Patrick Cox of Tallahassee, Florida Discusses the Key Components of Success

Patrick Cox’s professional goal is to align business incentives to solve human problems on a broad scale. Electricity, technology, and financial innovations have created a unique turning point where sustainability is not just a moral boon, but essential to business survival. He plans to influence this through structured and informed decision-making, guiding the businesses of today to preserve our tomorrow. Specifically, Patrick Cox uses models and analytics to make actionable decisions that can be seen at all levels of a company.

Outside of school and work in Florida, Patrick Cox enjoys any outdoor activities in Tallahassee, particularly Mountaineering, having summited Kilimanjaro and Rainier, and overland camping. In his free time, Patrick currently participates in playing soccer, ultimate frisbee, and volleyball. Patrick is also passionate about building and repairing cars and high-performance off-road vehicles in his spare time, both for personal use and on contract.

Patrick Cox enjoys reading The Economist, SSRN articles, listening to Radiolab, and actively managing investments.

We spoke with Patrick Cox and he told us the key characteristics that comprise his success.

What do you think it is that makes you successful?

Adaptability and hard work are the key characteristics to my success. Adaptability allows me to excel in a variety of environments and work efficiently. I have experience adapting to the challenges large corporations, small businesses, wealthy individuals, state and federal governments, and non-profits face.

Within these industries, I’ve performed a variety of advisory functions, concisely reported critical information, and displayed high-level communication skills with C-Suite Executives and officials. This has enabled me to think outside the box when solving problems. Using creative thinking to adapt models of dengue epidemics in Bangladesh to the United States sea level rise is just one example of this.

A strong work ethic has let me achieve my educational goals while maintaining employment. Since my undergraduate career, I’ve worked more than 15 hours a week outside my full-time studies. In addition to career-focused employment, I’ve built racecars and custom vehicles professionally since high school to support educational endeavors around Florida.

Currently, I work to evaluate assets and growth markets for a high-net-worth investor. I am also obtaining additional certifications in Alteryx and attending a Wharton program. I am performing these tasks while graduating with a Summa Cum Laude GPA in a 9th ranked highly-specialized Master’s with added courses.

I will bring this same work ethic to every project as it translates across industries and projects. My ability to work hard and deliver results is a key component of being successful.

What is the one thing you do over and over and recommend everyone else do?

Talk to someone new. Every other human has a set of experiences and ideas that are different than your own.

Every human is smarter than me in at least one subject. On an educational front, this means that talking with others gives me knowledge that I would never have had otherwise. Most of the time this comes with unique opinions and ideas that will influence me far into the future.

Talking with others also improves character. I learn to respect the reasons that people think and act when they are radically different from how I would in the same situation. This diversity helps me to adapt to new situations with an open mindset and encourages me to think critically.

From a social perspective, interacting with others is one of the most important skills you can have. This will influence every facet of your life. Developing good people skills will open up enormous possibilities for you.

I try to talk to someone new in a variety of scenarios and to focus on listening and understanding others’ opinions. Ideally, I do this at least once a day.

What is the toughest decision you’ve had to make in the last few months?

Which job to take and what I wanted to develop a career in. The degree of introspection that came from this was incredible and forced me to focus on aligning what I was good at with what I wanted to do.

Thinking ahead and developing a ten-year career plan, while still being able to make a difference in the way I want was incredibly hard. Compounding this, the thousands of jobs that sound appealing are boosted by technology and promoted online. Deciding what the boilerplate “leverage your communication skills” job descriptions meant for each role was near impossible.

Focusing on companies that fit my personal beliefs, career objectives, and skill set required a lot of research. When I ended up with offers from multiple companies in Florida, I was faced with a difficult decision.

Learn more about Patrick Cox Tallahassee, Florida on his website.