SPARKED

What if this was the year you actually did the thing that you have dreamed of doing, the thing that’s been in the back of your mind for months or years, maybe even decades? The thing that when you think about it, your whole body responds – exhilarated in part, energized. You can feel it in your heart. And if you’re being honest, maybe along with that tingling of excitement, there’s even a touch of...

You’ve spent years becoming really good at what you do. Expert level. And, you’ve reached the end of your ability to serve clients on an individual basis. It’s time to scale. But, how do you scale a business and find ways to duplicate yourself when offering highly-skilled, one to one services? Especially, without degrading the quality of the service you envision? Is that even possible? If so, what...

So many of us look at the world we live in, and wonder how we might make a bigger impact. After a decade in academic setting, with a focus on career advising and HR, today’s guest, Claire, is now a parent to two children at the beginning of their teen years, and a new leader in elected government. And, she’s proud of how she accomplished this, even in light of her Anti Performer impulse.  Jon...

How do we find the time to make our own art? How do you blend your own creative or expressive practice with running a business? Today’s listener Claudia presents this question. She has been running a successful Paint Your Pottery Studio with her sister, which impressively survived the pandemic, and is now seeing revenues go back up as people yearn to make and gather. Jonathan & Cynthia offer:...

External influences like social conditioning and past experiences can affect how we identify our true motivations and passions, as demonstrated by Sarah's experience with the Sparketypes Assessment, where taking it a second time after personal growth led to results that felt more authentic. In today’s episode we’re in conversation with: SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Jadah Sellner | Website Jadah is...

How do you satisfy an impulse to build a living around multiple passions and be in constant learning and growth mode, in a work world that keeps pushing you to pick a single passion or skill-set, become an expert and just keep doing that one thing for life?  Jonathan & Jenny offer: Closing the communication gap with multiple resumes / portfolios Pitching your varied skillset as an asset a...

Today’s listener Paulina asks, as an Essentialist who thrives and is energized by chaos, problem solving and ‘putting out fires’, when you run your own consultancy and need to wear all the hats, but things settle into a fairly dialed-in mode where that Essentialist impulse isn’t so organically activate any more, how do you keep feeling Sparked? And it is more about finding satisfaction and joy in...

How do you balance the desire to try something new whilst also wanting to feel like an expert in your field? And how do you know when you are expert ‘enough’ to guide others on a subject? Jonathan & Cynthia offer: How to gain confidence when our skills are invisible to us How to see our own expertise & talent How to have patience while learning new subject matter How to reframe teachi...

Loss and grief. They’re experiences none of us will escape. But some losses are so deep, they shatter your model of the world and lead to a re-examination of how you want to spend your time on the planet. In work, in relationships, in life.  That’s the theme of today’s conversation on the SPARKED Podcast where, following the loss of a child, listener, Scott, finds himself at a sudden crossroa...

Last week on SPARKED we heard from DJ Didonna about the potential life changing experience of taking a sabbatical. And after much pondering and planning, Jonathan did just that, a month stepped away from two companies and almost all work responsibilities to pursue a creative project or two. So this week on SPARKED, Jonathan shares his reflections on the experience . He shares: How he prepared to t...

What if you could take anywhere from a month to a year off work to clear your mind, pursue a creative vision, travel or just create the space to reclaim your energy, focus and inspiration? Safe bet, most people would jump on that opportunity. But then comes the reality check. Sure, it’d be amazing, but I could never make it happen. But, what if you could? What if taking a sabbatical is actually mo...

Jonathan & Charlie discuss: Work ways vs team habits How the pandemic, #MeToo and Black Lives Matter came together to show us that the social order is not working - the system is broken, so what are we going to do about it? The difference between understanding something in theory vs in practice How do you express the language of belonging and inclusion in remote teams vs co-located teams And a...

So many people have said yes to the quest to blaze their own paths in business over these last few years, whether founding a company, a private practice or any other endeavor. When building a business from scratch, it can feel like we need to wear all the hats. All the time. So how do we do that when not everything is a natural talent or drive or impulse? Often, we yearn to do just parts we’re goo...

What do you do when the job you’ve had for years and the organization you work for change in ways that no longer feel compatible with you doing your best work, showing up as your best self and truly coming alive? Today’s listener, Gretchen, shares how major changes to her job as a college professor, after decades in the classroom, and also awakening to the call to let a different part of her take...

Jonathan & Cynthia talk about: What is the purpose of inspiration Who are your creative ancestors The dance between consuming vs being inspired by vs deconstructing & learning Tapping into how a creative work makes you feel and how to infuse your creativity The humbling nature of writing and many drafts needed How to listen out for your inner bullsh*t detector We’re super-excited to be int...

Jonathan & Charlie discuss: 1. Stop conflating stability and freedom 2. How career gaps can be perceived 3. How to find freedom when some industries are slow moving 4. How many times can you start over? In today’s episode we’re in conversation with: SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Charlie Gilkey | Website Charlie is a strategic advisor and executive coach, founder of the Productive Flourishing con...

Jonathan & Cynthia discuss: When considering options believing there are ‘no false steps’ Does your age affect your willingness to run ‘career experiments’? What actually is a portfolio career? Studying a process versus a specific domain or industry Getting really clear about what you want your days to look like Ever hear the phrase portfolio career? It’s become shorthand for blending differen...

Jonathan & Cyndie discuss: Creating a tool for folks to feel seen and understood If we can know ourselves and find work that makes us come alive, imagine what that could do on a societal and global level for problem solving, innovation, productivity and wellbeing levels What it means to be ‘pathologically steeped in possibility’ Making things that move people And JF reveals the one thing he st...

Jonathan & Karen discuss: Unpacking assumptions about yourself Alternative ways of sharing & teaching Identifying your advantages Busting the ‘6 Figure’ coaching myth Building the business you actually want to build In today’s episode we’re in conversation with: SPARKED BRAINTRUST ADVISOR: Karen Wright | Website Karen is the founder of Parachute Executive Coaching, acclaimed executive coac...

Jonathan & Jenny talk about: How you don't have to have your pivot planned out Using experiments to collect data Following the full body yes What is a project based purpose? How do we look at uncertainty differently? Are you a builder, maintainer or an optimizer?   We’re super-excited to be introducing some fresh new formats to the mix here on the SPARKED podcast. Our new Hot Takes segmen...

Jonathan & Azuraye chat about: The call to come home to the family business Recovering from a natural disaster that almost took everything Using the Sparketypes as a hiring tool Leading with folks’ Sparketypes as a way to remove organizational friction And why we need trust & safety in workplaces We’re super-excited to be introducing some fresh new formats to the mix here on the SPARKED po...

“We need people to lean on when things don't go as planned because we're gonna spiral down to the bottom. But then we're going to recover, when we have the processing and sharing in the disappointment, the sadness, the frustration. Naming that when it does happen and it doesn't work out and allowing that part of you to be seen from a safe person is really helpful for you to then get back and try s...

Introducing SPARKED Stories, a new podcast format spotlighting individuals' journeys to build lives that honor their true passions, starting with Charlie Gilkey, a former military leader turned productivity expert who runs Productive Flourishing and authored "Start Finishing."    SPARKED STORY GUEST: Charlie Gilkey | Website Charlie is a strategic advisor and executive coach, founder of...

“What we're seeing is that organizations are trending towards putting what I'll call programmatic things in place. Whereas employees are craving relational support.” I am so excited to introduce a new episode format that we’ll be mixing in, alongside our listener question episodes, that we call SPARKED Hot Takes. These SPARKED hot take episodes focus in on a big issue in the world of work, somethi...

Listener Marie asks, "When looking for niche job roles that match your criteria, how do you have patience in the process?" Every week on the SPARKED podcast, we invite a listener to share what’s going on in their work & life, then pose a specific question to Jonathan Fields and a rotating lineup of wise and kind mentors - the SPARKED Braintrust.  In today’s episode we’re in conversat...