Josie McKee is the Founder of Mind Athlete and Director, Operations & Communications at Responder Alliance.

In this episode, we talked about her triumphs, setbacks and growth in high-pressure teams, including Yosemite National Park search and rescue (El Capitan!). 

Josie's experience setting records as a high performance athlete led her to found Mind Athlete, and innovative mindset coaching practice helping top performers reconnect with the joy of the challenge. 

Josie lives in Lander, Wyoming and continues to train search and rescue teams.

Connect and follow her work:

https://www.instagram.com/josie_mckee_/

https://mindathletetraining.com/

responderalliance.com (outstanding resources for first responders, wilderness EMT and all those who serve)

Sarah Polan (Field CTO, Principal Director) completed a major career reinvention from opera singer to IT leadership. Early on, Sarah leveraged a bootcamp and built a bridge into IT by delivering a Novel Project beyond the initial scope of her role. 

Sarah powered forward when she realized her structured mindset from classical music could translate to writing code.

Step by step, Sarah added competencies in DevSecOps, management and organizational leadership, including a CTO program from MIT.

She became Credible, Capable and Visible in her new field, excelling at Red Hat, HashiCorp and ABN AMRO bank.

Follow her work: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarah-polan/

Sarah has two daughters in middle school and is passionate about increasing access to skills and knowledge with organizations like NewTechKids.

Hear Sarah speak with Deborah Carter: https://www.hashicorp.com/ko/blog/women-in-tech-podcast-transforming-tech-education

3 Takeaways (NotebookLM):

Acknowledge the emotional aspect of career change. Sarah's decision to retire from opera after 5 years, despite extensive studies and it being a passion, involved a significant emotional process. She describes it as a "major career pivot" where the previous career was her identity. Making the decision to walk away or change life so drastically involves a "certain amount of grieving" and understanding that you have to let it go, which is not easy.

Identify transferable skills and seek practical application opportunities.... Sarah realised her love for problem-solving could be applied in different contexts, whether business or life problems. She also found a connection between classical music training (patterns, strict rules) and computer code (bits of code, similar mental process), which helped her understand how her skills could be leveraged. She then leveraged a "novel project" at her HR job, which required language skills but also presented an opportunity to solve a data entry problem using VBA and then exploring Python, which made her "hungry to learn more" and was a "catalyst" for her career shift into IT.

Develop human skills and understand organisational dynamics. Excelling in senior leadership roles, particularly in a Field CTO position, involves understanding the business dials (topline, bottomline, sales operations). Crucially, it also involves understanding how people play into building robust systems (sociotechnical engineering). This includes understanding team dynamics, such as the impact of team size on trust and agility. 

Furthermore, personal values like integrity, trust (which is bilateral), and kindness are essential for leadership. Sarah believes human skills (like talking to people, manners) are going to be increasingly important for navigating the future of work, potentially more so than purely technical skills. Seeking multiple mentors (technical, people, business) can be critical for navigating this complex landscape.

I learned a lot from speaking with Benin about having the courage to think big about careers and plot my own course. 

As the host of this podcast, I'd like to remind us that the west coast tech ecosystem is NOT the ONLY place leaders are born and developed!

There's a lot we can learn by expanding our view.  

[Leaders] are externally aware, look for new ideas from everywhere, and are not limited by “not invented here.” 

-Invent and Simplify, Amazon Leadership Principles

5 Takeaways:

Self-leadership and continuous self-improvement are essential for leading others
Long-term planning and preparation facilitate successful career change
Mentorship and support can significantly ease the transition process
Articulating transferable skills to  is crucial
Being approachable as a leader fosters a supportive team environment

Follow Benin's journey on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benin-allen-608782252/

Are you an armed forces service member considering the private sector? Here are key resources Benin mentioned:

Register with a career agency: https://www.cameron-brooks.com/alumni/refer-a-friend-or-colleague/ (list Benin Allen as your referrer!)

Read: https://www.amazon.com/PCS-Corporate-America-Military-Interviewing/dp/0940672855

Can you imagine leaving a Senior Director role at Google to embrace parenting three rambunctious boys full-time? 🤠

In this episode, I speak with Jeana Jorgensen about promoting herself to Full-Time Mom 💪

The twist: Jeana's decision to live her values and honor her three boys actually attracted her dream job as Corporate VP, Worldwide Learning at Microsoft in the age of AI.

Jeana continues living her values as Executive Director at the Pepper Foundation, supporting foster kids to have their best possible holiday season.

Learn more and give directly here: https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7135361935520235521/

Special thanks Women in Cloud and Chaitra Vedullapalli for featuring Jeana's leadership story onstage, and Clara Schroeder for bringing me along!

#lifedesign #intentionaldecisions #nonlinearcareer

Join us for a special year end wrap-up! My guests are big tech heavyweights, Ugur "Mik" Catmak (Founder, Lean High Performance Academy) and Ümit Uludag (expert on lifelong learning).

We talk creating and claiming value in career conversations, self-paced learning, and why we can't forget to decompress!

Takeaways:
Value Creation: how to create and claim value from your work
Personal Branding: strategies for building and leveraging an authentic, meaningful personal brand
Developing through disruption: how lifelong learners adapt with AI

Follow Mik and Ümit:
https://www.linkedin.com/in/ugur-mikail-catmak-mik-123226b0/
https://www.instagram.com/ugur_mikail_catmak/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/uemit-uludag/

Special episode alert! I had the chance to be interviewed by Deborah Sgro (Global Mentorship Director, Women in Big Data). For the first time, I share:

-Why I went solo
-How you can launch a solo business
-How to succeed faster

This was recorded for the Women in Big Data Solopreneuer cohort program.

Book recommendations:
Escaping the Build Trap by Melissa Perri: https://www.amazon.com/Escaping-Build-Trap-Effective-Management/dp/149197379X
The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau: https://www.amazon.com/The-100-Startup-Chris-Guillebeau-audiobook/dp/B0081CDIGW

 Today's episode is about finding the courage to make a big change - and continuing that career reinvention curve through partnership, marriage and kids. M

y guest today is lifelong learner Gabby D'Angelo - MSW, CFP, CAIA, CFA Candidate, Business Student @ The IE Brown Executive MBA. 

Gabby and I speak about: 
-Pivoting from Social Work to Finance 
-Becoming credible, capable and visible in a new industry
-Finding the right role & workplace culture 
-Building resilient practices and a positive, growth mindset 

This conversation is proudly sponsored by the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce. The NGLCC is the largest advocacy organization dedicated to expanding economic opportunities and advancements for LGBTQ people, and is the exclusive certifying body for LGBTQ-owned businesses. 

Become a member of your local affiliate chamber or 53 US domestic and 24 international affiliates to leverage professional benefits and complimentary national certification. 

If you are in the Detroit area market & loved this podcast, use the the code "nextbigthing" for 10% off a professional membership!

Welcome to Season 2! My guest is lifelong learner Fred Hoskyns (Sr. Solutions Architect, AWS). 

In this episode, I ask Fred how he built a bridge into the AWS cloud and created learning and career progression to the Sr. Solutions Architect role. Fred didn't start in tech - he majored in French & Italian and worked abroad in the Oil & Gas sector. 

Back in London, Fred joined Amazon and progressed to a team lead position with Amazon Global Selling. -Fred describes why he made a big change from e-commerce sales into Cloud solutions architecture with AWS. That's a significant technical jump, imho! 
-Fred used #5Pillars like Effective Training and Powerful certifications. 
-With the help of Well-placed Mentors, Fred is becoming Credible, Capable and Visible in Cloud solutions architecture. 

This conversation is sponsored by learning content creator Adrian Cantrill. Pass your next certification and practice real skills needed for YOUR next big thing: https://learn.cantrill.io/?affcode=212820_jgngprkv

Welcome to our Season 2 Premiere! My guest is avid surfer and children's book author Chelsea Keaulani Brown (YouTube, Looker). 

In this episode, I ask Chelsea how she built a bridge into UX Research from her original career trajectory in athletics and sports media.

-Chelsea describes her journey into startups with Looker and Gametime. 

-By building Pillars like Well-Placed Mentors and Novel Projects, Chelsea became Credible, Capable and Visible in her space. 

Chelsea's career progression paralleled a personal growth journey. Having surfed in Santa Cruz with the Looker team, she set an intention to surf Pacific Islands and learn from local people in a different part of the world.

This learning and reflection culminated in a beautiful illustrated book speaking to her younger self:

https://www.thelittlewahine.com/

 This conversation is sponsored by Ventana Surfboards & Supplies in Santa Cruz, California. Use promo code 'champion' to receive 15% off @ https://ventanasurf.com/

Welcome to our Season 1 finale!

My guest today is David Dennis. David is the son of a successful software entrepeneur, and he originally went in a totally different direction than Dad. David studied Sociology and Political science and his first job was teaching in public schools.

During the dot com heyday of the early 2000s, David found himself experimenting with web development. In his free time, he started building websites for schools, and soon David co-founded a tech startup.

These experiences led him to a 20 year tenure at Microsoft, where he is currently a Principal Product Manager for Microsoft Outlook.

That's not the end of David's story. In this episode, you'll see how David experimented with novel projects, marquee events and well-placed mentors to create more fulfillment and balance in his career. For more about this approach to career progression, see my 5 Pillars Method.

He's also Co-Founder at Ventana Surfboards & Supplies, providing adventurers from Santa Cruz and around the world with hollow-framed, reclaimed wooden surfboards; bodysurfing handplanes; eco surf apparel, and sustainable surf supplies.

Anyone with an interest in bridging their passion with their day job, or struggling to decide between one path or another will benefit from this episode.