What if the thing you thought was holding you back turns out to be your secret advantage?
Pete Tiliakos joined the Marines to blow things up and see the world — instead, he got assigned to admin and payroll. That detour launched him into a twenty-five-year career as one of the most astute minds in global HR and payroll technology. Now Pete runs PayrollInfluences.com, hosts the HR and Payroll 2.0 Podcast, and shows veterans that boring data and relentless discipline can open doors nobody else sees.
How his recruiter’s “no” changed his life forever
Why he calls his first job a white-collar prison — and a gift
The Disney paycheck that showed him what real shared services could be
The myth of HR as a cost instead of an investment
Why veterans undersell the very skills companies need most
⏱ Chapters:
00:00 Intro
02:10 Growing up in Florida and chasing the uniform
07:30 Why he never became an infantry Marine
12:50 The desk job that felt like a cage but built his future
19:00 Circuit City and temp jobs — the hidden step up
24:20 What Disney taught him about people and paychecks
31:50 From HR consulting to industry analyst
38:40 PayrollInfluences.com and bridging the tech gap
45:00 How AI is rewriting what skills really matter
52:00 The open invitation to any veteran who needs help
Website: https://www.payrollinfluences.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/peteatiliakis
X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/peteatiliakis
My name is Adam Peters, and I’m here to unf*ck the transition.
