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Education / Awards / Endorsements
- Education / Awards / Endorsements
- 1ď¸âŁÂ Education
- Thomas Edison University - Bachelorâs of Science, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
- Homeschool
- Semi-meaningful Professional Education Pieces of Paper
- Meaningless Pieces of Paper
- Actual Education
- Self Teaching
- Owning
- Consulting
- Living
- 2ď¸âŁÂ Awards
- 3ď¸âŁÂ Endorsements
1ď¸âŁÂ Education
Thomas Edison University - Bachelorâs of Science, Entrepreneurial and Small Business Operations
A bachelor's degree isn't notable when 47% of the US population has one. I'm also prepared to say that my collegiate education accounts for only 3% of my actual value as a team member. What is impressive is that I completed a 120-credit bachelor's program in 13 months using College Board's CLEP and DSST programs. I tested out of 90 credits by teaching myself coursework while working full-time to cashflow the degree, graduating debt-free.
Extracurricular Activities: Policy Debate, Moot Court, and Mock Trial
Arnold Fletcher Award - A mostly meaningless award âfor exceptional achievement in independent learning as demonstrated through expedited degree completionâ given to people who finished college quickly.
Homeschool
Likely the most formative educational experience I've had was having to manage and teach myself to hit my objectives laid out by my parents from preschool through to high school. There were a few years spent part-time in private schools with the goal of "preparing me for college," but the vast majority of my education came from teaching myself and following the curriculum. This helped develop my predisposition toward charting my own path and relying on myself instead of the system.
Semi-meaningful Professional Education Pieces of Paper
Small Business Consulting Certification - SBA
A 10-day on-site training program for business consultations hosted by the SBA and taught by seasoned consultants from each functional area of business.
During the course, I turned the entire program into a wiki and shared it on our Slack channel, but I was told to remove it, as it âundermined the value of the training.â
While most of the lectures were truly snooze-worthy, the one-on-one conversations I had with each of the highly insightful and well skilled instructors was worth the price of admission, mostly because HR paid for it.
Scrum Master Certificate of Preparation - Project Management Institute
Agile Project Management was the name of the game at Orange Cube Group, and I learned the principles from YouTube. When the SBDC required a written continuing education plan, I took the SCRUM Master Certification course in an afternoon to get HR off my back.
That same HR department wouldn't pay the $700 for the test, and I wasn't about to pay for someone else to tell others what I've been practicing for a decade.
Competent Communication Toastmaster International
A public speaking and communication certificate which I secured during my time with Toastmasters. In all honesty, I wrote most of my speeches in the parking lot 10 minutes before class and left my local group for the regional leadership group within a few months for better business networking opportunities.
Meaningless Pieces of Paper
While most of my peers plaster their offices with framed certificates, I've found them mostly worthless compared to lived experiences. Many of these certificates I obtained on a Friday afternoon at the brewery down the street from my office, so that I could wave them in front of a client who was suffering from a case of credentialism.
- Grow With Google
- Google Street View Trusted Advisor
- Google Local Guide - Level 7
- Google AdWords Certification
- Google Analytics Certification
- Squarespace Circle Member
- Yext Certified Partner
Actual Education
Now that I've mocked the colonial, patriarchal system which perpetuates class divisions and corporate collective fictions, let's talk about how I've actually learned what I know.
Self Teaching
Since I was four years old, I have picked something I wanted to learn about and taught myself. While I grew up in the internet age, I was also raised in a cult and didnât have unfiltered internet access until college.
This means I spent time at the old-fashioned library, learning from peers, reading the newspaper, and gathering whatever bits of information I could from online sources that weren't blocked by filtering software on the computers I had access to (which, you bet, I hacked around).
Owning
Starting with small operations and growing into Orange Cube Group, I have owned and run many business ventures. This has forced me to learn mostly by trial and error much of what I know. While my bachelor's degree was explicitly in business development, it pales in comparison to what I learned in my first year of business.
Consulting
As an enabler, Iâve worked with 2000+ businesses over the last decade, and Iâve learned both from them, with them, and, on bad days, at their expense.
Living
An HR director I was partnering with in an interview once asked the candidate, in a moment of genius and snark, "Do you have 20 years of experience, or do you have one year of experience that you've lived 20 times in a row?"
I've been highly intentional in living an engaged, adventurous life, seeking out different cultures, living in temples, moving to different countries, building and living out of a van, trying and failing repeatedly. My life has been my greatest teacher. What I pack into a month is what most people pack into year.
2ď¸âŁÂ Awards
More meaningless pieces of paper.
- Grow With Google High Impact Partner
- Young Professionals Team of the Year Award
- Arnold Fletcher Award
3ď¸âŁÂ Endorsements
While I can talk a good game, others likely have a better perspective of me than I do of myself. That's why I keep a document entitled "Nice Things People Have Said About Spencer" to read on the days where everything seems to be upside down. Here are a few highlights:
âYour guidance and help as been tremendously valuable! These past 3 years have been great with you as a trusted business resource.â ~ Dr. Jeff O'Boyle, addiction and family medical doctor
âIâm so thankful for Spencer as my business consultant. I canât say enough about Spencer! He Truly cares!â ~ Nicole Pangas, former client
âYouâve been an incredibly brilliant ray of light at the SBDC and losing you means losing a lot of organizational intelligence. Your value to our clients is huge.â ~ Kristi Kozubal, SBDC Growth Team Leader
"Your honesty is something thatâs unique, rare and admirable." ~ Breana Baranek, CMO Mammoth Media
âYou have been an amazing coach, cheerleader and source of support and resources, from the moment we were introduced.â ~ Stacy Gamel, Comfort Care CEO
âYou are intelligent and wonderful and fantastic thank you thank youâ ~ Marina Bassana, Nuroscientist
âThank you to Spencer Field whoâs a wizard and increasing looking like one too.â ~ Matt Langdon, Hero Round Table
âInquisitive mind, want best for people, kind generous mind.â ~ Brother Pha Vu, Buddhist Monk
âYou can be a bit bombastic.â ~ Haju Sunim, Buddhist Priest