I Want Her Job

Dr. Leana Wen, emergency physician, former health commissioner for Baltimore, professor of health policy and management, contributing columnist for The Washington Post, CNN medical analyst, and author shares stories from her new memoir, Lifelines: A Doctor's Journey in the Fight for Public Health. Dr. Wen has an incredibly inspiring immigrant story of struggle, sacrifice and tremendous achievement. In our conversation, Dr. Wen shares how the early hardships she experienced shaped her character and her career goals. If you are looking for an inspiring career story, Dr. Wen’s path is guaranteed to lift your spirits. We also discuss some of the innovative programs Dr. Wen led during her time serving as Baltimore's Health Commissioner. This is a must listen episode!  Follow us on IG @meantforit Reach out to us: contact@meantforit.com

There is no doubt that Christina Dorr Drake was meant to be a co-founder of Willa’s Oat Milk. Christina grew up drinking her grandmother’s special recipe of oat milk. When Christina and her sister, Elena Dorr Zienda, realized the market was missing an oat milk that was both delicious and nutritious, like the one they had as kids, they saw the opportunity and went for it. Christina and Elena decided they had the recipe, experience and complementary skills to launch their own brand and they lovingly named it after their grandmother. Christina’s background in marketing and strategy for food brands combined with Elena’s experience in food manufacturing and distribution gave them the skills and confidence to launch Wila’s Oat Milk.  In our conversation, Christina walks us through how they actually started Willa’s.  We discuss how they handled packaging, manufacturing,  distribution channels and the ways Willa’s has committed to creating organic, nutritious products with sustainable practices. We also discuss the q

Claire Bidwell Smith is a grief counselor and author. Claire’s path to her current profession came from losing both her parents to cancer while Claire was still young. At first, Claire was in shock and tried to run from the overwhelming grief and anxiety she was feeling. Eventually, Claire decided to become a therapist and worked in private practice for over a decade. Claire went on to write three books about dealing with grief, anxiety and loss. Today, Claire is continuing her work to help people with grief by speaking widely and  working with organizations devoted to helping people find end of life and grief support. In our conversation, we discuss how Claire found her way to becoming a therapist and writer. Claire shares the experiences that changed her and we talk about some of Clarie’s adventures while researching for her book, After This, an exploration of what happens when we die. If you have faced grief, or want to prepare yourself for dealing with grief that eventually reaches all of us, you don’t w

Cheryl Saban’s extraordinary life is a beautiful tapestry of diverse experiences, different careers, and helping others. In the latest chapter of her life, Cheryl is focused on her glass blowing business and her philanthropy work.  Through the Saban Family Foundation, Cheryl and her husband have donated $420 million to 1000 organizations and causes focused mainly on children, education and women's health including the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, The Rape Treatment Center and Birthright Israel. At Saban Glass, Cheryl fulfils her artistic calling by immersing herself into the process of creating exquisite glassware. Cheryl has published books, written for television and holds a doctorate in psychology.  Life was not always easy for Cheryl. In her early twenties, when Cheryl was a single mom struggling financially, she went to a free clinic in Los Angeles. In our conversation, Cheryl recalls being moved by the kind treatment she received there, and also convinced of a need for free community clinics. Thro

#168 How Kristen Berman is Helping Companies Understand the Psychology of Consumer Behavior Kristen Berman, Co-Founder of Irrational Labs, fell in love with behavioral economics instantly. While Kristen was a Product Manager at Intuit, she met behavioral economist Dan Ariely and knew she was meant for this type of work. Kristen emailed Dan to offer help on projects. Dan agreed and they worked on several projects together including building Google’s behavioral economics team. Today, they are partners in Irrational Labs taking on a variety of projects that help companies design strategies and tactics that encourage consumers to change their behavior and improve habits. A recent project involved helping Tik Tok design nudges that decreased the sharing of misinformation by about 24%. In our conversation we discuss the type of work Kristen does, the field of behavioral economics and how Kristen is living her own behavioral change experiment by sharing a home with a group of friends in a community living arrangemen

After going through breast cancer at 42, Dara Kurtz gained the courage and insight to completely change her life and career. Dara started the Crazy Perfect Life blog and self published her first book, Crush Cancer. Today, Dara continues to blog to her 195k followers on Facebook, write and take on a growing number of speaking engagements. Dara’s second book, I am My Mother’s Daughter, is a love letter to her mother who she lost to cancer too early, when Dara was only 28.  In our conversation, Dara shares her story and the milestones along her path to creating a job and lifestyle that feels like a ‘joyful playground’. It was not an easy path. Losing her mother shattered Dara's world, and then getting diagnosed with breast cancer while her two daughters were still young was Dara's greatest nightmare. Dara bravely made it through to the other side, and along the way, she learned how gratitude and mindset can change everything.  If you need inspiration to overcome a challenge, or get the courage to start on worki

Aundrea Cline-Thomas was meant to tell stories. An award winning journalist, Aundrea’s dedication, integrity, humility and work ethic has already paid off. Aundrea received the 2017 Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists Broadcast Journalist of the Year Award and has won two regional Emmy awards for her reporting. We think Aundrea is just getting started.  In our conversation, we discuss how Aundrea landed her first job, advice for people interested in jobs within broadcast journalism and the major career decisions that led to Aundrea's current role as a reporter for CBS NY. We also discuss how Aundrea’s cultural background as the daughter of African immigrants, has influenced everything about the way she lives her life.

Eve Rodsky’s goal is to change how families think about the distribution of household and care work. In other words, Eve’s work revolves around reversing thousands of years of cultural norms that expect women to manage almost all the childcare and housework. It started one day when Eve was crazy busy juggling a new born, a toddler, an exhausting to-do list, and a demanding job. On that fateful day, Eve’s husband sent a text message, "I'm suprised you didn't get blueberries." The blueberry request is this moment, now frozen in time, that eventually led to what Eve did next. Eve decided to start the “Sh*t I Do” spreadsheet to understand the scope of work that most women manage; which includes an enormous amount of “cognitive labor”. As a Harvard Law School graduate and organizational consultant, Eve addressed this household problem with the same intensity, and using the same set of skills she used  in her day job as a mediator. Eve started to ask around and collected thousands of tasks and responsibilities wom

Today I Noticed is a creative mindfulness practice started by Willow Older and Deborah Huber. On their Instagram feed you’ll find their often whimsical, sometimes touching observations—which combine words and sketches—that capture the ordinary, yet magical, moments of daily life. In our conversation, Willow and Deborah share how Today I Noticed started unexpectedly during a day trip to San Francisco. They talk about how their lives have changed—for the better!— since they started noticing and recording what’s happening around them and within them. Turns out the prompt, “Today I noticed” is a simple yet powerful reminder to slow down and appreciate the sweet, silly, everyday moments we all experience but rarely notice. Willow and Deborah have discovered that doing so helps us feel happier, nourished, and grateful. Today, nearly three years into their noticing adventure, the "partners in creative crime" are leading corporate workshops, building a global online community, and pursuing a variety of publishing pr

Growing up in Catalonia, Spain with parents who exposed Anna Schlegel to engineering and art infused Anna with an adventurous spirit and a strong work ethic. Anna’s graduate studies in languages led her to a translation job in Silicon Valley where Anna started her own translation company in San Francisco when she saw a gap in the market. Eventually, Anna’s translation skills led to a job in localization for Cisco. After several jobs in high tech, Anna landed at NetApp. At NetApp, Anna’s skills blossomed and she was  offered more responsibilities and promotions due to her growing abilities and commitment to constant learning. As you will hear in our conversation, Anna is a true believer and practitioner of immersing and training herself in new fields such as management, technology and innovation.  Based on Anna's performance and growing responsibilities, her mindset and career strategy is working. Anna's job success led to her current role as VP of Global Portfolio to Market where Anna is managing four differe

Shelley Zalis is the definition of a trailblazer. As the founder of OTX, a pioneer in the online market research space, and a founder of The Female Quotient, Shelley has consistently led with innovation and courage. In our conversation, Shelley walks us through her career milestones and the “heartbeat moments” that guided the most important decisions in her career. While most people conform to the status quo or find ways to work around traditional norms, Shelley’s character and life experiences blended in ways that gave her the courage and wisdom to follow her instincts, question the norms and eventually successfully strike out on her own. Shelley shares the story of her first jobs in the market research space, her biggest milestones and we talk about the two mentors who were the biggest influences in Shelley’s career.  Shelley tells us the story of how a visit to the CES Conference with a group of friends gave her the idea that evolved into Shelley’s current role as founder of The Female Quotient. There are

Solving the problem of food waste and creating new products based on upcycled food was the type of project Caroline Cotto was meant to work on. As someone who has intentionally sought out challenging experiences since high school, Caroline is determined to live on the side of impact and adventure.  Today, Caroline is the COO of Renewal Mill, a next generation ingredients company that's reducing food waste by upcycling the byproducts of food manufacturing into high quality ingredients and products. In our conversation, Caroline shares how her career decisions, family influences, traveling and love of food led her to Renewal Mill. Renewal Mill Whole Foods names upcycled foods and Renewal Mills' upcycled flours a Top 10 Food Trend for 2021 Named World Changing Idea by Fast Company  Featured on PBS Newshour Follow us on IG @meantforit You can reach us at contact@meantforit If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend and please subscribe for future episodes. Podcast co-hosts Polina and Amber    

Annette Ross was meant for love. After overcoming a tragic accident during the birth of her second child that left Anette unable to walk, Annette went on to create a beautiful life with five daughters and the love of her life. In our conversation, we discuss how Annette adjusted to life and how her love for her family has always carried her forward. Annette shares advice on navigating through life in a way that keeps joy and gratitude at the forefront, while also being open to opportunities and accepting challenges.  You can learn more about Annette by reading her memoir, Where Fairytales Go or by watching the HBO documentary, Any One of Us. We were honored to host Annette and inspired by her beauty and strength. Reach out to us: contact@meantforit.com          

Dr. Vijayeta Sinh, a Clinical Psychologist and founder of TherapyCouchNYC, shares how her background and love for psychology led her to pursue a doctorate and career focused on helping people live their best lives. Vijayeta is motivated by using her training to help her clients understand how their patterns may be holding them back and limiting the quallity yof their relationships. Listen in to hear Vijayeta’s perspective on the ways therapy can enhance our lives. Dr. Vijayeta Sinh has 15 years of experience, a Ph.D. from Columbia University and is a Supervising Psychologist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital, and Teachers College at Columbia University. Born and raised in India, she is fluent in Hindi and has a deep understanding of the ways cultural and social issues relate to work, career, marriage, and parenthood. Follow us @meantforit

Hannah Davis has a dream job as the Program Director for the Techstars Sustainability Accelerator, a three-way partnership between Techstars, The Nature Conservancy, and mission-aligned investors. The startups accepted into the Techstars program are able to access the mentorship and expertise from the Nature Conversancy, alongside the Techstars network of over 7,000 mentors and 2,500 portfolio companies. In our conversation, Hannah shares the day-to-day responsibilities in her role, how Techstars operates and how Hannah got on the path of community-building roles. If you are interested in similar career roles, Hannah shares advice on how to dive in and get involved. We also discuss the tradeoffs with dream jobs, the value of vulnerability when resolving conflicts and why Hannah is optimistic about the future of our world. Follow us @meantforit  

Adventure and people lover, Laura Fravel had a dream job producing television broadcasts and digital content for National Geographic, and later, after moving West, as an independent producer for outlets such as Discovery Channel, The New York Time and Amazon. In our conversation, we discuss Laura’s second shift from storytelling for media and brands, to helping solopreneurs, entrepreneurs and thought-leaders tell their story. While Laura loved the first half of her career, personal circumstances and new priorities led her on a different (more fulfilling) path. Reflecting on her career, Laura commented, “I think at different points in our life we might be meant to do different things for different people.”  We discuss the turning point that led Laura to becoming a brand strategist and the story of how Laura created her business. We also cover Laura’s favorite business resources, a few lessons Laura has learned while building her own brand and Laura’s advice for outsourcing housework and technical support. If y

Dr. Eliza Nemser is an earth scientist working on climate solutions at the intersection of science, policy, and politics. In our conversation we discuss how Eliza fell in love with earth science and the path that led her to becoming a co-founder of Climate Changemakers. If you are curious about what it is like to be a geoscientist or how to start an organization focused on community organizing, this episode is for you. Follow us @meantforit

If you have had issues receiving or giving performance feedback (who hasn't?), this conversation is for you. Therese Huston’s role as a Cognitive Scientist at Seattle University involves finding ways to help professionals do their best work. Therese’s third book, Let's Talk, focuses on how to deliver feedback and create conversations that lead to growth and stronger relationships. Although you have probably read about this topic before, ‘Let’s Talk’ is different because Therese’s unique style of writing and communicating her findings is truly easy to understand, remember, and apply. ‘Let’s Talk’ could be an excellent handbook for every manager interested in delivering feedback in ways that create psychological safety, propose constructive solutions, and instill a collaborative framework.  In our conversation we discuss different feedback styles, how to listen and set good intentions, how to set up two-way conversations, tips for creating psychological safety, best practices for frequency of feedback, and sur

Kelley Higney, Founder & CEO of Bug Bite Thing, is an unstoppable force also known as a "mom on a mission." When a relocation to South Florida, led to constant mosquito bites for Kelley and her daughter, Kelley started searching for solutions. After many failed attempts to help her daughter with the bites, Kelley discovered a little-known tool that uses suction to help remove insect saliva/venom from under the skin. Kelley was amazed to find that the product worked and quickly realized it was an opportunity for a business.   Kelley secured the exclusive distribution rights for the product in the U.S. and started her company, Bug Bite Thing. Then, Kelley made a bold and strategic decision to sell her house and move into a rental so she could afford to start her business.   In the early days, Kelley started by selling her product at bake sales, school events, online and through Amazon. Eventually, word of mouth created buzz around the product and Kelley was featured on the local news. As sales expanded and

Brigid Schulte is the Director, of the Better Life Lab, ”working to change policy, practice and culture so that all people can make real choices about how to combine their work, life and caregiving responsibilities - and have time for joy.” Previously, Brigid worked as a Staff Reporter for the Washington Post for 16 years where she was part of the team that won the 2008 Pulitzer Prize. Brigid is also the author of Overwhelmed: Work, Love & Play when No One has the Time. In our conversation we discuss Brigid’s career path, affordable childcare options and paid family leave that can help families that are drowning from the costs of and demands of managing full time jobs and raising children. Follow us on Instagram @meantforit If you enjoy this episode please share it with a friend!