Career Slay

What do you do when the career you trained for is no longer the path you want?

Dr. Sheila Gujrathi spent years training to become a physician, the one path her family saw as safe, respected, and secure. She completed every step of that training, including medical school at Northwestern, a residency at Harvard, and a fellowship at UCSF and Stanford, before admitting to herself that clinical medicine wasn’t her calling. That honesty led her into biotech, where she built a career across Genentech, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and McKinsey, eventually becoming co-founder and CEO of Gossamer Bio and former chief medical officer of Receptos. Today, Dr. Gujrathi is a biotech entrepreneur, healthcare investor, speaker, author, and the Co-Founder of the Biotech CEO Sisterhood.

In this conversation, Dr. Gujrathi and Career Slay host, Kelly Poquiz Burke, talk about her experience growing up as the only Indian family in a small New Jersey town, the hard conversation she had with her mother when she quit practicing medicine, and what it took to trust herself enough to make that call. They talk about authentic leadership, the importance of representation, and her book, The Mirror Effect.

This episode is for anyone who has to reimagine their career path and find their own mirrors, the people who make a path feel possible because they’ve walked it first.

Key Topics & Takeaways

• How to recognize when a career path is not aligned with your energy
• Why it took years of training before Dr. Gujrathi could admit medicine wasn’t her calling
• How to have the hard conversation of what you truly want despite disappointing those who sacrificed for you
• Why representation changes what you believe is possible for your own career
• How a mentor can reset your whole sense of what you’re capable of
• Why building a peer network matters more at the top, not less
• What it looks like to lead with authenticity instead of around it

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to Career Slay
00:20 – Introducing Dr. Sheila Gujrathi
01:01 – Growing up the only Indian family in town
11:02 – Telling her mother she wasn’t going to be a doctor
15:00 – What biotech actually is
20:28 – Grief, authenticity, and writing The Mirror Effect
28:30 – Finding your mirrors, and advice to her 20-year-old self

Guest Resources

• Book: The Mirror Effect: A Transformative Approach to Growth for the Next Generation of Female Leaders | Amazon
• Website: sheilagujrathimd.com
• Newsletter: the-mirror-effect.beehiiv.com
• TEDx Talk: Watch on YouTube
• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/sheila-gujrathi-md
• Instagram: @sheilagujrathimd

Your Next Step

If Sheila’s story stirred something up for you, start by taking the Life-Work Alignment Quiz at lifeworkalign.co.

And if you’re ready to chat, book a discovery call at careerslay.com to see if coaching is the right next step for you.

Follow @careerslay on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Follow Kelly at @kellypoquizburke on Instagram and on LinkedIn.

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

What do you do when life throws a curveball that knocks you off course?

After several months of silence, Career Slay host, Kelly Poquiz Burke, returns to the mic with the story behind the break. Kelly shares how the podcast pause began as a planned refresh in March, and how she caught herself repeating the hustle and burnout habits she thought she had left behind in corporate. What she didn’t anticipate was a unexpected health crisis that resulted in three surgeries in three months forcing her to slow down. She offers four hard truths from this difficult season, plus a ”HEAL” framework for getting through recovery. This episode is for the high achiever whose sense of worth has gotten tangled up with output, and for anyone in a season that refuses to move on your timeline.

What You'll Learn in This Episode

• How to recognize the burnout signals your body sends before things reach a crisis
• Why leaving a job or environment will not change your results until you change the habits behind them
• How to separate your worth from your productivity
• Why grief and gratitude can share the same space, and how gratitude helps you look forward
• What to consider when you are running on limited capacity
• How to use the HEAL framework: Head, Energy, Act (Agency, Counting on Others, Telling Your Story), and Learn
• Why healing takes longer than you expect

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to Career Slay
00:22 – Why the podcast went quiet
02:52 – Hard truth 1: If you don't change, nothing changes
07:12 – Hard truth 2: You are enough
08:51 – Hard truth 3: Gratitude and grief can coexist
10:25 – Hard truth 4: Healing takes longer than you expect
10:42 – The HEAL framework: “H” for Head
11:11 – HEAL: “E” for Energy
11:28 – HEAL: “A” for Act (Agency, Counting on Others, Telling Your Story)
12:25 – HEAL: “L” for Learn
13:00 – Closing thoughts: healing isn't linear

Mic-drop Quotes

• "If you don't change, nothing changes."
• "Be alive, Kelly. That was enough."
• "Gratitude and grief can exist in the same space."
• "I used to think strength meant pushing through. Now I know strength also looks like resting."

Your Next Step

If some part of this episode sounded like your own season, start by taking the Life-Work Alignment Quiz at lifeworkalign.co.

And if you'd like to talk it through, book a discovery call at careerslay.com to see if coaching is the right next step for you.

Follow Along

Follow @careerslay on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.
Follow Kelly at @kellypoquizburke on Instagram and on LinkedIn.

Topics Discussed

burnout recovery, high achiever burnout, healing after surgery, self-worth beyond productivity, gratitude and grief, HEAL framework, resilience, rest and recovery, asking for help, career reset, entrepreneurship, mindset, personal storytelling, Career Slay Podcast

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

What if one of the biggest drains on women’s time, energy, and leadership potential is something we rarely name?

In this episode, Kelly sits down with Dr. Allison Alford, clinical associate professor at Baylor University, communication scholar, executive coach, and author of Good Daughtering, to explore the invisible labor of “daughtering.”

Allison shares her unconventional academic journey, from earning her PhD as a mom of two to building what she calls a “portfolio career” that blends teaching, research, consulting, and coaching. But at the heart of this conversation is her groundbreaking research on daughtering, the emotional, cognitive, and relational labor adult daughters perform to keep families connected.

Together, Kelly and Allison unpack how daughtering shows up as a third shift of labor, how it impacts working professionals, and why self-awareness and boundaries are critical for women who want sustainable success.

If you’ve ever felt stretched thin between work, family, and the invisible expectations placed on you, this episode will help you feel seen, validated, and empowered to recalibrate.

Key Topics & Takeaways

• Building a “portfolio career” across academia and consulting
• Earning a PhD as a working mom and refusing to quit
• Defining daughtering and making invisible labor visible
• The four dimensions of daughtering: tasks, emotions, cognition, identity
• The “kinship shift” across a daughter’s lifespan
• Daughtering plus-plus in the sandwich generation
• The concept of first, second, and third shift labor
• How divided attention impacts women in the workplace
• Boundaries, calibration, and permission to pull back

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Welcome to Career Slay
00:23 – Introducing Allison Alford
01:51 – Childhood curiosity and “cruise director” energy
03:55 – From international studies to communication research
07:47 – The PhD journey as a mom of two
11:29 – Conflict resolution coaching at McCombs
15:49 – Starting a coaching business
17:58 – Building a portfolio career at Baylor
20:32 – What is daughtering?
23:58 – Defining daughtering in four categories
27:26 – The kinship shift across the lifespan
31:00 – Setting boundaries without guilt
33:38 – The mission behind Good Daughtering
37:21 – First shift, second shift, third shift labor
42:43 – What makes a fulfilling career
44:20 – Advice to her 20-year-old self
45:52 – Three words: Relationships, Innovation, Energy

Guest Resources

• Book: Good Daughtering
• Podcast: Hello Mother, Hello Daughter
• Coaching & Consulting: Good Talk Communication Consulting 
• LinkedIn: Allison Alford, PhD

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

Pivoting can feel like failure.

It can feel like quitting, like starting over, like admitting you got it wrong.

In this solo episode, Kelly unpacks what it really means to pivot and why it’s often the most aligned and courageous move you can make in your career.

From changing majors at University of Notre Dame, to earning her MBA, to shifting from advertising into brand marketing at Frito-Lay, to founding Career Slay, Kelly shares the defining pivots that shaped her professional path.

If you’re standing at a crossroads wondering whether you’re quitting or evolving, this episode is your reminder:

Pivoting is not failure. It’s getting back into alignment.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• How to recognize when something in your career is out of alignment
• Why gathering real-world data points reduces fear
• How curiosity accelerates professional growth
• The truth about self-limiting beliefs
• Why you’re never actually starting from zero
• How to test a pivot through micro-experiments
• Why minimizing regret is a better compass than avoiding risk

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction
00:23 – Why pivoting feels uncomfortable
01:15 – My first pivot: Leaving architecture
02:45 – Recognizing misalignment
03:30 – Gathering data points
04:40 – Switching majors and entering marketing
05:04 – Stretching beyond your comfort zone
06:10 – MBA challenges and confidence growth
06:45 – Pivot into brand marketing at Frito-Lay
07:20 – The biggest pivot: Founding Career Slay
08:15 – You’re not starting from zero
09:20 – Micro-experiments and testing your pivot
09:53 – The regret minimization framework
10:45 – Final encouragement

Quotes Worth Repeating

• “Pivoting is not failure. Pivoting is getting back into alignment.”
• “You are not behind. You are not flaky. You are responding to growth.”
• “You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from experience.”

Resources Mentioned

• Jeff Bezos – The Regret Minimization Framework

Topics Discussed

career pivots, professional growth, leadership development, entrepreneurship, transferable skills, self-limiting beliefs, MBA journey, brand marketing, alignment, personal reinvention, minimizing regret, Career Slay Podcast

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

What if the thing holding you back in your career isn’t a fact, but a story you’ve been telling yourself?

In this episode, Kelly sits down with leadership coach, speaker, and former Google leader Barbara Boselli to explore how the narratives we create about ourselves can quietly shape, and sometimes limit, our careers.

From growing up in Brazil and navigating cultural transitions in the U.S., to building a successful corporate career, leaving Google to focus on family, and eventually launching her own leadership consulting practice, Barbara shares a deeply reflective journey of growth, self-awareness, and reinvention.

Together, Kelly and Barbara unpack the difference between facts and stories, how emotional intelligence and mindfulness transform leadership, and why “step two is the enemy of step one” when it comes to meaningful career change. This conversation is a powerful reminder that self-awareness is the foundation of courageous leadership, and that redefining success often starts from within.

Key Topics & Takeaways

• The difference between facts and the stories we tell ourselves
• How cultural norms shape leadership and self-advocacy
• Transitioning from corporate leadership to entrepreneurship
• Emotional intelligence as a core leadership skill
• Mindfulness, self-awareness, and reframing limiting beliefs
• Why you don’t need the full plan to take the first step
• Navigating identity shifts during career pivots
• Finding purpose, passion, and fulfillment through service

Chapters / Timestamps

00:00 – Introduction
00:23 – Barbara Boselli bio
01:32 – Growing up in Brazil and early career influences
03:02 – Cultural transitions and working in the U.S.
05:08 – First roles at L’Oréal and Vale
06:40 – Choosing an MBA and career reinvention
07:58 – Joining Google and working in strategy & operations
09:51 – Discovering a passion for people development
11:58 – Emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and leadership
13:52 – Leaving Google and identity shifts
15:36 – Spiritual psychology and reframing success
18:45 – Navigating motherhood and career uncertainty
21:00 – “Step two is the enemy of step one”
22:55 – Building Be Now Consulting
24:22 – Fact vs. story and limiting beliefs
28:04 – Self-awareness as a leadership superpower
29:53 – Community, collaboration, and entrepreneurship
31:36 – Advice to her 20-year-old self
32:28 – Career in three words
33:10 – Where to find Barbara

Guest Resources

• Website: bnowconsulting.com
• LinkedIn: Barbara Boselli

Topics Discussed

leadership development, emotional intelligence, mindfulness at work, self-awareness, career pivots, women in leadership, entrepreneurship, limiting beliefs, personal growth, fact vs story, executive coaching, purpose-driven work, Career Slay Podcast

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

What if climbing the corporate ladder isn’t about working harder, but about learning the rules no one ever taught you?

In this episode of the Career Slay Podcast, Kelly Poquiz Burke sits down with Kendall Berg, founder of That Career Coach and author of Secrets of the Career Game, to unpack the unspoken rules that shape real career growth.

From sneaking into job fairs and telling a CFO his strategy was flawed (at 19), to earning five promotions in six years, turning down a C-suite role, and building a nationally recognized coaching platform, Kendall shares the highs, lows, and hard-earned lessons that reshaped how she thinks about success.

This conversation dives deep into self-advocacy, managing up, building influence as well as your own brand, and redefining success as your life evolves. Whether you’re ambitious, burned out, or questioning what “next” really means, this episode offers practical wisdom for navigating your career with intention.

Key Topics & Takeaways

• Why being great at your job isn’t enough as you move up
• The importance of educating your boss about your impact
• How self-advocacy and personal branding accelerate promotions
• Turning down a C-suite role and trusting your gut
• Balancing a demanding corporate role with entrepreneurship
• The mental load behind content creation and visibility
• Why success eventually becomes about owning your time
• Learning when to push forward and when to pivot

Chapters

00:00 – Introduction
01:18 – Growing up driven, entrepreneurial, and type-A
02:56 – Studying math and economics without a clear path
04:21 – Sneaking into job fairs and landing a career-defining role
06:03 – Telling a CFO the hard truth (and getting hired anyway)
08:27 – Rapid promotions, tech leadership, and learning soft skills
11:58 – Turning down a C-suite role and redefining ambition
15:00 – What a Chief of Staff role really looks like day-to-day
17:38 – Balancing corporate leadership and That Career Coach
20:42 – Content creation, controversy, and building thick skin
26:45 – Writing Secrets of the Career Game
28:14 – “Your boss has no idea what you’re doing”
30:15 – Advocacy, promotion strategy, and managing up
34:44 – How Kendall defines success today
38:05 – Advice to her 20-year-old self
39:27 – Career in three words
39:56 – Where to find Kendall

Guest Resources

• Follow Kendall: @ThatCareerCoach (LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube)
• Website: thatcareercoach.net
• Get Kendall’s Book: Secrets of the Career Game https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Career-Game-strategies-workplace/dp/1804091111

Keywords

career growth, career coaching, self advocacy at work, managing up, promotions, leadership development, personal branding, career pivots, women in leadership, content creation, work life alignment, executive communication, influence at work, career strategy, Career Slay Podcast

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

In this episode of the Career Slay Podcast, host Kelly Poquiz Burke introduces a new format aimed at delivering actionable career and leadership advice. First up for the new year is effective goal setting, exploring three frameworks:

• SMART goals for structure
• OKRs for alignment
• The 3-2-1 framework for maintaining momentum.

There is no perfect framework, and goals should support your life, not consume it. This year isn’t about becoming someone new. It’s about leading yourself with intention.

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

In this episode of Career Slay, host Kelly Poquiz Burke interviews Nicole “Nikki” Ramirez, a growth marketing strategist and personal branding coach who helps professionals and businesses build data-driven, impactful brands. Nikki shares her unconventional journey from journalism into digital marketing, how she landed a TEDx Talk, and what happened after getting laid off from her dream job at Forbes. Determined to take control of her career, Nikki ended up becoming a LinkedIn influencer growing her audience from 2,400 followers to 34,000 within a year. We talk about making bold career moves, overcoming the fear of putting yourself out there, and why it’s crucial to build a personal brand and own your narrative.

To learn more about Nikki’s work, follow her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicolerayeramirez/

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

In this episode, host Kelly Poquiz Burke interviews marketing and sales executive Jenny Parrish. Jenny shares her inspiring journey from a challenging childhood as the daughter of an immigrant mother to a successful career in the corporate world. She discusses the impact of her mother's work ethic, her early career experiences, and the challenges she faced, including a personal tragedy that shifted her perspective on life and work: the sudden loss of her brother, who died in a car accident alongside actor Paul Walker.

Now as the VP of Sales at Division-D, Jenny discusses the evolution of programmatic advertising, the rise of influencer marketing, and the importance of finding purpose in one's career. Our conversation highlights the importance of resilience, personal growth, and balancing career ambitions with family and emotional well-being.

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay

You don’t need a perfect résumé to land your dream job. You need a powerful story.

In this episode of Career Slay, career development advocate, resume writer, and speaker Steph Gillies joins me to talk about how to make your career path make sense, even if it hasn’t always been linear.

We discuss the importance of exploring various career paths, the role of resumes in job transitions, and how to show up authentically in job applications.

Whether you’ve jumped industries, taken time off, or feel like your experience is “all over the place,” this conversation will help you connect the dots and step into your next chapter with confidence. It’s an inspiring reminder that your career is all about the unique journey, not just the destination of a dream job.

Enjoying the show?

Please consider subscribing, leaving a rating, and sharing to help us #slaythefearincareer. And if you're looking for one-on-one career coaching, connect with Kelly:

• Website: careerslay.com
• LinkedIn: Kelly Poquiz Burke
• Instagram: @careerslay