Getting Work To Work

I’ve been watching the show Crashing on HBO and a moment in the show has been lodged in my brain for a few days now and it’s best summarized in a question: What is your point of view? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I’m going to talk about the importance of being yourself whether you are a freelancer, business owner, or someone in search of a job or gainfully employed.

Alison Cardy is a career truth teller who believes in living a life that actually feels like your own. She and her team have helped nearly 200 professionals find a great career fit through her proven CLARITY process. She is a frequent speaker at universities and alumni groups including Harvard, MIT, Georgetown, and her alma mater, The University of Maryland. Alison is the author of the bestseller, Career Grease: How to Get Unstuck and Pivot Your Career. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about career coaching, why people have a hard time with career management in today’s world, opening yourself up to the wisdom and counsel of others, and the importance of taking ownership of our lives.

Have you ever thought that being a successful creative professional is a lot like being great at improvisational comedy? In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I’m going to talk about the rules of improv and how they actually line up with my own career as a creative professional.

Rana Campbell is a marketing strategist, content creator, and host of the Dreams in Drive Podcast – a podcast she launched in January 2016 that teaches creatives & lifestyle entrepreneurs how to take their dreams out of PARK and into DRIVE. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about what got her into podcasting and how her vision has evolved over the past two years, how she builds community and relationships, and who she would interview if she could. The answer may surprise you.

One thing that always fascinates me with managing creative work is momentum—from start to finish—and how it can change from project to project. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I’m going to share a few tips on to build momentum in spite of inspirational drags, project stalls, and waiting for feedback.

Aaron Draplin is a graphic designer, co-founder of Field Notes, and author of Pretty Much Everything. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about pretty much everything including what he learns on the road, what it means to be a good citizen, Galaga, and the music and pursuits capturing his attention.

This episode was recorded live in Aaron's studio. There are many words that you might not want kids to hear or cranked in an office. Otherwise, have a good time.

This week I had the opportunity to share my career journey with two groups of high school students. As I reflected on the different experiences throughout my career, I connected to something Jessica Hebert said: "Polymaths are just interested in the intersection of things. How do we get excited about knowledge and share that with other people? That's what a good polymath is." In this episode of Getting Work To Work, I go deeper into the intersection of things and ask a few questions about your professional and personal pursuits, what you're excited about, and how you are sharing your knowledge with others.

Jessica Hebert is currently working on a PhD in biology and is a graduate teaching assistant at Portland State University. Outside of her work in the lab and classroom, she is a singer-songwriter with The PDX Broadsides and a performer with PDXYAR. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we discuss how art and science co-exist in her life, how nerd culture has impacted her scientific journey, the joys of being a polymath, songwriting, swashbuckling, and the importance of being mentally flexible.

I had an epiphany at lunch that I’m starting to unpack. It started with this question: How do I learn new skills by unlearning old knowledge and habits? It got me thinking about my context for learning, my goals, and the habits that resulted from years of doing things a certain way. If I change my context for learning and my goals, is that enough of a change to break my habits? That is the question of this episode.

Three Areas of Unlearning to Learn:

1. CONTEXT: What is the context of learning new things and how will the knowledge be applied in your organization?

2. GOALS: What are the goals that learning new things will help me accomplish?

3. HABITS: What habits are in place that are preventing me from trying new things?

Based in Australia, gough is the world’s first blind filmmaker. In this episode of Getting Work To Work, we talk about the work he's done with his production company, Beernuts Productions, online at beernutsproductions.com and how he gets his work to work, his comedic and filmmaking heroes, how he funds his projects, and what his plans for 2018 are.