Corner Office Breakdowns

In episode seven of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks to Alfa Demmellash, the CEO of Rising Tide Capital, in what she says is one of the most goose-bump-inducing, profound, heart-wrenching, and inspiring conversations of her lifetime. Alfa breaks down the topic of privilege – not in the sense of race or wealth – the privilege of being loved. She then imagines what it looks like to inject love into the spaces that are typically void of it – like work. 

In Episode Six of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks with Erin Gallagher, the CEO and Founder of Ella, and the creator of the global #hypewoman movement, about the double-edged sword of external validation. Why do so many of us yearn for it? When is it a powerful accelerator versus a detrimental detractor? And how can we seek it out in the right ways, from the right people? 

In episode five of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks to Bryan Lattimore (he/him), a father, husband, serial entrepreneur, investor, and creator, about the emerging generation of dads – those who work, and parent, and home-make, and love their role deeply – to figure out how we can support them during this unprecedented time, too. 

In episode four of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks to Carol Fabrizio about Big-G-Grief and Little-g-grief. Why are we expected to power through rather than feel it? How astonishingly ordinary and simultaneously impactful it is, and how to create the space for it to breathe in our interpersonal and professional relationship. 

In episode four of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks to Lindsey Wehking, the head of investigative research at Nonfiction Research, about their research study with TWILL called “The Invisible Weight.” The discussion dives deep into the intersectional experience of pregnancy in America. From the healthcare system to the emotional experience of mothers across demographics. Ultimately, the podcast aims to give professionals an idea of how to hold more space for this transformative life stage – whether for themselves or for those around them. 

In the second episode of Corner Office Breakdowns, Ambika speaks to Neha O’Rourke, an award-winning Career & Energy Coach, Speaker and Founder of Somewhere In Between Coaching. Neha left her career in advertising after a period of intense burnout, and has been spending time understanding what causes it, and how to get out of it with her clients. At the end, Ambika realizes what her idea of rest may look like.

I was always taught to choose a job based on the manager. And because I’m an ambitious woman, I always wanted to work for an ambitious woman. But as my life started to dimensionalize (marriage, family, wanting to define my own way of “leading”), I realized that often, ambitious women have gotten where they are by performing as men. They’re not introducing diverse perspectives into the top of their companies, they are chameleons trying to belong. 

Guest: Stephanie Redlener, founder of Lioness, a leadership and change agency for women on the rise, and executive coach 

Questions: