Today we’d like to introduce you to Will Baggett.
Will, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I’m from a small town in Mississippi called Grenada, which is just south of Memphis, Tennessee. I completed undergraduate studies at the University of Mississippi before moving on to Baylor University to earn a master’s in sport management in 2014. I primarily operate in the professional development and personal branding spaces, which I can trace back to my upbringing. My father always stressed the importance of carrying yourself in a respectable manner and protecting the family’s name. He also taught me about the importance of being nice and building mutually beneficial relationships.
I carried those lessons throughout graduate school at Baylor, which is where I really began to come into my own and espouse purpose and passion. In short, the gentleman who hired me to be his graduate assistant stoked the fire, and just two years removed from being under his tutelage, we co-authored a book in The Blueprint for a Successful Career in 2016. To this day, it remains as one of the few books on Amazon that maintains a five-star rating with over 60 reviews, and we have our wonderful readers to thank for this distinction. In spring 2017, I launched the Executive Image workshop focusing on body language and interactive professional presence training. We went from just two presentations in 2017 to 30+ this year. Again, it all traces back to the lessons my parents instilled in me with respect to being kind, building relationships and protecting your personal brand. No fancy marketing, or bells and whistles, just good ol’ country cooking.
In my full-time role, I serve as the Operations Coordinator at the College Football Playoff. We are responsible for producing the college football national championship game, which takes place annually in January in different cities.
Has it been a smooth road?
The journey has been anything but smooth, and quite honestly, it’s still a bit rugged at times. Nevertheless, I wouldn’t have it any other way. I guess I was somewhat forced into destiny due to years of financial hardship and family illnesses. In all honesty, I didn’t have a tough upbringing, though. In fact, my parents worked extremely hard to give us the life they never had, and I’ve always kept their sacrifices at the forefront of my ambition. We were grossly affected by The Great Recession, however, which happened to occur as I was beginning my freshman year in college. My father, who builds houses for a living, was forced out of work for 18+ months. My mother, who previously worked in manufacturing was laid off and forced to liquidate her 401k to help us maintain. All the while, I was in an unfamiliar place and wasn’t quite sure how to adjust.
All in all, these financial hardships lasted throughout the time I was in college and even into my first full-time job. My parents also dealt with life-altering illnesses, which made it difficult to focus at times. I’ve undertaken everything from Uber to AirBnB to plasma donation just to make ends meet, and I wouldn’t trade those experiences for anything in the world. I’ll admit that I once saw life through the proverbial rose-colored glasses, and I thought others did as well when I was growing up in rural Mississippi. It wasn’t until I came face-to-face with poverty essentially, that I began to understand the real-life experiences of the people I’d grown up with. There’s no doubt in my mind that I’m effective at what I do now because of the perspective I gained, which allows me to better relate to my audiences and meet them where they are.
So, as you know, we’re impressed with Emergent Executives – tell our readers more, for example, what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Emergent Executives has an underlying connotation that I think often goes unnoticed, especially when people hear it as opposed to seeing it in written form. “Emergent” is defined as, in the process of coming into being or becoming prominent; whereas, “emerging” as most people hear it means that one is becoming prominent. I use the former specifically because the definition contains the word “process”. There’s a concept called arrival fallacy that basically states reaching a certain position or status in life will make you happy, which couldn’t be further from the truth. Thus, we profess a process-focused approach that keeps us focused on the climb as opposed to the mountain top itself. Contentment is key, but complacency kills. There’s a major difference.
We are known as the premier professional development service for rising professionals and seasoned veterans alike, primarily through our nationally-recognized Executive Image workshop. This workshop centers around the ABC’s of professional presence, which are Appearance, Behavior, Communication, Digital Branding, and Emotional Intelligence. We are truly a workshop in every sense of the term because we get our people out of their seats and truly engaged with the content. It’s a labor of love that I created in my parents’ living room almost three years ago, and it puts me in a state of purposeful flow like nothing else. I firmly believe we are the best in the nation at what we do because we care most about our people and the role we play in them reaching their personal and professional goals.
Let’s touch on your thoughts about our city – what do you like the most and least?
I love the Triple D! I moved here from Atlanta a little over two years ago, and it’s been the best decision I’ve ever made. Of course, I work full-time in the sports and entertainment space, and there are few comparable cities to Dallas when you consider the vast array of sports teams and leagues here. There’s just so much opportunity, and people here genuinely want to help one another. I’m a person of faith, and there is no shortage of great churches, which was a high priority for me. Some people complain about the traffic, to which I scoff at after spending three years in ATL. That traffic is not of the Lord I say; it can’t be.
I really like the different vibes in the various parts of the city. You pretty much know what you’re getting when visiting Uptown vs. Deep Ellum vs. say Bishop Arts. You can truly find your vibe here and stick with it.
I also really really like having two airports, one I live by and the other near where I work. Because I travel a good bit, I always have great flight options to choose from. The only thing I would say I dislike is the obvious wealth and information gap, but there are wonderful organizations like the Dallas Urban League that are doing great work in the community to help fill the voids. I spent a lot of time in neighborhoods people probably wouldn’t have expected me to be, so I know the talent that resides therein if given the right opportunity and exposure. I’m a product of it.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.execimage.org
- Phone: 6624177383
- Email: will@execimage.org
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/w_baggs/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/chill.will.127
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/W_Baggs
- Other: https://medium.com/@willbaggett
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