“Our career choice massively impacts our family and loved ones. When thinking about what I want to do next, the first lens I put on it is, ‘Is this the right thing to do for my family?’” — Graham Bell.

Graham Bell is the Chief Executive Officer of World of Books Group. He assumed this role in September 2019 after being the company’s CFO/COO. Prior to World of Books, he was the Managing Director at Countrywide. And before that, he led a Corporate Finance team at PricewaterhouseCoopers, which is where we met and became good friends.

In this episode, we talked about how and why his career goals changed over time, how he measures success these days, his views around the common sentiment “follow your passion”, and his approach when things aren’t turning out the way he might have liked.

For the highlights of this conversation and all the links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

“There are people out there who want what I bring to the table. All of it — the technical knowledge, the perspective, the personality that goes with. And it’s my job to find them.” —Jacquette Timmons

My guest today is Jacquette Timmons. Jacquette is a financial behaviorist and the CEO of Sterling Investment Management. She is the author of Financial Intimacy: How to Create a Healthy Relationship With Your Money and Your Mate. She speaks, writes, and coaches about our relationship with money, integrating psychology, financial management, and emotions into the discussion, because of course money is an emotional topic.

Jacquette brings decades of experience into her work and has appeared on Good Morning America, CNN, Bloomberg Radio, Women of Power TV and has been quoted on several journals and blogs. She is a New Yorker and an avid runner. You may just catch her running around Brooklyn in the mornings. She is definitely one of my heroes and one of the people whose work inspires me.

For the highlights of this conversation and all the links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

Marcus Aurelius began Meditations with 17 entries — nearly 10 percent of the book — reflecting upon the various influential individuals in his life. “When you need encouragement,” he wrote, “think of the qualities the people around you have.”

These days, when our attention can easily be hijacked by negativity and pessimism when the news can bring us down feeling overwhelmed and powerless, we need a strong counterbalance. We need heroes.

Read the full transcript at https://secondbreaks.com/thepodcast

Second Breaks is between seasons and is on a brief pause. In the meanwhile, here's a look inside the latest edition of Briefing Notes.

To check out the 46th edition, head on over to http://thebriefingnotes.com

The podcast returns on November 12th with Season 5.

While the podcast is on a brief break, I wanted to share some thoughts about midlife and the latest edition of Briefing Notes. To check out the latest edition, head on over to http://thebriefingnotes.com

The podcast returns on November 12th with Season 5.

Read the full transcript and get the links at https://secondbreaks.com/podcast.

The podcast host is naturally the person out front, the person behind the mic whose voice you hear in your ears. In this growing podcasting industry, many opportunities exist today for someone to take the helm of a show. Is this the role for you? Is there something else in this job that goes beyond simply being the voice?

We explore the role of the podcast host with Jerod Morris, co-host of 7 Figure Small and The Assembly call, and a number of shows that he has created or hosted over the years.

For the show notes, highlights of this conversation, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

With over a million shows on Apple Podcasts alone and huge podcast investments made by companies, the podcasting industry is only expected to grow. This industry is supported by a cornucopia of roles and jobs for folks who want to be in on the action and there are different ways to work in the industry. In this episode, we take a peek behind the scenes at the role of the podcast producer.

To explore this role, I’m joined by Sean McMullin. Sean is the co-founder of Yellow House Media, a podcast production company that produces many shows including What Works, Break the Ceiling, Happier Approach, among others.

For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

A Virtual Assistant career can provide the ultimate in work flexibility. However, the other question to consider is whether this is truly a profitable career choice. In this episode, Kathy Goughenour of Virtual Expert® Training joins Lou Blaser to explore and answer this question.

For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast

One of the newer careers that have become popular in the last few years and that definitely offered flexibility is the virtual assistant work. It’s an interesting field of work because the definition of what the role encompasses is so varied. You can pretty much design it to be how you want it to be — the ultimate flexibility in work!

In this episode, we’ll lift the hood a bit and explore the world of virtual assistants with help from Janice Dalager.

For the show notes, highlights, and links, visit https://secondbreaks.com/podcast