What does it take to build a career that doesn't just advance your life, but changes the conditions of an entire community?

In this episode, I sit down with Aaron Mair, the 57th President of the Sierra Club and the first Black person to lead the organization in its history. Aaron's path is one of the most genuinely non-linear on this show: Navy veteran, Binghamton University alum, data systems analyst for the New York State Department of Health, GIS pioneer, environmental justice founder, Sierra Club president, and now a builder of career pathways for youth of color into the green economy.

Aaron also talks about how he helped build the Champlain Hudson Power Express, how he developed the Ebola screening protocol for New York State, and why he thinks the most important career move a young person can make right now is getting into the water and environmental protection sector—where civil service jobs are available, pay well, and desperately need the next generation.

This one goes deep. We cover intergenerational wealth, agency, the role of ethics in career decision-making, and why Aaron believes you cannot eat dollars. If you've ever felt like your background didn't fit the environmental space, this episode will reframe that entirely.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - Free:Feeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:00:00 - Introduction00:55 - Meet Aaron Mair01:41 - First Black president of the Sierra Club — what that means06:35 - World systems theory, sociology, and learning how to think09:32 - Getting into state service — internships, access, and the civil service gap12:23 - Data, public health, and connecting science to society33:40 - What employers in the green economy actually need36:10 - DEP water jobs — a wide open door most youth of color don't know about37:50 - Timbuktu Summer Science and Career Program and building new pathways39:04 - The broader awakening — treating Earth as more than a resource basin46:40 - Advice to young Aaron — trust yourself, ask for help, get applied experience55:38 - Final words and closing

🔗 Connect with Aaron!💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/aaron-mair-554508a/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/josealmanzaresq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What does it actually take to reinvent yourself - not once, but multiple times - and build real credibility each time you start over?

In this episode I sit down with my old friend Pablo Segarra, a Bronx-born, Brooklyn-raised attorney who's been living and practicing law in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic for nearly a decade. Pablo's path is genuinely unlike anyone else I've had on this show: NYPD officer, law school student working nights while injured, solo practitioner serving entrepreneurs, Web3 legal advisor, and now IP and trademark attorney with over 1,400 clients under his belt.

We get into what happened after a serious car accident cut his police career short and sent him toward law school - a move he literally described as a "crazy idea" because he didn't believe he was worthy of applying. We talk about how he built credibility in the crypto space almost overnight, why he credits cutting the time between thought and action as his single biggest career accelerator, and the mistake he kept making even after he'd made it, taking every speaking gig and platform opportunity without asking whether it actually served his goals.

This one is not an environmental episode in the traditional sense. Pablo is an IP attorney, not an environmentalist. But his playbook for pivoting, building visibility from scratch, and deciding when to say no is one of the most practical and transferable conversations I've had on this show. If you're sitting on a move you haven't made yet, this episode will push you.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction

01:12 Meet Pablo Segarra and a career that isn't linear

02:43 Why Pablo moved from New York to the Dominican Republic

07:22 Leaving the NYPD after a life-changing injury

11:41 The "crazy idea" of going to law school

15:15 Overcoming self-doubt and finally applying

22:00 Building a law practice for solopreneurs

25:30 Getting into Web3 and the crypto space

27:40 How to build credibility in a new field fast

32:00 The formula: research, identify players, act fast

36:00 Advice for young professionals entering a brutal job market

40:00 Build your own table if there's no seat for you

48:00 Everything is a "no" unless it's an obvious "yes"

51:00 What Pablo would tell his younger self

55:35 If it keeps you up at night, you care about it

57:50 Final reflections

🔗 Connect with Pablo!💼 LinkedIn: /pablo-segarra-esq/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What do you do when a successful career stops feeling like yours? And the work you actually want to do is in a field you know almost nothing about?

In this episode I sit down with Yvonne Norman, Legal Network Manager at the Sabin Center for Climate Change Law at Columbia Law School, for one of the most honest and practical conversations about career pivoting I've had on this show.

Yvonne spent over 20 years in civil litigation - personal injury, medical malpractice, plaintiff and defense work across solo practices and big firms. By any external measure, she had made it. Then burnout hit hard, and a physical wake-up call in the fall of 2021 forced her to ask a question she had been avoiding: what did she actually want her work to mean?

What followed was a multi-year, intentional journey from civil litigator to recognized voice in environmental and climate law, with no environmental background, no roadmap, and no guarantee it would work.

She shares the exact playbook: how she started consuming content before she felt qualified, co-authored her first article on extreme heat, leveraged bar association committees, sought out informational meetings, and ultimately landed at one of the most prestigious climate law institutions in the country because the people there already knew her name.

We also get into the three things she wishes she had done earlier, what "pivoting within the pivot" actually looks like, and the one action item anyone can take today to start moving toward environmental work.

If you've been sitting on that pull toward environmental or climate work and haven't moved yet, this episode is the push.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction01:14 Yvonne's background and journey to environmental law03:58 Early legal career in civil litigation05:57 Experiencing burnout after 20 years09:49 Returning to her original motivation for becoming an attorney12:48 First steps into environmental law16:37 Overcoming imposter syndrome as an outsider21:07 The power of bar associations and active volunteering23:33 How intentional networking opened unexpected doors27:12 The playbook — posting, writing and informational meetings36:07 Narrowing down your focus within the environmental space40:28 Applying for jobs and the long road of rejection42:26 Landing at Columbia Law's Sabin Center47:16 Three things Yvonne wishes she had done differently56:10 One action item anyone can take today58:48 Final words

🔗 Connect with Yvonne!💼 LinkedIn: /ivonne-norman-esq/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What does it take to build a career at the center of the clean energy transition?

In this episode I sit down with Keith Kinch, climate innovation leader, entrepreneur, and co-founder of BlocPower, for a conversation about breaking into clean energy careers, scaling climate tech companies, and what it means to do this work when your community is on the line.

Keith helped grow BlocPower from a Brooklyn startup into a nationally recognized leader in building electrification. He now serves as a Strategic Advisor at Legacy Suite and Founder in Residence at Browning the Green Space, where he supports founders and professionals building equitable pathways into the clean energy economy.

We get into his upbringing in East New York as the son of Barbadian immigrants, how Superstorm Sandy became a turning point in his climate journey, the real lessons from scaling BlocPower for over a decade, and his three-part framework for breaking into the green economy - no matter where you're starting from. We also get into the emotional weight of caring about places like Barbados and the Dominican Republic when the climate data is hard to look at, and what Keith holds onto to stay hopeful anyway.

If you're trying to figure out where you fit in the clean energy transition — this one will give you both a framework and a reason to keep going.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction01:30 Climate innovation, Brooklyn and building electrification01:56 What is Browning the Green Space?04:27 Growing up in Brooklyn as the child of immigrants07:20 Early awareness of energy inefficiency08:54 Superstorm Sandy as a turning point09:46 The origin story of BlocPower12:22 Scaling impact and real-world health outcomes15:55 Confidence, leadership and taking the leap16:17 Three-part framework for breaking into green careers18:54 Networking, outreach and learning from people in the space20:12 Doing the work you're good at even when it's hard23:30 Climate change, the Caribbean and the emotional weight of the work24:51 Hope, innovation and adapting human behavior32:30 Future-proofing your career in clean energy37:00 What gives Keith hope for the next 20 years47:00 Final words

🔗 Connect with Keith!💼 LinkedIn: /keith-kinch-amazing/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

Job search burnout is real...

And it's one of the most undertalked challenges facing professionals trying to break into environmental and climate work.

In this episode I sit down for the second time with Lauren Celano, CEO of Propel Careers, for a conversation about what burnout actually looks like, how to catch it early, and the practical strategies that help people stay grounded and keep moving when the search feels like it's going nowhere.

Lauren has coached thousands of professionals through career transitions and brings a level of honesty and tactical clarity to this conversation that most career advice completely misses.

We get into how to build your target organization list using conference websites and venture capital firm portfolios, why warm outreach beats cold applications every time, how to use LinkedIn as a living portfolio rather than a static resume, and why accumulating small daily victories is the most underrated way to rebuild momentum when you're down.

If you've been applying and not hearing back, or just feeling worn down by the process, this one is for you.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction02:00 What is job search burnout and how does it show up07:00 Why our careers are tied to our sense of identity and value09:00 Strategies to stay resilient during a long search13:00 The importance of tracking your wins and progress15:00 How to build a targeted organization list using conference websites23:00 Using venture capital firm portfolios to find hidden employers28:00 Outreach strategies once you have your target list32:00 How to use your LinkedIn summary section effectively35:00 Posting content to stay visible and build momentum37:00 Accumulating small victories to beat burnout40:00 Volunteering and community involvement as momentum builders43:00 Writing your ideal job description as a clarity exercise48:00 Final words

🔗 Connect with Lauren!💼 LinkedIn: /laurencelano/🎙️ Podcast: Propelling Careers

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What if the green career you're looking for isn't a specific job title...but a mindset you bring to any role?

In this episode I sit down with Pete Rose, Director of Stakeholder Relations at Hydro-Quebec, North America's largest producer of renewable energy, for a conversation about his journey from UNICEF and the Government of Quebec to the forefront of the clean energy transition.

Pete brings a perspective you don't often hear in green career conversations - that diverse, non-linear experience isn't a liability, it's exactly what the sustainability space needs. We get into the Champlain-Hudson Power Express Project, what Hydro-Quebec actually does, how a $40 million Green Economy Fund gets built and deployed, and why Pete believes that with the right mindset, any job can be a green job.

Oh! And we find out whether Pete is a movie buff, an SNL fanatic, or both.

If you've ever felt like your background doesn't fit neatly into the green economy, this episode will change how you think about that.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction01:09 The Pete Rose name03:13 Career background07:05 Champlain-Hudson Power Express Project10:18 What does Hydro-Quebec do?13:04 What does Pete do at Hydro-Quebec?15:14 Educational and experience background21:10 The $40 million Green Economy Fund29:10 Why anything can be a green job35:54 Advice for young professionals45:25 Advice for experienced professionals48:46 Resources49:00 Final words53:14 Pete the movie and SNL buff

🔗 Connect with Pete!💼 LinkedIn: /peter-rose-003b8/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What does sustainable real estate development actually look like from the ground up, and what does it take to build a career in green building when you didn't start with a traditional path?

In this episode I sit down with Dusten Hendrickson, real estate developer and founder of Mailbox Money Real Estate and Private Equity, for a conversation about his journey from working as a roofer to building market-affordable, sustainably designed homes and everything he learned about self-awareness, failure, and entrepreneurship along the way.

Dusten brings a refreshingly honest perspective on what it takes to integrate sustainability into real estate development, the opportunities that exist in green building right now, and what both career changers and experienced professionals need to hear if they're thinking about making a move into this space.

If you've ever wondered whether sustainability and real estate can coexist — this episode will show you what that actually looks like in practice.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction04:10 Business background09:26 Building efficiency measures13:03 Energy efficiency measures20:21 Early childhood23:08 Educational and professional background28:27 Advice to your younger self33:10 Opportunities in green real estate36:05 Advice for experienced professionals39:53 Learning from mistakes and failure41:23 Final words of advice42:33 Parenting discussion

🔗 Connect with Dusten!💼 LinkedIn: /dusten-hendrickson/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What separates the professionals who break into environmental law from those who don't? According to Marisa Blackshire, a lot of it comes down to mentorship, and knowing how to use it.

In this episode I sit down with Marisa Blackshire, Vice President of Environment & Regulatory Law at Bloom Energy, for a conversation about her journey from aspiring professional to industry leader, why flexibility in your job search opens doors you didn't know existed, and what it actually means to find, use, and become a mentor in the environmental space.

Marisa brings warmth, honesty, and hard-earned wisdom to this conversation, covering mentee etiquette, diversity in environmental law, career advice for both young and experienced professionals, and what her role at one of the leading clean energy companies in the country actually looks like day to day.

If you're trying to figure out how to get into this space and keep moving once you're in, this one is worth your full attention.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction02:10 Marisa's childhood04:02 Early legal and environmental interests05:30 Early career and education10:52 Mentorship programs12:57 How to find a mentor20:51 Seeking a mentor22:38 Mentee etiquette26:22 Advice for young professionals29:28 Advice for experienced professionals34:12 Marisa's role at Bloom Energy40:53 Diversity in environmental law43:01 Final words

🔗 Connect with Marisa!💼 LinkedIn: /marisa-blackshire-esq/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

Environmental insurance is one of the most overlooked and underappreciated career paths in the green economy. It's also one of the most essential.

In this episode I sit down with Mary Gerding, Managing Director of Environmental Risk at Hylant, for a conversation about what environmental insurance actually is, how it drives the cleanup of contaminated sites, and what her journey from administrative work to industry expert looks like up close.

Mary brings a rare combination of technical knowledge and practical wisdom to this conversation, covering the skills that matter most in environmental risk management, the real challenges of the field, and what aspiring professionals need to know to break in.

If you've never considered environmental insurance as a career path, this episode will open a door you didn't know existed.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction04:56 Environmental insurance 10106:15 Professional background: from admin to industry expert15:30 Breaking into the environmental industry25:44 Advice for seasoned professionals28:59 Final thoughts and a special movie recommendation

🔗 Connect with Mary!💼 LinkedIn: /mary-gerding-8a6b4440/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.

What does it actually look like to shape environmental policy from inside a government agency, and how do you build a career that puts you at the intersection of law, regulation, and real environmental impact?

In this episode I sit down with Will Kellermeyer, attorney and policy advisor at the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, for a conversation about his journey into environmental law, what it's like to work in government, and how legal frameworks actually drive sustainability outcomes on the ground.

Will brings a candid, insider perspective on what skills matter most in this field, the real challenges of shaping environmental regulations, and what both young professionals and seasoned practitioners need to know if they're considering a career in environmental law or government policy.

If you've ever wondered whether government is the right path for your environmental career, this one gives you the full picture.

🗺️ Get the Green Pivot Map - FreeFeeling pulled toward environmental or climate work but not sure where to start? I created a simple 90-day framework to help you reposition your existing skills and take intentional steps toward a career that actually fits.

Grab your free copy at josealmanzaresq.com or message me "PIVOT" on LinkedIn.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS:

00:00 Introduction02:20 Background06:20 Early career10:05 Environmental interests15:34 Advice for young professionals21:23 The importance of self assessment25:20 Advice for seasoned professionals30:36 Final words

🔗 Connect with Will!💼 LinkedIn: /williamkellermeyer/

🔗 Connect with Jose!💼 LinkedIn: /jose-almanzar-esq📷 Instagram: @jose_environmental_attorney🔗 Website: josealmanzaresq.com

🎵 Music Credit - Kwae:📷 Instagram: @kwaemusic

🎨 Logo Credit - Leo:📷 Instagram: @logic9uy_art

🎙️ About Green Collar CareersGreen Collar Careers is a podcast and newsletter for professionals who feel pulled toward environmental or climate work but aren't sure how to make the move. Each episode features honest conversations with people who have built meaningful careers in this space and the practical lessons they learned along the way. Hosted by Jose Almanzar, environmental attorney and former environmental scientist.

🔎 Find us on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube.

📩 Subscribe to the newsletter at josealmanzaresq.com

📢 DISCLAIMER: Nothing in this podcast constitutes legal advice. This podcast is not attorney advertising. Nothing said in this podcast is endorsed by the podcast host, their guests, or their employers. The views expressed by the podcast host and their guests are their own and do not reflect the opinions of their employers. By listening to this podcast, the listener is not entering into an attorney-client relationship or any other relationship with the host or their guests.