Meet Jody Maberry

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Jody Maberry. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Jody below.

Hi Jody , thanks for sharing your insights with our community today. Part of your success, no doubt, is due to your work ethic and so we’d love if you could open up about where you got your work ethic from?

Work ethic often comes from role models. I was fortunate to have good, strong, blue-collar role models as I was growing up. Also, work ethic can come from realizing that time and pressure can help you accomplish nearly anything. It sticks with you once you get a big win through a strong work ethic.

My work ethic comes from both places. I learned to work hard by watching others who set an example. Then, once my work ethic helped me accomplish goals or receive accolades, it prompted me to work harder. Eventually, you realize you want to be proud of any work with your name. When you have that standard, you won’t let up.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

After spending years as a park ranger, I now use storytelling and interpretation to help executives move to the legacy part of their careers after their corporate careers are over. After spending decades in the corporate world, most executives can take their knowledge, experience, and stories and present them in a way that helps the next generation. That is where I come in. I help them package together the right words, stories, and lessons in a way that helps pass down wisdom. That is how someone can build a legacy; it is rewarding for me to be a part of that.

A notable example is my work with Lee Cockerell, the retired Executive Vice President of Walt Disney World. We have worked together for ten years now. We use Lee’s experience with Hilton, Marriott, and Disney to create courses and host live events. Lee’s legacy will live on for decades in our work with the Cockerell Academy, which offers leadership, management, and customer service courses.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

The traits that helped me the most were persistence, patience, and passion. Once you have a passion for your work, become an expert. Learn everything you can. Never stop being curious about your field. Find other experts and figure out what they are doing that makes them so good. Then, be persistent. Meet everyone related to the field you are an expert in. Be persistent in what you learn. Never stop. Read, learn, ask questions. And then be patient. Patience does not conflict with patience. Persistence is showing up every day. Patience is being willing to show up every day until the right door opens. Don’t force it open. Be patient, meet the right people, learn the right lessons, and the doors will open.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

When I was a park ranger, we were always told we had to be a “well-rounded ranger.” We were expected to know a little bit about everything. If you didn’t know how to do something, you were expected to focus on it and improve. We were never encouraged to go all in on our strengths. Being well-rounded has an advantage, but I don’t think it is the right way to go. If you focus on having a team of well-rounded people, you will have a group who are good enough at many things. Instead, if you focus on a team of experts in particular fields, you will have a world-class team. Let’s put that back in a park setting. Are you better off with five well-rounded park rangers who are good enough at interpretation? Or, is the park better off letting one ranger follow her strength and become a world-class interpreter? The park and the public are better served by one world-class interpreter.

The same is true in business. Focus on your strengths, become an expert, and be world-class at your thing. Then, add people who can help you with the other areas. Not good at bookkeeping? Don’t worry about it. There are many people who are delighted by bookkeeping and would like the opportunity to work with you. Hire them, and focus on what you do best.

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