Here’s What Vaughn Wants You to Know
Hello, my name is Vaughn Pourchot.
I’ve been helping Manage VTR Learning since we acquired the company in October of 2016. I have always had a passion for learning, which is what primarily drew me to this business.
I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma in May of 2007. And afterward, I immediately completed a Business Immersion Program at the University of North Carolina. The final week of this program saw me competing with other students in a business simulation exercise. Here, I was able to derive an algorithm which successfully projected the competition’s next business moves. In turn, this won the competition for our team. That was when I realized my engineering background was surprisingly helpful in navigating all the moving parts of a business.
Realizing that I still had a fair amount to learn with regards to finance and accounting, I decided to pursue the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation. I finally completed this in 2015. During those years of study, I frequently reflected on how little others taught me about personal finance in high school – and engineering school for that matter.
It frustrated me that basically every 18-year-old was going into the real world with little to no understanding of basic finance and the effects of compounding interest. It seemed criminal that to learn these concepts, one would have to enroll in business school and pay a hefty price in the process when most of the key personal finance lessons could be taught and learned in a matter of months, if not weeks. When I discovered that VTR Learning had an online Master’s in Business Administration (MBA) program that could easily break down into smaller lessons, I realized I’d finally found my calling. Especially since doing so was convenient and available for a very reasonable price.
Since then, my mission has been to help teach everyone the key concepts of business, so that they have the tools they need to go off and create something great.
Vaughn Answered Five Questions for Us
What’s some of the best advice you’ve ever received?
No matter how bad you think you have it, there is someone, somewhere, who has it ten times worse.
What is your favorite book?
This is a tough question, since there have been several memorable books I’ve read in life. But I think I’m going to have to go with The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. Full disclosure, it took me about a year to finish. But it was well worth the effort. I remembered loving the movie when I was younger, so I figured I’d see what the book was like. And to my surprise, it was night-and-day different. It almost felt like five books in one, since there were so many stories going on simultaneously. Of course, that’s something you just can’t recreate well on the big screen.
Overall, what I loved most about it was the subtle message that most anything is possible given enough time. Seeing a character go from a naïve boy to a full-on renaissance man who’s loved and admired by all, including bandits, makes for a superbly entertaining story.
What is your biggest personal goal for the rest of 2022?
This is going to sound silly to some, but I have always wanted to be able to do the splits. It seems like almost every year, I’ve made the New Year’s Resolution to stretch on a regular basis in hopes of achieving this. Unfortunately, every time I tried, I would only get about a month or two in before losing momentum and stopping stretching altogether.
However, in November 2020, I bought a splits training program, hoping to be more dedicated to the process. Especially since I spent money on it. It worked – kind of. I’ve been very diligent in my training for the past 18 months and am getting very close. I’m having to nurse a strained muscle at the moment, but I think I might pull it off by year-end. If not, no big deal. Because I’m very happy with how far I’ve come, and I’m confident it will happen someday.
Who is your favorite superhero?
My favorite cartoon/comic book growing up was X-Men. But most specifically, the character Logan – AKA Wolverine. He was the first anti-hero I ever saw, and for some reason, that really appealed to me. I think I have always been drawn to the unconventional, whether that’s characters in stories or simply out-of-the-box thinking. That quality is also what drew me to VTR Learning and its untapped potential.
If you could learn about any subject, what would it be?
I love this question, and if I had to single out one topic, I think it would have to be Machine Learning (no pun intended). I’ve always been fascinated with computer science. But it seems that every time I buckle down to learn more about the space, whether a different programming language or building a computer, I always come a little disappointed. Because I’m reminded of how much I don’t know, despite everything new I just learned. I would love to get to a point where I could comfortably code and implement machine learning features. Hopefully, someday.
What’s the best part about working at VTR Learning?
That has to be the fact that it’s a never-ending learning opportunity. Being a small business with a small team, everybody must wear several hats and be prepared to put on another when necessary. When it comes down to it, there is only so much you can learn from textbooks. Eventually, you have to get out there and try to put what you learned to work. That’s when things get interesting, because it’s almost impossible to train and prepare for everything.
There’s always a curveball that’s going to come your way, and what defines you is how you react and adapt. I’ve learned that surviving this trial by fire learning process becomes much less stressful when surrounded by a great team. Having great people to lean on when the going gets tough makes all the difference in the world.
Meet the Rest of the Team
We’re very excited to let our readers get to know our team members. Not simply for the people they are at work, but who they are as individuals. If you want to know more about us, get started by reading our interview with Braden Norwood, Content and SEO Specialist.
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