“Career Certified is the trusted source for multi-vertical education, using best-in-class technology that continues to be consistently effective, flexible, and affordable,” says CEO Gary Weiss

A good CEO makes tough corporate decisions, manages overall operations and sets the company in the right direction, not everyone has the ability or intellect to take on such a role, when they do; it is a culmination of their hard work, determination and strive.

One such Chief Executive Officer is Gary Weiss who heads Career Certified, as a prominent figure in the industry he brings decades of experience in growing and transforming cutting-edge organizations. When looking into his previous professional accomplishments, some of his most notable ones include being the Executive for one of the most successful exits in eLearning at Vector Solutions, ushering in double-digit growth as the Chief Operating Officer at Aspen Technology, leading the Cloud Transformation at OpenText, and leading CA Technologies to market leadership in the Security Industry as the Senior Vice President.

He began his career as one of the first Sales Reps at a startup company called RSA and helped them grow into one of the leading companies in the security industry.  Not only is Mr. Weiss exceptional in his role as a CEO, but he also balances his professional life with being equally passionate about his family consisting of his wife and four children, sports, philanthropy and sustainability. He currently resides in Tampa, Florida.

CIO Bulletin had the opportunity to sit down and talk to the CEO Gary Weiss about his role and success in the company.

Q. How did you go about researching and validating your idea for this company?

I cannot take credit for the company’s origins. But when I was evaluating the opportunity to come on as a CEO for this company, there were many attractive factors. The company had already proven success through industry pass rates above competition, an incredible platform from which to expand, best practices for education delivery were already established, and the existing team was by far the most attractive piece. After digging more, the total addressable market for eLearning in the US is growing by a CAGR of 17% through 2024, totaling $36.5B. All those factors combined, outlined an opportunity for expansion, unification, and scalability that I couldn’t pass up.

Q. What is the most important skill a CEO must have?

I think there are three main things a CEO is responsible for: Strategy, Team, and Cash. Within these, I believe the most important skills a CEO must have is to make sure he/she has the right Executive Team in place to execute the Strategy. These require assessing the current team, understanding what the functional leader needs to execute, understanding the team under that person, and determining the right fit. That is the hidden skill that great CEOs possess, as you are only as good as your team. 

Q. How did you grow into your role as a CEO?

I grew up on the Go-To-Market side of the house and was focused on figuring out how to bring our products/solutions to customers. As time went on, I was asked to become a General Manager whose focus was both Top-Line and Bottom-Line results. This required me to learn about all functions of an organization, developing strategy, and building a team to execute. As a General Manager, I became the sponsor of several M&A processes which added the skill of integrating multiple cultures and companies into my business unit. That led me to a Chief Operating Officer role, which was the second person in command in a multi-billion dollar publicly traded company. This led to an Executive role in an eLearning company for a Private Equity sponsored company which resulted in an attractive exit. All of these experiences, combined with the results from each, provided the foundation for a Private Equity firm to approach me regarding my current CEO position.

Q. What have been the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far?

There are two big challenges I have faced in this current role. First, our growth aspirations required us to transform our company to a scalable organization capable of doing M&A, integrating new companies into our vision, and upgrading our tools and processes to support such growth. This would prompt a review of our team and adjusting to allow for this transformation to occur. Whenever there is change, there is risk and successfully managing this change was one of the big challenges and one I am very proud of. Second, the markets we serve were disrupted by Macro Environment factors and navigating the company through these waters within the first full year as a CEO was challenging. Determining whether to be aggressive or defensive will impact the company for years to come. I gathered a lot of data points and information and in conjunction with my leadership team and board, the decision to be aggressive has paid off.

Q. How do you handle negative feedback?

Personally, my style is transparent and communicative, which partially aims as receiving constructive feedback. I welcome this as it allows further data points which will result in better decision making. If the feedback is positive, it can be reaffirming. If negative, it requires learning the root of the feedback and perhaps a course adjustment or correction. I assume positive intent and that the feedback is provided with the greater good in mind. Fortunately, our team has very strong culture and feedback has been very helpful in the construction and execution of our strategy.

Q. Why do experts trust Career Certified? What is your company’s unique selling point?

We are trusted for many reasons. The family of brands under Career Certified are embedded in the industries we serve and have close, longstanding relationships with associations and media partners through open, consistent, and transparent communication. To add to that, we have thousands of students giving positive reviews on our offerings in various social media channels — with an army of so many advocates that aren’t on the payroll, the proof of our impact is constantly reiterated. Our differentiation lies in the quality and delivery of the coursework, most of it using modern, engaging content that includes video and animation, which creates higher pass rates. Our industry leading with 96% customer satisfaction rate is validation that our eLearning solutions are impacting our customers in a trusted manner.

Q. What do you think is the biggest strength of Career Certified?

It is 100% our team. We have a tenured team of leaders that are supported by a hardworking, thoughtful group of colleagues that truly want the best experience and career outcome for our customers. But for an outsider looking in, our biggest strength is the scalability and the best practices we’ve come to master around education in industries that are regulated or require certification.

Q. How are the students benefitted from Career Certified?

As a leader in multi-vertical education, Career Certified focuses on making purpose attainable and can offer students an opportunity to choose a career that fits their lifestyle. From exam preparation to pre-licensing, licensing, and continuing education coursework to tools for the entire lifecycle of a professional’s career, the company pairs an easy-to-use platform and flexible learning options with a deep understanding of students’ needs. Career Certified serves a variety of industries which includes real estate, mortgage, home inspection, home appraisal, architecture, and insurance and securities.

Gary Weiss, CEO

“I believe the most important skills a CEO must have is to make sure he/she has the right Executive Team in place to execute the Strategy.”