Career Lessons from a Corporate Spy

In this episode of the Impostor Syndrome Files, we are doing something a little different. My guest this week is Robert Kerbeck, author of the book Ruse: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street. He shares a fascinating story of his career as a corporate spy and the experience of being an actual impostor in the workplace. He also talks about leaving that role for Corporate America and how unprepared he was for the politics and self-serving behaviors he found when he got there. In the end, Robert shares his pivot to his current career as a writer and how that has brought him back to his creative roots. Throughout the conversation, he shares insights and advice to help others along their career journeys.

About My Guest
Robert Kerbeck’s true crime memoir, RUSE: Lying the American Dream from Hollywood to Wall Street is the story of how a wannabe actor became the world’s greatest corporate spy. Frank Abagnale, author of Catch Me If You Can, said, “Kerbeck has mastered the art of social engineering, or what he calls 'rusing', and taken it to a whole new level,” while Shondaland (the producer of the Netflix series Inventing Anna) described RUSE as "a story almost too good to be true with no shortage of wild stories.” Kerbeck’s previous book MALIBU BURNING: The Real Story Behind LA’s Most Devastating Wildfire, won a 2021 SoCal Journalism Award, the 2020 IPPY Award, and the 2020 Best of LA Award. His writing has appeared in numerous publications including the Los Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angeles Magazine, and Lithub’s Crime Reads.

~

Connect with Robert:

https://www.robertkerbeck.com

~

Connect with Kim and The Impostor Syndrome Files:

Join the free Impostor Syndrome Challenge:
https://yourcareersuccess.com/impostor-syndrome-challenge/ 

Learn more about the Leading Humans discussion group:
https://yourcareersuccess.com/leading-humans-discussion-group/

Join the Slack channel to learn from, connect with and support other professionals: https://forms.gle/Ts4Vg4Nx4HDnTVUC6 

Join the Facebook group:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/leadinghumans

Schedule time to speak with Kim Meninger directly about your questions/challenges: https://bookme.name/ExecCareer/strategy-session 

Connect on LinkedIn:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimmeninger/ 

Websites:
https://yourcareersuccess.com
https://impostorsyndromefiles.com