Pony Tales Podcast
We chat with successful entrepreneurs and professionals who share lessons learned by selling door-to-door during college with Southwestern Advantage. The show is not directly affiliated with the internship itself, but invites alumni of the program to share their experience. These stories vary from motivational, outrageous, comedic, instructional, informational and valuable to any person wanting to learn more about personal growth, attitude, discipline, sales, recruiting, work-life balance, entrepreneurship, work ethic, and much more. Listen on your favorite platform.
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John Carey didn't plan on becoming an expert in grid security and renewable energy infrastructure—he started with a random call to his dorm at NC State, which landed him in door-to-door book sales with Southwestern Advantage. Today, he's CEO of Ovanova, a company creating portable microgrids and secure energy solutions
Lester Crafton and John Carey back to Pony Tales for nearly three hours of straight-through conversation. They start with the job that first put them on doorsteps and finish in the middle of a national-grid debate, showing—step by step—how those early summers shaped everything that came after. Lester explains the momen
Victoria Varberg works in conservation now — specifically raising money to help protect rhinos at Ol Pejeta Conservancy in Kenya. In this episode, she talks about how she got into that world, what it’s really like working in international fundraising, and how much of what she learned from selling books still applies. S
Eric Hampton is an AE and RevOps Manager at Lemony.ai, and he’s carved out a career in one of the fastest-moving industries out there: AI startups. In this episode, we talk about what it’s actually like working in tech after the book field — how sales cycles are different, how to position yourself to get hired, and how
Get info about BIZZLER in Greece here: cassandra@travodyssey.com Get ready for a marathon episode with Ella Roach! As the daughter of a book-seller, Ella brings a perspective we don’t hear often — what it’s like growing up around Southwestern and then going through the experience yourself. In this conversation, we tal
Get info about BIZZLER in Greece here: cassandra@travodyssey.com In this episode of The Pony Tales Podcast, we chat with Joe, who sold books for three summers in the 1980s and went on to build a remarkable career. Joe is the author of Habits Driven is the Game Changer, where he shares how the habits he developed durin
