Caller ID
Caller ID is a conversation-driven podcast exploring calling, career, and identity through real stories and honest dialogue.
Hosted by Brandon Davis Wells, who has served in many roles from career coach, to college baseball coach, to broadcast professional for major networks like ESPN, IheartMedia, and more. Each episode features thoughtful conversations with professionals, creatives, leaders, and everyday people wrestling with the same questions we all face:
Who am I called to be?
What work fits who I’m becoming?
How do faith, values, and purpose shape the way we work?
This isn’t a podcast about quick career hacks or hustle culture. It’s about work that forms us, choices that matter, and finding meaning in the long, often winding path of vocation. Whether you’re a student, early-career professional, parent, or someone navigating change, Caller ID offers clarity, perspective, and encouragement for the work ahead.
Caller ID
The Mamba Mentality and Shakespeare
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What does Kobe Bryant have to do with Shakespeare?
More than you might think.
In this episode of Caller ID, I sit down with Mark Rankin, a Renaissance literature and English professor whose approach to calling, identity, and excellence is shaped as much by the Mamba Mentality as it is by Milton.
We talk about following your passion, but how much work that takes. We also tackle the hard work required to live at the center of ikigai, and why the most meaningful work is often the most demanding. Mark also shares how teaching 12-year-olds has made him a better college professor, and how working with college students has sharpened the way he shows up for younger learners.
This is a conversation about discipline, formation, and becoming who you are called to be, even when it’s harder than you expected.
Thanks for listening to Caller ID.
You can follow Caller ID wherever you listen to podcasts, and if you’re enjoying the show, a quick rating or review helps more people find it.
New episodes drop weekly, featuring conversations with people across disciplines who are thoughtful about their work and honest about the cost of doing it well.
I’m Brandon Davis Wells and thanks for answering the call.