9 to 5ish with theSkimm

Once Ayesha Curry’s family started expanding, so did her culinary career. Ayesha built her brand one blog post and YouTube video at a time. And now: she’s one of the most recognized personalities in the food world (think: multiple cookbooks, a magazine, and a foundation to end childhood hunger). This week, Ayesha sat down with us to tell us how she found her career calling after she became a paren...

Whether it’s getting that promotion or starting your own business, it can be intimidating to map out your career goals. But this week, Stacey Abrams told us to try one simple approach: write it down. The voting rights activist, politician, and author has a lot on her plate at any given time, from getting out the vote to writing romance novels. And she keeps her eye on the prize...literally keeping...

Kendra Scott built her jewelry brand (also called Kendra Scott) with a $500 dollar investment out of a spare bedroom in her house. And now, it’s a billion dollar business. That didn’t just happen overnight. In this special live (on Zoom) episode, Kendra told us how she’s been able to turn her biggest failures into her greatest successes. And how she turns a 'no' into a 'yes.' In this episode, Kend...

Welcome to our special Mother’s Day episode. Skimm’d from the Couch is a career podcast...and we can’t talk about work and career without talking about how that changes when you become a parent. This past year has also created new challenges for working moms, while exacerbating existing ones. Which, PS: often go unrecognized.  So we wanted to know: what can we do about it? To get some answers, we...

Cindy McCain’s life has been in the American political spotlight for four decades. Her late husband, Senator John McCain, was elected for six terms in the Senate. And he ran for president twice. Cindy was by his side for all of it. But before the White House races and the political spotlight, Cindy was a 20-something from Arizona who had to find her strength as a newbie in DC. And in 2018, she had...

At the age of 31, Aja Brown made history when she became the youngest mayor ever elected in the city of Compton. But when she was first running, people said, “Are you even old enough to be mayor?” Well, it turns out age really is just a number. Mayor Brown was one of the most qualified people to ever run and win that office. And now she’s basically the CEO...of a city. This week, we asked Mayor Br...

Bela Bajaria is the woman who makes the decisions about what’s going to be your next binge-watch. She’s the head of global TV for Netflix, and has helped bring some of our favorite shows, like “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Bridgerton” from the page to the screen. So how’d she actually get her dream job? Perseverance. Because she started as an assistant…and now she’s here. And btw, she also lost a job...

Diane von Furstenberg (aka DVF) knows the secret to a long and successful career. Hint: it’s reinvention. She’s been in the fashion business since the 1970s. But she’s changed her direction, and her brand, more than a few times. This week, DVF joined us to tell us how to embrace change (even when it’s hard) so you can be the designer...of your own life.  In this episode, DVF shares how she deals w...

Welcome to our Women’s History Month series on Skimm’d from the Couch - where we’re bringing you the women who made history this past year.  Meet: Dr. Laura Forese. Dr. Forese is the COO of New York Presbyterian, one of the largest not-for-profit hospital networks in the country. And one that’s been instrumental in caring for COVID-19 patients. Also under her leadership, the hospital rolled out a...

Welcome to our Women’s History Month series on Skimm’d from the Couch - where we’re bringing you the women who made history this past year.  Meet: Dara Treseder. She’s the head of global marketing for Peloton — a brand that’s made at-home fitness viral during the pandemic. Case in point: Its membership has more than doubled in the last year. But this isn’t Dara’s first ride. She’s also got GE, App...

Welcome to our Women’s History Month series on Skimm’d from the Couch - where we’re bringing you the women who made history this past year.  Meet: Dr. Kathrin Jansen. Dr. Jansen is the head of vaccine research at Pfizer. So she literally helped develop the COVID-19 vaccine that’s being distributed in the US and around the world. But why stop there? It turns out, she’s developed other breakthrough...

Welcome to our Women’s History Month series on Skimm’d from the Couch - where we’re bringing you the women who made history this past year.  Meet: Alicia Garza. She’s the Principal at Black Futures Lab and co-founder of the Black Lives Matter Global Network — the movement that sparked a global rallying cry last summer. Black Lives Matter has since been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, as the wor...

Welcome to our Women’s History Month series on Skimm’d from the Couch - where we’re bringing you the women who made history this past year.  Meet: Kristen Welker. She’s the Chief White House Correspondent for NBC News, and the co-anchor of Weekend TODAY. You probably recognize her from moderating that final presidential debate of 2020...which she calls the biggest moment in her professional career...

Jessica Lessin has broken some of the biggest stories on the tech companies we all know (think: Facebook, Google, and Apple). Now, after years of covering founders and entrepreneurs, she’s become one herself. She started The Information - a subscription-based digital media company covering technology and business. This week, she told us how her perspective has changed since going from employee to...

Emma Grede is one of the only guests we’ve had on this show who told us she loves negotiating. Early on, she realized that it was her strong suit. And she’s honed that skill throughout her career...especially while she built her own fashion brand alongside a Kardashian (hi, Khloe). Tune in to hear Emma give us a negotiating lesson...and her advice for how to enjoy the process more.  In this episod...

Priyanka Chopra Jonas is one of the most recognizable people in the world. She started her career as the winner of the Miss World pageant, and later took the global entertainment industry by storm. Along the way, she’s had to develop her confidence, resilience, and self worth. This week, Priyanka sat down with us to share her career journey - and how her relationship with herself has evolved.  In...

Do you ever feel like you don’t show your real personality at work? Our guests this week, Dr. Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, say unfortunately, that’s pretty common. They teach at Stanford’s business school. And through their research, they found it’s okay - and important - to show your coworkers that you’re human. Which includes having a sense of humor. This week, they sat down with us to sha...

Ever feel like you don’t have the "right" resume for the job you’re applying for? Rachel Hollis has. The motivational speaker and author didn’t receive a formal education. And didn’t have a network or connections when she was starting out. But the secret to her success? Pure hustle. This week, Rachel shared why showing an employer how hard you work will get you hired...fancy degree optional.   In...

Maria Sharapova spent years playing tennis five hours a day, seven days a week. The result? Five grand slam wins. And an Olympic medal. Her career is a lesson in grit and determination. And shows that hard work really does pay off. Now, she brings that same determination to her business career. This week, Maria shares the secret to staying motivated in any job…even if you aren’t a world class athl...

“The pivot is real.” That phrase has defined Tamron Hall’s professional and personal life: from walking away from her job at NBC News, to hustling to get her own talk show on air, to her IVF journey. This week, Tamron told us how she approaches life’s unexpected moments. And how she turns setbacks into success. In this episode, Tamron shares how she turned an early-career demotion into motivation...

Naomi Hirabayashi and Marah Lidey are the co-founders and co-CEOs of the self-care start-up, Shine. And while starting a business from scratch and working in self-care may sound like an oxymoron (hello, fundraising and 24/7 hustle), Marah and Naomi told us they’ve been able to find balance and take time for themselves. Their secret? Finding strength in their partnership.  In this episode, Marah an...

Kara Swisher has been called the most feared and well-liked journalist in Silicon Valley. She’s been covering tech industry leaders for decades...and is famous for making them sweat. Just ask Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, or Elon Musk. Her secret to building those relationships with entrepreneurs? She’s not afraid to pick up the phone (or slide into a DM) when she has a question.  In this episode,...

If you’re looking for a promotion at work... Elaine Welteroth has some tips. She’s got a lot of “firsts” on her resume - from being the first Black beauty director at Condé Nast to being the youngest editor-in-chief in the publisher's history. This week, Elaine told us she hit those milestones by being intentional about everything she did. From the emails she sent to who she sought out as mentors....

Even Cindy Crawford isn’t confident 100 percent of the time. But you’d never know it. Because she told us that she’s a big fan of faking it till you make it - even on the bad days. She learned that strategy early in her career… and it paid off, as she became one of the most famous supermodels in the world.  In this episode, Cindy shares how she learned to advocate for herself (9:10), what she’s le...

Linda Johnson Rice is the CEO of Johnson Publishing Company, the former publisher of Ebony and Jet magazines. This week, Linda told us that she didn’t make it to the top by going it alone. The secret to her success? Listening to her team. Because even CEOs need to ask for advice.  In this episode, Linda shares what she learned about management from her parents, who founded Johnson Publishing (7:12...