Work From The Inside Out

Content Warning: This episode contains discussion of suicide, which may be distressing for some listeners. Please take care while listening.

In this episode of Work from the Inside Out, I’m so excited to bring you my dear friend and colleague, Dr. Christina Guthier. Christina is an occupational health psychologist who has studied burnout and exhaustion for over a decade. What makes her perspective unique is her discovery of something she calls joyful exhaustion—a state of being physically tired, yet emotionally fulfilled, because the work feels meaningful and worthwhile.

In our conversation, Christina opens up a...

In this episode of Work from the Inside Out, I’m so excited to welcome back Kathy Oneto. Kathy is the founder of Sustainable Ambition, a coach, speaker, and now the author of Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work. Her new book is a thoughtful and deeply practical guide for redefining what success and ambition can look like on your own terms. In our conversation, Kathy shares how the idea for the book was born out of years of reflection, coaching, and personal experience. We talk about what it means to honor yo...

In this episode of Work from the Inside Out, I spoke with Sabina Nawaz, executive coach and author of You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be and Others Need. She brings with her decades of wisdom gained from leading executive development at Microsoft and later coaching C-suite leaders around the globe. But it’s not just her impressive credentials that left an impact, it’s her honesty and clarity about what shapes us, both the difficult and the delightful.

Sabina took us back to her early days in Calcutta, where adults trusted her with deci...

In this episode of Work from the Inside Out, Dr. Gian Varbaro, MD, MBA–Chief Medical Officer and Vice President of Ambulatory Services at Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, New Jersey–shares a deeply personal and inspiring story of how grit, curiosity, and a relentless drive for justice shaped his career in healthcare leadership. From humble beginnings working in construction alongside his immigrant father to earning his MD from NYU and an MBA from Yale, Gian’s story is a testament to the power of intention, adaptability, and standing up for what matters. Today, as Chief Medical Office...

In this episode of Work From the Inside Out, I sit down with executive coach, organizational psychologist, and Harvard Business Review contributor Irina Cozma, PhD. From the volleyball courts of Romania to leadership roles in Fortune 500 companies, Irina has followed a powerful inner voice throughout her life: when she wants something, she takes action. No overthinking. No perfectionism. Just clear intention and bold movement. We talk about how this mindset helped her navigate international moves, earn multiple advanced degrees, a corporate career, and ultimately the launch of her coaching practice.

Irina shares how overthinking and perfectionism are...

On Work from the Inside Out, I had the pleasure of speaking with Ora Grodsky, co-founder of Just Works Consulting and author of Justice, Love, and Organizational Healing: A Guide to Transformational Consulting. Ora’s journey is one of deep purpose and profound transformation. From restaurant work and starting a food co-op to becoming an acupuncturist, and academic dean at her acupuncture school to co-founding a holistic AIDS clinic, Ora has always been guided by her commitment to healing. Today, she brings more than 25 years of experience in helping mission-driven organizations align their values with their work.

Or...

In this episode, I had the absolute pleasure of speaking with Dr. SD Shanti, a remarkable woman whose journey is one of deep purpose, resilience, and heartfelt service.

SD began her professional life in dentistry, and over time, she followed several inner callings that led her into the worlds of public health, psychology, and ultimately, into founding the World Love Forum—an initiative devoted to promoting emotional health and preventing violence and depression on a global scale.

Throughout our conversation, SD shared how listening to the compass of her heart, even in the face of na...

In this episode of Work from the Inside Out, I had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Van Orden, a business strategist and thought leadership expert who has built his career by following his curiosity. From an early foundation in engineering to becoming one of the first business podcasters, Jason’s professional path has been anything but linear. Each step was guided not by external expectations, but by an internal drive to explore, learn, and evolve.

Jason shared how curiosity led him to make bold moves—geographically and professionally. Whether relocating from Alaska to Utah to Paris, or s...

In this episode, I had the pleasure of welcoming back Melody Wilding, executive coach and author of Managing Up: How to Get What You Need from the People in Charge. Melody is an executive coach, licensed social worker, and professor of human behavior at Hunter College. She has worked with professionals at companies like Google, Amazon, and JPMorgan and has been featured in The New York Times, Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, and Forbes.

Melody and I had a fantastic conversation about how we can all take control of our work experience, build better relationships with managers...

In this episode, I revisit my interview with Lori Mihalich-Levin in honor of National Working Moms Day. We explore Lori’s remarkable journey from a challenging upbringing to becoming a healthcare policy lawyer and founder of Mindful Return, an organization providing critical support to parents transitioning back to work after parental leave. Through programs like e-courses, employer initiatives, and international chapters, Mindful Return has made a significant impact on working parents worldwide.

Lori shares her personal and professional experiences, emphasizing her passion for public policy, healthcare, and advocating for women’s leadership. She offers valuable advice on inte...

Luis Velasquez coaches leaders worldwide, guiding them to turn challenges into opportunities. He is the author of the best-selling book “Ordinary Resilience: Rethinking How Effective Leaders Adapt and Thrive.” Luis shows how to unlock and strengthen innate resilience, preparing you to face whatever life throws your way. He’s helped hundreds of leaders thrive throughout change, and now he’s sharing his framework to help you do the same. With client accounts, personal anecdotes, and professional insight, Luis provides a roadmap you’ll return to in every challenge you face. His strategic thinking is regularly published by the Harvard Business Re...

Michael Thompson is a career coach, lecturer at EAE Business School in Barcelona, Spain, and strategic communication advisor to top business leaders worldwide. Growing up, Michael’s stutter and social anxiety kept him reserved and reluctant to pursue his goals. Over time he challenged his supposed weaknesses by putting himself out in the world and discovered the person he did not know he could become. Michael developed a system of principles to help people express themselves more confidently and build meaningful relationships without sacrificing their nature. He brings those principles to life in his book Shy by Design: 12 Timeless Pr...

Starting from his childhood fascination with media, Scot Safon shares his professional journey starting in the advertising agency world and moving to executive marketing roles in major media companies such as CNN, TNT, HLN, The Weather Channel, and more. He recounts anecdotes from his formative years, explains his career transitions, and outlines his current consulting practice.

Scot grew up in a diverse, working-class neighborhood in Bay Shore, New York, a town on the south shore of Long Island. He is a long-time friend of Tammy’s going back to junior high school. Scot appreciated the variety of ha...

Jamie Lee is an executive coach who helps smart folks who hate office politics get promoted and better paid without throwing anyone under the bus. In her practice, she blends the best of proven negotiation strategies with evidence-based neuroplasticity tools so her clients lead and advocate with confidence and ease. Jamie also hosts a podcast for professional women, Risky Conversations with Jamie Lee, covering topics often considered "too risky" at work -- salary negotiation, mental and reproductive health, office politics, social injustices, and unconventional ways smart women navigate their path forward despite inequitable and sexist cultures.

A...

​Dr. Marie Hélène Pelletier​, aka MH, uniquely bridges business and psychology. With a Ph.D. in Psychology and an MBA, MH has had an extensive career as a leadership psychologist, executive coach, and senior leader in the corporate, insurance and governance sectors. Her award-winning book, ​The Resilience Plan: A Strategic Approach to Optimizing Your Work Performance and Mental Health​, was named a “Top 5 Book to Read” by Inc. Magazine and Forbes. During our interview, MH discussed her formative years, her educational journey in Quebec, her diverse professional development experiences, and her evolution from psychology into management. We delved into th...

At 17, Niven Postma, was a new high school graduate and did not know what she wanted to do. Her mother reminded her that she had a dream to live on a kibbutz in Israel, so off she went. For the next four years, Niven traveled and worked in many countries. Then at 29, she held her first executive position in a career that has spanned multiple sectors and roles. 

Niven is a strategy, leadership, and culture consultant partnering with clients in diverse industries worldwide to (re)ignite the discretionary energy of people and teams, build an enabling culture, a...

Dr. Corinna Freitag coaches STEM professionals to overcome workplace challenges so that they look forward to Mondays again. She is an executive coach, advisor, and speaker with decades of experience in natural and human sciences through university, industry, and continuing education. Executives hire her to develop and retain their top talent. She holds a Ph.D. in chemistry, is a certified Executive Coach, and received her Associate Certified Coach (ACC) credential through the International Coaching Federation (ICF).

Corinna grew up struggling to succeed as a student and believing she wasn’t good with people, unlike her older si...

Paula Caligiuri, PhD is a D’Amore-McKim School of Business Distinguished Professor of International Business and Strategy at Northeastern University and a Co-Founder of Skiilify. She is a work psychologist dedicated to helping companies, teams, and individuals become effective in today’s diverse, multicultural environment.

Raised by blue-collar parents who had immigrated to the US as children, Paula grew up in Buffalo, NY. She attended college intending to study abroad. Paula went to Italy, and soon after her arrival, the stock market crashed, impacting the affordability of her study abroad experience. She stayed and worked to support hers...

For more than two decades, Leo Rossi worked with bands and artists such as Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks, The Beach Boys, Bette Midler, Diana Ross, Chaka Khan, Billy Idol, and many more to create magical experiences for their audiences. Starting on music tour crews doing lighting installation and design, he became a trusted team member and built a solid career managing hundreds of high-profile tours worldwide.

As a young Italian Catholic boy from the blue-collar Los Angeles port town of San Pedro, Leo Rossi tripped into an improbable dream when he was punished for taking off...

Dr. Ruth Gotian is the Chief Learning Officer and Associate Professor at Weill Cornell School of Medicine in New York City. She returns to the Work from the Inside Out podcast to discuss her new book, "Financial Times Guide to Mentoring," co-authored with Andy Lopata. They emphasize the importance of mentoring in professional development, highlighting that 61% of positive mentoring relationships are formed organically. Ruth stresses the need for diverse mentoring teams and shares insights on the benefits of mentoring, including higher salaries and reduced burnout, as well as the importance of engaging mentors outside one's organization.

She...

From an early age, Harry Duran displayed a natural affinity for technology, tinkering with computers and embracing the latest gadgets. After briefly attending Syracuse University, Harry got distracted and lost his focus. He says he jumped around, never completing his degree, and then applied for a job at Chase Bank as a teller. Harry thought wearing a suit to work meant that he ‘made it.’ He was a quick learner and adapted well, moving up the ranks in the banking world.

In 1999, Harry's innate curiosity and entrepreneurial spirit compelled him to explore opportunities in the dotcom boom, a ve...

Joe Sprangel is the founder and principal consultant at Emmanuel Strategic Sustainability LLC, which helps organizations develop a hybrid sustainability strategy that enhances their longevity, profitability, and impact. His expertise includes strategic and tactical planning, change leadership, and humanist manufacturing, a framework that addresses the triple bottom line of people, planet, and profit, as developed in his book Humanist Manufacturing: A Humanitarian Approach to Excellence in High-Impact Plant Operations.

Joe is the founding dean of the College of Business & Professional Studies at Mary Baldwin University. He leads the undergraduate departments of business, criminal justice, healthcare administration, and social...

When my clients need information, advice or help, I emphasize the importance and methods needed to proactively get the answers to move their goals forward. Yet, too often people hesitate, filling their heads with fear or self doubt, hampering their progress. I usually point out that if they do not make an inquiry or seek more information, then the answer is always NO. Not only is their progress stunted, they feel disappointed in themselves for not following through.

My podcast guest this week, ​Dr. André La Plume​ believes in going beyond the NO to uncover answers to his qu...

​Kelly K. James​ (formerly Kelly James-Enger) has been writing for 20+ years as a full-time freelancer, and most recently, as a corporate content writer. In June 2024, she published her memoir, ​The Book That (Almost) Got Me Fired: How I (Barely) Survived a Year in Corporate America​, an entertaining, honest account of what (and what not) to do when you make that corporate leap in midlife.

As a kid, Kelly loved to read, write, and was an excellent student. In college, she majored in business because it was one of the more competitive programs. Day two of her sophomore year, Ke...

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...

​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...

​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 t...

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 honorab...

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...

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 cli...

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...

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...

​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 i...

​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 move...

Catie Harris is a nurse practitioner who believes nurses are uniquely qualified to be entrepreneurs. As the CEO and owner of NursePreneurs, a mentorship program that empowers nurses to monetize their knowledge and develop business skills, Catie inspires them to change how healthcare is perceived and delivered. Through individual coaching, live events, and signature group programs, thousands of nurses have been empowered with the knowledge and skills they need to build profitable businesses of their own.

​As a child, Catie was quite introverted and didn’t socialize easily. Her family moved multiple times, which meant going to new sch...

Donna Serdula is the founder and president of Vision Board Media, a professional branding company that helps individuals and companies tell their unique stories on LinkedIn and beyond. Donna has authored two editions of LinkedIn Profile Optimization FOR DUMMIES.

Bringing dynamic brand storytelling to the masses and empowering people to dream big – that’s the ink in her pen.

Donna’s website, LinkedIn-Makeover.com, is where she and her team of over 20 writers and coaches help people collide with opportunities and transform their lives via future-forward career branding.

You’d never know it now, but...

This week’s podcast features a delightful conversation I had with Doug Lennick and Chuck Wachendorfer from ​think2perform​, a leadership development firm serving many industries. Together, they co-authored the book ​Don’t Wait for Someone Else to Fix It: 8 Essentials to Enhance Your Leadership Impact at Work, Home, and Anywhere Else that Needs You​. Their experience and knowledge show readers how to be positive and impactful leaders.

Doug and Chuck offer practical and evidence-based guidance through eight key principles that are essential to one’s ability to lead others:

Rimi Chakraborty and Samantha Anderson are on a mission to inspire women to redefine success by blending ancient wisdom with modern leadership. They have co-authored a book, to be released on February 14, 2024, Beyond Resilience to Rootsilience: A Revolutionary Women's Leadership Framework for Balance, Well-being, and Success. 

Rimi, a previous guest on my podcast, and Samantha shared their origin stories with me, including how they met and developed the work that evolved into their book. They each made significant changes in their lives towards a deeper sense of purpose and well-being. Then, Samantha and her husband stayed at th...

When Jesse Janelle was in elementary school, she experienced a lot of anxiety. When feeling panicked, she went to the nurses' office, visiting there regularly. Jesse didn’t know it then, but this is where her personal and professional development journey began. One day, 11-year-old Jesse was in the nurse's office having a particularly bad panic attack. The nurse called in the guidance counselor, who was asked to help sometimes. Jesse must have been extra anxious this time because the guidance counselor shook her by the shoulders and yelled, “Stop it right now,” in her face. At that moment, Jesse...

Christopher Knudsen’s first work experience was on a framing crew at 15 years old in his father’s construction company. He credits those early years with instilling the work ethic he has today. Chris learned how to create momentum for himself, which gave him a sense of ownership and pride in his work.

Today, Chris is a published author, university instructor, entrepreneur, and consultant. He works as an independent fractional CMO and is the CEO at StoicYeti, an advertising firm focused on direct-to-consumer companies. Chris’s main focus is to help businesses and ideas flourish alongside technological advanc...