Degree Free

"What’s alarming is that many think that having a degree is an employment guarantee. Solely connecting higher education to career sustainability creates a false sense of security."
-Zakiya Akerele, author of Dump Your Degree

Dr. Zakiya Akerele is an Atlanta-based educator, author, and speaker who found an early passion in academic pursuits hoping to use them to improve herself and the world around her. 

She sought higher education with full force, obtaining degrees from Florida A&M University (B.A.), Columbia University (Ed.M.), and Fordham University (M.A. and Ph.D.) in International Education, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. Dr. Akerele has served in various capacities at higher education institutions and at social justice, political, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) both in the U.S. and abroad.

Her new book, Dump Your Degree, is a timely and invaluable resource for anyone seeking guidance on navigating higher education, developing their career, and having financial security.

In this episode, we talked about:

• Why a degree won't guarantee career success, and what can you do instead to have a successful career?
• How you can repurpose your education to get the job you want and achieve financial freedom
• Why 'who you know' is as important as 'what you know' to have career success.

Ryan and Zakiya also talked about how parents can help their children prepare for college and their careers.

Hope you all enjoy this fun conversation and value-packed episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

No degree and thinking of changing careers? Learn about these jobs that only require professional licenses and start earning at least $60k/year!

In this episode, we talk about:

• Jobs that only require a professional license, their requirements, and how you can become one!
• What's the day-to-day like for these professional license jobs.
• The pros and cons of each job to help you see which one fits you the best.

Ryan and Hannah also talk about why Reddit AMAs are a goldmine for information when you're looking for certain professions.

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Drake Porter is an entrepreneur, League of Legends coach, and he's currently working at Facebook/Meta as a Senior Product Manager. 

Watch the full episode to learn about his journey on how he went from unemployed because of COVID, to earning $385,000/yr at Meta without a college degree.

In this episode, we talked about:

• How Drake went from founding his own startup and working numerous jobs, to unemployed from COVID to earning $385,000/yr as a Senior Product Manager at Meta despite having no college degree.
• What does a product manager do and what skills you should learn to become one.
• Effective strategies that you can do to get hired quickly and beat the competition.

Drake also talked about why it's a very good idea to start a side project that you can put in your resume, especially if you have little to no experience.

Hope you all enjoy this fun conversation and value-packed episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Everyone has failures. It’s easy to think that other people don’t have failures when you don’t hear about them. So, today we’re going to talk about one of the biggest interview fiascos of Ryan’s career. 

In this episode, we talk about:

• The biggest interview fiasco of Ryan's career, in great detail!
• What we learned from Ryan's biggest interview failure and what Ryan could've done differently.
• What you can do to bounce back after experiencing failures and why you should not be so hard on yourself.

Ryan and Hannah also talked about why we sometimes only notice people's successes instead of their failures.

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

A lot of the job market is filled informally. Where do we find jobs that aren’t listed on job sites?

In this episode, we talk about:

Where to find jobs that aren’t listed on job boards and beat the job competition
Why 80% of people are competing for the 20% of jobs that are listed on job boards
Why letting your network know that you’re looking for a job is the best and first thing you should do if you're job hunting.

Ryan and Hannah also talked about why it’s better to apply directly to the company’s website instead of using the job listing.

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Robyn Samuels Altucher is an accomplished entrepreneur and podcaster who has lived all over the world. She built one of the largest salons and spas in Austin, TX in the 1990s. 

Robyn lived in Ghana for three years, China for six years, and Kuwait for three years while raising three amazing children. She has produced and appeared on dozens of episodes of the successful podcast, "The James Altucher Show" and is a co-founder of the website NotePD.com, the social network of ideas.

In this episode, we talked about Robyn's degree free journey and how she went from an apprentice to having a successful services business with 70+ employees. 

We also talked about the importance of mastering soft skills and body language, and how it permeated through other areas of her life. Finally, we also talked about parenting and how you can teach your kids about alternative paths to college and how they can be free thinkers!

Hope you all enjoy this fun conversation and value-packed episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Your work and your job are not the same things! Here's why tying your work and purpose to your job is risky for you.

In this episode, we talk about:

- How you can protect yourself and be more future-proof by separating your work from your job.
- How employers and employees are in a constant dance for power. 
- Why giving an employer a chokehold over the way you value yourself, your happiness, or your life’s purpose is a great way to expose yourself to having those things threatened or taken from you.

Ryan and Hannah also talk about why it's important to remind yourself that you can still do work you love without doing it at the job you have now.

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Learning how to sell completely changed the trajectory of our lives! Here's why everyone should learn how to sell!

In this episode, we talk about:

- How Ryan and Hannah learned how to sell and how they used their sales skills to create a successful business, grow their career and change their life.
- Why learning sales gives you invaluable soft skills and why it can be useful pretty much anywhere in your life. 
- What are books and resources that you can use to learn how to sell.

Ryan and Hannah also shared their own sales stories!

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Due to Covid and the last couple of years, a lot of people are being left with work history gaps in their resumes. Today, we’re going to talk about some things you can do to address them!

In this episode, we talk about:

- Why a work gap is a big deal and what are the different ways you can do to address them?
- The different strategies you can do to focus on the value you can provide when you're asked about your work gap, whatever the reason is!
- What should you do if you're currently in an employment gap?

Ryan and Hannah also share some books that you can read if you wanna do some soul searching!

Hope you all enjoy the episode!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co

Joel Bein is a Writer and Head of Growth at The Daily Job Hunt(Careerhackers.com), an email to over 200,000 subscribers with daily tips on how to supercharge your job search!

His experience in pitching companies directly allows him to land interviews 80% of the time. Joel has written 500+ blog posts and as a classically trained musician and conductor, is also the Founder of New Orleans Chamber Players.

He's also the author of Do It Now: a finished book.

We talked about a variety of topics: his experience in conducting an orchestra and how it helped in his day-to-day life, how you can stand out in your job search by using video pitches, and more!

Please enjoy this fun conversation with Joel Bein!

To keep up with everything Degree Free check out our website: https://degreefree.co

Get the guide on how to: Teach Yourself. Get Work. Make Money. No Degree Needed.: https://degreefree.co/workbook

Sign up for our free weekly newsletter and get exclusive tips and tricks to make great money without a college degree! https://degreefree.co/signup

Like, subscribe, write us a review, and if you have a question or want some advice email us at contact@degreefree.co