MSG Presents: Characters From Corporate: A Character Trying To Get To Corporate

In this episode of Characters From Corporate, the mic opens for an honest conversation about fear, ambition, and the invisible barriers people put on themselves.

The episode explores what it really takes to transition into corporate life without traditional credentials, why fear keeps capable people stuck, and how access, internships, and creative pathways can open doors when titles and degrees do not. It also raises a bigger question about the changing value of college, technology, and who actually belongs in corporate spaces.

A listener from Wilmington, Delaware writes in anonymously. He is a Black man in his early thirties working on an assembly line at a manufacturing plant. No college degree, but a deep desire to be in corporate spaces. Boardrooms. Deal making. Strategy. He knows he has more to offer, but admits he has stayed where he is out of fear. Fear of not being qualified. Fear of not being chosen. Fear of pushing his way into rooms he feels were not designed for him.

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Transcript

Characters From Corporate: A Character Trying To Get To Corporate

[00:00:00] characters from corporate is your chance to vent. Talk about how crazy the people are that you work with or find out if you the crazy one, but it's another life game outlet where it's like you can get some feedback on your corporate situation.

It's hard to get feedback sometimes in corporate 'cause you don't wanna show your hand and feel like you look crazy. But we will give you some feedback. Me and Stu. So this one is this week's characters from Corporate says Hi. And you can submit these on our website. Just send us a message anonymously.

Tell us what's up. This one says Hi. I'm a 3-year-old black man from Wilmington, Delaware. Shut up to the dean. Yep. I work at a manufacturing plant on an assembly line. I recently discovered in myself that I have worked at this plant for so long because I'm afraid to push my way into the corporate world.

I do not have a college degree, but a deep desire to be in somebody's boardroom. Wow. Helping deals [00:01:00] go through and really just use my intelligence on a deeper level than I am currently. I guess I'm a character that's trying to get to corporate. Any thoughts on how I should proceed to make this transition?

Man, 32 years old, Wilmington, Delaware, works at a manufacturing plant, wants to be in corporate, trying to get their stool up. I, I when you sent this over I digested it. The only thing that I think, first of all stop the you sound like a victim. Bro, you sound like a victim, don't you?

You're not the victim. Get your confidence up. We don't, nobody cares about the degree stuff, unless they say you have to have a degree, your experience, counselor, get your head out, your ass. You stop playing the victim. Stop downplaying your ability. Hold your head up, throw your shoulders back, have some self-confidence, and go for, let the [00:02:00] people know what you desire and go for it.

Stop being afraid. You're not the victim, and I'm reluctant to call you the character. Maybe it's just lack of self-esteem, right? But that's my take on it. If, hey, sound like you would add some value to the boardroom, just, but you stop playing the victim role, oh, get outta there, man.

And go for what you know, bro. Go for what you know. Let 'em have it and said it with love. We are not judging anybody. Yeah. Nonjudgmental. But we, Hey, we gotta give it to you now. So that's Stew's take My take is the same we just talked about how they have internship programs. There's a way to get creative and get in the door.

Stop worrying about the degree. I agree with that. Degrees are, and people are gonna get mad at me for saying this, but the college degrees are meaning less and less as time goes on. And I say this, and you can [00:03:00] get mad if you want. I don't mean to be judgmental, but I've said this even to my own kids. I believe that college in the future is gonna be somewhere that only the lazy people go, dang bomb.

Only the lazy people will go to college. Wow. Why? Because things have changed. Technology. Access, et cetera, et cetera. So that's my feedback. Characters from corporate. So are we saying, is this guy a character? No. No. I, he can't be a character from corporate because he ain't there yet. Damn.

You know what I mean? You not quite there yet. So you're not a character. You might be a character from else, but not a character from corporate. So we love you bro. Thanks for coming, love. Thank you. Of course. You're a black man, so we here to support. Hit us up if we can do [00:04:00] anything. Might be able to shoot you in a few directions for internship.