Most executives spend their careers chasing the next big title, the next deal, the next milestone, only to discover that even with all the “success,” something still feels off.

That’s where today’s guest, Emily Harrison, comes in. She’s the Founder & Director of The Akashic Academy, where she helps leaders access what’s known as the Akashic Records, an energetic library of your soul’s history, purpose, and potential.

Now before you roll your eyes, let’s be clear, this isn’t about crystals and clichés.
It’s about alignment. And alignment is what separates leaders who burn out from those who lead with clarity, resilience, and peace.

In this conversation, Emily and I unpack:
🗸 What the Akashic Records really are (in plain language)
🗸 How high performers can use this work to quiet overthinking and access deeper clarity
🗸 Why traditional “success” often leaves leaders drained and how to rewrite that story
🗸 Practical ways to bridge the gap between who you are inside and how you show up in your career

If you’ve ever felt like your career looks great on paper but doesn’t feel right in practice, this episode will challenge you to see leadership, and yourself, in a whole new way.

Connect with Emily:
Website: https://shadowandsoul.com
LinkedIn: Emily Harrison

Connect with Teegan:
Website: https://www.joltyourcareer.today
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teeganbartos

Blending in used to feel safe.
But in 2026 it’s the riskiest move you can make as a leader.

In this episode of Jolt Your Career, Teegan sits down with Amanda Molenaar, former diplomat turned executive coach, to explore why authenticity isn’t a buzzword anymore. It’s your competitive edge.

Together, we unpack:
🗸 Why blending in kills your leadership potential
🗸 How authenticity becomes your strategic advantage in 2025 and beyond
🗸 What stops executives from showing up as themselves (and how to move past it)
🗸 One bold move you can make this week to be remembered for the right reasons

If you’ve ever felt the pressure to polish yourself out of presence, this conversation will remind you: your power is in your truth.

Connect with Amanda:
LinkedIn → https://www.linkedin.com/in/amanda-molenaar/
Website → https://www.amandamaximecoaching.com/links-linkedin

Work with Teegan:
https://www.joltyourcareer.today/book-your-consultation-call

What happens when your career suddenly stops, not because you chose it, but because someone else made the call?

This week, Teegan sits down with Steve Jaffe, a seasoned Marketing Executive and author of The Layoff Journey: From Dismissal to Discovery, to talk about what really happens after a layoff, especially at the executive level.

Steve knows this path intimately. After being laid off four times as a high-performing leader, he turned his experience into a roadmap for navigating the emotional and professional stages of career loss.

Together, we unpack:
🗸 Why even top performers get cut and how to separate logic from shame
🗸 The seven stages of career grief and how to move through them with intention
🗸 What to do in the first 30 days post-layoff before panic takes over
🗸 How to rebuild your career identity and position yourself for what’s next

If you’ve ever thought, “This shouldn’t be happening to someone like me,” this conversation will hit hard, but it will also help you rebuild stronger, smarter, and more aligned than before.

📘 Grab Steve’s book: The Layoff Journey: From Dismissal to Discovery → https://www.amazon.com/Layoff-Journey-Dismissal-Discovery-Navigating/dp/B0DXSDCQPY

💼 Need support rebuilding your own career story?
Work with Teegan: https://www.joltyourcareer.today/book-your-consultation-call

Parenting was never easy, then came smartphones.

In this episode, I sit down with Kathy Van Benthuysen, a 30-year educator, former Teacher of the Year, and founder of Converlation and Digital Prep Academy, to talk about what it really means to prepare kids for life in a tech-driven world.

We unpack how to raise kids who are emotionally grounded, responsible, and ready for the digital pressure that comes with a phone.

You’ll hear:

• Why phone readiness has nothing to do with age, and everything to do with skills

• The biggest mistakes parents make when trying to “control” tech instead of coaching through it

• How to reset if you already handed over the phone too soon
  

If you’ve ever felt torn between protecting your child and helping them fit in, this conversation will give you the clarity and confidence to lead with readiness, not fear.

🎧 Hit play to learn how to raise kids who are smarter than their smartphones.

Connect with Kathy Van Benthuysen:

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kathy-van-benthuysen/

www.converlation.com

Connect with me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teeganbartos/

https://joltyourcareer.today/

Executives aren’t supposed to be unemployed, right? You’re supposed to get courted, recruited, maybe even begged to take your next role. But in 2025, the job market is flat, leadership hiring is frozen, and Q4 is starting to feel a lot like 2008.

In this episode of Jolt Your Career, Teegan Bartos sits down with Tracie Pascoe, Executive Recruiter and Founder of Trinity Talent Solutions, to pull back the curtain on what recruiters really say behind closed doors.

We talked about:

• Why being “qualified” doesn’t guarantee you an interview.
• The truths hiring managers tell recruiters but never tell candidates.
• How to build relationships with recruiters without looking desperate.

• What signals make a career pivot believable at the executive level.
  

About today’s guest: Tracie Pascoe has been an executive recruiter across industries and now runs her own boutique search firm specializing in MedTech leadership hires. Known as a fearless connector, she helps innovators hire the people who matter most.

Connect with Tracie:

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/traciepascoe

• Email: [email protected]
  

Connect with Teegan:

• Website: https://www.joltyourcareer.today/

• LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/teeganbartos
  

How much of your life have you traded for work?

The late nights. The missed weekends. The “dream job” that looks perfect on paper but leaves you drained, disconnected, and quietly breaking down.

That was Johanna Dahlman at Apple — 60- to 80-hour weeks, global travel, prestige, and paychecks that came at the cost of her health and her future. She realized: If I stay here, I’ll be single and motherless. So she walked away. No plan. No safety net. Just the conviction that life had to be more than titles and promotions.

And then her body gave out. Alopecia. Hair gone. Doctors with no answers. Most people would’ve stayed stuck. Johanna rebuilt not just her health, but her entire definition of success.

This episode isn’t about leaving Apple. It’s about what happens when you finally stop betraying yourself for a career that looks good on paper but costs too much in reality.

You’ll discover:

• The hidden costs of ignoring what your body and intuition already know

• Why relationships matter more than résumés

• What it really takes to walk away from “success” that’s no longer success

• How to define a next season that doesn’t destroy you

If your résumé screams success but your soul whispers “not quite,” this conversation is for you.

🎧 Listen now and ask yourself: what’s success costing you?

Connect with Johanna Dahlman

Instagram: @alopecia_angel
Website: alopeciaangel.com

Follow & Connect with Teegan

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/teeganbartosInstagram: @joltyourcareerwithteeganbartos

👉 Work with MeResume Writing & Job Search Services: joltyourcareer.today

👉 Stay in the LoopSubscribe to my newsletter: NewsletterDownload Free Job Search Resources: JYC-Executive-Job-Search

What’s holding you back? Your circumstances, your upbringing, the story you were handed?

In this episode, you’ll hear how Yitzchak Pierson rewrote his entire life. He left a cult at 18 with no education, no safety net, and no clear future. Most people would have stayed stuck. He didn’t. Today he’s a top-producing real estate agent, bestselling author, and high-performance coach.

But this isn’t just his story. It’s a roadmap for anyone who feels boxed in by the script they were given.

We cover:

• The dangerous beliefs that keep people trapped in survival mode

• How to turn “starting from zero” into an advantage

• The mindset shifts that create momentum when the odds are stacked against you

• Why credentials don’t matter as much as conviction

• How to design a career — and a life — on your own terms

If you’ve been waiting for permission to walk away from what isn’t working, this episode is proof that you can stop surviving and start designing something bigger.

Follow & Connect with Yitzchak Pierson

🔗 Contact: yitzyourtxrealtor.expportal.com/contact🔗 LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/yitzchak-pierson-029306227

Follow & Connect with Teegan

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/teeganbartosInstagram: @joltyourcareerwithteeganbartos

👉 Work with MeResume Writing & Job Search Services: joltyourcareer.today

👉 Stay in the LoopSubscribe to my newsletter: NewsletterDownload Free Job Search Resources: JYC-Executive-Job-Search

If you’ve ever been told you’re “not ready” for the next level, or watched a promotion slip through your hands, nine times out of ten, it’s not because of skill, it’s because of presence.

In this episode, Dr. Madhuri Kumar and I unpack what executive presence really is (hint: it’s more than confidence and polish) and how to build it so decision-makers see you as leadership material. She shares:

• The 3 signals leaders unconsciously look for before promoting you

• Why some brilliant professionals stay stuck while others rise

• How to project confidence even when you’re not 100% sure

• Practical steps to shift from being overlooked to being undeniable
  

If you’re climbing the corporate ladder or tired of being told you “don’t have executive presence," this episode is your playbook.

🎧 Hit play and start showing up like the leader they can’t ignore.

Connect with Dr. Madhuri Kumar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drmadhurikumar/

Follow & Connect with Teegan

• LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠linkedin.com/in/teeganbartos⁠⁠⁠⁠

  Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠@joltyourcareerwithteeganbartos ⁠⁠⁠⁠

  
  

  
  

• Resume Writing & Job Search Services: ⁠⁠⁠⁠joltyourcareer.today⁠⁠⁠⁠

  
  

👉 Stay in the Loop

• Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠

  Download Free Job Search Resources: ⁠⁠⁠⁠JYC-Executive-Job-Search⁠⁠

“Just network more.”

That’s the worst advice flying around right now. And if you’re an executive job seeker, you’ve probably heard it on repeat. Coffee chats, Zooms, awkward LinkedIn comments, you’ve done it all. Still waiting. Still stuck.

Because networking isn’t the problem. The lack of strategy is.

And with Q4 already here, the clock is ticking. Budgets are closing, boards want their leadership teams locked before January, and you’ve got two options: move now or sit out until 2026.

In this solo episode, I’m breaking down the 3 non-negotiables before year-end:
1/ Get brutally clear on what’s next because vague leaders don’t get hired.
2/ Audit your digital footprint. Outdated = irrelevant (or worse, retired).
3/ Position yourself as the obvious choice. Companies hire the future, not the past.

If you’ve been in career autopilot, this is your jolt. The execs who move now will be the ones signing offers in January, not sending résumés into the void.

🎧 Hit play and get moving.

Follow & Connect with Teegan

Stay in the Loop

High performers don’t burn out because they’re weak. They burn out because success becomes their cage.

You deliver. You perform. You hold it all together until the role that once defined you starts to suffocate you. That’s the part no one talks about: performance without alignment isn’t leadership. It’s a slow form of burnout.

My guest, Melissa Hartmann, former Global Head of Strategy and now Founder of the Transformation Leadership Academy, knows this firsthand. After two decades leading high-stakes global change, she walked away from a role that looked perfect on paper because it wasn’t aligned anymore.

In this episode, you’ll discover:
1/ The hidden pressure every high achiever feels but never admits
2/ Why grit becomes a trap that keeps leaders stuck
3/ The terrifying relief of whispering, “I thought it was just me”
4/ How to recognize when success has turned into survival
5/ Why walking away isn’t failure, it’s the boldest form of leadership

🎧 Listen now and be reminded: the moment you stop performing is the moment you start leading.

Follow & Connect with Melissa:

Website: transformationleadershipacademy.comLinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/melissahartmann

Follow & Connect with Teegan

• Resume Writing & Job Search Services: ⁠⁠⁠joltyourcareer.today⁠⁠⁠

  
  

👉 Stay in the Loop

• Subscribe to my newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠Newsletter⁠⁠⁠

  Download Free Job Search Resources: ⁠⁠⁠JYC-Executive-Job-Search⁠⁠