I'm Here Too

Hi everybody, welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too. Today, I’m talking to Melani Dziire about her journey from corporate executive to executive coach. We talk about some of the costs of success, including burnout and feeling disconnected from who you are and what you want. As fellow introverts, we trade tips on what’s worked as entrepreneurs and as executives. Melani also shares what it looks l...

Hi everybody, welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too. Today, I’m talking to Neekta Hamidi about how a career spanning science, technology, philanthropy, and public policy prepared her for entrepreneurship and the lessons she’s learned along the way as she built Mission to Market Studio, an advisory practice that helps mission-driven organizations turn progress into proof and use that proof to mak...

Hi everybody, welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too. Today I’m talking to Onyedika Achilike about what it means when you grow up with entrepreneurship as a way of life designed to provide necessities and not a passion project. She shares how her definition of stability has evolved over time and lessons learned (and unlearned) along the way during her time in venture capital investing and  buildi...

Hi everybody, welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too. Today, I talk to Melody Chu about her journey from Princeton University and Harvard Law School to becoming an attorney and then publishing her debut novel Mathey Girls . We talk about the work of not just writing a novel, but getting it out into the world and finding the audiences that will connect with the story and share their feedback along...

What if the next chapter is about finally living life on your own terms? In Season 4 of I’m Here Too, we explore what happens when you: • Stop waiting for the perfect moment to be yourself • Drop the corporate armor • Reclaim your priorities after a major wake-up call • Break out of the linear career mold • Realize that you are the impact Together, we explore what it looks like when you let go of...

What would make you walk away from a Fortune 500 career to become an “old founder?” In this episode, I reconnect with my middle school buddy, Jon Zweifler. We talk about hitting a ceiling in your career and what happens when you realize there is no “next job” that will teach you something new. Jon shares his journey from the Fortune 500 to life as a tech founder who is building Reed AI from the gr...

In this episode, I reconnect with Sunil Ayyagari, someone I’ve known since we were kids, to talk about time, identity, ambition, and what it looks like to build a life that surprises you. Sunil reflects on growing up queer in the late 80s and 90s, when stigma and fear shaped what was visible, and how pop culture touchstones like Madonna and Pedro Zamora, plus early AOL chat rooms, helped him piece...

If you've ever chased a career path mostly because it was expected, and felt the gap between what you wanted and what you thought you were supposed to want, this one is for you. Rory Eakin spent a summer in a suit, in an office building, knowing it was wrong. He wanted to want it. He didn't. He said no to the job, went to Cape Town to teach math, and began a series of career deviations that he say...

“You have to live as you're going to your objectives. You can't just wait for them.” Kahwa and I met in elementary school. We grew up together at the same small private school in New Jersey and lost close track when her family moved in middle school. On September 11, 2001, she was working at the IMF in Washington, D.C. That experience and the very specific decision she made the next day be...

In this episode, artists and producers, Everest Hall and Mike Russnak take us inside a shared life built, literally, from the ground up. We talk about art school, self-education, reinvention, homelessness, humor, moral courage, astrology, and the unexpected power of moving across the country with nothing but each other. Together they describe what partnership looks like when it’s deeply creative:...

Hi everybody, in this episode, I’m talking with my old friend Gene Gurkoff, founder of Charity Miles. We grew up together in Essex County, New Jersey, and this is a conversation about what it means to keep moving — literally and figuratively — and to build a life that feels true. We talk about taking the road that isn’t always straight, about purpose as something we practice rather than find, and...

What happens when you resist the urge to only pursue the things that “make sense?” This week, I'm really excited to share what happens when we step off the beaten path. We'll hear from Gene Gurkoff, founder of Charity Miles, who shares his journey from Big Law to living a life as a founder aligned with meaning, even when he can’t alway see the whole map. Artists and producers Everest Hall...

Before Season Two gets underway, I’m sharing one more reflection from the first season of I’m Here Too . At the end of every conversation, I asked each guest: “What’s something the audience can do for you?” Their answers weren’t transactional. They revealed seven ways we ask for meaning, support, and connection in our lives: Asking as Action : applying what we learn Asking as Amplification : helpi...

Hi everybody, this episode feels like a late-night call — the kind you don’t want to end. I’m talking with Amy, a friend from my early years in Essex County, New Jersey, and we go deep into what it means to grow, drift, and return to the people who’ve known every version of us. This one’s audio-only, intentionally — I wanted it to feel like the kind of conversation you lean into, where you can jus...

In this episode, I talk with Leelila Strogov about ambition, stewardship, identity, and what responsibility looks like in midlife. Leelila is the Founder and CEO of AtomicMind, a global education consulting firm helping high-achieving students navigate some of the world’s most competitive institutions. But this conversation isn’t really about admissions. It’s about formation: how people learn who...

Hi everybody! Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Mastering the Art of YOU, a conversation with Dana Bernstein. Among many things, Dana is a conflict resolution author, speaker, consultant and Principal of Dare to Live Brave. With over 2500 coaching hours and more than 100 clients, Dana specializes in de-escalation, negotiations, contracts, project management and high stakes situations.  In 2...

Hi everybody! Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Seeing the Forest and the Trees, a conversation with Becky Moon. Becky is many things; she’s an artist, a philosopher and an admirer of ants. So, you can imagine when we got together, we had a lot to talk about around all of these intersections, but most importantly about the spirit of generosity that Becky brings to her work, her life and her...

Hi everybody! Welcome to this episode of I’m Here Too: Writing Our Lives, a conversation with Heather Lanier. Heather is an essayist, memoirist, poet, professor and TED speaker whose talk, “Good and Bad Are Incomplete Stories We Tell Ourselves” has been viewed over three million times and translated into 18 languages. I had the good fortune of meeting Heather back in 2009 when we were roommates at...

Hi everybody! Welcome to this episode of I'm Here Too: Building the Foundation for a Well-Lived Life, a conversation with Cynthia Cuffie, MD . I'm really excited for this one. We're going to sit down with Cynthia and hear about her early academic experiences and how those paved the way for her career success as a physician, as a corporate executive and as an executive coach. We'll...

How do you find your voice? I spent a long time trying to make certain parts of myself smaller. More normal. More predictable. I figured it'd be an easier way to move through the world. It wasn't — but it took some smart, compassionate therapists, friends, and family to help me remember the exuberant kid I used to be. The one who was too busy living her life to apologize for who she was. This week...

I started this podcast because I was lonely. When I launched last August, I didn't have a marketing plan, a content strategy, or a clearly defined audience. I just knew that despite having more ways to connect with people than ever before, I was feeling increasingly disconnected. I was becoming more impatient than curious. I was pretty sure the world didn't need another podcast. But I also...

We thought adulthood was the destination. It turns out it's only a stop along the way. After seven conversations about friendship, ambition, identity, and reinvention in midlife, I reflect on what I learned from the season and what those conversations revealed about my own next chapter. I'll bring the honesty. You bring the mixtape.

What does it actually look like to navigate life over the course of two decades after college? In this Season Three bonus feature of “I’m Here Too,” I asked my guests one question: What would you tell your younger self if you were the commencement speaker? What they shared wasn’t generic inspiration. It’s real talk about shifting paths, handling social pressure, and why taking action (“do the doin...

In this episode, I talk with Leelila Strogov about ambition, stewardship, identity, and what responsibility looks like in midlife. Leelila is the Founder and CEO of AtomicMind, a global education consulting firm helping high-achieving students navigate some of the world’s most competitive institutions. But this conversation isn’t really about admissions. It’s about formation: how people learn who...

If you've ever chased a career path mostly because it was expected, and felt the gap between what you wanted and what you thought you were supposed to want, this one is for you. Rory Eakin spent a summer in a suit, in an office building, knowing it was wrong. He wanted to want it. He didn't. He said no to the job, went to Cape Town to teach math, and began a series of career deviations tha...