Today’s conversation is one that really resonated with me. As a teenager, I had no idea what I wanted for my life. I didn’t know where I was going and more importantly, I don’t think I really knew what mattered to me. Today I am joined by Mike Marriner of Roadtrip Nation. If you aren’t familiar with Mike or his mission, this is your lucky day. Mike is the founder and president of Roadtrip Nation, a mission-driven nonprofit in storytelling and education. Right after college, Mike and his friends hit the road in their bright green RV to capture empowering stories that would provide young people with the confidence and tools to find a career that matters to them. During our conversation, Mike talks about the origin of Roadtrip Nation and he shares some of the stories they collected along the way. After listening to our conversation, I highly recommend checking out the Roadtrip Nation YouTube channel and sharing it with the young people in your life.
About Mike Marriner
As co-founder and President of Roadtrip Nation, Mike Marriner leads the organization’s media and education efforts that empower people from all backgrounds to define their own roads in life. For over 15 years, Mike has developed a range of media and education partnerships that distribute Roadtrip Nation content to over 60 million households, 14 million students, and over 12,000 schools each year. Roadtrip Nation has been awarded the Excellence in Programming award by American Public Television, two Telly awards, and won the 2019 Lone Star Regional Emmy Award for the film, Room to Grow. Mike has co-authored all 4 Roadtrip Nation books including Roadmap (Chronicle Books), which hit the NY Times best-seller list in 2018. Mike is also an Ashoka Fellow, a network of leading social entrepreneurs, and has been featured in prominent news outlets including the NBC Today Show, CBS Early Show, BBC News, Outside, Fast Company, Forbes, Esquire, USA Today, and many others. He graduated from Pepperdine University with a double major in Biology / Sports Medicine and attended The Harvard Business School Social Enterprise Program in 2012.
Episode Highlights
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- Mike and his friends take a road trip
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- Mike’s parents’ reaction to Roadtrip Nation
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- The origin and mission of Roadtrip Nation
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- Students begin creating their own road trips
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- RoadTrip Nation curriculum is available to everyone
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- Students gain confidence through interviews
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- Everyone looks like they have had “perfect” career paths on LinkedIn
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- The person who coded the human genome got a D- in high school physics
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- No one is talking about mistakes on social media
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- Stories from the road
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- The limits of career path planning in high school
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- The people doing the most different things are based more on what they love
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- Success doesn’t always come in a large corporation
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- You have to believe in something
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- Chef Charlie Trotter’s advice to people in their 20s
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- How Mike’s college experience played a role in his future
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- Post-secondary education is not always a four-year degree
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- The Roadtrip Nation website has a ton of great resources
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- Find your “red rubber ball” or your “green RV” – find what matters to you
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- Roadtripnation.com has over 10,000 videos available
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- Mike’s teenage years
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- Mike’s advice to his high school self