Don’t pick a career; pick an interest, Roadtrip Nation travelers tell students

Two 1995 Laguna Beach High graduates, frustrated during their college days by the age-old question, what to do with their lives, decided to take a road trip.

But it wasn’t a run-away-from-your-problems whim. No, Mike Marriner and Nathan Gebhard had a plan, to collect the stories of people involved in a variety of careers and then share those stories primarily with students facing the same dilemma. The business would be called Roadtrip Nation.

To date, the Costa Mesa-based company, which was established in 2001, has gathered interviews with more than 1,000 people, including Supreme Court justices, lobstermen and fashion designers. All are asked about the challenges and struggles they have faced and how they overcame those obstacles.

“We want to inspire students to think more broadly about what they could do,” Marriner said Wednesday as he walked the campus before he and Gebhard were to address freshman and sophomores in Dugger Gym at their alma mater. The third founder, Brian McAllister, who graduated from Newport Harbor High in 1993, was not able to join them.

For about an hour, the two friends spoke to students as part of a schoolwide day called “Finding Your Future.” Fellow Laguna Beach High alumni shared stories of college life with juniors and seniors in the Artists’ Theatre.

Marriner and Gebhard stressed to students not to be hemmed in by what others tell them to do or not do, but rather to identify careers that they may never have thought of but that align with their passions.

“We want to inspire students to think more broadly about what they could do,” Marriner said in the interview.

As the two founders walked the campus and reminisced, they popped into a math classroom that featured a mural of a cresting wave painted by Gebhard during his days as a student.

Wednesday was the first time Marriner and Gebhard had presented Roadtrip Nation, birthed while the founders were attending Pepperdine University and unsure of what to do next, to Laguna Beach High students.

They talked about the business and how it aims to help people, while sprinkling in narratives about their own personal career explorations.

Marriner was a biology major intent on becoming a doctor, while Gebhard considered a career as a business consultant.

Gebhard remembered a career fair where he handed his resume to a recruiter and realized he did not know what a business consultant did. Gebhard and the recruiter had lunch weeks later, when Gebhard posed his most pressing question.

“Do you have to wear a suit and tie every day?” Gebhard recalled asking. “He was fired up to dress up. I didn’t want to wear a suit and tie. That was my freak-out moment.”

Marriner said he realized he did not like hospitals, or long hours in a research lab, after an internship studying hamster cells.

“I liked the science but have a short attention span, which is good for an entrepreneur [to come up with new ideas] but not good for being a researcher,” Marriner told the students.

Hence, their venture — and adventure — began.

Marriner, Gebhard and McAllister started cold-calling people and went on their first road trip in 2001. They paid $2,000 for a 1984 Fleetwood Pace Arrow RV and largely subsisted on energy bars provided by Clif Bar founder Gary Erickson, their first interview.

Forbes published an article about the trip, which caught the attention of Random House and led to a book deal, Marriner said. News outlets, such as NBC’s “Today” show, came calling to share Roadtrip Nation’s story.

Roadtrip Nation staff developed a curriculum that calls for students to interview a person about his or her career field, learning skills such as cold-calling and interviewing techniques. School districts purchase the curriculum.

Marriner and Gebhard said they are not on the road that much anymore. Production crews takes care of a lot of the filming, continuing to add to the core collection of interviews.

The company also offers optional road trips for students. They are paid for by sponsors so that students don’t have to foot any of the bill, and a film crew goes along.

Laguna Beach High officials contacted Roadtrip Nation about giving a presentation, and Marriner said the founders were eager to oblige.

“We’re excited to do this,” Marriner said about the visit back to the school they knew so well. “It’s good to reflect and realize where you came from and the journey you have taken.”

Marriner and Gebhard’s message resonated with Lily Albritton, 15.

“If you like something your whole life, it can change,” Lily said. “For me, I’ve always wanted to go to Cal Berkeley, but now I feel like I can apply to different colleges.”

Gebhard urged students to “not pick a career, but pick an interest.”

“I was a dork, scared to be different,” he said. “Then I learned that it’s totally opposite. People who are different are people who excel.”

Marriner said the emphasis during high school was going to college, with little focus on what comes after.

“There are so many pathways you can take,” Marriner said. “There are not just 14 pathways, but 14 million pathways.”

Interviews are archived and accessible on the company’s website.

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Twitter: @AldertonBryce