Don't Do That: Don't Fall in Love with a Job Before Doing Your Due Diligence
Summary:
What’s the career mistake that can derail your confidence, drain your energy, and impact every area of your life? For Graham Thomas, Chief Revenue Officer at The Compound Media, it’s falling in love with a job before asking the hard questions.
In this episode, host Kelly Waltrich sits down with her friend and industry peer Graham Thomas to discuss the evolution of digital media, the power of relationship building, and the lessons learned from career missteps. They explore what makes Compound Media unique, from the genuine personalities behind the shows to the disciplined content creation process and why most RIAs shouldn’t try to replicate it.
Drawing on his own painful experience of taking the wrong job at the wrong time, Graham shares why job seekers need to be aggressive interviewers, remove their ego from career decisions, and do thorough due diligence before making a move. He opens up about the stress of being in a bad-fit role, including a panic attack during a sales pitch that served as a wake-up call. Most importantly, he reframes the job search: it’s not just about finding any new opportunity, it’s about protecting your well-being and recognizing when the grass isn’t actually greener.
This conversation is filled with practical advice for anyone navigating their career, from understanding what makes great media content to knowing when to hug your current company instead of chasing the next shiny thing.
Kelly and Graham cover:
00:00 – Introduction to Graham Thomas and Compound Media
02:07 – The evolution from financial advisor to media sales leader
03:41 – How Graham rode the wave of digital transformation in B2B media
06:47 – The challenge of sales leadership in the modern digital marketing era
07:46 – Why people want to interact with personalities, not brands
09:11 – The disciplined content creation process behind Compound’s success
12:07 – The reality of podcast production and why 90% fail
13:21 – The importance of helping people find the right roles
15:50 – Being respectful to younger professionals and the changing guard
17:07 – Dealing with rude clients and setting boundaries
19:41 – Why most RIAs shouldn’t try to replicate Compound Media
21:33 – The genuine personalities and truth that drive viewer loyalty
24:15 – Finding a niche and starting slow with content
25:00 – The trap of thinking your financial planning process is differentiating
26:29 – How AI content is polluting major financial sites
28:47 – Graham’s “Don’t Do That”: Don’t fall in love with a job before doing your due diligence
30:31 – The importance of asking the right questions during interviews
35:00 – Graham’s personal story: leaving a great job for a bad fit
36:04 – Having a panic attack during a sales pitch and what it taught him
38:08 – The “hug your company” era and appreciating what you have
39:12 – Using Glassdoor, LinkedIn, and other tools for due diligence
40:00 – Why skill test checks matter when hiring marketers
42:12 – Questions to ask: understanding day-to-day expectations and past performance
43:43 – Being transparent about the hard parts of a role
46:41 – Why you’ll only truly love a small percentage of jobs in your life
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About Our Guest:
Graham Thomas is the Chief Revenue Officer for The Compound Media Inc. With 25 years of sales experience, he has held leadership positions in Media, Data and Software, mostly in the B2B space. He currently lives in Chicago with his wife, 2 daughters, a dog and a cat.