The Distiller

Carrie Farler Sees A Lot Of Resumes

As the “Head of People” for Paperless Post, Carrie Farler oversees all aspects of recruiting, hiring, compensation planning, and a lot of things people in the HR industry call “Performance Management.” It’s all the mysterious HR-related stuff that relates to how you get, and keep, and advance in, the job you want. And over her 10+ years in talent management and human resources for companies including Mashable and MoviePass, Carrie’s seen it all.

We talked with Carrie about her own somewhat circuitous path to the position she’s in now. Her journey from college bartender to C-level HR executive is instructive on its own. But we also talked about the insight she’s gained into how people approach their jobs. That includes interviewing and resume strategies (and mistakes). We covered how you should think about asking for, and getting, a raise. And maybe most important, we talked about the agency, the control people have in this process that they don’t often realize.

Carrie Farler – Links & Information

* Paperless Post* Facebook: /paperlesspost* Twitter: @paperlesspost* Instagram: @paperlesspost* Carrie Farler on Linkedin* “Get A Job” – The LinkedIn article we discussed on the show* Queen City Radio* Facebook: /queencityradiobar* Yelp: /queen-city-radio-cincinnati-3* Instagram: @queencityradio

Taking Your Career By The Horns

Corporate culture in the US today is largely designed to actively disempower individuals within the workforce. You’re more likely to take whatever they give you if you can be made to feel as though you have little to no value. If you feel lucky just to have a job at all, and fearful about your options should you lose it, then you’re not going to make waves or demand a raise. It seems to be in the best interest of many companies to keep their workforce in line, quiet, and not questioning the status quo.

But the fact is, these companies need you. Without the workforce, without the talent and capability the worker brings…the organization can’t function.

Dani McClain believes motherhood is inherently political for black women.

As a journalist and author Dani McClain writes and reports on race and reproductive health policy and issues. She is a columnist for the progressive magazine The Nation, and recently published her first book, We Live For The We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood. Dani’s work is informed by years of reporting and research, including as a reporter for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and the Miami Herald. More recently her experience as the mother of a nearly three-year-old daughter has brought made this work deeply personal.

Black women in the United States are 3 to 4 times as likely as white women to die from complications related to labor and childbirth. Reading this statistic while pregnant with her daughter in 2016 motivated Dani to initiate conversations with other women to explore the unique challenges of pregnancy and motherhood that black women share. Her book is part memoir of her own mothering journey, part deep social analysis. She writes primarily for a black female audience, about the social structures and behaviors that provide support in the face of such a challenging reality.

Dani McClain – Links & Information

* DaniMcClain.com* Dani’s author page at The Nation * Buy Dani’s book – We Live For The We: The Political Power of Black Motherhood* The Claudia Rankine NYT article we discussed: “I Wanted To Know What White Men Thought About Their Privilege. So I Asked.” * Lydia’s On Ludlow

Living For The ‘We’

We talked with Dani about the tendency to frame race relations in America in terms of the black male experience, and how important it is to bring light to the concerns of black women. Not only are those women the mothers and partners of black men subjected to institutional violence, they’re also victims of (often sexualized) violence themselves.

We also spoke about exactly what it means to cultivate a career as a progressive journalist in the Midwest, and the challenges of navigating career and family as a single mother. Dani writes about the significant challenges black women face, framed through the lens of preserving a joyful childhood for her daughter. That challenge of “living for the we,” of thinking of the impact of one’s work and choices beyond ourselves, is an important lesson for all of us as we grapple with these questions, and as we learn to live together.

John Faherty knows he has the perfect job.

The Distiller interview with John Faherty at Wódka Bar OTR

After previous careers in television and print journalism, four years ago John Faherty took a bit of a left turn. Today he is the Executive Director of the historic Mercantile Library in Cincinnati, Ohio. But the Mercantile Library isn’t just any library. It’s a historic member library, one of only a couple dozen left in the United States.

As Executive Director, John works directly with the nonprofit library’s board, with a directive to make and keep the library relevant. Since taking the job in 2015, John has worked to increase membership through a seemingly constant series of events, book clubs, lectures, and performances. Recently the Mercantile Library has hosted speakers and writers including Margaret Atwood, Chuck D of Public Enemy, and (perhaps John’s recent favorite) Min Jin Lee.

Episode 39 – John Faherty – Links & Info

* The Mercantile Library* Facebook: /TheMercantileLibrary/* Twitter: @mercantilelib* Instagram: @themercantilelib* Wódka Bar OTR* Wódka Bar on Facebook* Instagram: @wodkabarotr

The skill to make good ideas a reality

We talked with John on a Friday afternoon at the lovely Wódka Bar OTR in Cincinnati’s historic Over-The-Rhine district. Self-effacing as he is, John’s energy and enthusiasm are key to the Mercantile Library’s success, and its role as a cultural hub in Cincinnati. Only someone with his particular skills and approach could weave fundraising, literacy, events management, and politics into such a seamless piece of work. John credits his journalism background for giving him the skills to not only think of new ideas, but to make them a reality. And, as we discussed, The Mercantile Library has some built-in advantages (like a renewable ten-thousand year lease!) that make it easier to get things done.

The Mercantile Library is a beacon in Cincinnati, a center of arts, culture, and intellectual discourse. It’s a role libraries across the country have been quietly playing for centuries. But political times such as these bring its importance into sharp contrast. John and the entire staff of The Mercantile Library are doing good, important, dare-we-say “meaningful” work. Perhaps never in our country’s history has that work been more meaningful, or more necessary, than now.

Photo Gallery: Mercantile Library Executive Director John Faherty at Wódka Bar OTR

Photos for this episode by

Cole Imperi wants to talk about death.

Thanatologist Cole Imperi (photo courtesy of Cole and AmericanThanatologist.com)

Perhaps more importantly, she wants you to talk about death. As a thanatologist Cole Imperi studies, teaches, lectures, and writes about death, dying, and grief. Cole’s work comes from deep personal experience. And she believes a better relationship with the reality of death helps us live more fulfilled lives.

Thanatology (from the Thanatos, the Greek god of death) is a wide field, and many people dabble in it. But there are few people who are, as Cole says, “all thanatology, all the time.” Cole has essentially invented her career from scratch after realizing that death was “following her around.” She underwent a process of vocational discernment, normally reserved for nuns and monks, before embarking on the work of her life. Cole says that blessing and permission to pursue her work have led to her becoming the person she wanted, and was meant to be.

Episode 38: Cole Imperi Links & Information

* Cole Imperi: The American Thanatologist* Facebook: /hellocoleimperi/* Twitter: @coleimperi* Instagram: @imperi* LinkedIn: /imperi/* The Mercantile Library* Facebook: /TheMercantileLibrary/* Twitter: @mercantilelib* Instagram: @themercantilelib

Making a living, talking about dying

Today Cole wears a lot of hats, but they’re all related to her life’s work. She speaks widely on issues of death, dying and grief. She writes on those subjects for her own blog and for several publications. She consults for organizations and individuals looking to form a more harmonious relationship with death. And she hosts and produces a website and two podcasts about death (see links above). She’s a busy woman, but she thinks more of it as her “life’s work” than as a job.

Cole’s perspective on vocation is perhaps the most intentional we’ve had on the show so far. That discernment process is something many of us would welcome: assistance in determining the path of our life, if indeed there is one. As a result, Cole is passionate about helping other people find their path as well. She brings an indefatigable energy to her work (as is evident in our conversation). After all, it’s her passion for life that fuels her work around death.

Myra Ballentine is familiar with discrimination.

VECTRE Co-Founder Myra Ballentine

Born and raised in Pakistan, Myra Ballentine knows first-hand the thousands of micro-aggressions a woman or a person of color experiences every day. But through them she sees the opportunity for her most meaningful work.

Growing up as the daughter of a doctor, she felt the pains of the oppressed deeply. Myra knew she wanted to do something to help women fight discrimination. She just thought it would be in her home country of Pakistan. At boarding school and university in Thailand, through graduate school at Harvard, she always thought her work would take her back home.

But circumstances often have their way with our plans. Myra fell in love and married an American. Instead of working with women in Pakistan she found herself in the Midwest United States. After college she started doing consulting work for companies on diversity and inclusion. Myra tried to stay close to her area of passion but inside she mourned, wondering where her dream had gone.

Episode 37: Myra Ballentine / VECTRE – Links & Information

* VECTRE.xyz* Perspctivr.com – VECTRE’s new diversity & inclusion training site* Facebook: /vectre.xyz/* Instagram: @vectre-xyz* Twitter: @vectrexyz* LinkedIn: /vectre-xyz/* See VECTRE on Vimeo* Join VECTRE’s STEAM community* SidewinderCoffee.com* Facebook: /Sidewinder-Coffee-41594594089/* Instagram: @sidewindercoffee* Twitter: @SidewinderCoffe

Finding The Work Of Your Dreams, Virtually

But things also often have a way of working out in the long run. When her husband lost his job as a VR developer Michael and Myra Ballentine decided to start their own company. That company is VECTRE — focusing on virtual and augmented reality experiences. Initially they built training environments for welding companies.

Mandy Nagel has done a lot of things.

And maybe that’s why we love her at The Distiller, because she’s got the only resume that rivals ours for sheer meandering goodness. She worked at Apple in Cupertino. For a while she flipped houses with her father. There were years at advertising agencies doing design work for huge brands. But these days Mandy Nagel is using her talents and experience to make a real difference in the world as the owner of I Thought Of You.

I Thought Of You is a web-based business that sources jewelry, clothing, and other wares from artisans in the developing world, and makes them available online to a worldwide audience. What you might previously only have found on a table in a hawker stall in Indonesia, you can now buy online at IThoughtOfYou.com. And most importantly, Mandy’s business doesn’t just buy items and sell them at a huge retained markup. She develops long term relationships with the artisans, and uses the platform she’s built to change lives and communities.

Mandy Nagel – I Thought Of You – Links & Info

* I Thought of You – IThoughtOfYou.com* Facebook: /ithoughtofyou* Instagram: @ithoughtofyouxo* Pinterest: @ithoughtofyouxo* Japp’s Since 1879 on Facebook: /japps1879* Japp’s on Twitter: @japps1879

Mandy is not afraid to fail.

One of our favorite moments in our conversation with Mandy when she said about failure: “…even if I failed, maybe people would have laughed at me but, I’m not in second grade and that’s okay!” That clear-eyed determination and self-awareness permeate everything Mandy does. And her willingness to get it wrong on occasion is key to the kind of flexibility that’s needed when you’re creating something truly new, and figuring it out along the way

And that inventiveness, and flexibility, is key to the success of I Thought Of You. Mandy talked about entrepreneur friends who told her, “In a year your business won’t look anything like it does now.” She said that’s been truer than she could have guessed, and that the willingness to follow the business as it grows, to learn and grow with it, has been key. Great lessons for anyone who is looking to start something new, or just make a change to something they haven’t done before.

The Distiller with “I Thought of You” founder Mandy Nagel at Japp’s.

Getting ready to record at Japp’s

Darren Blase didn’t set out to be a music historian.

But that’s essentially what he’s become. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who knows more about Cincinnati’s musical history than Darren and his brother Jim. And it’s not just knowledge. ShakeIt also has one of the largest collections of Cincinnati and American roots, blues, soul, R&B and funk music you’ll find anywhere. Darren is constantly researching, investigating, and archiving historic recordings. He intends to create a searchable online database of the collection. Right after he does the other fifty thousand things on his list.

The Blase brothers re-opened the iconic ShakeIt Records in 1999. They’d purchased the ShakeIt recording label from original owner Jess Hirbe in 1992, reportedly trading it for a copy of the Jack Dupree album “Blues in the Gutter.” Blase says opening an independent record store at the height of the Napster era didn’t seem like a great idea to some of their friends. Original feedback was that he was either a trust-fund baby looking for a tax write-off, or an idiot.

ShakeIt Records & Melt Revival Links & Information

* www.shakeitrecords.com* Facebook: /shakeitrecords* Twitter: @shakeitrecords* Instagram: @shakeitrecords* meltrevival.com* Facebook: /MeltEclecticCafe* Instagram: @meltrevival

Saving, and making, Cincinnati’s musical history

These days ShakeIt Records has (depending on who you ask) about 20,000 CDs and somewhere close to 50,000 vinyl albums in stock. The bins stretch across two floors of their Northside, Cincinnati location. And ShakeIt has remained an active record label, putting out Cincinnati music throughout the past 25 years from bands like the Cowslingers, the Ass Ponys, The Heartless Bastards, and Greg Dulli of the Afghan Whigs. Their most recent release is the amazing 2018 release “What Heaven Is Like” from indie darlings Wussy. ShakeIt’s in-store performances still pack the place out, and the store is a true cultural hub in one of Cincinnati’s most vibrant and diverse neighborhoods.

Not bad for a couple of Teamster’s sons. It may have seemed a fool’s errand, opening a record store in middle-America just as physical music seemed to be dying. These days it looks a lot more like a brave act of claiming and celebrating a key part of our history. Public figures may wring their hands about monuments and statements of recognition. People like Darren Blase, and his brother Jim,

Julia Petiprin’s ready for the next adventure.

When she moved to Cincinnati in 2014 to open the iconic bar Sundry & Vice, she thought she’d be here a year. Open the bar, get it running, and then head back to LA. But never underestimate the seductive powers of a beautiful post-industrial Midwestern city. Fast forward five years, and Julia’s getting ready to start her second act. Her diverse background of bar tending and interior design have found their home in Cincinnati’s historic Over the Rhine neighborhood, and she’s just begun to make her mark.

After building Sundry & Vice into one of the World’s Best Bars, Julia’s ready to start something new. She and her business partner Catherine Manabat are preparing to open Homemaker’s Bar, a classic “third-place” hang with low-alcohol cocktails you can sip all day, and decor that honors “makers” of all sorts. Homemaker’s Bar is slated to open in June of 2019, but we met Julia right in the middle of the in-process construction.

Julia Petiprin Links & Info

Homemaker’s Bar won’t be open until later this year, but you can follow Julia and Catherine’s progress on their website and social media pages:

* homemakersbar.com* Facebook: /homemakersbar* Instagram: @homemakersbar* Julia on Twitter: @juliapetiprin

Creating Spaces That Create Community

For Julia the process of conceiving, planning, and opening a new bar is about more than another place to get a drink. As a seasoned interior and hospitality designer, she’s thinking first and foremost about the experience she wants you to have when you walk in the door. From the decor, to the layout, to the lighting, to the music…and yes, to the menu. Every element is design to welcome you into a space you don’t want to leave.

Although the building was still bricks and studs when we recorded, Julia painted a picture of what Homemaker’s Bar will become. Hearing Julia describe her vision, you can’t help but imagine it coming to life. With the help of the community around them, Julia and Catherine are making their dream a reality. And come summer 2019, you’ll be able to share in that dream as well.

The Distiller Podcast with Julia Petiprin at Homemaker’s Bar

Allison Rogers knew she wanted to be a meteorologist when she was twelve years old.

When Hurricane Katrina blew through her hometown, Allison relied on the TV weather to let her know if things were going to be okay. She says she immediately knew that’s what she wanted to do when she grew up, “I want to know why this happened, I want to know how…and I want to know how I can help people if it does happen again.”

A lot of people have a vague idea as a child that they’re interested in something. For most of us it doesn’t stick. But Allison’s drive to understand the weather, and to help other people understand and take action, never went away. Today as a broadcast meteorologist on Cincinnati NBC affiliate WLWT-TV, she’s the person others look to for information, and for safety, when dangerous weather comes through.

Episode #33 – Allison Rogers Links & Information

* Meteorologist Allison Rogers on Facebook* @allisonweather on Instagram* @AllisonWeather on Twitter* WLWT.com* LeftBankCoffeehouse.com* /leftbankcoffeehouse on Facebook* @leftbankcoffeehouse on Instagram

Building Relationships, Building Trust

Being a broadcast meteorologist is part scientist, part journalist, and part celebrity. If you doubt the science part, just look at the class listing for the broadcast meteorology major at Mississippi State University, where Allison went to school. But taking that scientific training, and translating it into information viewers can use and trust is no simple thing. Allison described the challenges of learning to use the tools of broadcasting, like the green-screen, alongside learning the science of interpreting and predicting weather patterns.

And building trust is key. For Allison the public nature of the job, the demands of social media and the need to connect with her audience, are all part of the package. And she loves it all. Sure, most days it may just be telling people whether to wear another layer, or whether there’s rain in the forecast. But on those days, like the day we met at Left Bank Coffeehouse when the tornado sirens are sounding around Cincinnati, there may just young woman looking to Allison to tell her it’s going to be okay. And maybe that makes it a little easier to bear when the alarm goes off at 4am.

WLWT Meteorologist Allison Rogers at Left Bank Coffee

Photos for this episode by the amazing

Jeremiah Griswold wears his art on his sleeve.

Spend any amount of time with tattoo artist Jeremiah Griswold, and two things become immediately apparent. First, he’s a deep thinker, who does nothing without considering the philosophical aspects of his actions. And second, he’s a true artist, who is constantly creating and looking for ways to grow in his craft.

After showing aptitude in visual art at an early age, Jeremiah grew up believing the ministry was his calling. He threw himself into that idea fully, and when later he started to question the institutional church, it took a while to figure out who he was without that part of his identity. But those early associations never die. And it was in the visual arts, and ultimately tattooing, that he rediscovered himself.

Episode 32 – White Whale & Karrikin Spirits Links & Info

* whitewhaletattoo.com* Facebook: /WhiteWhaleTattoo* @whitewhaletattoo on Instagram* @jeremiahgriswoldart on Instagram* karrikinspirits.com* Facebook: /Karrikin* @karrikinspiritsco on Instagram

Trading the Preacher’s Pulpit for the Tattoo Needle

These days Jeremiah’s ministry is no less meaningful, and his congregation no less devoted, than if he were preaching fire and brimstone. With an appointment book that’s blocked out for months, Jeremiah is one of the most in-demand tattoo artists in Cincinnati. And White Whale Tattoo consistently wins awards as one of the best tattoo parlors in the Midwest.

But for Jeremiah and the White Whale crew, it’s not just about ink. It continues to be about making a difference. That’s why the crew travels every year to Guatemala, where Jeremiah first learned to tattoo, and continues to cover up gang-related tattoos for prisoners looking to get out of the gangs. It’s work that not only saves lives, it creates and inspires futures. You can learn more about the work White Whale does with La Limonada on the White Whale website. And you can support the work through the shop’s yearly flash day events.

The Distiller Podcast with Jeremiah Griswold at Karrikin Spirits

Photos for this episode by Karrkin Spirits’ Jessica Rilling