Micah Kandros
When Jason Tartick left his wildly successful corporate banking position to go on ABC’s The Bachelorette, he had no idea how drastically the trajectory of his life would change.
It was a decision to do something purely for himself during a time he felt the most lost, and that decision went against everything he had ever been taught. It was a decision that rerouted Tartick’s life in a way he never expected.Living in Nashville with his fiancée Kaitlyn Bristowe and their two rescued Golden Retrievers Ramen and Pinot, Tartick’s life looks a lot different than it did before the show. As an entrepreneur, investor, speaker, and host of Apple’s chart-topping business podcast Trading Secrets, Tartick certainly has a wealth of knowledge to share. He founded Restart Consulting, an educational company centered around career and money management, as well as the YouTube channel and blog, Restart, centered around informational and inspirational niche life hacks. Now, Tartick is adding author to his list of accomplishments with the release of his first book The Restart Roadmap, in which he shares the firsthand experience that transformed his life into all that it is today.
Breaking the Blueprint:
Before The Bachelorette, throughout my whole twenties, I was just a corporate warrior. Tell me where to go, how to go, what to do; I’ll go. As a result of that, I earned seven promotions in my almost 10 years in the corporate banking world and I relocated four times. The biggest relocation was from Rochester to Seattle, not knowing one human, but for me it made sense because that promotion allowed me to get the title, the pay, and the vision of what success looks like in the corporate world. I also earned my MBA part- time in accounting and finance at the University of Rochester. I’d be working 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., in class from 6 p.m. to midnight, and do it all over again. I got to a point that I lost all identity of who I was as opposed to what work-Jason was. I randomly got a phone call from The Bachelorette that I thought was a prank until I started looking into it. I went on the show because [up until then] everything was about doing what I thought made sense to find success on this blueprint I was almost forced into, and for the first time in my life I made a decision that almost no one approved of. I did it for myself. It was the best decision I ever made and the best experience I ever underwent. Looking back, going on that show has changed every aspect of my life: where I live, who I’m engaged to, what I do for work, and the impact I’m able to make.
Silver Linings:
I had this 15 minutes of fame [after the show], but I felt indebted to the bank because they allowed me to go and come back to work, so I continued to do whatever it took to keep my job. Then, on [Bristowe’s] podcast, she made what I’ll call a PG-13 rated comment about her and me. Almost 10 years of service, seven promotions, perfect marks, and I’m called into a room, and I’m given the ultimate ultimatum: delete all your social media, all your podcasts, and do nothing outside of the company lines, or restart yourself professionally. As I was beginning to go through these ultimatums, as I was being pushed out the door after nearly 10 years of perfect performance because of one mistake, I started to realize these huge gaps in personal, financial acumen, and career development, and that’s why I started the company Restart and that’s why I had the desire to write the book, The Restart Roadmap.
Wise Words:
The Restart Roadmap is for anyone who is rethinking critical decisions and life choices. You might need the slightest adjustment or the most material move that you’ve ever made—this book is for you. There are eight strategies to rethink and re-understand where you work, where you live, and why; how are you networking; what is the core pillar to your career; how are you negotiating on a daily and annual basis for yourself; how are you hacking the hiring process to get where you want to be; and how are you embracing change to really break the blueprint of where you are today versus where you want to be. If people could understand and put more energy into the fact that restarting, rewiring, and resetting your professional focus is mandatory to reach your pinnacle for what you’re trying to achieve, it would be a massive takeaway; detours in life, not the main road, are what really define us. When you look at anyone achieving unbelievable success, they broke the blueprint of what society has shaped us to do to drive success.
Greatest Reward:
One of my favorite things about sharing my story through this book is the relatability factor. I open up about really raw things that I’ve never told anyone. When I tell these stories, I’m surprised by the impact and [what others] have endured through their careers but have never talked about because it was a shameful thing. For so long I was living the life of a career robot and now, in my most vulnerable moments, it’s created such a connection because people do the same thing. People cope in different ways, but this has allowed me to connect with a lot of people in ways I never thought I could while making an impact on what they’re doing next.
Lessons Learned:
If you can’t look at yourself in the mirror and understand exactly what’s driving you every day, I don’t think you’ll ever be able to have the outcome of all your inputs. You’ll never get the output you’re looking for unless you can identify what it is that is getting you to drive the time and energy and effort into all your projects. For me, whether it’s small business investing, startup investing, the businesses I own, hosting the podcast, getting involved in more cameos on television, writing this book—people might judge me for it, but I don’t care. It took me 30 years to identify it. I never again want to have to work for a company or a person that I don’t want to work with. I know what channels my inputs and that’s what’s creating the outputs. I know why I work five times harder now than I ever did and it’s so I could have the career freedom to work when I want, for who I want, and the way I want, as opposed to being that career robot.