They Can't Eat You!: The Field Guide for the Transition from the Classroom to the Real World

School can teach you the fundamentals of a profession. It rarely teaches you how careers are built, how businesses really work, or how decisions made along the way can shape the rest of your life.

How do you earn trust and create opportunities early in your career? How do you recognize what drives a business? How do you make decisions when there is no clearly correct answer? And how do you keep uncertainty and fear from preventing you from moving forward?

In They Can't Eat You!, Rod Keller draws on more than four decades of experience building and leading organizations—from startups to multibillion-dollar global companies. Through candid stories and lessons from successes, setbacks, and difficult decisions, he shares the insights he wishes someone had shared with him at the beginning of his career.

This book goes far beyond finding a first job. It is a field guide to building a career, earning trust, understanding how business works, making better decisions, recovering from mistakes, recognizing opportunity, and becoming someone others want to work with and follow.

Written for young adults transitioning from the classroom to the real world—and for the parents, grandparents, professors, and mentors who want to help them—They Can't Eat You! also offers valuable perspective for professionals at every career stage.

Whether beginning your career or helping someone you care about begin theirs, They Can't Eat You! offers practical wisdom that can turn uncertainty into confidence and potential into opportunity.

About the Author

Rod Keller is a business executive, entrepreneur, and leadership mentor whose career has spanned more than four decades across many of the world's most recognized technology companies and emerging growth businesses.

He has served in senior leadership and chief executive roles with organizations including Epson, Dell, Toshiba, Linksys, Siemens, and Segway, leading businesses throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

A Distinguished Alumnus of Texas State University and a member of the McCoy College of Business Hall of Honor, Rod mentors, speaks, and writes to help prepare the next generation for successful careers.

What Leaders Are Saying

“The business world doesn’t hand out participation trophies. Results matter. The lessons in They Can’t Eat You! are drawn from real experiences and practical situations that young professionals will encounter throughout their careers. Students who absorb these insights will be better prepared to succeed and advance in the workplace.”
—Scott Maccabe, Global President & Chief Executive Officer, Board Member (Ret.), Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions, Inc.

“The transition from the classroom to the workplace is one of the most important periods in a young professional’s life. They Can’t Eat You! offers practical insights drawn from decades of real-world leadership experience and provides guidance that can help students navigate their careers with greater confidence and effectiveness.”
—John Lang, Former President & Chief Executive Officer, Epson America Inc.

“A practical and engaging guide to the realities of business and leadership. Young professionals who absorb these lessons will enter the workforce with a significant advantage.”
—Steve Stringer, Former Global Chief Operating Officer, GE Information Technology

“Rod Keller has spent decades leading organizations, building teams, and developing future leaders. They Can’t Eat You! provides practical insights and real-world lessons that can help young professionals accelerate their careers and avoid many of the mistakes that experience usually teaches the hard way.”
—Bob Gregerson, Former President, Polaroid Corporation