How to make Public Speaking your Superpower. And your Career.
About this episode
Vinay Pushpakaran shares his journey from marketing to public speaking, emphasizing the importance of understanding the audience in building a successful career.
From Marketing to Public Speaking: Understanding Consumer Behavior Beyond the Numbers # From Beer Sales to Berlin (Sort Of): One Speaker's Winding Path Rarely does mishearing a job destination lead to one of the most formative experiences of a career. Vinay Pushpakaran thought he was heading to Berlin, Germany, only to land in Benin, West Africa, where he discovered that markets, like people, require genuine understanding before they reveal their secrets. What does it actually take to build a career around speaking the customer's language? Vinay's story begins long before any stage. During engineering school, he found himself drawn to organizing events and sponsorships rather than technical coursework, which quietly pointed him toward marketing. A breakthrough moment came during a placement interview with Herbertsons, where a question about Kingfisher beer sales prompted a refreshingly simple answer: growth comes either from existing customers consuming more or from converting new ones. That honest clarity (the kind most people overthink away) landed him the job. Deeply, this episode is about the same idea repeated in different forms: knowing your audience matters more than…
More episodes of My First Job Podcast
- Beyond the Cockpit: 3,000 Hours of Fighter Pilot Wisdom
- Creative careers. For those who thrive on unpredictability
- A career vet in real life? It's not like the movies at all.
- Imagine a career where you bet on the future - of others
- Want a career that impacts millions of people?
- From Economics to Tea Estates: A Lifetime of Learning in Plantation Management
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the My First Job Podcast podcast page.