Work From The Inside Out

When Rashmir Balasubramaniam was six years old, she asked her father, “Why am I here?” He laughed but did not answer her. She interpreted this as a message to stop asking questions. Deep down, Rashmir knew she had a purpose. It wasn't until she was 40 years old that she leaned into her true purpose.

Rashmir grew up in a traditional Sri Lankan family in Africa and the UK, with high, prescribed expectations. Attending university, she intended to prepare for medical school (her mom is a physician) but realized it was not right for her. Instead, Rashmir studied math and computer science and earned her chartered accounting credential while in her first job at Ernst & Young. Next stop: investment banking.

From there, Rashmir navigated a variety of career moves, always seeking to learn new things and to make a meaningful impact. These two threads have been essential foundations in guiding her professional decisions and the quest for her true calling. Rashmir took her work from the for-profit sector to explore several nonprofit sector roles, including a 5-year engagement with the Gates Foundation on a newly formed team dedicated to identifying new areas of giving which became their Global Development Program.

Today, Rashmir coaches leaders who have bold visions for change that they want to bring to the world. She also offers team coaching, strategic consultations, speaking, and custom professional development programs.

Throughout all of Rashmir’s strategic career moves, she has emphasized:

• the importance of listening to one's inner voice
• the value of taking time off for reflection and growth
• taking a balanced approach to professional development that emphasizes learning, impact, and authentic living

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Rashmir’s journey:

• Rashmir decided to pursue an MBA at Yale University to learn best practices in management and leadership as applied in social impact enterprises. 
• She found her experience living in the US to be eye-opening and transformative. 
• Rashmir highlights the power of meditation, coaching, and inner reflection in navigating career transitions and aligning work with purpose.

Learn more and connect with Rashmir here: 

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​Roman Eggenberger​, is a man living many lives, who is good with numbers and likes to talk. At 15, he entered the banking industry as an apprentice in his home country of Lichtenstein, where he was introduced to the world of work while completing his secondary education. Like many young people who completed apprenticeships and opted not to go to university immediately, Roman went abroad to improve his language skills. Unlike most of his friends who went to English-speaking countries, he went to France to study French for four months and returned to Lichtenstein to work in banking in Lausanne, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. (For those of us in the US, this would be comparable to living in New Jersey and working in New York… well, sort of, kind of!)

Over the next several years, Roman worked in banking elevating his roles into the global markets and relocating to Hong Kong and Singapore. His travels also took him to New Haven, CT, Vancouver, Canada, and Nicaragua for different purposes, but you will need to listen to our interview to learn more about that part of his adventures.

Roman has carved distinct paths wherever he has gone in his career, and the arenas he has worked in are pretty varied. Yet he has navigated his journey with an internal compass that many of us might not be able to comprehend. Along the way, he earned a university degree, took Seth Godin’s alt-MBA program, and attended a five-day fool’s workshop that was a personally and professionally transformative experience.

After working in several large global banking institutions, Roman explored various other avenues, including the hemp business, bread baking, coffee farming, coffee and pastry service, oat milk business, agriculture, and many more entrepreneurial ventures. His takeaway message points to the importance of relationships, curiosity, and adaptability. Roman's story is a testament to the value of continuous learning and the impact of personal relationships on professional fulfillment.

In this week’s ​Work From The Inside Out podcast,​ learn more about Roman’s journey:

• Roman involved his whole family, including his children, in his decision to transition from a more traditional career path to his entrepreneurial pursuits.
• He has co-produced a traveling exhibition on discrimination throughout Lichtenstein. More than a thousand schoolchildren have attended the program.

Learn more and connect with Roman here: 

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​Robin Merle​ is an accomplished fundraising executive and the author of ​Involuntary Exit: A Woman's Guide to Thriving After Being Fired​. A book aimed at helping unemployed professionals navigate the challenges of a sudden job loss, she shares her experiences working at the top of billion-dollar organizations, stories of accomplished women who were suddenly severed from their organizations, and how they navigated their way back to success. Robin examines the struggles of separating one’s identity from one's career and how one can rediscover and reconnect with one's value after job loss.

Robin shared her journey from an early tough childhood in Philadelphia to a successful career in fundraising for institutions like NYU, Rutgers, and a leading New York hospital. She discusses the emotional and professional impact of job loss and the importance of maintaining one’s personal value and identity independent of one's career while offering insights on effective career reinvention. Robin provides practical strategies for anyone facing career transitions, emphasizing the importance of curiosity and continuous learning. She frequently speaks at national conferences on fundraising and women’s leadership.

In this week’s ​Work From The Inside Out podcast,​ learn more about Robin’s journey:

• Robin has served as a board member for three nonprofits in New York City, including the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), New York City Chapter; the New York Women’s Agenda; and Women In Development, New York (WID).
• Her short fiction has been published in various literary magazines. Involuntary Exit is her first nonfiction book.

Learn more and connect with Robin here: 

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Odd fact: I was the sports editor on my high school newspaper for a time. One assignment I had was to interview and write an article about a classmate who was emerging as a top boxer, headed for the Junior Golden Gloves competition.

Fast forward 45 years later, the subject of said article, ​Chris Seeger​, tells me he almost skipped the interview because he felt unsure about doing it. I’ll admit that I felt intimidated because Chris seemed like a pretty tough guy and we hung out in very different crowds.

The article won an honorable mention at the Columbia Scholastic Journalism Conference and it gave Chris a confidence boost in ways neither of us could ever have imagined. Gathering at our 45th high school reunion this past October, I learned that Chris was going to be installed in our hometown of Bay Shore, NY’s Hall of Fame for his achievements as a highly innovative and accomplished plaintiff attorney.

After high school, Chris worked as a carpenter and continued to pursue boxing, but stopped competing in his early 20s. Working in New York City, he walked by Hunter College regularly. Chris decided to take a class, did well and decided to enroll as a degree granting student, discovering capabilities he never realized he had. Law school followed immediately afterward.

Chris started his law career as a corporate defense attorney representing the interests of big business. Struck by the imbalance of power between corporations and the individuals harmed by them, he left to become a plaintiff attorney. A founding partner of ​Seeger Weiss​, Chris is known for multidistrict mass torts and class actions involving drug injury, toxic injury and personal injury. His practice also handles product liability, property damage, antitrust, third-party payer litigation, and consumer, insurance, and securities fraud.

Chris has led complex litigations in the U.S. representing plaintiffs and achieving landmark settlements in cases including the 3M Combat Arms Earplug Litigation, National Prescription Opiate Litigation, NFL Players’ Concussion Litigation, Volkswagen “Clean Diesel” Litigation, Vioxx Litigation, and Syngenta AG MIR 162 Corn Litigation.

In this week’s ​Work From The Inside Out podcast,​ learn more about Chris’s journey:

• Chris is regularly quoted in the New York Times, Wall St Journal, Washington Post, LA Times, USA Today, AP, Bloomberg, Reuters, ABC, CBS, NBC, NPR, CNN, and ESPN.
• Whether working on a class action involving thousands of people against a multinational conglomerate or an individual case protecting one client’s rights, Chris fights with the same passion and conviction.

Learn more and connect with Chris here: 

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Ellen Taaffe is a Clinical Associate Professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. She teaches a course, Personal Leadership Insights, and serves as the Director of Kellogg’s Women's Leadership Program. Ellen is an independent board director on three company boards and runs her own leadership advisory consulting, speaking, and coaching business.​

Growing up as the fifth of six siblings, Ellen recalled dinner table conversations where her father engaged them in brainstorming about his entrepreneurial challenges. Ellen loved those discussions, saying they influenced her interest in business. Her parents always told her and her siblings that they could do anything with an education, hard work, and a vision. At the same time, Ellen witnessed and experienced the financial instability of her father’s business pursuits. This was not discussed openly, as her parents maintained a never-ever-quit philosophy. While Ellen cherished her parents’ positive belief in herself and her siblings, she recognized the value of bringing more transparency into the conversation with her own children.​

Ellen spent 25 years at Fortune 500 companies in top brand management posts within PepsiCo, Royal Caribbean, and Whirlpool Corporation. In her recent award-winning book, The Mirrored Door: Break Through the Hidden Barrier that Locks Successful Women in Place, Ellen offers her vast experience to help women understand and navigate internal and external obstacles to create the careers and lives they desire.

​In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Ellen’s journey:

• Ellen has shared her insights on leadership, careers, advancing women, and inclusion through her writing and speaking in Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Business Insider, Washington Post, Bloomberg, and Kellogg Insight.
• In 2019, she delivered a TEDx talk, Taking Center Stage Can Change Your Life.

Learn more and connect with Ellen here: 

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Gena Scurry has dedicated her career to fostering human connection. She is a self-proclaimed introvert, and while she loves people, her alone time sustains her. Gena says she is quirky, and it takes a lot of effort to be social and be herself. 

Gena’s formative years differed from most of the other kids in her Texas neighborhood. Crossing the border daily from her home, she attended a Montessori school in Mexico. Later, her thirst for adventure led her to take a year off from college and travel the world, camping and rock climbing. Gena loved rock climbing and traveling and was not sure what else she wanted to do with her life, so she worked hard outside of her classes to save money to support her trips. After completing her degree in Spanish, Gena embarked on her entrepreneurial journey with just $5 and a bicycle, teaching adults to speak Spanish. It started with one person asking her to teach them the language, and her business grew over the next 17 years, with a team of employees and contracts with large companies, which gave her steady revenue. Yet she felt terrified about income most of the time. Gena also got married and started a family during those years. 

Nine years ago, Gena went through a major life transition, a divorce. She began meditating and focused on the question, “What’s next in my life?” The answer: “Build a game.” It felt right to her. Eventually, Gena created Over Coffee, a card deck-based game designed to create deeper connections between people. The game challenges players to ask deeper questions on a variety of topics, integrating random verbs to enhance listening skills. 

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Gena’s journey:

• Gena hosts monthly potlucks in her home and invites everyone to join in, embodying her mission to reconnect humanity with each game played.
• Originally designed as a bilingual board game, Gena tested it for years and determined it would be best to release an English version as a card deck initially.

Learn more and connect with Gena here: 

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• Visit: Over Coffee Games
• Read: Over Coffee Conversation Cards Game for Teens & Adults

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Ludmila N. Praslova, Ph.D., SHRM-SCP, is the author of The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work. She is a Professor of Psychology and the founding Director of Graduate Programs in Industrial-Organizational Psychology at Vanguard University of Southern California.

Born in Moscow, Ludmila grew up in a blue collar area where textile mills and farming were predominant, yet, she shared, there was a strange mix of high culture blended in with visits to museums and trips to the theater. She enjoyed reading college text books as a child and writing poetry. Her parents pressed her to use her hands to sew, garden, and play a musical instrument, all of which felt impossible to her.  

Ludmila graduated from the Russian State University of Humanities with a 5-year specialist degree in organizational management processes and human resources. She chose this focus because it was a compromise between something she enjoyed studying and a path that could lead to stable employment. Ludmila was still figuring out her career and did not plan to work in education—she was focused on organizational practice. She went on to build and lead successful intercultural relations programs in global organizations. 

Ludmila’s areas of expertise include organizational culture assessment and change, workplace justice and civility, productivity and well-being, and training and training evaluation. She is the editor of the book Evidence-Based Organizational Practices for Diversity, Inclusion, Belonging and Equity. Her current consulting focuses on supporting organizations in creating systemic inclusion informed by an understanding of neurodiversity. 

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Ludmila’s journey:

• Ludmila is a member of the Thinkers 50 Radar Class of 2024 – a global group of management thinkers, recognized as most likely to make an impact on the world.
• As a regular contributor to Harvard Business Review, she is the first person to have published in Harvard Business Review from an autistic perspective. She also writes regularly for Fast Company.

Learn more and connect with Ludmila here:  

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• Read: The Canary Code: A Guide to Neurodiversity, Dignity, and Intersectional Belonging at Work

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Ehab Bandar is a sought-after product design consultant for startups and fintech. What's amazing about his career is that he's managed to do it while being both an outsider and an insider in remarkably distinct ways. Ehab attributes credit to his early life as an immigrant to the US from Lebanon at the age of six. His family moved yearly until he was in seventh grade. Ehab was a shy kid with a stutter, yet he was also a natural observer and listener, taking in different cultural norms and personalities. He recalls endearing himself to fit in with new people by throwing a joke into random conversations, noting how fortunate he was to be warmly received as he started the year at each new school. Ehab describes these characteristics as shy self-reliance while being quietly engaged.

Ehab had to invent his own career to become a design leader himself. Educated as a city planner, Ehab started his career as one of the youngest technology managers at Wells Fargo. He then left corporate and went on his own to advise and lead design at fast-growing startups in Silicon Valley, digital agencies, and corporate giants. Ehab uses city planning tools and curiosity to hone his craft in the tech world. He explains how a quarterly print newsletter he started in grad school out of boredom led him to work in the dot-com boom and how being an outsider as an immigrant from Lebanon made the act of observation and discovery a daily habit. 

Today, he's the founder of big table.co, an experience-led design agency that partners with product teams to build human-centered designs at scale. They merge hands-on product knowledge, customer insights, and experience strategy to transform ideas into a tangible product vision. 

In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Ehab’s journey:

• Ehab conquered his stuttering by joining the radio station in college as a news reporter.
• He has helped dozens of organizations, including Charles Schwab, Wells Fargo, Bank of the West, Boost Mobile, Intuit, and Airbnb, design new digital products and successfully launch them into the market.

Learn more and connect with Ehab here:  

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• Read: Make to Know: From Spaces of Uncertainty to Creative Discovery - by Lorne M. Buchman

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​Chris Fenning​ makes it easier for us to communicate at work. He helps experts talk to non-experts, teams talk to executives, and much more. Chris's practical methods are used in organizations like Google and NATO and have appeared in the Harvard Business Review. Helping people retain and apply what he teaches led Chris to write the book ​39-ways to Make Training Stick: What to Do After Trainees Leave the Room​. He has also authored multiple books on communication and training that have been translated into 15 languages.

Chris grew up in what he describes as a traditional nuclear family in the UK. As our podcast interview unfolded, he shared that his parents worked hard to provide sufficient food for their family. As a child, Chris was unaware of how careful they were to ensure there was enough food. He thought all parents put dates on their canned beans. At age 7, he was awarded a scholarship to attend a private school. Chris saw the distinction between his life and that of his classmates. Adding to his experience of differences, he was elevated two grade levels to a class with students who were 9-years-old.

 Chris always did well in school without much effort. Then his perspective changed. At 15, he was struck by a car, sustaining serious injuries. After that, he took nothing for granted. Attending university, he majored in aeronautical engineering, and worked 2 to 3 jobs to support himself.

Throughout his engineering career, Chris leveraged his problem solving skills by applying them to challenges wherever he saw a need. He was especially drawn towards translating communication between technical and business teams.

Chris’s ability to translate and communicate is the common thread in his work today. When he left full-time employment to start his own business, Chris moved into communication, bridging the gap between technical and business teams and between experts and non-experts.

In this week’s ​Work From The Inside Out podcast,​ learn more about Chris’s journey:

• Chris attended flight school with the intention to join the Royal Air Force, but he realized he did not like being told what to do.
• When he was a university student, he also competed in target rifle shooting, an expensive sport, which he supported by his multiple jobs.

Learn more and connect with Chris here: 

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​Erika Wasserman​ was always good at math. As a teenager, she and her Dad would sit in front of the family computer (then, households had one computer), dial up AOL (America Online), and check out the latest stock market figures. Dad, an optometrist, was keenly interested in the markets and enjoyed bonding with Erika over all things involving numbers.

Erika studied finance and international economics in college, and following graduation, she took a finance role at IBM. Early on, she discovered the advantages of being in a large company where opportunities for mobility were readily available. Erika moved to the consulting side of the business, serving clients, becoming a project manager in a variety of functional areas, and developing her leadership chops. Interspersed within that time, she married, lived in Asia, had her first child, and moved nine times in ten years.

Needless to say, Erika’s personal and professional journey was not a linear one. For her, there were many changes: growing up in a household where money was an exciting dinner topic, getting married, having three children, getting divorced, living abroad, moving nine times for a job, and losing a parent. Erika found herself at a crossroads. After a successful decade at IBM, Erika left her corporate role to work on emerging organic food brands, transforming them from innovative products to household names while raising her growing family. Along the way, Erika noticed a gap in how people all over the world talked — or didn’t talk — about money, both within family structures, relationships, and workplaces.

Erika then discovered the field of Financial Therapy and decided to pursue her graduate Certificate in Financial Therapy from Kansas State University. Today, she works with individuals, couples, families, teams, and corporate wellness programs to improve communication and relationships regarding money. Partnering with her clients, Erika helps them transform their mindsets and beliefs about money, paving the way to clearer choices and new options.

In this week’s ​Work From The Inside Out podcast,​ learn more about Erika’s journey:

• Erika created the ​Let’s Talk Finances, Baby! ​Financial Wellness Conversation Cards, which allows people to explore the topic of money with 50 thought-provoking questions.
• Her expertise has been featured in The New York Times, Yahoo! Money, and Time.

Learn more and connect with Erika here: 

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