In Part 1, Dr. Resa Lewiss shares how growing up in Rhode Island, challenging gendered assumptions at home, and studying the liberal arts all shaped her path to medicine. She opens up about the moment emergency medicine clicked for her, and how her love for procedures and working with her hands helped her find her place in a specialty that sees everything, all at once. Key Highlights of Our Interview: Why She Chose Medicine “It was always in me. Nobody in my family was a doctor, but medicine was...
Apr 24, 2025•31 min•Ep. 319
In the second half of their conversation, Edward J. van Luinen, Ed.D. and Tricia Cerrone reveal the system behind their decade-long collaboration—and the framework that became their book, Collaborate to Compete. But this isn’t just theory. It’s a Gen X playbook for how to lead, design, and scale collaboration that actually sticks. Grounded in five core behaviors—generosity, resourcefulness, co-creation, action, and gratitude—and powered by a noble purpose, their method flips the script on outdat...
Apr 23, 2025•35 min•Ep. 318
Edward J. van Luinen, Ed.D. and Tricia Cerrone didn’t build a personal brand around collaboration—they lived one. In this first of a two-part series, they reflect on the working relationship that began at Disney and slowly evolved into a business, a book, and a model for how Gen X builds enduring trust. Forget quick team-building hacks and shallow LinkedIn takes—this is collaboration done the Gen X way: built slowly, refined over time, and grounded in shared values. If you’re tired of performati...
Apr 23, 2025•34 min•Ep. 317
John Gates has been on the inside of more salary negotiations than most of us will see in a lifetime—over 75,000 offers across industries and levels. From a scrappy upbringing in Oregon to global recruiting roles at Capital One and beyond, John learned how the game works. And now, he’s helping jobseekers stop lowballing themselves and start playing smarter. In this episode, he debunks the biggest salary myths, shares the scripts that work, and explains why salary negotiation starts long before t...
Apr 22, 2025•43 min•Ep. 316
Jason Bloomfield didn’t learn change in an MBA program—he learned it through real life. As a teenager, he became the de facto head of household. Now, as Global Head of People Change and Experience Design at Ericsson, he leads transformation across 180 countries. In this episode, Jason shares how active listening, design thinking, and human-first systems have helped him move organizations from dysfunction to alignment. From M&A integrations to HR tech failures, from -83 NPS scores to user-designe...
Apr 22, 2025•44 min•Ep. 315
In the second half of her conversation, Erika Ayers Badan—CEO of Food52, former CEO of Barstool Sports, board leader, media powerhouse, and author of _No One Cares About Your Career_—lets us behind the curtain. From negotiating screen time as a kid to rewriting the rules as a high-profile executive, she reflects on how grit, autonomy, and unfiltered curiosity shaped everything—from her parenting to her management style. She shares why she no longer chases titles, what failure really teaches us, ...
Apr 21, 2025•29 min•Ep. 314
Erika Ayers Badan isn’t here to polish the truth—she’s here to say it louder. In this first of a two-part series, the current CEO of Food52 and former CEO of Barstool Sports breaks down the raw realities behind her debut book, No One Cares About Your Career. From writing on commuter trains to fielding hundreds of workplace questions a week, Erika shares why her advice hits different—because it’s honest, hard-earned, and hyper-relevant for a Gen X audience still rewriting the rulebook. This isn’t...
Apr 21, 2025•33 min•Ep. 313
Mark Bayer spent 20 years in the U.S. Congress shaping major policies and managing high-stakes communication for senior lawmakers. In Part Two, Mark gets practical—breaking down the actual tools and mindset shifts PhDs need to thrive in the private sector. From his 11 Keys to Translating Complexity ( complexitymadeclear.com ) to why metaphors matter more than models, he shows how scientists can go from overlooked to unforgettable. Plus, what AI can’t do—and why your human voice still matters mor...
Apr 20, 2025•29 min•Ep. 312
Mark Bayer spent 20 years in the U.S. Congress shaping major policies and managing high-stakes communication for senior lawmakers. In Part One, he reflects on what those years taught him about messaging, persuasion, and why most PhDs—despite their brilliance—struggle to translate their value. From Capitol Hill to Harvard Medical School, Mark now helps scientists and researchers communicate like insiders. This episode is a masterclass in what PhDs get wrong—and what they already have right. Key H...
Apr 20, 2025•29 min•Ep. 311
From facing seven years in prison at 17 to leading soldiers in Afghanistan, Jevon Wooden’s story is more than a redemption arc—it’s about owning your power the moment you realize you’ve still got one. In Part 1, Jevon, the author of "Functional to Phenomenal" and "Own Your Kingdom", opens up about growing up in one of America’s poorest cities, learning to survive, and ultimately discovering his worth had nothing to do with money. Key Highlights of Our Interview: Veterans Day, Forever Changed “I ...
Apr 19, 2025•28 min•Ep. 310
From facing seven years in prison at 17 to leading soldiers in Afghanistan, Jevon Wooden’s story is more than a redemption arc—it’s about owning your power the moment you realize you’ve still got one. In Part 1, Jevon, the author of "Functional to Phenomenal" and "Own Your Kingdom", opens up about growing up in one of America’s poorest cities, learning to survive, and ultimately discovering his worth had nothing to do with money. Key Highlights of Our Interview: The Wrong Crowd, the Right Wake-U...
Apr 19, 2025•26 min•Ep. 309
In Part 3 of this series, narrative strategist Chris Hare leaves us with a gift: the tools to take control of our own stories. Whether it’s envisioning your future in a quiet theater, asking loved ones for feedback through a meaningful 360, or identifying the patterns that shaped your past, Chris’s methods are built for reflection and action. This isn’t productivity advice or LinkedIn bait—it’s practical wisdom for designing a story you can live with. For Gen Xers rethinking legacy, reinvention,...
Apr 18, 2025•24 min•Ep. 308
In Part 2 of his three-part series, narrative strategist Chris Hare shares the stories he used to survive. From a near-suicidal season while working at Amazon to a healing moment years later in a record store, this episode unpacks how internal stories—if left unchecked—can become prisons. But when named, challenged, and re-authored, they can also become paths to freedom. For Gen Xers who’ve spent decades carrying stories they didn’t choose, this is a masterclass in taking your story back—and cho...
Apr 18, 2025•36 min•Ep. 307
In Part 1 of this three-part series, Chris Hare shares how a single founder story sparked a strategy pivot inside Amazon—and why storytelling isn’t fluff, it’s infrastructure. As a behind-the-scenes strategist for some of tech’s biggest companies, Chris has spent decades shaping narratives that align people, purpose, and performance. But his real power lies in his Gen X sensibility: low drama, high pattern recognition, and deep alignment between what’s said and what’s done. This episode explores...
Apr 17, 2025•23 min•Ep. 306
In Part 2 of her conversation, Sara Lobkovich doesn’t just tell us what strategy is—she shows us who it’s for. Her book, You Are a Strategist , is more than a guide to OKRs or goal-setting. It’s a toolkit for people who’ve always felt misaligned, misunderstood, or mislabeled in traditional business environments. Drawing from her own experience as a trauma survivor, neurodivergent thinker, and late-diagnosed ADHD strategist, Sara offers business frameworks that finally include the rest of us. For...
Apr 17, 2025•34 min•Ep. 305
Sara Lobkovich didn’t pivot to be edgy. She adapted because the system never fit—and she refused to shrink herself to match it. In this first of a two-part series, Sara walks us through her nonlinear arc: from teen internet entrepreneur to lawyer, from burnout strategist to behavioral goal-setting expert. Along the way, she reveals how quiet defiance, early activism, and radical self-curiosity helped her rewire how she worked and lived. For Gen Xers tired of being told to “just fit in,” this epi...
Apr 17, 2025•35 min•Ep. 304
In this second half of her story, Holly Bond comes full circle—returning to the recruiting world she once left behind, this time to rebuild it from the ground up. At Facets, she’s proving that scaling a business doesn’t require sacrificing soul. From her pay structure to her candidate experience to her team’s human-first process, Holly is quietly leading a revolution in executive search. She also drops some of the best job-seeking advice on the show to date—especially for Gen Xers navigating rei...
Apr 16, 2025•34 min•Ep. 303
Holly Bond didn’t inherit a business or a playbook—she built her own, from the basement up. In this first of a two-part conversation, she shares how a late return to university, a family health wake-up call, and pure Gen X tenacity drove her to create a kids’ fitness franchise with national impact. Holly’s story is part entrepreneurship, part emotional reckoning, and full of hard-earned wisdom for anyone designing change from the inside out. If you’ve ever thought it was too late, too messy, or ...
Apr 15, 2025•32 min•Ep. 302
In Part Two, Sande takes us into the quieter—but more honest—chapter that followed. He shares what happened when he stepped off the growth treadmill, redefined ambition, and began unlearning the beliefs that kept him over-performing and under-listening. From rebuilding marriage to carving out what he calls Life Peels, Sande shares what it means to grow by subtracting—not stacking. Key Highlights of Our Interview: Life After the Climb “What would happen if I just got really quiet and listened? No...
Apr 15, 2025•42 min•Ep. 301
Sande Golgart was the guy who said yes to every opportunity, outran every challenge, and never sat still—until one day, the success story stopped feeling like his. In Part One, he opens up about going from slam dunk champ to corporate high-performer to someone questioning the very game he was winning. He talks about early ambition, the trap of nonstop action, and the moment he realized: “You climb, climb, climb… then realize the mountain isn’t even yours.” Key Highlights of Our Interview: From S...
Apr 14, 2025•34 min•Ep. 300
Chris Quek isn’t just building startups—he’s building a generation. In this second half of his story, he shares how selling his inheritance became the launchpad for Thrive, a VC firm that invests in Southeast Asia’s overlooked next-gen entrepreneurs. From structuring value-aligned startups to teaching his kids the principles behind technology, Chris shows how legacy isn’t something you receive—it’s something you design . For Gen Xers navigating intergenerational tension, personal ambition, and r...
Apr 14, 2025•33 min•Ep. 299
Chris Quek could’ve stayed in the family business and lived comfortably. Instead, he chose a life of uncomfortable clarity. In this first of a two-part series, Chris shares how he rejected expectations, fled the legacy he was born into, and built an e-commerce business in Malaysia with nothing but grit and guidance from mentors. Now 46, he reflects on what identity really means when you’re not handed a playbook—and how each phase of reinvention brings you closer to your core. For Gen Xers rewrit...
Apr 14, 2025•28 min•Ep. 298
In this second half of his conversation, Gagan Sandhu pulls back the curtain on what it really means to design financial independence. It’s not about the FIRE movement or early retirement—it’s about knowing your trade-offs and making conscious, math-informed decisions that align with your values. From career reinvention every 10 years to balancing ambition with family time, Gagan offers Gen Xers a refreshingly grounded take on money, identity, and midlife work design. >>Financial Independence Is...
Apr 13, 2025•37 min•Ep. 297
Gagan Sandhu didn’t chase freedom. He calculated it. In this first of a two-part series, the Chicago Booth MBA, former tech exec, and founder of fintech startup Zillion shares how he redefined financial independence—moving beyond buzzwords and into practical action. From his immigrant roots to his pivot from mechanical engineering to Silicon Valley, Gagan shows how knowledge—not speed—builds real freedom. Whether you’re Gen X or Gen Z, this conversation reframes wealth not as a finish line, but ...
Apr 13, 2025•34 min•Ep. 296
What do you do when the person you’ve been—mom, fixer, chauffeur, planner—is no longer needed in the same way? In Part 2, Jodi shares the emotional (and practical) shift from parenting full-time to rediscovering your own interests. She walks us through her signature DARE Method and dishes out real talk on marriage, identity, and why your kids aren’t your best friends (even if you really, really like them). This isn’t just an episode about empty nests. It’s about refilling your own life—on your o...
Apr 13, 2025•25 min•Ep. 295
Jodi Silverman didn’t set out to lead a movement—she just wanted to figure out what came next. In Part 1, she opens up about career shifts, midlife transitions, and how becoming an empty nester sent her on a completely different path. Spoiler: it involved leaving behind a successful print business, embracing a “dare,” and launching a community that now supports thousands of women through their own identity resets. Whether you’re a parent or not, this is a story about transition, reinvention, and...
Apr 12, 2025•22 min•Ep. 294
Wayland Lum has built a leadership career that spans tech giants, global consulting, and top business schools—but his boldest move was walking away from all of it to build something from scratch. Now the founder of Copperbox, he coaches modern leaders through a philosophy that fuses deep psychology, personal courage, and timeless wisdom. In this episode, he shares the moment he chose purpose over prestige, the emotional realities behind true leadership, and why fear and courage are two sides of ...
Apr 12, 2025•26 min•Ep. 293
César Couto Ferreira spent over a decade deep in the world of global media—shaping MTV across Europe and Africa, working with stars, and riding the wave from analog to digital. But when Amy Winehouse died, something broke. Not in the headlines, but inside him. He saw how the industry treated artists as content—not people—and decided he couldn’t be part of it anymore. That moment became his call to redesign his life. In this episode, César shares how he left global prestige behind to build system...
Apr 12, 2025•24 min•Ep. 292
Ryota Tanozaki didn’t pivot because of burnout—he pivoted to avoid a trap. While managing a turnaround project in rural Japan, he saw the writing on the wall: stay too long, and his world would shrink. Instead, he chose to bet on himself. He went global, earned an MBA from Chicago Booth, built a career across Facebook and Tabist (backed by Softbank Japan), and led a hospitality startup through one of the toughest periods in travel history. But his secret wasn’t speed—it was clarity. In this epis...
Apr 11, 2025•33 min•Ep. 291
In Part 2, Lora walks us through the why behind her return to music full-time. From co-founding Virtuoso Fiesta to launching her album Reveries on Ivories , she shares how composition became her storytelling tool—and how she sees music not just as art, but as a way to build peace, shift perspectives, and maybe even fix broken systems. This isn’t a story about following your passion. It’s a story about building the courage to lead with it. >>Reveries on Ivories (New Album) by Lora Chow Apple | Sp...
Apr 11, 2025•21 min•Ep. 290
