The Curious Middle

When Brooke Shannon realized the smartphone decision was coming for her three daughters, she felt she needed to wait, and she also suspected she was not aloe in dealing with the mounting pressures and questions surrounding kids and smartphones. Brooke created a website dedicated to waiting on smartphones and support from other families was instant. Today, the Wait until 8th organization, is a place where families can sign a pledge to wait until 8th grade until giving their kids a smartphone. By signing the pledge as a group of 10 families, both kids and families gain community support in their decision. Considering the peer pressure kids feel to get a smartphone, and the instantly addictive nature of a phone, this is likely one of the top decisions families are facing. In our conversation, Brooke shares her personal story and we discuss some of the reasons for deciding to wait on smartphones until 8th grade.

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When Alexandra Kenin realized her job was not allowing her to fully thrive, she found a way to combine her love of outdoor exploration with writing and crafted herself a dream career. Alexandra is the founder of Urban Hiker SF, Studio Chief and Senior Editor at Wordsmithie, and author of Urban Trails: San Francisco and Urban Trails: East Bay.

In our conversation, Alexandra shares how she made her career transition and the strategies she used to get her tour business started. Alexandra also shares the steps she took to quickly and successfully publish her first book. If you have considered trying an entrepreneurial idea, or if you are in the middle of a career transition, this conversation may give you the boost and tips you need for taking the next steps towards your dream career path.

Topics Discussed:

• Career transitions
• Hiking and exploring San Francisco
• The power of business school networks
• Marketing strategies for an outdoor tour business
• Tips for publishing a non-fiction book: Unconventional Guide to Publishing by David Fugate

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Prior to joining Lyft, Sara El-Amine had an extraordinary career in community organizing; ranging from an entry level role, to an executive director role, for the Obama campaign. After reading Obama’s book, The Audacity of Hope, Sara quit her job, drove to the Iowa headquarters in 2008, and offered to help. It was a bold decision that paid off. With time, Sara rose to the National Director role of Obama’s reelection campaign and served as executive director of Organizing for Action (OFA), leading Obama’s citizen-led movement for change across the U.S.

Today, as Head of Community Engagement at Lyft, Sara has jumped into the business world with the same enthusiasm she had for her organizing work. Sara really, really believes in the power of the gig economy. In this conversation, Sara shares why she made the switch to the business world and why she believes gig work has so much potential to help communities across the US  and the people working in the industry. We discuss the emerging field of community engagement and what Sara and her team focus on day-to-day. Sara shares what she looks for when hiring, and the background or experience that is useful in a community engagement role. 

Sara also shares some of the deeply personal reasons that motivated her to pursue a career in organizing and social change. We talk about the ways Sara’s family and personal experiences were the origin of her early passion for social impact, and how her desire to help people and improve communities continues to be the primary inspiration for her work.

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Jennifer Dulski has had a dream career in senior technology roles including executive leadership roles at Facebook, Google, Yahoo!, and as a founder, CEO and president for early stage startups. Jennifer’s latest project is Rising Team, where she is CEO and founder. Rising Team provides tools, data and community to turn managers into successful coaches, a role Jennifer has mastered throughout her impressive career. 

A few highlights from Jennifer’s career path include: leading Facebook Groups, where her team was responsible building and growing the Groups product. While Jennifer was president & COO of change.org, the organization grew 10x, from 18 million users to 180 million and developed a profitable business model. Jennifer left a senior level role at Yahoo! to become co-founder and CEO of The Dealmap, a location-based deals app that Google acquired in 2011.

In this conversation, Jennifer walks us through several milestones on her career path, the decision making framework she has used throughout her roles and the mindset that has helped her succeed and actively seek new challenges. We also discuss Jennifer’s early influences and the confidence she gained from being a coxswain for the boy’s high school crew team. After this conversation, you may be persuaded to say yes to more opportunities that come your way and to try Jennifer’s “IICDTICDA” principle towards your next project. If you want to learn more about Jennifer, order her book, Purposeful: Are You a Manager or a Movement Starter, where Jennifer shares stories about her own experiences, inspiring stories of social change leaders and what she has learned about starting movements.

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If you have ever wondered why motherhood in the US is so difficult, you don't want to miss this conversation with Caitlyn Collins, Assistant Professor of Sociology a Washington University and author of Making Motherhood Work: How Women Manage Careers and Caregiving. In her book, Caitlyn dives into the ways public policy shapes the lives of mothers in the USA, Germany, Italy and Sweden. By examining the different policies in each country, and through detailed interviews with 135 women, the book shows how public policy decisions deeply influence culture and drastically shapes the lives of parents.

This conversation is likely to leave you shocked, and, hopefully inspired by the possibility to reimagine options for supporting mothers and children with benefits such as paid parental leave and universal affordable, high quality childcare. As Caitlyn says, instead of blaming themselves, mothers in the US should consider that the current system just isn't working.

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When the Covid lockdown started, Stella Delp was a sophomore at Stanford and determined to find a way to help. News stations were showing lines for food that were miles long, while some farms were in situations where they needed to destroy enormous amounts of food. Stella joined two friends, co-founders James Kanoff and Aidan Reilly as the third employee at newly formed Farmlink Project with the goal of reducing food waste and helping to get fresh produce to food banks. Five months later, Farmlink Project has delivered 12 millions pounds of fresh produce to food banks across the country and is currently delivering up to 1M pounds per week! Stella’s current role is Chief of Staff for a fully volunteer staff that has reached 50 full time volunteers and 140 part time volunteers.

In this conversation, Stella shares her Farmlink Project journey and insights into the food industry. Famlink Project’s latest goal is to keep growing and to create a platform that farms, food banks, and other organizations looking to feed people & reduce food waste will be able to easily access. This story will leave you feeling inspired by the possibilities for a small group of people to make a huge difference and start a movement. 

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Jennifer Justice started The Justice Dept. with a goal of making women as rich as men. The company is a female-focused advisory, consulting and law firm advocating for female founders, talent, execs and brands. Its vision is, "To accelerate the success of women, women-owned businesses and women -ocused brands to achieve equality and diversity in the market, workforce and workplace as it should be."

In this episode, Jennifer shares her path to entertainment law and the thought process behind some of the biggest decisions she's made in her life. As the first in her family to attend college, Jennifer had no help, financial assistance, or connections to aide in her career. She made it on her own. If you've ever doubted your abilities, or felt like reaching her level of success seems impossible, Jennifer is here with her story to boldly declare that it's possible. She knows. Because she did it.

Listen in to hear Jennifer share how her background has given her an edge in connecting with musicians and making independent, unconventional choices. And the same plays into her personal life – from having kids on her own to launching The Justice Dept. Named a "Game Changer" by Goop, as one of the "50 Badass Women Changing the World in 2020" by InStyle, and as one of Billboard's "Women in Power" list-makers three times, Jennifer is known for her expertise in entertainment law. Her client list has included Jay-Z, Beyonce, Outkast, Slipknot and Mark Ronson. She later worked as EVP and general counsel at Jay-Z's Roc Nation – helping it grow new avenues for revenue streams – from TV and film, to sports, branding and partnerships. She then worked as the president of corporate development at Superfly, a live experience company, and helped it grow revenue and raise more capital.

Jennifer understands how to structure and build successful businesses, and how to negotiate deals at the highest levels. Today's episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast will give you a taste of how she sees the world, her advice for growing your own revenue stream, and negotiating tips to consider for your next role.

If you are spending more time on LinkedIn these days to look for a new job, take a break from zoom or connect with your network, you may have wondered what it's like to work as a Linkedin News Editor.  In this conversation, Riva Gold, Linkedin News Editor for USA/Canada, joins us to walk through a day in her life. Riva shares her career milestones and the creative push she made to land her current job. We discuss Riva’s role in creating and curating a wide range of content on LinkedIn and how Riva transitioned from a traditional journalism role.

Tracy McCubbin is a professional declutterer, but what she really does is help people manage their relationship to stuff. When Tracy realized she had a talent for helping people organize their stuff, she turned it into dCluttefly, a thriving business.

In our part 2 of our conversation with Tracy, we discuss the 7 emotional clutter blocks Tracy discovered while running her business. Tracy walks us through each emotional block and offers examples of how people use shopping or holding on to excess stuff as a way of avoiding their emotions or problems. We discuss some of the ways our society is rigged against our desire to buy less and how your home can become a more peaceful and joyful place when you remove the things that you don't need. Whether you are hanging on to the past, creating a fantasy life, feeling guilty about your purchases or feeling shame for not using the stuff you bought, Tracy can help. After 14 years helping people declutter their homes, Tracy has seen it all and can help people move past common emotional mistakes related to the things we own.

Tracy's book, Making Space Clutter Free: The Last Book on Decluttering You Will Ever Need

Tracy McCubbin is a professional declutterer, but what she really does is help people manage their relationship to stuff. When Tracy realized she had a talent for helping people organize their stuff, she turned it into dCluttefly, a thriving business. Tracy decided to start a service that will help others start their own decluttering and organizing businesses. The $22B storage industry, Tracy's waiting list for her services, and the fact that most Americans cannot park in their garages due to excees stuff, is an indicator of the market size and need for people who can help us manage what we buy.

It is easy to feel overwhelmed with the problems of the world and unable to help, but there is a way to help: by making conscious choices to buy less things. In our conversation, we discuss the mental and financial impact to our health, our finances, the environment and our homes when we buy too much. In Tracy's book, Making Space, Clutter Free: The Last Book on Decluttering You'll Ever Need, Tracy outlines a range of 7 emotional blocks that people have related to stuff and offers advice on how to move past emotional blockers such as hanging on to the past or creating a fantasy lite. Does that sound familiar?

If you are feeling overwhelmed with the stuff in your home or if you want change your buying habits, Tracy breaks down the emotional triggers that create the urge to buy and hold on to the things that don't serve our needs.

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