FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
American Fork, UT – October 6, 2015 Today 33 Sticks announced the addition of Guy Dahan to the 33 Sticks team. Guy joins us, after an extremely successful career in the banking industry, as our Director of Client Success. We know that 33 Sticks is only successful when our clients are successful, so with this in mind, Guy will focus on helping us drive our truly unique approach of working with our clients. An approach that puts solving problems before billable hours. An approach centered on the long term success of our clients.
Rather than using the traditional press release template with it’s fabricated quotes and reusable verbage, we felt it would be best to let you learn a little about Guy from his own words.
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My father has a saying in Hebrew, which has greater impact than if translated to English, “Turn on your Brain!” Anytime I was stuck on in a situation, whether it were fixing something around the house or a scenario that took a bit of brain power, he would say this to me. When I was younger I didn’t think much of it and brushed it off as just one of my dad’s “sayings.”
Growing into adult hood I began realizing I had a bit of anxiety due to what some can call a “beautiful mind.” My thoughts were always turning and I was always trying to look at everything from a different angle. In the beginning I had very little understanding of the impact that these deep, insightful thoughts would have on my will to achieve more in life.
From Teller to Banker
In my early twenties I began working as a teller at a major bank, not thinking much about my future and the path in which I wanted to journey upon. During that time I went to college to study business and psychology. It was a bit of a struggle for me as I was always very antsy and mentally distracted by my thoughts. I recall one day standing at work at my teller station looking through the bandit barrier glass at the bankers on the other side as they leaned back in there chairs and got to basically control their day and what they did. It was an instant sense of motivation as I tend to put much more than 100% effort into whatever it is that I do and I saw these guys who were dressed sharp, making 3 or 4 times more than me, not taking advantage of their moment and taking for granted what they have. So I immediately worked to get that promotion. Ten months later I took a promotion to be a banker.
I had no idea what I got myself into. I was 24 years old and advising customers on their finances which I was still trying to figure out on my own. But the greatest and most unseen fortune of all this was the manager and now friend that I would have at that time. I remember the day he pulled me into his office and told me, “Guy, there is something special about you and the innate gift that you have to be great.” He proceeded to hand me a book. Talent is Never Enough, by John C. Maxwell. You know those moments in life you have an epiphany that would change the course of your life. There it was, every chapter would relate to that current or next day in my life. I quickly learned that talent can get you to the championship but the skill developed by many hours and days of practice and hard work, especially when everyone else was not around to see it, was the defining factor for success in all walks of life.
I began challenging myself as well as allowing people of greater insight and knowledge to enter my life. It was the turning point. After 9 quick months I transitioned into a roll in which I would associate myself with people that would inspire me to go about business in a whole new way. I was excited that one day I too could be my own leader.
Business banking was not an easy roll to fit in. It was an environment that would require much patience and brain power. I began on a lower scale, working with very small businesses that required minimal complexity. It taught me that the plumber, painter, and the auto shop guys which put in much time and pulled the trigger much sooner than most were some of the hardest working individuals regardless of the money they made. They were wealthy in the sense that they were in control of their lives and they made the choice to do what they genuinely wanted to do. Some clients would start a business and fail while others would grow so rapidly that I would see them go from nothing to a multi-million dollar organization. That’s when I started asking the questions. How did you start? What was the deciding factor? What were the challenges?
The stories were of inspiration and it was knowledge that not school or professor could formally teach you. I was figuratively in the trenches with these clients dealing with daily hurdles and learning every mistake and accomplishment they would go through. It was as if I signed up for a 4 year program in business development with an emphasis on life. My brain would turn constantly and my thoughts would carry me to pursue more information and experience.
Commercial Banking
After a year and a half of supporting business clients from a retail stand point I wanted to make an impact with all this knowledge and motivation I obtained from having a great leader and the experience I obtained from my clients. So I began managing a branch at the bank. It wasn’t long that I realized working in management within a corporate environment that 80% of the time I was dealing with HR issues and the other 20% was explaining to the high ups what our numbers will look like and how we would get there. During the time I spent managing and leading a team, I earned much respect and love from people whom at first wanted to have nothing to do with me. It was a reward in it of itself that I had a team of people ready to sweat, bleed, and bust their ass for me.
One day, I get a call from one of our executive offices asking me to interview for our commercial banking group. I remember calling my upper management at the time and telling them about the call and notifying them that I would stay with them to support the bigger picture since they invested so much in my growth and development. My good friend, who was my “higher-up” then told me that I would be a “dumb ass” if I did not go for it. She told me that I needed to follow my passion and what I would enjoy doing. Sure enough I took the job and began yet another journey.
Three and a half years in and my entire life was flipped upside down. From literally taking a part time job to get by and afford going out with my friends to a professional commercial banker. What did I do and how in the world did I do it? My mind never stopped working and looking at everything from a different angle. I began to enjoy challenging myself now more than ever.
My first day as a Business Development Officer I walked in with my head up high, ready for the grind. Some of the guys in the office were a bit confused and would make the comments that would inspire and motivate me to do even greater things. They would question how I even got to this position. I had no formal education whilst everyone in the office had Bachelor’s degrees, Master’s degrees, and some even PHD’s. These guys were some of the most intelligent people I had the pleasure of working with. But my managers would always tell me that I have a “gift.” A natural talent that brought me here and would take me to where ever it was I was going.
I started working with multi-million dollar organizations, providing complex services and commercial finance. We were sent to our internal University for months at a time to learn finance and how to be more equipped to do our job. One day I was sitting with a client in his office telling him my story and I remember him telling me to take advantage of my situation. Learn and soak up as much as I could because the knowledge the bank would provide and the experience of working with the extremely successful and intelligent clients I was surrounded by because nowhere else could I learn these things.
Guess what I did. Every moment with a client, every challenge to develop and every hurdle along my journey, I soaked up and learned from it. Nearly 3 years of commercial banking and business development and I realized that it was time. In life I believe we go through phases. This 6 year phase in my life was extraordinary. I went from a punk kid to a professional adult with some transferrable skills that cannot be taught and only obtained by many hours of sacrifice. The success, accomplishments, tears, frustrations, the good, the bad, it was all part of a growing process and a phase that I took full advantage of.
The Journey Continues
Now with great pleasure I begin a new phase. To become part of something much greater than myself. An emerging industry of strategic, outside the box thinkers. The digital space is growing at a rate much greater than any other industry and it is challenging the minds of many to realize that it is inevitably the way of business in the future.
With my passion for business development and continuing my personal growth, I now join an elite team that will essentially help change the way we advise organizations to operate more efficiently and become more profitable businesses in the future.
33 Sticks will become a permanent home for me and the continued development of my path through life.
I now get to keep my brain on at all times.
About 33 Sticks
33 Sticks is an analytics boutique, founded by industry veterans Hila Dahan and Jason Thompson, that provides strategic analytics services with a focus on data collection architecture, complex data analysis, and optimization/personalization strategy to Fortune 500 companies, unique startups, data-driven investors, and marketing agencies. 33 Sticks is headquartered in American Fork, Utah with offices in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. For more information see www.33sticks.com.
Contact
Jason Thompson
33 Sticks
jason@33sticks.com