Providing leadership and career coaching to engineers is a passion for one local resident. He plans to continue pursuing this endeavor through his new role as host of a top engineering podcast.

Jeff Perry will be hosting The Engineering Career Coach Podcast. He said the podcast covers different topics, such as leadership development, entrepreneurship and networking.

In 2017, Forbes included the podcast in its list of “15 Inspiring Podcasts For Professionals of Every Stripe.”

The podcast started in 2013, Jeff Perry said. Anthony Fasano, founder of the Engineering Management Institute, hosted the podcast for years. Jeff Perry was mentored by Fasano, and he contributed to Fasano’s platform by writing blog posts and developing other content.

When Fasano stepped down as host, Jeff Perry said he reached out to him and offered to host the podcast.

“I think we’re all excited about keeping the podcast going and delivering positive messages to engineers, which is what this podcast is all about,” he said.

Being an engineer himself, Jeff Perry said he coaches other engineers to help them in their professional and personal lives. He does this through his company More Than Engineering, which he started in the summer of 2019.

Through his role as a leadership and career coach, his focus is to help engineers break through the negative stereotypes society has placed on them. Jeff Perry said engineers are perceived to be analytical individuals who lack the ability to socialize or connect with others well.

“Engineers all too often believe in these negative stereotypes and hold on to these limiting beliefs about their people skills,” he said. “I’m trying to help people break through that and utilize their strengths so they can be great leaders.”

Jay Chokshi, one of Jeff Perry’s clients, said Jeff Perry approaches problems in a calm and patient manner. When Chokshi struggled with anxiety and depression during his job search, he said Jeff Perry helped calm him and change his mindset.

He said Jeff Perry taught him the importance of networking. After meeting Jeff Perry in May, Chokshi learned how to promote himself and converse with others. Chokshi said these skills helped him land an engineering job at Schneider Electric in Nashville, Tennessee.

“The best thing he taught me was how to be patient when talking with people, how to actively listen to them, and how to empathize with them because these are three qualities that most engineers are missing in their day to day life,” Chokshi said.

Robin Perry, Jeff Perry’s wife, said Jeff Perry balances his analytical and social-emotional sides well. She said this helps him speak in a language that engineers can understand. Jeff Perry’s diverse engineering experience and interest in helping people allow him to reach different groups of people, she said.

“I have always said about Jeff that he has an incredible engineering mind, but he’s too social to sit at a computer,” Robin Perry said. “He loves to be with people, and he loves to see people at their best.”

Jeff Perry said his coaching is personalized when he is interacting with his company’s clients. The podcast will give him the platform to reach a wider audience.

“It’s almost like a group coaching session inside of a podcast to learn the ideas and try and get some actions they can take to make personal changes,” he said.

Episodes will be released twice a month, Jeff Perry said. The first episode he hosts will be available in November on any podcast platform like Apple Podcasts and Spotify.