This week on Embrace the Squiggle, Casey Stevens blew us away with her candid take on mixing traditional therapy with what she calls her "witchy wisdom." From divorce to career zigzags, she kept it real about following your gut - even when life gets messy!

What we love most about Casey is how she bridges science and spirituality without apology. No stuffy therapy talk here - she's all about helping people tap into their intuition and make radical transformations. If you're feeling stuck or just need a reminder to trust yourself, this episode is your sign! Casey proves you can be professional AND intuitive in a world that often makes you choose.

Check her out on Linkedin

Casey on Instagram

Want to be a guest on Embrace the Squiggle? Apply here

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🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn

🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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What happens when a poem you write goes viral? Our guest this week knows!
Kristine and Colleen speak to Jennae Cecelia who you may know as the author of the poem “I met my younger self for coffee” to discuss her squiggly path.

Jennae shares how her passion for writing blossomed from her childhood and the key moment when a viral poem on TikTok brought her significant attention. Jennae has self-published 13 books – the most popular being, The Sun Will Rise and So Will We and Healing for No One But Me which have sold more than 75,000 copies combined! Her current interests as an author is to tell stories around life experiences that in the moment seem insignificant but become nostalgic as time goes on.

She is now signed with Andrews McMeel, a partner of Simon & Schuster to publish her first traditionally published book, Deep In My Feels, available anywhere books are sold.

Jennae has expanded into helping brands form an intimate connection with their audience. She has formed creative partnerships with Pinterest, M Fairview Health, Papier, American Eagle, and Canva - to name a few.

She lives a life of simplicity centered around art! Her latest interests are pottery and thrifting – anything vintage, people-watching, and hosting themed dinner parties!

Buy Jennae’s book: https://www.jennaececelia.com/

Want to be a guest on Embrace the Squiggle? Apply here: https://forms.gle/HFaPMwHHg9kN6RxPA

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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Ever wondered who's working behind the scenes to bring Embrace the Squiggle to life? This week, we flip the script and put our producer, Lili Paxton, in the spotlight!

Episodes Squiggles:

• From editing her mom's podcast "Fraudish" to becoming a full-fledged podcast strategist
• How Lili's adventurous spirit led her from the US to Spain, Australia, and finally London
• Her journey through the London School of Economics
• The creative TikTok strategy that helped her build a vibrant community in a new city
• Lili's unexpected pivot toward sustainability

Join us for this behind-the-scenes conversation about taking risks, finding your people across continents, and embracing life's unpredictable turns. all from the person who usually edits out our awkward pauses!

Connect with Lili on Linkedin

Listen to Packing Up & Peacing Out

Follow Lili on Instagram

Listen to Lili’s Mom’s Podcast Fraudish

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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If helping people is your north star, this episode is for you. This week, we chat with Amanda Wininger who skipped college but still rose through the corporate leadership ranks becoming a doula and yoga instructor. It many seem random, but it's all been about helping people.

Episode Highlights:

• How Amanda recognized and leveraged her natural talent for supporting others
• The surprising parallels between corporate HR and birth support
• Why emotional intelligence trumps technical skills in leadership
• Setting boundaries as an act of self-preservation and leadership

Amanda shares practical wisdom on creating authentic human connections in both work and life, proving that your unique combination of skills and interests isn't random, it's your superpower!

Connect with Amanda: @‌lovelydayyoga | LinkedIn

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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Ever found yourself nodding along to career advice that doesn't actually feel right for YOU? This week, your favorite career coaches throw out the rulebook completely! Colleen and Kristine tackle the question we've all secretly wondered: "Do I really want that promotion, or am I just supposed to want it?"

What We're Squiggling About:

• The permission slip you need to define success YOUR way (even if it means saying no to that fancy title)
• Why keeping a "humble brag" list isn't conceited, it's career self-defense
• The surprising freedom in considering a demotion (yes, really!)
• How we're both using AI as our secret weapon (without letting it replace our human magic)

Ladies, we've all sat in that performance review, downplaying our accomplishments while the guy next door is taking credit for the coffee run. This stops now! We share our personal struggles with self-promotion and habit that's changing our confidence game.

And for those of you eyeing AI with suspicion: we get it! But after resisting the robot revolution, we've discovered some genuinely game-changing ways to make technology work for us without losing our souls in the process.

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

🎧 Subscribe for more conversations that transform career complexity into your competitive advantage.

Ever wondered what happens when "Take Your Daughter to Work Day" turns into a full-blown career? This week's episode is a delightful deep dive with Lindsay LaBonte, who turned her childhood fascination with her dad's mortgage business into her own financial industry adventure!

What's in store:

• The real story of how Lindsay went from "playing bank" as a kid to actually running one 🏦
• The juggling act of motherhood, leadership, and that pesky thing called "parental expectations"
• How to delegate better as a leader
• Why discovering your strengths might be better than therapy (StrengthsFinder for the win!)

Lindsay spills the tea on the art of delegation (spoiler: it's not just dumping work on others), how to create a team that doesn't make you want to hide in the supply closet, and finding moments of joy in the financial world.

Plus: Learn why sometimes the best career move is taking a nap! Lindsay's refreshing take on energy management will have you booking that vacation day you've been putting off.

This episode is perfect for anyone who's ever thought: "I have no idea what I'm doing, but I'm doing it anyway!" (Which is all of us, let's be honest.)

Looking for a mortgage in the Western Mass Area? Connect with Lindsay: https://www.appliedmortgageteam.com/lindsay-labonte  

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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Ever wondered what a Chief of Staff actually does… and how to become one? This episode unveils the squiggly career moves that can lead to this powerful but often misunderstood role.

What You'll Discover:

• How to leverage research skills from academia into business advantage
• The unspoken challenges of managing teams at a young age
• Why the Chief of Staff role might be the perfect fit for "connectors" and strategic thinkers
• Strategic pivots between large corporations and nimble startups

Darcey Bennett shares her journey from Smith College research associate to Chief of Staff at multiple organizations including Gartner, CEB, Ellucian, and now RiskExec. Her candid insights reveal how seemingly disconnected experiences build the unique skillset needed for high-level strategic roles.

Whether you're curious about the Chief of Staff career path or simply looking to make your diverse background work for you, Darcey's experience navigating fair lending analytics, higher education software, and business advisory firms offers a masterclass in strategic career development.

Connect with Darcey: https://www.linkedin.com/in/darceybennett/

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

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Questioning your career path? This week's guest went from working a normal corporate job to co-founding a tech company with a billion-dollar IPO—and reveals the unconventional wisdom that guided her journey.

What You'll Gain:

• Permission to leave "secure" jobs when they no longer serve your growth
• How side hustles can transform into unexpected career opportunities
• The unfiltered truth about entrepreneurship's messy, non-linear reality
• Strategies for recognizing when it's time for your next pivot

Miranda Lievers shares her remarkable path from corporate job at Telus to photography business owner to Thinkific co-founder, proving that career success often comes through embracing uncertainty rather than avoiding it.

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

A bit about Miranda:

Miranda Lievers is unabashedly addicted to the light in people's eyes when they dive into what they're passionate about. She's crafting a wildly unapologetic life in Vancouver, BC.

Thinkific Co-Founder & former COO

Took Thinkific through IPO at over $1B valuation in 2021

Helped 50k+ businesses grow

Raised $200M+ from investors

Scaled teams to hundreds, putting culture first

Autistic & Queer

2 kids, an incredible husband of 25 years *and* a ridiculously hot Italian girlfriend

2-year sabbatical to rethink everything

Life is too short to do anything other than what sets your soul on fire!

Connect with Miranda: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mlievers/

https://www.instagram.com/mirandalievers/

https://mirandalievers.com/

Feeling like your diverse background is holding you back? This week's guest went from investigative journalism in Taiwan to launching an AI fashion startup—and will transform how you see your own career "detours."

What You'll Learn:

• How to reframe past experiences as unique competitive advantages
• The confidence to make bold pivots between seemingly unrelated industries
• Practical strategies for women breaking into tech leadership

Anya Cheng (Meta, eBay, McDonald's, Target) shares the counterintuitive moves that took her from reporter to founding Taelor, proving that the most interesting careers rarely follow a straight line—and yours doesn't need to either.

Connect with Anya: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anyacheng/

Check our Taelor: https://taelor.style/

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

🎧 Subscribe, rate, and review Embrace the Squiggle for more real conversations on the twists and turns of career and life.

Ever feel like your career path looks more like a game of pinball than a straight line? (Same.) In this episode, we chat with the amazing Kokui Adesokan about her squiggly journey from growing up in Togo to thriving in the U.S. aerospace and tech industries.

Kokui opens up about the pivots, plot twists, and big leaps of faith that shaped her career—from studying chemical engineering to finding her groove in aerospace, and all the moments of “sure, I’ll try that” in between.

We dig into:

• How community college changed her life
• Stumbling upon engineering through love of math - and how this applies to you!
• The power of saying yes (even when you’re scared)
• And how giving back—through speaking, mentoring, and just showing up—can be the most fulfilling part of the journey

If you’re feeling stuck, burnt out, or unsure what comes next, this conversation will give you the pep talk and practical wisdom you didn’t know you needed.

Connect with Kokui

https://www.kokuiadesokan.com/

👯‍♀️ Stay in touch with your hosts:
🔗 Colleen on LinkedIn
🔗 Kristine on LinkedIn

🎧 Subscribe, rate, and review Embrace the Squiggle for more real conversations on the twists and turns of career and life.