The Career Clinic Podcast

pisode 110: Power Reimagined (feat. Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard) | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

What if power wasn't something you grab, hoard, or perform — but something you share, redistribute, and reimagine?

In this episode, Ronnie sits down with Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard, author of Power Reimagined: My Mission to Get It, Grow It, and Give It Away (Harvard Business Review Press). Part memoir, part masterclass, part free game — Khadijah walks Ronnie through the framework at the heart of her book and gets honest about audacity, paygate, partnership, and what it actually takes to lead with integrity in rooms that weren't built for you.

If you're rethinking your influence, your voice, or your seat at the table, this one is for you.

In this episode, you'll hear:

• How Khadijah's earliest experiences with power became the foundation for the way she leads today
• The Power Sources vs. Power Sucks framework, and how to spot both in your own life
• Paygate: how a celebratory lunch turned into a pay equity movement
• Why partnership power starts with the partner you can't get rid of — yourself
• The difference between rising in the room, changing the room, and building a brand new one

Get Power Reimagined

Available now wherever books are sold:

• Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/power-reimagined-khadijah-sharif-drinkard/1147832517?ean=9798892791045
• Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Power-Reimagined-Mission-Grow-Give/dp/B0FHPNPRMX
• Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/power-reimagined-my-mission-to-get-it-grow-it-and-give-it-away-khadijah-sharif-drinkard/3ad54274164f2e3e?ean=9798892791045

About Our Guest

Khadijah Sharif-Drinkard is the author of Power Reimagined (Harvard Business Review Press) and Senior Vice President of Business Affairs at ABC News (Disney), where she oversees digital strategy, rights, and deal-making across the network. Previously SVP of Legal Affairs at Paramount Global leading deal-making across BET Networks, she helped bring stories like The New Edition Story, The Bobby Brown Story, and Black Girls Rock to screen. A Fordham Law graduate, NAACP Image Award honoree, and member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., she is one of the most influential voices working at the intersection of media, law, and culture.

Connect with Khadijah:

• www.powerreimaginedbook.com
• [email protected]

Links & Resources:

• OhHeyMonday Newsletter: www.ohheyjoin.com
• Work with Ronnie: www.ohheycoach.com
• Connect: [email protected]

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag Ronnie on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach).

Final Thought (courtesy of Khadijah): Power is a stair. Power is a bridge. The more you share it, the more powerful you become.

Episode 109: More Nuance, Less Noise: Ronnie & Roo Q&A | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

Welcome to the finale of the More Nuance, Less Noise series. Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Roo Yeshpaul Johnson close things out the way you'd want them to: a wide-ranging Q&A across four buckets, work, partnership, parenting, and the messy reality where it all blends together.

This is the conversation behind the conversation. It's the answers to the questions people actually ask (and the ones they should stop asking), with the same honesty, humor, and lived experience that's carried this series from the beginning. From how to exit a job when you're emotional, to deciding whose advice is actually for you, to navigating a partnership where two careers are evolving at different paces, to the questions every mom of boys is tired of being asked, Ronnie and Roo leave nothing on the field.

What You'll Learn:

• How to make a strategic exit when emotions are running high, and why naming the emotion is the first move
• Whose career advice you should actually be taking, and why getting comfortable not being the smartest person in the room is how you grow
• How to navigate partnership when two careers are evolving on different timelines, and why deciding early what kind of partnership you want is non-negotiable
• The parenting questions that need to retire (yes, "are you done?" and "are you trying for a girl?" are on the list)
• What looks easy from the outside but actually takes intense work, coordination, and constant editing behind the scenes
• The single thread running through this whole series: building a filter, honoring your requirements, and trusting that you are the only one with the answer

Pre-Order Work Life Remix

Ronnie's debut book, Work Life Remix: Keep What Works, Change What Doesn't, and Design a Life That Fits, will be available in stores September 15th.

Pre-order now: www.workliferemixbook.com

About Our Guest: Roo Yeshpaul Johnson (she/her)

Roo Yeshpaul Johnson has spent nearly 20 years building social media strategies and influencer programs from the ground up, often before the playbook even existed. She's worked with brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Unilever, and Warner Bros, shaping how companies show up in culture and connect with audiences. Today, she serves as Head of Creator Marketing at Figma, and is recognized as a 2023 ADCOLOR Leader, speaker, and industry voice. She's also a mum of three boys under six, building a high-impact career while living in Hawaii and designing a life that actually works.

Connect with Roo:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rooyj Instagram: @roohiamber Email: [email protected]

Links & Resources:

Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday. Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com.

Let's Work Together: If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com.

Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach).

Final Thought: This whole series has been about one thing: building your own filter, honoring the requirements no one else can see, and remembering that you are the only one with your answer.

Episode 108: More Nuance, Less Noise: This One's for the Mamas (feat. Roo Yeshpaul Johnson) | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

This one is for the mamas. In the next installment of the More Nuance, Less Noise series, Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Roo Yeshpaul Johnson hand out flowers, talk their ish on behalf of every mom listening, and reframe motherhood as one of the most underrated leadership accelerators on the planet.

This is not a guilt trip or a balancing act. It's a celebration of the mother advantage: the way becoming a parent expands your capacity, sharpens your decisiveness, levels up your boundaries, and changes the entire filter through which you see your work and your life. Ronnie and Roo go all the way in on what motherhood actually unlocks, who they listen to (and who they don't), and what they wish for every mama in the audience.

Bring tissues. We mean it.

What You'll Learn:

• What "the mother advantage" actually is and why becoming a parent changes your filter for everything
• Why moms make some of the most decisive, efficient, and audacious leaders in any room
• How motherhood sharpens your boundaries, your negotiation skills, and your ability to lead through uncertainty
• Why "if you want something done, ask a mom" is true, and where the line is on letting people take advantage of that
• How to filter advice through a mom lens, and why not all wisdom is for you
• The Seva principle Roo grew up with, and what selfless sacrifice for yourself can look like in practice
• A bouquet of flowers for every kind of mom, including the ones still in the waiting, the ones mothering through grief, and the ones listening with one earbud in

Pre-Order Work Life Remix

Ronnie's debut book, Work Life Remix: Keep What Works, Change What Doesn't, and Design a Life That Fits, will be available in stores September 15th.

Pre-order now: www.workliferemixbook.com

About Our Guest: Roo Yeshpaul Johnson (she/her)

Roo Yeshpaul Johnson has spent nearly 20 years building social media strategies and influencer programs from the ground up, often before the playbook even existed. She's worked with brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Unilever, and Warner Bros, shaping how companies show up in culture and connect with audiences. Today, she serves as Head of Creator Marketing at Figma, and is recognized as a 2023 ADCOLOR Leader, speaker, and industry voice. She's also a mum of three boys under six, building a high-impact career while living in Hawaii and designing a life that actually works.

Connect with Roo:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rooyj Instagram: @roohiamber Email: [email protected]

Links & Resources:

Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday. Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com.

Let's Work Together: If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com.

Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach).

Final Thought: You are the GOAT. Plant yourself in something that feels good, get your feet on the grass, and remember that no matter how far you stray, you can always get back to yourself.

Episode 107: More Nuance, Less Noise: Inconvenience Yourself (feat. Roo Yeshpaul Johnson) | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

In this third installment of the More Nuance, Less Noise series, Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Roo Yeshpaul Johnson reframe one of the most misunderstood parts of building a career and a life: friction.

We live in a culture that treats every uncomfortable moment as a sign that something is wrong. But Ronnie and Roo make the case for productive inconvenience, temporary discomfort you take on deliberately for a clearly defined outcome. With real receipts from career pivots, parental leave gaps, and the household systems that buy them ease everywhere else, this conversation will help you tell the difference between suffering and strategy.

What You'll Learn:

• What productive inconvenience actually is, and the three things that have to be true for it to count
• The difference between the friction you choose and the friction that happens to you
• Why saying yes to the project nobody else wants can be the most strategic move on the board
• How to use your requirements list to decide where you're willing to let inconvenience sit
• Why the household systems people don't see are what let you show up calm everywhere else
• The five tests for knowing if an inconvenience is right for you: the End Point Test, the Trade Test, the Integrity Test, the Exit Clause, and the Receipts Test

Pre-Order Work Life Remix

Ronnie's debut book, Work Life Remix: Keep What Works, Change What Doesn't, and Design a Life That Fits, will be available in stores September 15th.

Pre-order now: www.workliferemixbook.com

About Our Guest: Roo Yeshpaul Johnson (she/her)

Roo Yeshpaul Johnson has spent nearly 20 years building social media strategies and influencer programs from the ground up, often before the playbook even existed. She's worked with brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Unilever, and Warner Bros, shaping how companies show up in culture and connect with audiences. Today, she serves as Head of Creator Marketing at Figma, and is recognized as a 2023 ADCOLOR Leader, speaker, and industry voice. She's also a mum of three boys under six, building a high-impact career while living in Hawaii and designing a life that actually works.

Connect with Roo:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rooyj Instagram: @roohiamber Email: [email protected]

Links & Resources:

Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday. Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com.

Let's Work Together: If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com.

Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach).

Final Thought: Inconvenience doesn't have to be forever. Design the discomfort, name the destination, and make sure the trade is paying off. Otherwise it's just suffering, and you don't have to do that to yourself.

Episode 106: More Nuance, Less Noise: Stop Waiting for Permission (feat. Roo Yeshpaul Johnson) | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

In the next installment of the More Nuance, Less Noise series, Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Roo Yeshpaul Johnson take on a deeply personal and powerful topic: Stop Waiting for Permission.

This is not surface-level encouragement to "just go for it." This is a real conversation about what's actually happening underneath hesitation, especially for women, leaders, and high-capacity individuals navigating work, life, and visibility.

From unpacking the Backlash Avoidance Model to sharing real-life moments where they had to choose between safety and self-trust, Ronnie and Roo break down why we pause, what it costs us, and how to move forward anyway.

If you've been waiting for the "right time," the green light, or someone to validate your next move, this episode is your interruption.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why waiting for permission isn't about confidence, but about risk, perception, and backlash
• How the Backlash Avoidance Model impacts women's ability to self-promote and take action
• The real cost of staying in the status quo (and why it's not as "safe" as it feels)
• How to assess risk vs. reward in moments that matter most
• The difference between external permission and internal self-trust
• How validation-seeking, over-researching, and people-pleasing can quietly stall your growth
• Why small, consistent actions help you build trust with yourself over time

Pre-Order Work Life Remix

Ronnie's debut book, Work Life Remix: Keep What Works, Change What Doesn't, and Design a Life That Fits, will be available in stores September 15th.

This book is for the moment when you realize something needs to change, and you're ready to design what comes next.

Pre-order now: www.workliferemixbook.com

About Our Guest: Roo Yeshpaul Johnson (she/her)

Roo Yeshpaul Johnson has spent nearly 20 years building social media strategies and influencer programs from the ground up, often before the playbook even existed. She's worked with brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Unilever, and Warner Bros, shaping how companies show up in culture and connect with audiences.

Today, she serves as Head of Creator Marketing at Figma, and is recognized as a 2023 ADCOLOR Leader, speaker, and industry voice. She's also a mum of three boys under six, building a high-impact career while living in Hawaii and designing a life that actually works.

Connect with Roo:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rooyj Instagram: @roohiamber Email: [email protected]

Links & Resources:

Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday. Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com.

Let's Work Together: If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com.

Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach). Let's keep this conversation going.

Final Thought: Permission isn't something you wait for. It's something you practice, one decision at a time.

Episode 105: More Nuance, Less Noise: Read the Room (feat. Roo Yeshpaul Johnson) | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

This episode kicks off the More Nuance, Less Noise series with Ronnie Dickerson Stewart and Roo Yeshpaul Johnson, and it's exactly what it sounds like: a real, layered conversation that cuts through the loud, oversimplified career advice flooding your feed.

Together, Ronnie and Roo unpack the myths we've all heard ("stay loyal," "just leave," "say yes to everything," "don't trust HR") and replace them with something far more useful: discernment, strategy, and self-awareness.

This conversation is grounded in lived experience. Between them, they're navigating executive leadership, entrepreneurship, and raising six kids, so this isn't theory. It's real life, real decisions, and real trade-offs.

If you've ever felt overwhelmed by conflicting advice or unsure what actually applies to you, this episode will help you come back to your own center.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

• Why most career advice falls apart without context, and how to filter it through your own "requirements"
• A smarter take on loyalty: what "strategic loyalty" actually looks like in today's workplace
• How to think about HR as a resource (not a friend, not an enemy)
• Why saying yes to everything can quietly damage your career, and what to do instead
• The truth about "bringing your whole self to work" (and when to edit vs. express)
• What a strategic exit really looks like, and why "just leave" is rarely the full answer
• How to read the room by first learning how to read yourself

Pre-Order Work Life Remix

Ronnie's debut book, Work Life Remix: Keep What Works, Change What Doesn't, and Design a Life That Fits, will be available in stores September 15th.

Pre-order now: www.workliferemixbook.com

About Our Guest: Roo Yeshpaul Johnson (she/her)

Roo Yeshpaul Johnson has spent nearly 20 years building social media strategies and influencer programs from the ground up, often before the playbook even existed. She's worked with brands like Adobe, Microsoft, Unilever, and Warner Bros, shaping how companies show up in culture and connect with audiences.

Today, she serves as Head of Creator Marketing at Figma, and is recognized as a 2023 ADCOLOR Leader, speaker, and industry voice. She's also a mum of three boys under six, building a high-impact career while living in Hawaii and designing a life that actually works.

Connect with Roo:

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/rooyj Instagram: @roohiamber Email: [email protected]

Links & Resources:

Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday. Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com.

Let's Work Together: If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com.

Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected].

If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach). Let's keep this conversation going.

Final Thought: There's no shortage of advice. That's not the problem. The real work is learning what's true for you, and having the self-awareness to act on it.

Episode 104: I Dare You to Exercise 10% More of Your Free Will The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

What if the life you're living isn't as fixed as it feels?

In this episode, Ronnie leans into a powerful provocation sparked by real conversations with leaders navigating full lives, demanding roles, and limited time. Instead of accepting the idea that life only happens in the margins, she introduces a simple but disruptive challenge: exercise just 10% more of your free will.

Through personal stories, including the evolution of her family's "Magic School Bus" routine and morning dates, Ronnie explores how small, intentional choices can radically shift your quality of life, energy, and connection. This episode is your invitation to stop defaulting and start designing.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

✔ Why many leaders unintentionally accept a life lived "in the margins" and how to challenge that assumption ✔ The concept of "10% more free will" and how small choices can create meaningful change ✔ How routines like the "Magic School Bus" and morning margin time can improve connection, mental health, and focus ✔ The hidden cost of letting work consume every available moment ✔ Practical, real-life examples of exercising free will (morning dates, naps, boundaries, joy practices) ✔ How intentional pauses can actually increase your effectiveness, not decrease it

Links & Resources:

📩 Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get my insights straight to your inbox every Monday! Sign up at www.ohheyjoin.com

🤝 Let's Work Together! If you're a leader or organization looking for executive coaching, leadership development, or career design strategies, we'd love to partner with you. Learn more at www.ohheycoach.com

📬 Want to Connect? Reach out to our team at [email protected]

📘 Pre-Order Work Life Remix: Design a career and life that actually works for you → https://workliferemixbook.com/

🔥 If you loved this episode, share it with a friend and tag me on LinkedIn or Instagram (@ohheycoach)! Let's keep this conversation going

💡 Final Thought: What would shift if you stopped waiting for permission and started choosing, even just 10% more?

Episode 103: Stop: Before You Borrow Their Blueprint…First Ask "Why?" | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

In a world where we have front-row seats to everyone's success, it's never been easier to see what people are doing—and never harder to understand why.

In this episode, Ronnie slows things down and invites you into a deeper level of discernment.

Sparked by a powerful line from her recent newsletter, she breaks down a critical coaching principle: before you adopt someone else's strategy, path, or playbook…pause and ask better questions.

Through personal stories, real-life examples, and a practical 5-question framework, this episode will help you move from imitation to intention—so you can build a life and career that actually fits you.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

✔️ Why copying what "works" for others can quietly lead you off track ✔️ The hidden gap between what people share and what actually drives their decisions ✔️ How Ronnie's own career pivot was shaped by context, not just courage ✔️ The difference between a possibility model and a blueprint (this will shift how you see everything) ✔️ A powerful 5-question framework to evaluate any move before you make it ✔️ How to filter inspiration without losing yourself in the process

The 5 Questions to Ask Before You Borrow the Blueprint:

• What problem were they actually trying to solve? • What did their life look like when they made that decision? • What values and priorities were driving that choice? • What did they try before this that you're not seeing? • What would your version of this actually look like?

Links & Resources:

📖 Pre-Order Work Life Remix https://workliferemixbook.com/

📩 Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get deeper insights and behind-the-scenes reflections → www.ohheyjoin.com

🤝 Let's Work Together! Explore coaching and leadership development → www.ohheycoach.com

📬 Want to Connect? Reach out at [email protected]

🎧 Enjoying the Podcast? Leave a review—it helps more people find The Career Clinic and grow this community

💡 Final Thought: Before you move, before you adopt, before you execute—pause.

Do you actually understand the why behind what you're seeing?

That clarity might be the difference between building something that looks good… and building something that truly fits your life.

Episode 102. Let the Work Life Remix Era Begin | The Career Clinic Podcast

Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

Episode Overview

This episode is a little different—and a lot more personal.

Ronnie takes you inside one of the most significant moments of her life and career: the private reveal and public pre-order launch of her debut book, Work Life Remix.

Recorded in real time, just days after the launch, this episode brings you behind the scenes of the celebration, the emotion, and the deeper "why" behind the book.

But more than that—it's an invitation. ✊🏾

An invitation to examine the changing reality of work, to question the default paths we've been handed, and to consider what it might look like to design something that actually fits your life.

A grounded approach to reclaiming agency and building something that works for you.

What You'll Learn in This Episode:

✔️ Why the traditional "work hard and you'll be okay" social contract is no longer holding up ✔️ The real tension high-achieving professionals are facing right now—and why it's not just you ✔️ Why the common options we're given around work often feel limiting ✔️ The philosophy behind Work Life Remix: keep what works, change what doesn't, design what fits ✔️ How to move out of the loop of fear, misalignment, and default decision-making ✔️ Why trusting your own judgment again is the ultimate goal ✊🏾

Links & Resources:

📖 Pre-Order Work Life Remix: Available wherever you buy books, including Bookshop.org, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and more

🌐 Explore the Book Hub: https://workliferemixbook.com

📩 Join the OhHeyMonday Newsletter: Get insights, behind-the-scenes updates, and first access to everything Ronnie is building → www.ohheyjoin.com

🤝 Let's Work Together! Learn more about coaching and leadership development at www.ohheycoach.com

📬 Want to Connect? Reach out to the team at [email protected]

🔥 If this episode resonated, share it with someone who's been asking bigger questions about their life and career—and tag Ronnie (@ohheycoach) so she can celebrate with you ✊🏾

💡 Final Thought: You can't rewind or redo what's come before, but you can remix it.

Episode 101: Naming & Navigating Your Season

The Career Clinic Podcast Host: Ronnie Dickerson Stewart

After the milestone of 100 episodes and the reveal of a new era, Ronnie brings the conversation back to something foundational: understanding the season you are in and learning how to move within it with clarity and honesty.

In this episode, she sits with a simple but often overlooked idea—many of us are trying to move forward without first naming where we actually are.

And when you don't name your season, you can end up:

• Expecting the wrong things from yourself
• Measuring progress incorrectly
• Feeling frustrated when things aren't moving the way you thought they would

This conversation introduces Ronnie's Five Seasons framework—growing, sowing, glowing, woahing, and going—but more importantly, it's about helping you slow down long enough to tell the truth about your current season.

Because when you can name it, you can work with it. And when you can work with it, you stop fighting it.

What You'll Hear in This Episode

✔️ Why so many people feel stuck without realizing they've misidentified their season ✔️ A grounded walkthrough of the Five Seasons framework ✔️ How pressure and comparison distort how we see our current reality ✔️ Why each season requires a different pace, energy, and expectation ✔️ How to move forward with more clarity instead of forcing momentum

The Invitation 🤎

Take a moment this week and ask yourself:

What season am I actually in right now?

Not the one that sounds impressive. Not the one you wish you were in. The one that is true.

Then ask:

What does this season require of me?

You don't need to rush the answer. But you do need to be honest.

RSVP for the Book Reveal & Pre-Order Party Tuesday, March 31 | 3:00–4:00 PM ET | Zoom https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/gy7TLsAyRZSYFpp_2QbVHw I genuinely hope to see you there! The countdown is ON!