Sophia grew up in New York City with aspirations to be a world-famous artist or Broadway actress. Now she is a writer and editor in Dallas, Texas. Sophia started her writing and editing career with The Dallas Morning News. Today she writes books and publishes articles and essays. She was a pioneer in the introvert space.

With her Psychology Today blog, Introverts' Corner, and her books, The Introvert's Way and Introverts in Love, writer Sophia Dembling was among the pioneers in the introvert-positive movement. These days, Sophia is exploring grief in her new Psychology Today blog, Widow's Walk.

Sophia talks about balancing the needs of an introvert to have some space for themselves and interact with people. She also talks about her experience of recently losing her husband and how she dealt with feeling lonely while still finding time for herself.

“It is key for introverts to figure themselves out…to understand the nuances of protecting your introversion but not shutting yourself away.”

Episode Highlights

●      Being self-aware as an introvert

●      Parsing the difference between

introversion and shyness

●      Introverts unite quietly

●      Losing her husband 

●      Communal solitude

●      Concept of boundaries

Resources

●      Sophia's website

●      The Introvert’s Way

●      Introvert’s In Love

●      The Introvert's Corner by Laurie Helgoe

●      Widow's Walk

●      Introvert Power

Douglas R. Conant is an internationally renowned business leader, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, keynote speaker, and social media influencer with over 40 years of leadership experience at world-class global companies. For the past 20 years of his leadership journey, he has honed his leadership craft at the most senior levels—first as President of the Nabisco Foods Company, then as CEO of Campbell Soup Company, and then as Chairman of Avon Products. In 2011, he founded ConantLeadership: a mission-driven community of leaders and learners who are championing leadership that works in the 21st century.

Doug talks about finding support in the workplace as an introvert, declaring yourself as an introvert, creating a leadership model, and how interruptions are opportunities.

“The worlds I try to create are listening worlds.”

Episode Highlights

●      Coming to terms with being an introvert

●      Leading by listening

●      Declaring yourself as an introvert

●      “If It Is to be it is up to me”

●      Work is personal

●      “Pessimists never lead the world to higher ground”

Resources

●      Conant Leadership

●      The Blueprint: 6 Practical Steps to Lift Your Leadership to New Heights

●      Touchpoints

Jill Chang

Jill has fifteen years of international experience in diverse industries including sports, state government, and nonprofits. She is an International Philanthropy Advisor that works closely with twenty-three countries and has delivered over two hundred public speeches in the past two years alone. She is described as “not needing a script” and “the wonder woman who makes things happen, bare-handed.”

Jill talks about her self-discovery as an introvert, the differences in culture between the eastern and western parts of the world, navigating events like conferences as an introvert, managing remote work as an introvert, and much more!

“I have to appreciate myself so others can.”

Episode Highlights

·       Sports background

·       Discovering the term introvert

·       Social experiments each day

·       Writing as a strength

·       East-West cultural differences

·       Being introvert-friendly at conferences

·       Remote workplace tips

Resources

·       Jill's website

·       Quiet is a Superpower

At Great Place to Work (GPTW) Tony helps organizations achieve desired business outcomes while developing and sustaining strong workplace culture. GPTW's culture transformation services are rooted in 25 years of research into exceptional organizations, refreshed annually through Best Companies To Work For competitions in 45 countries (ie. annual FORTUNE 100 Best Companies to Work For in America).

Tony talks about growing up in an extroverted household,  the influence his assertive mom had on his life, his work at GPTW, having self-awareness as an introvert, and much more!

"Most people don't work in a high trust culture...but we are

no longer where we were 10 years ago." 

Episode Highlights

    Growing up in an extroverted household of strong women

     Diversity drives innovation including neurodiversity 

·    Stretching yourself and finding things that work for you

·    Self-awareness is key 

·    The trends they are seeing at GPTW

Resources

·       Great Place to Work

Ryan Jenkins, CSP, is an internationally recognized keynote speaker, virtual trainer, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author on the topics of leadership, generational differences, workplace loneliness, and the future of work.

Ryan talks about his new book, Connectable, the imbalance of conversations between introverts and extroverts, differences between solitude and loneliness, and much more!

"Connections don't have to be lasting to be meaningful." 

Episode Highlights

• Professional background

• How Gen Z inspired Connectable

• Solitude and loneliness

• Why talking with strangers is essential 

• Proportional conversations 

• Rivet, his intriguing new app 

Resources

• Ryan's website

• SyncLX Connect

• Rivet 

• The Power of Strangers 
• Stolen Focus 

Pat Wadors serves as chief people officer (CPO) of UKG. In this role, Pat’s day to day responsibilities are driven by her deep commitment to the entire employee experience — starting from a job candidate’s first touch with UKG to building a strong alumni network of brand and culture ambassadors — and all the moments that matter in between. Pat oversees the critical HR functions that bring this experience to life, including talent acquisition and development, compensation and benefits, employee listening and people analytics, employee communications, HR technology, HR business consultants and shared services, and components of workplaces services and physical security. Her personal mission is to ensure that U Krewers around the world are better people for having worked at UKG.

Pat shares how she became an advocate for introverts, navigating through her career as an introverted C-level executive, working with introverts in the corporate workplace, and much more!

“Talking about my introversion opened up the door on how to dance with my extroverted partners, how to lead people with different styles…” Why didn’t I talk about it sooner?!” 

Episode Highlights

·       Owning her role at the C-level

·       Engaged listening

·       Echo for understanding

·       Meeting hygiene

·       Body language

·       Questions are your best friends

·       Be an advocate

Resources

·       Pat Wadors at UKG

·       Pat Wadors on LinkedIn

Scott Barry Kaufman

Scott Barry Kaufman is a cognitive scientist and humanistic psychologist exploring the mind, creativity, and the depths of human potential. He is a professor at Columbia University and founder and director of the Center for Human Potential.

Scott talks about the psychology aspects of what separates introverts and extraverts, his take on the term ambivert, and much more!

Episode Highlights

·       Challenging assumptions about introversion

·       Introverts and Extroverts can both be open to experience

·       Analytical and intuitive intelligence

·       There are wild introverts 

·       How dopamine plays a role in introverts and extraverts

·       Ambiversion as questionable science

Resources

·       Scott's website

·       Center for Human Potential

Welcome to the Introvert Ally podcast!