How do you get people to start caring about things in the workplace that they aren't excited about or bought into? Whether it be a bad manager, a un-collaborative team member or an organization that only cares about the money - how does one go about changing behavior? In this episode I talk about the WIFM question, and how that alone can change and shift people's way of operating. When they know what truly benefits and boomerangs back to them, they might be more incentivized to change. 

Most people have been told and given thoughts about pursuing education or pursuing industry - and it's those very stories that show up in how people make decisions in their careers. In this episode, I talk about the process of de-conditioning the thoughts we have about both academia and industry, so you can bring more consciousness and create more intentional decision making. 

Women receive a 2.3% of venture capital funding, and LGBTQ+ founders receive a reported 1% of venture capital funding. How does one go about creating and chasing their dreams, charting new territories and shaking up industries without getting bogged down by the systems? Tune into my conversation with Abby Sugar, where she shares her journey of entrepreneurship, and how she continues to focus on her own growth and development by doing the inner work. Her story is nothing but awe inspiring, and Play Out Apparel's mission and values is one to follow for all socially conscious entrepreneurs.

Abby's Bio below:

Abby Sugar is the Founder and CEO of Play Out Apparel, an omnichannel gender-equal streetwear and underwear brand. She graduated from The Founder Institute and is proud to be an FI Select Portfolio company, the top 2% of their companies. As an outgoing, unapologetically queer startup founder, she strives to be a leading voice in and for the LGBTQ+ community. Abby’s entrepreneurial spirit and unique personal style give her an outsider’s advantage in the world of fashion and DTC startup ecosystem.

How can we make the icky aspects of our career more enjoyable? Especially the daunting experiences, like interviewing, office politics, and networking? Today I talk about how we can "gamify" and make certain parts of our careers that we might find less pleasant.  All comes down to providing about mindset shifts and perspectives in how to overcome them. 

Over the last year, many organizations and leaders suddenly placed an emphasis on Diversity and Inclusion initiatives and hiring efforts following the murder of George Floyd.  In my interview with Dion Bullock, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) lead at Bravely, he shares with us his own experience working in the industry; what aspiring DEIB practitioners should be aware of if wanting to move into this space; the challenges others might not be aware of; and other insightful perspectives others who are curious about this space, whether as allies, advocates or bystanders, should be aware of.

Dion's full bio here:

With a love for coherence and efficacy, Dion works as a strategist and coach to help organizations operate in alignment with their values. Currently, Dion serves as Bravely’s Strategy Lead for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB), a business-to-business-to-consumer (B2B2C) HR technology startup focused on democratizing access to individualized professional coaching and support for employees at work. In this role, Dion leads the process to define Bravely's value proposition in fostering DEIB, partners with functional leaders to best deliver that value proposition to clients and users, and advises leaders on how to build a company culture and operating model to deliver that value repeatably and at scale. Before joining Bravely, Dion has spearheaded DEIB, strategic planning, learning and development, and operations throughout the New York City non-profit and public sector. Throughout his career, Dion has led with a passion for enhancing the power of people and communities to drive systemic change. Dion holds his BA in Human Development and Social Relations from Kalamazoo College in Kalamazoo, MI.

Social Media:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dbullocknyc/

When you've been working at a fast paced, high growth environment, it often comes with a lot of changes in roles and responsibilities, in addition stretching and growing in new ways.  In these environments, employees and managers alike are moving SO quickly, perhaps they haven't  quite had a chance to take a step back to process all that's going on.  This episode talks about the common thought errors that arise and hold us back, and how you can shift into a more productive mindset. 

Excited to have one of my best friends on the podcast today, to share her experience about uprooting her life, going abroad for her career, and experiencing the expat life in China. Having worked at Google's talent team for the last 9 years, she shares with us some nuggets of wisdom for candidates and hiring managers alike.

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Full bio below:

Emily is currently the Sr. Recruiting Lead for Greater China Google Sales, Marketing and business functions. She has 9 years of HR and recruitment experience at Google, with N. America and APAC talent acquisition knowledge. Prior to Google she worked in the Tech industry in Silicon Valley as a sales consultant.

Emily has a dual Bachelor's degree in Business administration and Communications design from the University of Southern California (USC).

During her free time, Emily enjoys long walks, music, and creating art. She is a devout Christian and also enjoys exploring different spiritual practices. She is always excited to provide mentorship to her friends, family, and business peers.

Oh the unpleasant workplace experiences. More often than not, individuals from marginalized and underrepresented groups tend to be on the receiving end. In this episode, I define and provide examples of each of these terms so individuals can create awareness of their own experiences and have the common language to spot it out. Fear not, it also gives actionable steps on where to go from after being victimized from those experiences. 

The job search process and online dating have a lot more in common than we think. What are you doing to contribute to getting catfished at new job opportunities?  Some fun dating advice sprinkled throughout as well. 

What do Hustle Culture and the Immigrant Hustle both have in common? They both lead to burn out. They also are totally solve-able with new thoughts.