99 Humans

Happy 50th episode! On this special edition, Nadia and Jeff reflect on their 99 Humans journey: what we've learned from the incredible guests and from the journey of creating the show. How does a coaching background help and hurt being a podcast host? How do you create a podcast with no prior experience? How do you get the podcast out into the world, and what does it feel like to have mixed s...

Leadership isn't life and death, right? Pierre Monice is President of MacNeal Hospital, and shares how important it is to listen to experts, in this case medical professionals working in the hospital, when making decisions. He sees his core role as a relationship builder, where everyone is a stakeholder. In the operations realm, Pierre has seen major capital improvement projects, managed cost...

Being on a non-profit board is often thought of as a late-stage move, once you've mastered your career, arranged your life, and can finally give back. But what if it could be used to accelerate your career and life? Ann Piccirillo is an accomplished and data-driven People Operations and Strategy Leader, acting as Senior VP  of People Strategy & Operations at JDA.  Sharing a personal story...

Career Abundance. Money Abundance. Financial Freedom. Adam Coelho manifested his dream job at Google as a Senior Data Transformation Lead, but this is only the tip of the iceberg as he also hosts the Mindful FIRE Podcast, a podcast all about achieving Financial Freedom. Adam shares how his journey towards financial freedom intersects with career highs and lows. Hear how Adam applies the tools of m...

"Work culture" is critical, but how do you change it? Giulia Redavid has 15 years of experience leading companies across different roles in innovative Supply Chains.  At Luxottica she reorganized an entire office and supply chain from California to Milan. The most challenging part? Navigating the change in culture. From moving, changing roles, reorganizing teams, having a baby, and more...

The moment you become a leader people stop giving you feedback. Joris Merks-Benjaminsen knows, because he was a Google leader in EMEA for almost thirteen years before he wrote "Managing without power" and leaving to help managers become leaders. The difference is knowing how to harness strengths, not just force results. How do you overcome the echo chamber that only gets worse the more s...

Have you ever heard a real couple share how they navigate two successful careers while juggling parenthood, their relationship, and all the trimmings of a messy, beautiful partnership? Brittan Bright and Michael King are both successful. Entrepreneur. Intrapreneur. Author. Founder. All these words bedazzle their individual resumes. But how does that intersect with parenting? With being their for y...

Sure, failing is learning, but what if it was also a measure of success. Ben Jankowski is starting his own practice after succeeding in countless global leadership roles at Mastercard, Omnicom, MPG, and more. Ben opens up about what sparked the move to do his own thing, what he anticipated, and what surprised him. Be helpful. Don't give it away for free. Don't hold on too long. Leverage...

A leader is wronged; how do you navigate with strength and grace? S Renee Smith is a trailblazing leader, most recently overseeing Amazon’s Leadership and Executive development programs, while championing the Coach approach and literally writing the book on Self-Esteem (Self Esteem for Dummies!). Along the way she learned to manage her both herself and those around her to show up as a leader no ma...

How do you align the expectations of success between Founders before there's any success? Paolo Privitera has founded six companies, raising over $300M across startups and funds, engaging with a wide range of employees, partners, buyers, customers, and more.  Paolo shares tips for navigating those early moments between passionate cofounders -- the beautifully messy and human reality of all ne...

Grit rewires your thinking to know that things will always get better. Madona Wambua leveraged her expertise as a Google Developer Expert to founding, and now serve as CTO of, Jibu Labs product development. Madona is a trailblazer in a male dominated field, and shares how her first dream of aeronautics evolved into a curiosity for technology that became a successful career. Hear how Madona overcom...

Listening. David Tutera wishes we did it more, and says its helped him snag and delight clients like Elton John, Vanessa Williams, Shania Twain, The White House, Lil'Kim and Barbara Walters. David Tutera is a globally-lauded wedding & entertaining expert, a television personality, fashion designer, entrepreneur, author, husband, father, and so much more.  Hailed as an artistic visionary h...

You won't find a perfect job, but you can find a better one. Alan Stein shares his journey of leadership across some of the biggest companies in the world (Google, Facebook, AmEx, and more) in a no holds bar discussion about the ups and downs of corporate life. Alan keeps it real (even sharing his paystub publicly!), as a means to shock people into the driver seat of their own careers. Hear t...

We are told, be quiet, don't cause any issues, never lift your hand in meetings, just do the work, and the work will speak for itself. That's a lie. Eugina Jordan is an executive who has built her career from a secretary to chief marketing officer in telecom, where women represent only 12 percent of the C-suite. Eugina shares how she learned to navigate a culture not designed for her suc...

"My door is always open." It's what leaders say. But what happens when someone walks through to share feedback? Marco De Carli, Ceo & Co-Founder of DINN!, shares how leading from his core values creates helpful predictability for the team. "Failure doesn't exist; Learn from success; Feedback is a gift." These are a few examples of Marco's values as a leader,...

What helps women thrive at a company like Google? Elise Birkhofer is the global head of women's community programs at Google, helping women thrive at the company. With a community and responsibility that spans more than 36,000 women, Elise shares the ups and downs of conquering personal hardships and big company dynamics to do amazing work. Hear how passion sparked by a shattering personal ex...

How does your identity impact your leadership? What if it was something you were proud of but unsure how others would react if they knew? Jewel Love, founder of Black Executive Men, is on a mission to help black men make 7-figures. Jewel shares how proud he is to lead a mission-driven organization, but also how hard it was for him to reveal his mixed race identity along the way. Can the founder of...

Leaders get kicked in the teeth. It comes with the territory. What makes the difference is what happens the next morning. JiYoung Kim, President at GroupM Nexus, found passion and success in hard work and good ideas. As an immigrant, these were her secret weapons, and she shares how that competitive nature drove her to find opportunities where they would shine. Those opportunities, that growth - i...

Even if you doubt where you fit into the picture, as a leader, you have a very significant role to play. Lean into the doubt, because your vulnerability is an opportunity to reach more people. Dave Haskins, an Astrologer and Coach, shares his journey discovering the importance of human leadership across his career at Siemens, Coca-Cola, and launching his own business helping leaders tune into Univ...

Perfection is a secret weapon for execution, and a saboteur for leadership. Cathy Lanzalaco, owner of Inspire Careers, has evolved from Nursing to HR to Career Coaching. Along that journey she has been intentionally designing her own inspiring career and does the same for her client today. A key ingredient: avoiding perfection and prioritizing persistence. Filled with speed bumps and constant opti...

Is stress really the enemy? What if instead of seeking to reduce it, we trained to handle it? Dr. Amir Rashidian shares how his story of building a successful chiropractic practice is the same as building his capacity for stress. From moving the practice in twenty-four hours to keeping up with patient volume without the necessary staff, Dr. Rashidian explores the relationship between capacity for...

Community cannot be understated. It's the space that supports the choice to do hard things rather than quit. Nyamekye Wilson, founder and CEO of Black Sisters in STEM, shares the revolution she is building the largest database of black women tech talent now touching 30+ country and 9,000+ women. And yet with all this success, Nyamekye shares her journey that felt lonely until she found her co...

Leaders are unsure of the answers, but they make decisions anyway. Paolo Pironi, Advertising Executive turned Coach/Consultant, shares times when he was uncertain about the right path forward. He sees clarity as a decision, rather than a destination. And to him, the difference comes from a leader's ability to convey both clarity and honesty. Being uncertain doesn't make you weaker, it ma...

Nobody is going to hand you anything; you have to be driving in every aspect of your life. Find mentors, learn from people who've done things you want to do, but you drive your destiny. While Wall Street may not have a reputation for kind, gentleness it's a hell of a place to learn from and meet talented people. Rashelle Salimi shares her journey of competing and succeeding, often the on...

What is the secret to success for a founder who's gone from 1 to 1300+ employees? Founding a company is hard; so hard that the small percentage of success stories usually involve new leadership taking over. Jama is a rare breed: he's grown his company to 13 countries, with 20 offices and 1300+ people. How does he do it? He says it's about the people. Jama credits human leadership --...