What if the job you think is a dead end is actually your biggest career asset?

In this episode, Tom's cousin Pete joins the pod to talk about why grit beats polish, what he actually looks for when reviewing grad school applications (hint: it's not your GPA), and the real tradeoffs of taking the scenic route in your career. Plus, Lorenzo opens up about how getting DOGE'd has him rethinking his own path.

If you're stuck in a job that feels like it's going nowhere — this one's for you.

TIMESTAMPS

0:00 – Meet the "Better Barry" (and the Brady Bunch intro)

2:01 – Who is Pete? Woods Hole, Birkenstocks, and cracking gas

5:06 – Why geology? Field trips, fossils, and finding your thing

9:00 – Everyone went to grad school... except Pete

11:06 – The odd jobs era: valet, babysitting, and gas station hot dogs

13:00 – "Soul-crushing": what the field technician job actually looked like

15:41 – Day one: "Here's a broom, start sweeping"

17:18 – How hating your job becomes the best motivation

19:08 – The last-minute call that changed everything

22:15 – Plot twist: the dead-end job got him into Scripps

23:45 – What Pete looks for when reviewing MIT applications

26:48 – Reality Gap #2: Passion vs. building the "perfect" resume

29:42 – Antonia's passions: travel, food, and doing the dirty work

33:09 – Pete's brother, studying abroad, and 40 countries later

36:52 – Lorenzo reflects: what Pete's story means for his own path

39:28 – Getting DOGE'd and learning to see setbacks as opportunities

43:00 – 100 applications, 99 rejections: Pete's real journey to tenure

45:13 – The tradeoff no one talks about: starting a family at 40

48:00 – Pete's advice: why you should travel while you can

53:11 – Grit over polish: final thoughts

55:02 – Shameless plug for The Search + wrap-up

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