of the Silver Linings of the post COVID was 181 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,640 now we have a great reshuffle where a lot of people are now 182 00:10:58,640 --> 00:11:02,560 saying, not only do I want to restart something else, but 183 00:11:02,560 --> 00:11:04,800 maybe I need to think about a different industry. 184 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:09,440 And I think it's the perfect time for skills first hiring 185 00:11:09,480 --> 00:11:14,040 companies to start to sort of show themselves to the world on 186 00:11:14,040 --> 00:11:18,480 a global level and to move fast to try to capture very capable 187 00:11:18,480 --> 00:11:23,840 smart people who've maybe been lost in in sort of in Gray areas 188 00:11:24,160 --> 00:11:26,720 in between college or not really sure about college. 189 00:11:26,720 --> 00:11:32,920 And so I think companies, smart people, investors are finding 190 00:11:32,920 --> 00:11:35,840 new channels and in which to aren't grant people and we're 191 00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:39,040 one of them. And so, yeah, we are running 192 00:11:39,040 --> 00:11:43,480 several different initiatives into the SAP community from 193 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:47,040 still teaching from the flagship sort of boot camp that we've 194 00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:50,760 sort of honed and done really well with, with training folks 195 00:11:50,760 --> 00:11:53,800 on the Esperhana Public Cloud Edition certification. 196 00:11:54,000 --> 00:11:58,400 To now the new certification intro into business in which we 197 00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:03,520 are actually initiating a sort of a all call out with all of 198 00:12:03,520 --> 00:12:08,200 our partners in high schools to say, hey, bring us your top high 199 00:12:08,200 --> 00:12:11,080 school students. We want to introduce them early. 200 00:12:11,120 --> 00:12:13,800 We want to get folks into tech careers. 201 00:12:13,800 --> 00:12:15,600 The brightest minds are brightest students. 202 00:12:15,600 --> 00:12:17,880 And so we'll talk a little bit more about that. 203 00:12:17,880 --> 00:12:20,400 But those are the things we're excited about getting folks in 204 00:12:20,400 --> 00:12:24,280 earlier and helping them with the tools through the new SAP 205 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:28,200 system to help them to find jobs and the skill sets that we know 206 00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:29,440 the market is demanding. OK. 207 00:12:30,600 --> 00:12:32,760 Very cool. And you have people finding you 208 00:12:32,760 --> 00:12:35,480 just, I guess, through search engine, social media, that sort. 209 00:12:35,480 --> 00:12:37,200 Of thing in referrals. OK. 210 00:12:37,760 --> 00:12:40,640 And what about the other side? So the the employment 211 00:12:40,640 --> 00:12:43,040 opportunities, so it's, it sounds like you're not only 212 00:12:43,040 --> 00:12:45,320 training people, upscaling them, but actually getting them jobs 213 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:48,080 within our ecosystem, within the partner ecosystem. 214 00:12:48,480 --> 00:12:50,240 How does that work? How are you finding those 215 00:12:50,240 --> 00:12:52,320 partners and starting those conversations? 216 00:12:52,720 --> 00:12:56,400 Yes, I think that this before we started with SAP, that was what 217 00:12:56,400 --> 00:12:59,000 we did well. We focused on startups, 218 00:12:59,000 --> 00:13:02,320 entrepreneurs, non employers, those who are looking for 219 00:13:02,320 --> 00:13:07,080 interns, entry level workers is sort of our sweet spot because 220 00:13:07,080 --> 00:13:09,680 it's easier to accelerate and get into jobs. 221 00:13:09,680 --> 00:13:13,200 And so it's sort of what we were already best at. 222 00:13:13,600 --> 00:13:17,440 But this is like a new level. I will say it's been an uphill 223 00:13:17,640 --> 00:13:22,360 beautiful learning opportunity for us to now engage partners 224 00:13:22,360 --> 00:13:27,680 who have larger teams and need the skill sets to be not just 225 00:13:27,680 --> 00:13:30,560 baseline but mid level to high expert skills. 226 00:13:31,000 --> 00:13:35,080 And so first partners that we've hired into is the center. 227 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:38,600 There's a few consulting companies and now we're having 228 00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:42,120 conversations. Was not only bigger companies 229 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:45,520 that have workforces where we locally train here in Atlanta, 230 00:13:45,520 --> 00:13:48,960 think Home Depot, Coca-Cola, a lot of these companies that use 231 00:13:49,040 --> 00:13:52,800 SAP as a software system, a lot of health care systems that also 232 00:13:52,800 --> 00:13:55,600 do that as well. So we're starting to have this 233 00:13:55,600 --> 00:13:57,440 conversation. When we first started, we were 234 00:13:57,440 --> 00:14:00,200 just training partners, which is its own thing. 235 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:06,320 And now we believe strongly that the incentive for a lot of folks 236 00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:10,520 we're trying to discover makes sense of the future work now 237 00:14:10,520 --> 00:14:14,040 with all of the fears and advancement of technology that 238 00:14:14,040 --> 00:14:18,040 the best route is a direct route from skills, from basically 239 00:14:18,040 --> 00:14:22,360 educate to employ. And that is what we're focused 240 00:14:22,360 --> 00:14:25,560 on now is to make sure that there is some ROI on the end of 241 00:14:25,560 --> 00:14:28,680 that SAP certification. OK, very cool. 242 00:14:28,960 --> 00:14:32,320 And what what sort of advice would you have for folks who 243 00:14:32,320 --> 00:14:35,120 maybe want to approach power as a candidate? 244 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:37,680 What skills do they need to have already under their belts? 245 00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,000 Where should they be coming from from the starting point? 246 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:45,960 Yeah, I definitely would say have insane learning curve, a 247 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:50,800 curiosity to learn, a curiosity to be in new environments. 248 00:14:50,800 --> 00:14:54,000 I think more than anything we can teach the technical skills 249 00:14:54,000 --> 00:14:56,800 and I think those who have an aptitude to learn that part, 250 00:14:56,800 --> 00:14:59,800 they can just different ways of formulating learning that we 251 00:14:59,800 --> 00:15:01,880 have in our access to help folks. 252 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,840 But I think the deeper thing is that emotional intelligence 253 00:15:06,080 --> 00:15:11,160 maybe going from backgrounds that have never been in in some 254 00:15:11,160 --> 00:15:14,520 of these environments. So I think it's more so about 255 00:15:14,520 --> 00:15:18,200 that have an insane learning curve and being curious means 256 00:15:18,200 --> 00:15:20,600 you're flexible. It means that you're a right 257 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:23,840 candidate for the cloud. It means that companies from all 258 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,480 over the world can, when they get you, they're not just 259 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,200 getting someone who's excited to learn, but has the energy and 260 00:15:30,200 --> 00:15:32,080 can kind of move in, in and out of room. 261 00:15:32,080 --> 00:15:35,320 So I think the most important thing are those emotional 262 00:15:35,320 --> 00:15:38,880 intelligence, social skills, being able to tell a story, 263 00:15:39,200 --> 00:15:43,360 being able to soak things in. I think the technical skills are 264 00:15:43,360 --> 00:15:45,560 a lot easier. And it's more about the social 265 00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:49,280 skills and being able to be flexible and be on different 266 00:15:49,280 --> 00:15:51,680 teams and learn a lot at a fast pace. 267 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,560 So I think those are the skills. Be flexible, have an insane 268 00:15:55,560 --> 00:16:00,000 learning curve and be confident and know that the future work 269 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,480 like belongs to you as well. If you if you're, if you're 270 00:16:02,480 --> 00:16:04,640 willing to take on, take on the job. 271 00:16:05,160 --> 00:16:07,480 Yeah, yeah. I think a lot of misconceptions 272 00:16:07,480 --> 00:16:11,120 when people hear of SAP or tech company, they often think like 273 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:13,600 this is only something for folks who have a computer science 274 00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:16,160 degree and that they're going to be programming all day. 275 00:16:16,360 --> 00:16:19,120 When in fact, if you're going to be in the consulting role, for 276 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:23,120 example, you need to have like rapid comprehension of complex 277 00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:26,160 ideas, concepts, you need to hit the ground running. 278 00:16:26,320 --> 00:16:29,000 So are you able to help folks a little bit in that respect 279 00:16:29,000 --> 00:16:30,760 throughout their training experience in Bauer? 280 00:16:31,280 --> 00:16:33,320 Yeah, absolutely. And I will say one of our 281 00:16:33,320 --> 00:16:37,920 graduates shout out to Chelsea. Chelsea was actually coming from 282 00:16:37,920 --> 00:16:42,480 the fitness industry and she, you know, Chelsea's just such a 283 00:16:42,480 --> 00:16:44,520 boss. She has such a great personality 284 00:16:44,520 --> 00:16:47,760 and had a sales acumen even though it wasn't on her resume 285 00:16:47,760 --> 00:16:50,080 as that. And now she's one of the top 286 00:16:50,080 --> 00:16:56,120 sales consultant at her company. She sold over 350 K within her 287 00:16:56,120 --> 00:16:59,160 first eight months. And So what I'm saying also into 288 00:16:59,160 --> 00:17:01,360 that we're attracting untapped gyms. 289 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:05,400 We're we're attracting people who could sell you anything if 290 00:17:05,400 --> 00:17:08,640 you were on a train or a subway in the local city, right? 291 00:17:08,640 --> 00:17:12,720 And they just needed that, that credential to say, great, now I 292 00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,319 can go out into the world and use the skill set. 293 00:17:15,680 --> 00:17:18,599 What we do at Bauer is very interesting because we have 294 00:17:18,599 --> 00:17:22,119 weekly study courses, which I think just helps to continue to 295 00:17:22,119 --> 00:17:24,960 build that muscle of learning and to learn these new things in 296 00:17:24,960 --> 00:17:28,200 a way that individualized learners may understand 297 00:17:28,440 --> 00:17:33,240 differently. But we also offer social, I 298 00:17:33,240 --> 00:17:36,480 would say social counseling, therapy counseling sessions. 299 00:17:36,640 --> 00:17:38,680 Shout out to Desmond who leads those sessions. 300 00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:41,560 And these are just everything from doing breath work to 301 00:17:41,560 --> 00:17:46,800 talking about some of our fears, to working on interview prep to 302 00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:51,040 working on career readiness. We have a course for that sort 303 00:17:51,040 --> 00:17:53,880 of a weekly class for that. But specifically in these 304 00:17:53,880 --> 00:17:57,000 classes, we work on those soft skills, right? 305 00:17:57,600 --> 00:18:01,280 Talking through, telling your story, talking through, talking 306 00:18:01,280 --> 00:18:03,800 about your resume in your work experience. 307 00:18:03,800 --> 00:18:06,920 And so we really focus on equipping that because we 308 00:18:06,920 --> 00:18:10,200 realized even when we were getting folks interviews, some 309 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:11,520 of the interviews wouldn't go right. 310 00:18:11,520 --> 00:18:14,680 And when we would sort of survey and figure out why, and it was 311 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:18,600 because folks had just never had a technical interview or folks 312 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:21,920 had just never talked to someone, interview someone in 313 00:18:21,920 --> 00:18:24,160 the UK and then interview someone in California. 314 00:18:24,160 --> 00:18:25,800 It was just a new experience for them. 315 00:18:25,800 --> 00:18:29,640 And so I think as builders of this space, we can't assume 316 00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:32,880 anything. We have to just say what are the 317 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:36,960 resources that learners and job seekers need right now? 318 00:18:37,320 --> 00:18:41,000 And that continues to iterate as you get new job seekers from new 319 00:18:41,000 --> 00:18:43,680 places. And so just being open to that, 320 00:18:43,680 --> 00:18:45,480 I think we've done a really good job with it. 321 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:48,440 It certainly sounds like a holistic approach to getting 322 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:51,960 people up skilled and ready for the SAP ecosystem, so not just 323 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:53,600 the technical stuff. Yes, exactly. 324 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,080 Awesome. So I think for the listeners 325 00:18:57,120 --> 00:18:59,560 that have made it this far in the podcast, they're probably 326 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,000 gonna have a lot of questions as to how they can reach out to 327 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:04,280 you, how they can reach out your organization, how they can get 328 00:19:04,280 --> 00:19:07,040 started training with Vour, What are their options? 329 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:10,640 Yeah. So you guys can reach out to us. 330 00:19:10,640 --> 00:19:14,680 I work on every platform you can think of. 331 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:17,880 I would say if you go to our Tiktok and it's because we're 332 00:19:17,880 --> 00:19:19,840 trying to build our Tiktok up, I'll start there. 333 00:19:20,120 --> 00:19:23,160 I think that these are the types of things we want to go viral, 334 00:19:23,160 --> 00:19:23,920 right? Yeah. 335 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:27,680 So you can find us on Tiktok at the Valer Inc, that's 336 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:33,560 THEVOWERINC. And you can find me on Tiktok 337 00:19:33,560 --> 00:19:36,200 where I talk about all of these things and sort of give you The 338 00:19:36,200 --> 00:19:39,840 Dirty on which certifications you should look for and what 339 00:19:39,840 --> 00:19:42,280 skill sets and jobs are on the other end of that. 340 00:19:42,560 --> 00:19:44,720 You can find me at Jay Beds Jones. 341 00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:52,200 That's at JABEZJONES and that's also on TikTok, on Instagram. 342 00:19:52,200 --> 00:19:59,000 You can find us on The Vower Inc, THEVOWERINC and Vower Inc 343 00:19:59,000 --> 00:20:02,040 on LinkedIn. Also, you can go to our website 344 00:20:02,080 --> 00:20:08,240 at www.vower.org. OK, very cool. 345 00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:10,160 All right, we're going to pull that, put all that in the show 346 00:20:10,160 --> 00:20:11,720 notes. But I just wanted to get it out 347 00:20:11,720 --> 00:20:14,520 there, get it out there verbally as well and kudos. 348 00:20:14,520 --> 00:20:16,200 You getting the word out on TikTok? 349 00:20:16,200 --> 00:20:19,160 I'm I'm pretty sure you have the SAP market on TikTok cornered. 350 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:22,160 SAP itself is notably absent on that platform. 351 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:24,360 But this is going to give this is going to give them. 352 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:29,640 We're winning entire mayoral races from people Democratic. 353 00:20:29,640 --> 00:20:32,000 I think we, I don't know if you want to keep this in the notes, 354 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:38,960 but like the New York Democratic mayoral candidate literally just 355 00:20:38,960 --> 00:20:44,120 did TikTok reels very well. So I think we have to shift and 356 00:20:44,120 --> 00:20:48,440 I'm, you know, talking to my friends at SAP, the marketing, 357 00:20:48,440 --> 00:20:52,880 Hey, it's time, you know, we got to get on with the New Times and 358 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,320 move on with where the people are and the Gen. 359 00:20:55,320 --> 00:20:57,640 Z and the millennials. They need to find out about 360 00:20:57,640 --> 00:21:01,160 these opportunities and you we got to meet them where they are 361 00:21:01,160 --> 00:21:03,240 so. Well, we we appreciate you 362 00:21:03,240 --> 00:21:07,080 holding down the Fort in TikTok while while SAP yes, figures out 363 00:21:07,080 --> 00:21:09,200 what they have to do to get off of that platform. 364 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,880 Yes, But back to Bauer and how you see things going in the 365 00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:15,040 future. So you've done a lot in a very 366 00:21:15,040 --> 00:21:17,400 small amount of time. That's really impressive. 367 00:21:17,400 --> 00:21:18,920 Thank you. I'm pretty sure you're not done 368 00:21:18,920 --> 00:21:19,360 here. No. 369 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:21,880 What is your future, your future vision? 370 00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:25,000 Where you going? I want you to imagine a world, 371 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:29,120 David, where you are on the tube in London, or if you're in 372 00:21:29,120 --> 00:21:31,000 Atlanta, you're on the the Marta. 373 00:21:31,320 --> 00:21:35,120 And just as you can pick up your phone and swipe left and right 374 00:21:35,120 --> 00:21:39,280 on finding a date, you should be able to swipe left and right to 375 00:21:39,280 --> 00:21:43,440 learn skills and to find jobs. We're building and envisioning a 376 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:49,920 world that as seamless as gaming and gamified we are, it should 377 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,360 be the way for the way we learn and find jobs. 378 00:21:52,360 --> 00:21:56,400 We have to move faster. We have to move faster and sort 379 00:21:56,400 --> 00:22:00,120 of close a lot of gaps that we've left behind in K through 380 00:22:00,120 --> 00:22:03,440 12 in order for us to be innovative and keep up with the 381 00:22:03,440 --> 00:22:08,000 advancements of technology. So our North star at Bower is 382 00:22:08,000 --> 00:22:12,320 ensuring that you should be able to swipe left, see a job up 383 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:16,680 skill for that job, earn points, use those to buy Jordans, 384 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:19,960 concert tickets, buy some. I don't know if you're into 385 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:22,680 crypto, put some cryptocurrency in your bank. 386 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:25,440 And we're building habits around learning. 387 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:29,080 We're building people's resumes in real time and we're on 388 00:22:29,080 --> 00:22:31,440 ramping them to LinkedIn. We're making them more 389 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:34,240 marketable. Look at what Palantir University 390 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:35,840 is doing. You know, they're saying skip 391 00:22:35,840 --> 00:22:39,680 college, come directly here and we'll train you for and to be 392 00:22:39,680 --> 00:22:43,440 innovative and to support our GDP and to build things and to 393 00:22:43,440 --> 00:22:45,960 create. And so we're just, I'm just 394 00:22:45,960 --> 00:22:49,480 geeking out and excited about the future work because I know 395 00:22:49,600 --> 00:22:54,520 this is an opportunity for us to really lightspeed and build the 396 00:22:54,520 --> 00:22:58,680 fastest, most impactful skills, first hiring company that we've 397 00:22:58,680 --> 00:23:00,560 ever seen. And so that's what I'm working 398 00:23:00,560 --> 00:23:03,120 on all day is the future. It's the future. 399 00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:04,720 That's awesome. Rejoice. 400 00:23:04,720 --> 00:23:08,080 All right, so we got your socials, we got your your 401 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,600 contact info. We see the vision where you're 402 00:23:10,600 --> 00:23:15,000 going, and now we always want to close on some final words of 403 00:23:15,000 --> 00:23:18,840 wisdom for those learners out there who are considering 404 00:23:18,840 --> 00:23:23,040 getting started with their SAP journey, and maybe even somebody 405 00:23:23,040 --> 00:23:26,960 who's interested in taking your route and not only getting 406 00:23:26,960 --> 00:23:30,520 started with SAP, but becoming a partner of some sorts and 407 00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:32,680 training others. What would you tell those folks 408 00:23:32,680 --> 00:23:36,680 out there with such aspirations? I would say start right now. 409 00:23:37,440 --> 00:23:41,080 You are well equipped. The time is right now we're just 410 00:23:41,080 --> 00:23:44,200 waiting on you. The opportunities are ripe. 411 00:23:44,520 --> 00:23:47,520 Don't listen to anything outside of yourself. 412 00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:52,080 If you can believe it and have a healthy disregard for them 413 00:23:52,080 --> 00:23:53,720 possible. It can be yours. 414 00:23:53,720 --> 00:23:56,320 And it's not just for everyone else out here and meet literally 415 00:23:56,320 --> 00:24:01,280 I'm I was a full time teacher teaching 5th grade and then, you 416 00:24:01,280 --> 00:24:04,600 know, two years after that I'm supporting one of the largest 417 00:24:04,600 --> 00:24:08,040 companies in the world to help people find skills and gain 418 00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,640 jobs. And so I think we're just in a 419 00:24:10,720 --> 00:24:12,800 world right now where we need believers who are going to 420 00:24:12,800 --> 00:24:15,480 create great things and make amazing impact and we have to 421 00:24:15,520 --> 00:24:19,000 push back towards anything else that's saying anything against 422 00:24:19,000 --> 00:24:20,440 that. So that's what I would say, 423 00:24:20,440 --> 00:24:23,520 start now, break things and keep going. 424 00:24:23,520 --> 00:24:25,720 Just start now. Outstanding. 425 00:24:26,040 --> 00:24:28,280 Thank you so much for your time. Rejoice and thanks for sharing 426 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:29,960 your story. Thank you, David. 427 00:24:30,360 --> 00:24:31,680 Thank you all. Right. 428 00:24:31,680 --> 00:24:33,080 Everybody go out there and get it. 429 00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:33,880 Bye now.