Interview with Ed Cabellon

I’m starting a series today where I will be interviewing people that I look up to or admire in one way or another. I hope I’ll learn a little something about what makes them tick and hopefully my readers will learn a little something as well. The first interview is with Ed Cabellon.

Tell me a little bit about your career – what you do now and what your path has been to get there

By day, I am Director of the Rondileau Campus Center at Bridgewater State College (BSC). The Campus Center and Student Activities/Leadership areas have always been my focal point as a professional, even though I had brief experiences in Residence Life, Greek Life, and Orientation. Learning to be a good supervisor has been the focus of my professional development this past year, and I’m finally getting the hang of it, but grow every day in this area. It is completely different in Student Affairs, when you’re the “boss”. You have to embrace the politics of Higher Education and reach out to people outside of Student Affairs and build relationships if you are to be successful.

By late afternoon/nights, I am a “Professional Educator” and Consultant through my small company called LTE Consulting (Leadership, Technology, Education). I speak at about 20 colleges a year, mostly in the northeast, but I have ventured out into New York recently! This allows me to still have contact with students and staff in a different setting and allows me to teach what I am truly passionate about, Leadership and Technology and how the two intersect in Higher Education. I recently took on a partner, my long time friend Hank Parkinson, who is Director of the Campus Center at Fitchburg State College in MA, to help with the growing demand of the company services. It is a great little business and its just enough work to keep us busy! Also, I am the Golf Coach for the Stonehill College Golf Club/Team. We’re not varsity, but do compete in many matches in the Fall and Spring against other Club Teams. It is nice because I connect with these students in a different way, and I get to play golf for free and earn a small stipend. It really is a great side gig and keeps me connected with my alma mater.

Finally, throw in all the social media stuff with Facebook, Twitter, and my Blog and I’ve been able to duplicate many of my efforts “in real life” to online, essentially cloning me! What you see, read, watch (coming soon) online is all part of my personal brand, which I continue to build. I believe in this approach, which is why I am living it! The reason of the “timely” nature of your question is that many people in my life who know me, didn’t even know about many of my “side stuff” until they started following me on Facebook or Twitter, and were blown away by my blog. It is funny to think about how much we DON’T share in our day to day lives.

So, if I’m reading this correctly, it sounds like maybe jumping into the housing arena got you interested in activities and the student union?

I was an RA in college and thought Residence Life was going to be my path, but as I thought about it more, I could not see myself living in. After reflection, I realized that I truly enjoyed speaking, training, running large events, and all of that happened in the Student Union. So, I worked a split Residence Life/Student Activities job at the University of New Hampshire, after graduating from Stonehill College. I loved the Student Activities / Student Union Side of my job more, so I went to graduate school at Central Connecticut State University and did a two year internship in the Student Center (1 year in Operations, 1 year in Student Activities), then starting working at Tufts University.

Did you do any activities/events in undergrad?

Yes, Class Councils, Hall Councils, Orientation Leaders, and SGA were my thing, along with Campus Ministry.

How did you end up jumping into the student union/student affairs and what was the decision making process that led you there?

My Mentors were the main part of the decision making process. I just recognized that the Union was where I wanted to be and when I decided on Graduate Programs, the one at Central Conn had the internship experience I wanted and the education (MS in Educational Leadership)

Did you consider anything else before you settled on that?

In college, I thought I was going to go into Public Relations or Marketing because of my Communications degree, but I hated my business internships (mostly the people involved). I remember saying that I loved college so much and that I never wanted to leave, and that perked up my mentor’s ears!
It looks like LTE was something that you started while still an associate director at BSC. You had about 5 years post masters and about 10 years of work experience in higher ed at this point. What specifically led you to start this business?

I had developed a solid reputation over my professional career up until that point as a great presenter and motivational speaker. There really wasn’t a topic I couldn’t present on and connect with students in a way that they appreciated and learned from. In my years as a new professional, I became the “presenter” that colleagues would ask to present at conferences and subsequently when students saw me present, they asked if I could come to their campus and teach them what was making our Tufts students so successful in leadership and in programming.

Was there an opportunity that presented itself?

Opportunities presented themselves all the time. It got to be such a regular thing with me, that my accountant, who noticed I was bringing in a substantial amount of money each year outside of my “job”, recommended that I create the business to protect my intellectual and monetary/physical capital I was accruing. And poof! LTE Consulting was born!

Was this an interest before you actually started the business?

Yes, I’ve always said that if I could become a professional educator full time, and speak at about 35-50 schools a year and make what I’m making now, I would do it in a heartbeat. I just don’t have a client list that long yet, plus with two young kids at home, I’m a little more hesitant. But I love what I do now and as long as I can balance it all, I feel like I have a good thing going.

Given your experiences, both personally and the students you’ve worked with and advised, what would you recommend when they’re trying to decide where they want to go with their life? Any pitfalls you’ve seen that stand out? What of the student who is “lost” as we might say?

When working with anyone, if they are “lost” and can’t find focus in their life, I ground them by asking them about their passions, or what excites them about life in general. Are they artistic, do they like organizing things, do they enjoy playing a sport, etc. Using that as a starting point always helps since it simplifies things. Many times, I see people just over-complicate situations and sometimes, it takes someone to just re-focus them. Another thing I find helpful is that I talk with them about what their fears are and how its affecting their lives. Many times, FEAR is the #1 reason that people are “lost” and the INACTION that fear creates, causes people to sit idle instead of acting on what their “genius” is. I see students all the time underestimate themselves and overestimate others. I try to reverse that by building their confidence.

The biggest pitfalls I see are:
a. People don’t want to make mistakes, so they try to be perfect all the time. Mistakes are where we learn the most about ourselves and others. Learning to be OK with those mistakes and hearing people’s honest feedback are traits that I appreciate in others.

b. Many of our students want success now (this is connected to our instant-gratification society that we have created). But something that will never go away is hard work, patience, and perseverance. Most people will fail multiple times before they even taste success.

c. People try and do it alone. The most successful people are always surrounded by supportive people who helped get them there. When people begin to ask for help and really take the help provided, they’re almost always back on track.

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You can keep up with Ed on his blog or on Twitter.