The Curious Middle

By Polina & YelenaSociety & Culture News News Commentary

The Curious Middle episodes

September 17, 2018 Cut50's Jessica Jackson Sloan On Getting Involved In Your Community
Jessica Jackson Sloan is currently serving as council member for Mill Valley and as the National Director of Cut50, a bipartisan organization working to reduce incarceration rates and to make communities safer. Previously she served as Mayor and Vice Mayor of Mill Valley. Jessica was the 18th guest on I Want Her Job The Podcast, and her episode was one of our top 10 most-downloaded shows. Today, we check back in with Jessica to hear what she's been working on since we last talked. And in today's episode she shares ways to get involved today in your local government. While most of us aren't going to run for mayor -- thought it's worth considering! -- there are usually dozens of local opportunities within your city. They can bring a great sense of fulfillment and community spirit that can enrich your life as you help your neighbors. Also with today's show, we are adding a new series format called our Career Quickie. Of course, we will still bring in-depth, thought-provoking conversations with our Leading Ladies, but we will also add in these short shows -- up to only 15 minutes -- that either check-in with a former interviewee, provide an actionable tip you can apply to your life, or provide a sneak peek at some of the best advice in our series of website interviews. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know what you think of our new format by reaching out to us at [email protected], and as always, you can visit IWantHerJob.com for more inspiring interviews. Now let's check in with Jessica.
10 min
September 06, 2018 77: Stylish and Successful's Emily Benson On A Mobile-First Approach To Fashion
Emily Benson is a retail consultant, author, writer and mobile boutique expert on a mission. She wants to help empower retail entrepreneurs to make more money in their businesses. In today's episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast Emily shares her story of opening a mobile boutique, challenges she's encountered along the way, lessons she's learned and some of the business strategies that have helped her succeed. If you're looking for creative inspiration for your wild idea, we think Emily's fearless ambition, joi de vivre and strong business skills will inspire you to go for it. If you are looking to go deeper into operating retail boutiques, check out Emily's book, The Ultimate Boutique Handbook, check out her site Stylish and Successful and listen to her podcast, Boost Your Boutique.
29 min
August 30, 2018 April Rinne: Advisor, Speaker, Writer + World Economic Forum Young Global Leader
Want a peek at the future of our global society? Ask April Rinne to have a seat at your table. April bridges the private, public and social sectors as an advisor to startups, established companies, policy makers, think tanks, investors, and local and national governments. With these stakeholders she leads discussions on policy reform, global expansion, sustainable development, emerging markets and the future of work, travel and tourism. An individual with true global reach, April has lived overseas for more than 10 years, traveling to more than 100 countries during that timespan. She's also worked in more than 50 countries, averaging about 20 different countries per year. April serves as a Young Global Leader at the World Economic Forum, where she leads the Sharing Economy Working Group. In today's episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast, April discusses how her parents instilled in her a love for travel, discovery, adventure and giving back to the world. She also shares a very sobering fact with us—she lost her parents at a young age. But ever the optimist, she explains that her life path evolved after losing them, and she's embraced their values and what they taught her to create a life full of adventure and giving back to the world in big ways, with her dad's key advice never far from reach. "The world is a marvelous place," he said. "Go check it out!" April's story inspired us to expand our thinking. We hope you are just as inspired to widen your sense of discovery locally or nationally. As April reminds us, there is opportunity everywhere to learn and make things better.
40 min
August 03, 2018 How Sarah K. Peck, Founder Of Startup Pregnant, Brings Audacious Goals To Life
Sarah K. Peck is a force. She's a writer, startup advisor, yoga teacher, and founder/executive director of Startup Pregnant-- a media company documenting the stories of women's leadership across work and family. Previously she worked as vice president of communications for a Y Combinator-backed startup, One Month, where she also was a successful writing and communications consultant, published in more than 75 online publications. Sarah also is a 20-time All-American swimmer who swam the Escape From Alcatraz marathon nine separate times. And we also can't forget to mention the time Sarah swam the 1.5-mile freezing swim from Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay in only a swim cap and goggles to raise money of charity: water. In today's show we open up the thought process behind how Sarah achieves her audacious goals. We discuss yes, her amazing swimming accomplishments, as well as her move from a job in the architecture and design industry to a career she created for herself in writing and communications consulting. We also talk about how she developed her own curriculum on storytelling that was sold through her site and General Assembly. Then we talk about how her blog, writing and consulting work led her on a path to working at a startup, and eventually, how her first pregnancy led her to create the business idea for her eventual business, Startup Pregnant. In talking to Sarah, we were enamored with the creativity she uses to design her life and to rethink traditional ideas about how we do things at work and in our own lives. Known for her deep and thoughtful approaches to solving business problems, we have a feeling everyone will take something away from our interview with her in episode 81 of I Want Her Job The Podcast.
44 min
July 21, 2018 Edmentum President + CEO Jamie Candee On Her Path To Executive Leadership
In today's episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast we are speaking with a woman who is leading a company that is utilizing technology to change education for the better. Jamie Candee is the president, CEO and board director at Edmentum, an education technology company providing web-based learning programs and solutions to more than 1 million children in 40,000 schools across every state in the nation. In our interview we speak with Jamie about how she followed her lifelong passion for education to a career that nourishes her soul, while also helping to improve educational service options for thousands of students. We talk about her clear and ambitious goals, her impressive path to CEO, as well as discuss her other senior roles she held prior to this position in Operations, Revenue and Product Strategy. Jamie also shares her management philosophies and advice for pursuing -- and getting -- senior leadership roles. Jamie's enthusiasm and commitment to her career in education is so incredibly inspiring, that it may very well convince you to explore a path in educational technology. Listen on for more.
32 min
July 05, 2018 Lesley Jane Seymour On Her Next Chapter, CoveyClub
Lesley Jane Seymour has made a career out of connecting and supporting women. Whether it was providing guidance for teens during her editor-in-chief tenure at YM magazine, or for young women while at the helm of Redbook and Marie Claire. And before her newest venture, she took this role of chief connector and supporter to the pages of More magazine, where she created history by including Michelle Obama as guest editor for an entire issue of the glossy. Now as the Founder and CEO of CoveyClub, Lesley is aiming to enrich the lives of women in the middle of their careers through support via the platform and community. In today's episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast, we speak with Lesley about inspired her to launch CoveyClub, why she's so motivated to help women face challenges in the corporate world during the middle of their lives, and we hear about her audacious goals for CoveyClub. We also talk to her about depression, her ideas for getting unstuck through lifelong learning and more. Her wisdom in today's episode is delivered with truth and a special honesty that comes naturally to her. We hope the episode inspires you as you take your next step forward toward a well-lived life.
41 min
July 02, 2018 Parenting Expert Dr. Laura Markham On Building Deeper Bonds With Your Children
If you're a parent, chances are you know about Dr. Laura Markham. And if you don't, allow us to introduce her and her parenting advice that could be life-changing for you and your family. Dr. Laura is the founding editor of AhaParenting, a blog 130k+ subscribers strong. As a parenting expert she's been interviewed for thousands of articles by publications including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Real Simple, Newsday and Parents magazine. In addition to her blog, she shares critical parenting advice in each of her weekly emails, aimed to help you build stronger and deeper bonds with your children. After all, we are mightily convinced she just may be a modern-day Mary Poppins.

In today's episode Dr. Laura shares her philosophies on raising kids with empathy and connection, as well as ideas for building stronger and more trusting relationships with your children. She walks us through a scenario on how to deal with temper tantrums, tips on managing technology with kids and more. We also discuss how putting in the work now to build loving and trusting relationships can ripple toward the future, creating an output with lasting effects.
42 min
June 14, 2018 Former Cosmo Editor + Author Kate White On Nailing A Career You Love
As the editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazine for 14 years, Kate White led the iconic women's glossy straight to the top. And now she's a best-selling author of career and suspense books that you just can't put down. How did she do it? In today's show she shares how her gutsy instincts, risk taking, rule breaking, love of data and strong business skills blended to create the special sauce that was her personal secret to success. Kate shares how this mindset, as well as other strategies, fueled her accomplishments at Cosmopolitan and how they can help you, too. Then, if you want to take Kate's advice to the next level, we highly recommend you pick up her latest book, The Gutsy Girl Handbook, to learn how you can apply her tactics to negotiate your salary, manage your time, learn from failure, reduce your worrying, shed the "good girl" instinct and more. Listen in to learn how, like Kate, you can become better, bigger, bolder and more bad ass in everything you do. @iwhjpodcast
49 min
June 01, 2018 Dress For Success CEO Joi Gordon On Following Your Own Path
Joi Gordon was working as an assistant district attorney, pursuing a legal career when one day she realized, this wasn’t her dream job. Then, while watching a morning show she learned about a nonprofit that supplied low-income women with a perfect interview outfit. As someone who knew the power a great suit could bring, she was intrigued.

Now, Joi has served as the CEO for Dress for Success for the past two decades. The organization, which spans more than 156 cities in dozens of countries is often referred to as the “Starbucks of the nonprofit world.”

In today’s episode of I Want Her Job The Podcast, Joi shares why she’s a lover of learning, why the right dress or suit can make all the difference and the importance of following your own path.
39 min
May 30, 2018 Meesen Brown, Co-Founder And CEO Of Behere, A Service That Helps Women Live In New Cities
After experiencing the hassle of living abroad and moving, Meesen Brown sparked to the idea that there had to be a better way to make travel easier. She realized the need to help fellow women who wanted to travel, but who didn't have the time or resources to find housing arrangements. And with this, the idea for Behere was born. Today Meesen is the co-founder and CEO of Behere, a service for women that provides furnished housing options for cities around the world that a woman can contract on a month-to-month basis. You read that right: You can live in select cities around the globe for a month at a time, no long-term contracts or obligations. With a Behere membership, your rental will include workspaces, fitness memberships, city guides and more. Listen in to hear how Behere's mission to make travel easier and more comfortable can help you on your great adventures. If you enjoy this show please share it with a friend.
26 min