AI Edits from Shawn Buttner
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Shawn Buttner: [00:00:00] What are the options we have for careers out in the world? In today's episode of The Meaningful Revolution, we're going to talk about the journeys and insights of people who have made significant shifts in their careers or life's work in pursuit of something they're truly passionate about. Hi, I'm Shawn Buttner, the host of The Meaningful Revolution, and today's guest is the remarkable Dan Swift.
He's the host of Time We Discussed Podcast, a show that highlights unique career paths and inspirational life transitions. In this episode, Dan shares his journey of starting his podcast as a passion project while balancing a day job and family commitments.
Something I think we can all relate to if we're in this creative field. We dive into the incredible stories he's uncovered from esports entrepreneurs to betting big on his dreams at a non profit. We dive deep into some of the incredible stories he's uncovered from An e sports entrepreneur betting on his dreams [00:01:00] to a non profit inspired by personal loss, tackling homelessness and mental health issues.
So whether you're contemplating a career shift yourself, looking for inspiration, or just curious about the unique paths others have taken, this episode offers rich insights and actionable advice. So stick around as we explore how to find what truly lights you up, and make a meaningful, decision.
transition into something you love. So without further ado, let's welcome Dan Swift to the Meaningful Revolution podcast.
(intro)
Dan Swift: I'm so excited to be here, Shawn.
Shawn Buttner: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it too. So appreciate you being here. first off, you have a podcast of your own called Time We Discuss. it talks about career transitions and whatnot. So I was wondering, could [00:02:00] you share a story of either how you got into creating that show or a time when you've needed to shift careers yourself that might have informed your decision to start that show and get rocking with that?
Dan Swift: it starts back in the early 2000s. I actually had the opportunity to work on a podcast with some other people, in the equine industry. And it was very short lived, but I feel like ever since then, I've had the bug.
I finally was able to jump back in, earlier this year, back in January, but basically the catalyst for that was that, my wife was looking to change careers.
And, she was in higher ed and, her master's is also in higher ed. So she's like laser locked in with higher education. And she was trying to figure out what else can she do? How can she transition into a new career? And, she went through all these different things, career coaches and everything like that.
And, we generally weren't satisfied with what she was finding of what they were telling her options were. so I, did what any good husband would do. I would search the internet for anything, any way that I could be [00:03:00] helpful. I found very little information that was helpful, and I thought to myself, that's odd,this stuff should out there, in this digital age of information, there's no reason why this information shouldn't be out there.
And I thought about creating it, and this was back in the summer of 23. I pitched the idea to my wife, around, September, October of 23. She said, if you want to do it. And I was like, ah, I'm not sure. Cause I, Shawn, I don't know about you, but I get these crazy ideas. And before I know it, I'm doing all these different things.
So I waited until, closer to, the end of the calendar year. it was late December and I was finally saying to myself, you know what, I want to to this. and my wife said, go ahead and do it. And so I started in January and, just started trying to find people that, are, the different careers that they're in, how they got there, how people can transition into those careers.
And the main point of it is that I want to try to find those careers that people don't know about those odd ones. I've had some really good luck so far. I just had a declutter that came on, a Julie, a Crachio, I had an oyster farmer I interviewed the other day.
Her [00:04:00] episode comes out in a couple of months. So all these great careers and just trying to educate people about what's really out there and find something that speaks to
that.
Shawn Buttner: Right on. Yeah. this is why I'm really excited that we connected cause the meaningful revolution is all about finding your passion and building a life around those meaningful pursuits.
And so I feel like this is pretty aligned. I guess in broad strokes with everyone that you've interviewed since the beginning of the year, have you noticed some common mindsets or common, ways of thinking people have about when they are considering to make a move and then make the move?
More importantly, they take action on, this idea of oh, wouldn't this be great to oyster or a declutter as a job?
Dan Swift: Yeah,
Some of the big trends I'm noticing, especially with the entrepreneurs is that, you start out small, you take action and little by little, you just go for it. I spoke with a guy that started an eSports platform and, he started this job on the side his [00:05:00] employer, eventually said, you know what, you either need to give up this side business that you have going, or we need to let you loose. And he said, you know what? I'm betting on myself.
I'm going to keep doing it. And he turned it into a multi million dollar platform. so it's neat hearing stories like that where people, they just, they're forced into it, where it's like he might not have been necessarily ready to do that. and then you have other people, like Julie, for instance, who I just spoke about, she started slowly and then ultimately made the transition, if I remember correctly.
so it's nice seeing that gamut where people, they gamble on themselves. they decide when they're going to do it, they do it, they take steps to make it happen, and then they do it.
Shawn Buttner: Awesome. you mentioned that your wife was struggling with figuring out how to transition.
What do you think are some of the common roadblocks that prevent people or delay people from making that decision then? if you're forced into it, that's one thing. if you're lucky, you make it on your own terms. You're like, I have the side hustle going, it's going enough. that's probably like the safest, lowest risk option.
can you maybe talk about what you and your wife discovered together and then what you've seen [00:06:00] broadly?
Dan Swift: Sure. So of the things that, we've discovered very quickly was just the fact that a person pigeon themselves into a particular industry. so that can be challenging to overcome.
so especially with her working in higher ed, now her bachelor's in psychology, so she can always fall back on that and try to do something with psychology. but then getting that master's in higher ed, that kind of locks her in now with a master's degree in the higher ed world. So that could be a bit of a problem.
other things I've seen, people, they tend to follow their passion. I spoke to, Lauren Alice, she works as a communications manager, and she talked about, finding those things that kind of light you up on the inside. I'm finding that a lot of people do that. They find those things that they're more passionate about, especially later in life where people start to what I thought made me happy earlier on in my career doesn't, necessarily make me happy now.
Let me try to find something. And they look to their passion. So I'm seeing a lot of those kinds of commonalities, as far what they decide to pursue and the things that hold them back could be anything from being pigeonholed with education, could be financial, could be any number of things.
I'm a certified high performance coach, so I've helped a [00:07:00] lot of people with their transitions and a lot of it is. family obligations, financials are a big one.
Shawn Buttner: I think that being pigeonholed into a particular career or having the expertise build up and being like, this is the only thing I can do is a big component of it, in the work you've done so far, what have you found most surprising about people's stories and journeys?
I think just some of the occupations that I never heard of or never considered, I spoke earlier about the oyster farmer and that was funny because, I said to her, I said, what's your typical day like? Which I like that question because I want people to get a real idea what that occupation is really
Dan Swift: and of course I got the answer, which a lot of times I do, it's like there is no typical day. so I said, okay,she elaborated a little bit and I was like, okay, But what is it like? And she then realized I had no idea, zero idea, what it was like. And then she jumped in at the beginning of that.
So that was pretty cool. the weird jobs like that is really cool. I spoke to, Meredith. She's a comedian in New York City. That was really cool. Like listening to what that is like on the daily. I spoke to a magician, listening to what that's like the [00:08:00] daily. So you get like these behind the scenes look, behind the scenes look at what people are actually doing.
And I find those stories so fascinating. But any of those stories where, you know, I don't know the job existed, really cool. I was sports psychologist. She's coming up in a, I think about a week, 10 days, something like that. that was really cool. She called, I spoke to her from Australia. So that was just really neat.
and going to apologize, but I could ramble on because I am so excited about all these people and getting, the information out to, the audience. I think it's just awesome.
Shawn Buttner: No, I get it. this is a, this is the show to nerd out and be passionate and excited about it. So you're in the right place.
and I can see the passion oozing from, your face super cool. All right. So trying to think of,
I guess is this your passion project? Is this your full time thing right now? Just out of personal curiosity.
That's
Dan Swift: awesome. it is a passion project at the moment.
I do have a day job. so it's really hard trying to balance. The real job with my passion [00:09:00] with the family life, because honestly, I wasn't expecting it to be much as a time sink as it is. I mean that in the nicest way, do enjoy it, but I was not excited. I said to myself, I was like, okay, we don't record that takes about an hour editing, maybe about an hour, promoting maybe about, I don't know, 30 minutes, an hour, whatever, three hours a week done, but
Shawn Buttner: it's
Dan Swift: so yeah, It is a passion project. I would like to turn it into something a little bit more, but time will tell because you just never know how things are going to grow, how things are going
to unfold.
Shawn Buttner: Oh, right so then outset this season of the beautiful revolution, I've been focusing on, I've been calling people creators to be able to start businesses or podcasts or YouTube channels and trying to figure out, combine it with my coaching and be like, what are habits that are helping you succeed right now?
And managing. All of the family, the day job, the side hustle, and then the unexpected things that life throws at you on top of the things that you know about.
Dan Swift: Some of the [00:10:00] things that are really helping, find tools that, and
For
me, I'm finding tools that make things easier. And I would encourage people to do the same that are trying to do something and they're really strapped for time.
I was on another podcast, I was talking about, time is the one thing we never get back. you can always make more money. You can always but time that's limited. so anytime you can get time back, that is huge. so there's, different, things I do with AI.
I try to leverage that as as I can. I use templates as much as I can. both with the video production, the audio, of emails, the communication, everything is templated out because I only have so much time and I try to make it as personalized as I can. at the end of the day, I just try to make things as, as easy as I can.
and then I also recognize, you gotta take care of yourself too. there was one day, I think it was maybe last week or two weeks ago. I have a lull right now. I really should be editing some videos because I have a huge backlog right now. And I said, I should be editing videos.
But I'm not going to do it. I am going to sit down. we got the kids a Nintendo Switch for Christmas. I was like, I'm gonna play some Switch and for 30 minutes and then that'll be it. And it worked. It got me [00:11:00] what I needed. So it's, important that I take care of myself, as well as try to be focused and do what I got to do
Shawn Buttner: Right on. so much of my study and high performance is knowing when to take breaks because, Getting your mind away from something for five minutes sometimes can be hugely productive over the long term and you want it to be sustainable, right? If you burn out doing editing of videos then you're gonna give it up and the world will be sadder because of it because you got some good folks and you're passionate about it so
Dan Swift: one thing I will say and I wasn't necessarily expecting this per se but The comments I get or the emails I get or even on video when I start recording sometimes people say, Dan I really appreciate what you're doing.
This is such a great idea There's so many people that don't even know That this resource is so big and be so helpful and just that gratitude and just hearing that it's it's like Man, I never expected [00:12:00] to get that. I assume I'm just putting it out there and, the faceless people will digest it,
but hearing that back, it's just you know what?
Wow.
Just
wow.
Shawn Buttner: Yeah. Oh, that's amazing. And I'm, it definitely can relate to that and you never know who's listening right now that needs to hear what we're talking about.
so I'm a software engineer by background, and so I'm using a whole bunch of AI tools myself and the podcast and stuff. we could talk about that if you want to deep dive into that, maybe trade some tips for that, or we can maybe talk about, tips to help people transform, transform their careers.
Dan Swift: Whatever you want to do, it's your choice. I have a huge tech background as well, web development, Okay, alright. Whichever road you want to go down, I'm in.
Shawn Buttner: Cool, cool. let's go down the AI tools, thing. So what are you using to help produce your podcast?
what are some tools that are really helping you be efficient with your time in this side hustle or your main hustle [00:13:00] too?
Dan Swift: one service I discovered, was Transcriptor.
that's just a huge time saver. I have a very big background in accessibility. like I said, web developer by trade.
and part of that is making websites, accessible. using, WCAG, we follow compliancy. for me, that is huge. getting into this world, the transcript was huge. That was a no brainer. It had to happen, and I believe YouTube will do it in some capacity. I believe Spotify does it automatically, but I don't want to rely on that because I didn't know, does it happen on day one, , or is it going be three years later, the transcript will finally be ready.
So I thought it was socially responsible for me to go ahead and create that transcript. So I, discovered Transcriptor. super awesome service. You upload the audio file, it transcribes it for you. It's generally accurate every once in a while. you do have to correct some things for whatever reason.
It likes to add the word Jeff. I don't know why.
I try to go through it before the video goes live just to make sure I capture everything. But with time, I don't always have that luxury. whatever I do catch, I will update and fix it before it actually goes live.
That's one of the tools I love. I was [00:14:00] using, I think it's called Night Cafe, for AI generated images. then I discovered that, the recommendation was to get away from those because you want to have personality on the thumbnails a face to go along with it. so I stopped doing that.
so now I'm just doing images, essentially like Photoshop, to create my thumbnails. And again, I have templates for that all set up. but what else am I using? I do use chat GPT, for some descriptions and then I tweak those, metadata, like a meta description. I'll do that.
keywords, I'm vidIQ. IQ, so that's really helpful as well. I think those are the biggies for AI for me.
Shawn Buttner: Okay, right on. Have you heard of this software?
Dan Swift: I have heard of it. I did look into it. I can't remember if the price point was equal to or better than, or worse, than Transcriptor, based on my usage. I can't remember if that was, one for me to move to, but ultimately I decided to stay with Transcriptor and I don't remember why, but I did. I've heard it.
I have looked into it.
Shawn Buttner: Okay. Right on. so I've been on it for about a year and a half now. It's changed quite a lot. There's a lot of AI tools [00:15:00] that'll find social media clips for you And the AI will generate the transcript and you can edit it on the transcript and it's really cool So just that since you also have a show it might be worth checking out
Dan Swift: It turns them into shorts?
Shawn Buttner: Yeah.
Dan Swift: So I use, and that reminds me of this one. I was talking to, Jen Carr, a podcaster and I forget the name of her but I was, on her show. She was on my show. she recommended, oh, I think it's called Opus Clip. Opus Clip, yeah.
It takes, it makes a bunch of shorts for me. which is huge time saver because trying to create those was just a huge time sink. So she threw that at me, I was like, ah
Shawn Buttner: right on Google.yeah. if you ever do any type of video editing or creative work, any of these tools are amazing.
You just got to pick the mix that works for you. okay, let's switch it over to if you, if someone's I'm not happy with what I'm doing right now, or I need to switch, or it's time to find the [00:16:00] next tool.
Best career, could you recommend like three to five steps maybe on how to help people either think through making that decision or to actually make the jump if it's right for them?
Dan Swift: Sure. first thing I would say is find that thing that, lights you up on the inside, that thing you're really passionate about.
and I recognize everyone, especially, later in life, you're gonna have commitments. you might not be able to just up and quit your job. you might have to. transition slowly into a side hustle or a side business, or just line up another job before you jump ship, so to speak.
but I recommend definitely find that thing that makes you happy, because I remember my dad telling me this when I was a kid, the most important thing in life is happiness. If you're not happy, then it just affects everything else. So I would say, find the thing that lights you up on the inside and see how you can make money doing that.
Does it exist as a career? if not, what's the closest thing, or how can you make it a career? So that would be the first thing I would recommend. I would, be remiss if I didn't mention my podcast. I would say, check out, the one nice thing is on YouTube.
I have the [00:17:00] ability to create playlists, and I've done that. I've created a number of playlists, grouping different episodes together. So if you don't have a college degree, there's a playlist for that.
so it's neat that you can explore these other opportunities. you might say
I don't want to go back to school to get a second degree. Oh, but these jobs they pay, they don't require a degree. Let me look at that. I think that's something else people can explore as well. I'd say, also talk to friends and family, talk to them about the companies they work for and are they good companies?
Do they take care of their people? do, they offer the flexibility that you need either for family or for remote or whatever it is. so those are some of the things that I would recommend, but first and foremost. look at yourself. What makes you happy on the inside and start to work towards that.
Shawn Buttner: when comes to making the decision to, go full time in the side hustle. do you have any thoughts or any, observations from people you've interviewed? is it better to make a deadline and just do yes, no. Is there like a certain [00:18:00] amount of, I think I know the answer to this, but I'd like to hear what you think of like, how do you assess risk of doing that?
how do you make sure that you're taking care of yourself if you do decide to make that decision? anything along those lines?
Dan Swift: Yeah. One of the things that I've heard over and over again is, you gotta be dedicated. You gotta be real to yourself and think, can I really do this?
Am I really going to do this? cause one thing I've learned, I've gotten better at this. But when I was much, much younger, I was very good at duping myself. I was very good, yeah, you can make this happen, you can do it. And then when it's time to do it, it's ahhh. So would say make sure you're real with yourself.
and if you really are going to do it, Then do hold yourself accountable. if you think you're the type of person that might be difficult for you, get a friend or a coach, or a metaphorical cheerleader, someone that's going to hold you accountable and make sure that you're doing what you're setting out to do.
I think that is huge. I've had a couple people say that, either working with coaches or just, working with, a non traditional coach. I think that's huge. make sure your partner is on board [00:19:00] too. that is going to be huge because if you're struggling to make ends meet and you come home and you say, Hey, I quit my job.
I'm going to try to sell thimbles. I can get 'em wholesale. I'm gonna sell. them your spouse or partner might not be super happy with that if this is the first that, they're hearing about it. Make sure they're on board as
Shawn Buttner: Right on. That's solid advice. so I guess the other kind of follow up question to that and the crux of maybe this, what my show is about is how do you know when you found the right thing to chase after or to move towards that thing that you actually are passionate about, Part of it is a feeling. I have some thoughts on it, but I'd like to hear your thoughts on how do you know when you found your passion,
Dan Swift: I dunno that anyone on my show has ever addressed that specifically. Okay. but for me, that I just, I obsess about it.
I get super excited about it. I can't wait sink my teeth into it again. I spend a lot of free time just working on it [00:20:00] or thinking about it.
that would be me, as far as other people, I have to think about if there's anything I've heard that might that, but off the top of my head, I'm not thinking of anything that they've said.
Shawn Buttner: Okay. Fair enough. Do you have a favorite story, from your show so far, that you're like, Oh, I really loved how they shifted or transitioned into?
And
not to put you on the spot, because I'm sure you love every single one of your guests.
Dan Swift: I all like my kids. yeah. I don't know off the top of my head. so at point, I think I have 30, 39 episodes I think are live. Awesome. I've spoken to. 75 people. I was talking to, Aaron Ryan, and he's a science fiction author, and, I was saying to him, and he was around the 25th I spoke to, and I was saying, in the beginning it was so easy to keep everyone separated.
I remembered who everyone was and I [00:21:00] remember very distinct conversations because I'm a very visual person. I remember things by seeing them. Like I could see them in my head and I remember them that way. And by the time I got to him, I was like, they're starting to blend together now. I need to have a list in front of me for when I'm talking people, have the name and the occupation, and then that can, that'll trigger on different memories.
And I said to myself, even today, I said, I got to do this before this recording.
I, really like that esports one. That was the first time I asked the person, what was transition? was it hard, was it easy to let go. And he told me about that ultimatum and that story was just awesome. And it was such a, great story. dare I say like a Cinderella story where it's this is it, man.
Either, we're going to let you go. And he's like, all right, let me go. And he turned it into this, like I said, a multi million dollar. organization. And I just, I love that he bet on himself and he won. And I love that. and all the other entrepreneur type people that I've talked to, they all do that.
They bet on themselves and they go through with it and they win. And I love that. now, [00:22:00] unfortunately, the position that I'm in with my show, I'm not going to probably hear about a lot of the people that haven't made it happen.
Shawn Buttner: right?
Dan Swift: but
it's still neat to hear these stories. how they did make those transitions.
But a lot of them are like that, where they started off small. I think Julie, I think she was the one, and she's just fresh in my head because hers just went live recently. but she was one of these people where, I think she gave herself a deadline. I think she said like July 1st, she was leaving her business and was going to start this new business, which she had already been working on.
she had already done a lot of the legwork and the foundational work and July 1st, she was ready to hit the pavement. And I remember her saying, July 1st came and she's like, all right, don't have a job. I have any clients.
So she went out and then, started to build it.
the nonprofit, Colby's Army, that was a good one. I spoke to, I forget the woman's name, but, she runs the nonprofit out of the south and it was inspired by, her son who had, mental illness ended up taking his own life. And, she ended up creating this non profit, in his memory.
and the different things they're doing is just huge. they're helping homelessness, they have, like a, they do I'm going to say horse [00:23:00] therapy, I can't remember if it's technically horse therapy or not. she was talking about, getting different, she had this awesome story where she was talking about, it's important to keep the connections that you have.
don't lose any of your connections because you never know when they can be helpful. And, there was this one, volunteer, they were looking for size 15 shoes for, a homeless person, I believe it was. And, they're like, where do we get these? And this particular, volunteer, was like, I know someone that plays basketball professionally over in Europe and maybe we can get some size 15s from there.
And sure enough, through the connections, whoop, size 15 shoes appears down at their non profit so that was a good story. It's not necessarily the story of how she transitioned, but a really cool story nonetheless.
Shawn Buttner: Yeah, that's awesome. So yeah, I just wanted to highlight how different.
These transitions can be, right? it is super inspiring. I'm feeling fired up right now just hearing little snippets of it. before maybe wrapping up, [00:24:00] if you're game, I'd love to talk a little bit more. what are your hopes for your show? is this going to be like, you plan on being, full time podcaster someday with a huge podcast network or whatnot, or is this just like a fun experiment?
It'll run its course and you'll find the next thing. what are your expectations for the time we we
Dan Swift: I would love to keep going with it. I would love it to get bigger. it is a bit of a dream at the moment. it's super important. The underlying message though is just helping people.
higher ed is in a bit of a situation right now. I don't know how much you're following what's going on, we're having universities closing, here and there, because of two reasons, one, each university is trying to, keep up with the Jones's next door.
They build these more elaborate buildings and the technology that goes in it, you're buying this expensive technology goes out of date in five years. Get Yeah, you gotta replace all of that. so they're spending a lot of money on infrastructure, whether it's electronic or buildings or whatever.
but then alongside of that, the flip side is that the generation that's coming through now, is coming from parents who [00:25:00] didn't have as many kids. So your enrollment is going down across the board, which is why these universities are also closing. so for that reason, it's important that people that are thinking about going into higher ed, do they need a degree in higher ed?
Did they need a bachelor's degree? Can they get by without a bachelor's degree? So for me, that's a super important thing is really getting people to, at a younger level, a young adult, try to question what is there really want to do and what education, if any, do they really need? Can they just get certificates through like Learning or, pick your online platform?
or do they need that four year degree? What do they really need? Cause college is expensive. so any way that I can help, I take that as a win
I was talking to this person and I said that, if I can help just one person, if just one person says that was super helpful, like I was going to go down this road. I realized that was not for me. so I didn't go. For me, that's a win. I would love to get very big, not super big, not the tens of millions of followers.
I don't need that. [00:26:00] But if I can, get enough that I can do this as my job, that'd be cool. cause I'm helping people and I'm creating real results. And really love that.
Shawn Buttner: I think that's
the
conversation What do you want to do and don't spend hundreds thousands of dollars trying to figure it out, is a good message.
the one that I can get behind having had an advanced degree and a bunch of career switches myself. okay. Awesome, man. outside of that, is there anything else you want to talk about the show before, we direct people on, put the links in the show notes on where to follow up with you?
Dan Swift: Absolutely. TimeWeDiscuss. com is my website. all the latest videos there. There's a full listing of all the videos. It links out to YouTube. and has links to, the various, podcast platforms Book me up on, Spotify, Apple Music or iTunes, wherever it is on Apple.
I'm on iHeartRadio, all those usual places. But I'd say if you're unsure, start with TimeWeDiscuss. com. And then hit the podcast button and from there are links to all those plus YouTube. it is a video show, so if video is important to [00:27:00] you, go to YouTube. And if it's not, then hit up the other links 'cause those are audio only.
I'm trying to make this, To cater to whatever you're interested in. If you're audio in the background or driving, don't watch the video while you're driving.
So definitely use the audio one, but if you like watching people and the expressions and all that stuff, definitely do the video one on YouTube.
If you'd be kind enough, to share this out conversationally.
If someone doesn't know what they want to do, if someone says, I really don't know what I want to do when I grow up, or I'm tired of my job, I want to change careers, this is no longer for me. Then if you could share with them, this podcast, this YouTube channel, that would be awesome because I feel like any little bit we can do to help each other as a human race, that's a win.
Shawn Buttner: Also, I'm on the various social medias. if you look me up, I'm on pretty much under everything as Time We Discuss. All right, on. you heard it from Dan. thank you so much for being on the show. Yeah, and we'll see you guys next time on The Meaningful Revolution. Thanks, Dan.
[00:28:00]
