“Even when you think something is set in stone—literal, actual stone—it changes.” Take it from actor-turned-entrepreneur and rock-climbing aficionado Ryan Devlin: successful pivots involve constant micro-adjustments. Even when you feel most stuck, you can find a new way forward, but you’ll need to double down on your unique skills and abilities. I had so much fun chatting with Ryan about starting his give-back company, This Saves Lives, and his journey from a successful actor living the Hollywoo...
Jan 08, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 304
Happy new year, my friends!! Transitioning from holiday time off to the frenetic energy of returning to work and regular life can be rough — so today, recurring guest (and my first career coach) Adrian Klaphaak joins me back on the pod to jam about calmer ways of reentering a new year, and recentering to decide what kind of planning and tracking is the most joyful for you. More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, therapist, and founder of A Path That Fits Caree...
Jan 01, 2023•56 min•Ep. 303
🎉 Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business celebrates its one year bookiversary on 3/22/23! In this episode I'm walking you through the Free Time Framework—Align, Design, Assign—so you have a technique to move from friction to flow in any project or area of your life and work in 2022. Resources Mentioned: Books: Free Time, Pivot, Who Not How Podcasts: Free Time #052: Perceived Capacity vs. Actual Capacity, Centered in the City with Wade Brill Websites: Agile Manifesto for Software Devel...
Jan 01, 2023•24 min
This episode originally aired on April 4, 2021. Casper ter Kuile is helping to build a world of joyful belonging. He is the author of The Power of Ritual and the co-host of the award-winning podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Casper is a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the co-founder of startup Sacred Design Lab - a research and design consultancy working to create a culture of belonging and becoming. He also co-authored “How We Gather” and collaborated with Hols...
Dec 25, 2022•48 min
“I don’t want fans, I want friends.” This is one of many approaches to relationship-building that I admire in this week’s guest, super-connector Jon Levy. I learned that when Jon texts with “free for dinner tonight?” you cancel all plans and say YES. Both times I did, I ended up at one of his influencer dinners with famous actors, public figures, pro athletes, and C-suite executives. Jon’s secret? Designing experiences to facilitate a shared sense of awe, connection, and accomplishment—with job ...
Dec 18, 2022•48 min
Does your calendar reflect your values and priorities? Do you pause before responding to requests, or are you saying yes to things out of fear, pressure, or obligation? I’m delighted to be in conversation with my dear friend Sarah Young this week on creating clear containers, clean vs. dirty energy, navigating “spiritual tornados of leadership,” handling inevitable criticism, and moving past people-pleasing toward acting in the path of highest integrity. Be sure to check out Sarah’s beautiful bo...
Dec 11, 2022•51 min
"For generations, we’ve been taught there are two ways to succeed—either from talent or practice." My guest today, Ron Friedman, shares a powerful third path: reverse engineering. In this conversation you will learn how to unpack others' success to spark breakthrough ideas of your own, with an original twist. This episode originally aired on November 28, 2021. More About Ron: Ron Friedman is an award-winning social psychologist who specializes in human motivation. His first book, The Best Place ...
Dec 03, 2022•31 min
“When life takes you down, it changes you. You’re not the same after,” says Dr. Susan Biali in her new book, The Resilient Life. “When I look back on my career, my most cherished accomplishments all came with significant stress.” And yet, sometimes, that work-related stress can tip into burnout if we’re not careful—something particularly prominent these last few years. Susan is one of my longest-time friendtors (fifteen years and counting!), and in this long-overdue Pivot conversation, we talk a...
Nov 27, 2022•47 min•Ep. 302
What happens when you write a book called The Revenge of Analog, only to find a pandemic relentlessly converting everything to virtual a few years later? David Sax answered the call with a follow-up book, the only one he could write from the confines of home, describing the malaise of digital pushed to its extremes, again making the case for RR: Real Reality (and you know we couldn’t resist a few pirate jokes to follow). I know you’ll love this conversation as much as I did about the timeless na...
Nov 20, 2022•50 min•Ep. 301
Since launching this show in September 2015, the podcasting landscape has grown and changed tremendously. What was once a niche sandbox of independent producers pursuing passion projects has blossomed into an abundant field where it seems as though every major media property, celebrity, side hustler, and business owner decided to throw their hat (mic?) into the audio arena. Since I’m not nearly ambitious or prolific enough to share three hundred lessons learned in honor of today’s major mileston...
Nov 13, 2022•50 min•Ep. 300
When times are uncertain should we be playing it safe? We all have a different relationship to risk—and recession-talk tends to turn the dial up on anxiety about what the future has in store. Today, I’m back in conversation with Adrian Klaphaak, talking about how to be pragmatic, taking the economic environment into account, while also keeping a flame lit for pursuing our bigger dreams. More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, and founder of A Path That Fits Ca...
Nov 06, 2022•49 min•Ep. 299
Have you ever gotten a sudden sense of certainty that you need to pursue something — maybe something totally different than your career or typical areas of interest? I had the pleasure of podcasting in-person with today’s guests, Alisa Cohn and Dorie Clark, to learn more about how their interest sparked to co-found a Broadway theater investing company together. Building upon their successful careers in the business arena, we talk about what it’s like to start from scratch in a new industry when ...
Oct 30, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 298
What’s your favorite kind of failure? The question isn’t if you’ll fail or get rejected, but when. So don’t let it stop you from taking action or making decisions. Today I’m sharing more on a favorite practice that I’ve heard others espouse: creating a failure resume. 🌟3 Key Takeaways: Being afraid is fine. Ask, “Is it enough to stop you?” If the answer is yes, what can you do to sidestep that issue or shift direction? How do you define failure? Are you thinking about quantitative outcomes like...
Oct 23, 2022•29 min•Ep. 297
We have had so many shakeups in the last couple of years that I’d be surprised if most of us haven’t considered pivots large, small, and totally surprising. Inspired by a thread in our BFF Community, I’ve put together a list of do’s and three don’ts for leaving a corporate job. How you leave any relationship is as important to how you begin, especially if there are personal or professional connections you want to bring forward with you! If you’re all set, but you know someone who is in the midst...
Oct 16, 2022•26 min•Ep. 296
Twenty years ago, my dear friend and today’s guest, Inna Aizenshtein, moved to New York City to pursue a career in fashion. She succeeded despite dealing with a succession of demanding, stress-inducing bosses and eventually realized she was no longer willing to suffer the health consequences of doing work that was no longer aligned. Today we’re talking about the many small shifts that led to a more monumental pivot into a completely different career, now running her own business as a hypnotherap...
Oct 09, 2022•56 min•Ep. 295
“Creativity is a muscle, not a metric.” If you hold back because you’re afraid of feedback, you won’t have a life infused with creativity. After all, your attention budget is limited, so where do you want to spend it? My friend Terri Trespicio is joining me today (in person!) to talk about navigating compliments and criticism, keeping our creative muscles strong, and slowly but surely building confidence along the way. More About Terri: Terri Trespicio is an award-winning writer, speaker, brand ...
Oct 02, 2022•43 min•Ep. 294
Are you an asker or a guesser? In 2015 while I was deep in hermit mode writing Pivot while living in a tiny studio apartment in Nolita (North of Little Italy), a friend texted: “Hey, do you mind if I crash on your couch tomorrow night?” To this day, I still feel somewhat bad about my answer . . . but every bone in my body was saying, “Yes, I mind.” I said no. Years later, I still wonder: Should I have rolled with the punches, accepted the spontaneous company, and just said yes? Today I’m sharing...
Sep 25, 2022•17 min•Ep. 293
“Fun isn’t just a result of human thriving; it is a cause.” Our guest today, Catherine Price, is breaking down the difference between True Fun (the intersection of playfulness, connection, and flow) and Fake Fun, the hypnosis of passive consumption. Fun creates the ultimate flow state: a self-reinforcing cycle that helps us prioritize the things that bring us joy. Life isn’t all joy, of course, and we also talk about the nerves that can result from things like preparing to give a TED talk. We di...
Sep 18, 2022•49 min•Ep. 292
Today’s episode is a crossover from the Free Time podcast. Enjoy! Today’s guest is an expert in cultivating creativity — and in remaining consistent over the long arc of content creation. Todd Henry is the author of six books, and today we’re talking about how to stay motivated in the publishing industry, where the market reflects winner-take-all dynamics, and the long tail is verrrry long. More About Todd: Todd is the author of six books, including The Accidental Creative, Die Empty, Louder Tha...
Sep 11, 2022•45 min•Ep. 291
“The [drugs] exist only for my mind, each orange prescription bottle a subconscious reminder that I Am Depressed and I Am Broken and I Need Fixing.” Brooke Siem returns to the podcast today to talk about her new memoir, May Cause Side Effects, and her conviction that: “It’s not my responsibility to edit my story for the sake of somebody else’s feelings.” Brooke believes that you can recover from long-term chronic depression, and after huge trauma and grief—that your brain and your body are prime...
Sep 04, 2022•50 min•Ep. 290
Believe it or not, you can get mentorship from anyone you’d like by employing a strategy today’s guest calls “stealing Wi-Fi.” According to today's guest, Jenny Wood, the creator of Own Your Career at Google, you can get mentorship from anyone you like by paying closer attention to what they do and how they do it. In this episode, The Jenny-s dig into multiple elements of career strategy, including navigating plateaus, sidelining imposter syndrome, and course-correcting when you screw up. More a...
Aug 28, 2022•53 min•Ep. 289
When did you discover what you wanted to do with your life? I knew from a young age that I wanted to connect and communicate with people, and later refined that into a lot of people, helping them feel a sense of relief when navigating change, with plenty of practical tools to circumvent unnecessary confusion. Learning to trust myself, and trusting that there is always something new emerging even when I’m in a dip, has been a lifelong process. My guest today, Adrian Klaphaak, returns to the show ...
Aug 21, 2022•43 min•Ep. 288
Do you like puzzles? If you do, you’re far from alone. An estimated 50 million people do crosswords every day and more than 450 million Rubik’s Cubes have been sold. People like puzzles. In his new book, today’s guest, A.J. Jacobs, quotes Maki Kaji—the late godfather of Sudoku, who said puzzles are a journey, articulated with just two punctuation marks: ? → ! “Kaji said the key is to embrace the middle part, the arrow, the journey. Don’t be obsessed with endings and perfection.” Today, we’re tal...
Aug 14, 2022•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 287
Are you living in a pressure cooker? One of my all-time favorite meals is two-day slow-cooked ribs from a fancy restaurant, where the meat is so soft it falls right off the bone. (Sorry to my vegetarian and vegan friends who might not appreciate today's metaphor!) I have an Instant Pot at home — a pressure cooker that produces a meal in mere minutes. Take stock about the work you’re doing and the path you’re taking: are you unnecessarily “cooking” your projects and goals with high-pressure setti...
Aug 07, 2022•19 min•Ep. 286
“I don’t want fans, I want friends.” This is one of many approaches to relationship-building that I admire in this week’s guest, super-connector Jon Levy. I learned that when Jon texts with “free for dinner tonight?” you cancel all plans and say YES. Both times I did, I ended up at one of his influencer dinners with famous actors, public figures, pro athletes, and C-suite executives. Jon’s secret? Designing experiences to facilitate a shared sense of awe, connection, and accomplishment—with job ...
Jul 24, 2022•48 min•Ep. 285
“Trust is not just a feeling. It’s also an action, and it’s a process that happens over time. Be slow to take, and quick to give.” These are just some of the gems that Grant Golliher has picked up in three decades of horse whispering, training, and teaching the art of trust-building. Today we’re talking about what horses can teach us about reading people and intuition. More About Grant: Grant Golliher is a horseman and the proprietor of the historic Diamond Cross Ranch in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, ...
Jul 10, 2022•49 min•Ep. 284
Instead of asking, “What should I do?” Ask yourself, “Who am I?” Today you’ll hear from someone who has been deeply influential in my life and career: my very first coach and longtime friendtor, Adrian Klaphaak, founder of A Path That Fits. More about Adrian: Adrian Klaphaak is a coach, purpose guide, entrepreneur, therapist, and founder of A Path That Fits Career and Life Coaching. His coaching approach is holistic—a constant balance between getting results and a quest for meaning and fulfillme...
Jun 26, 2022•50 min•Ep. 283
Believe it or not, your emotions are a competitive advantage: 90 percent of top performers are also high in emotional intelligence, and 92 percent of executives rate soft skills like the ability to manage emotions as a critical priority in today’s business environment. That said, if you relate to the idea of being a Sensitive Striver, you may still be suffering from what Melody Wilding calls The Honor Roll Hangover—a tricky trifecta of perfectionism, people-pleasing, and overfunctioning. Listen ...
Jun 12, 2022•46 min•Ep. 282
Self-doubt isn’t all bad. It means you’re stretching outside of your comfort zone, that you’re willing to learn, and that you aim to surround yourself with people who challenge you. So if you often grapple with imposter syndrome (or as I like to call it, an Imposter Monster sitting beside you), you are not alone. If you sometimes fall into the trap of feeling like you’re not good enough or ready yet to tackle your biggest creative aspirations, here’s a new perspective to consider. 🌟 3 Key Takea...
May 29, 2022•17 min•Ep. 281
“Energy introduces you before you even speak.” We all sense that energy is contagious; the question is, how well are you protecting and recharging yours? That’s what we’re discussing today with Simon Alexander Ong: strategies for creating a not to-do list, for recognizing energizers and drainers in your life, and why slowing down is a superpower. More about Simon: Simon Alexander Ong is the author of the brand new book Energize: Make the Most of Every Moment. He is also a personal development en...
May 15, 2022•36 min•Ep. 280
