Chief Change Officer

Hybrid work was supposed to be the future—but it’s feeling more like a tug-of-war. Wayne Turmel, co-author of The Long-Distance Leader , has spent two decades studying how we lead across distance—and what falls apart when we don’t. In this episode, Wayne explains why most return-to-office plans are more negotiation than strategy, how unexamined proximity bias silently shapes promotions, and why hy...

The way we communicate is changing—but what does that mean for the humans doing the talking? Dr. Juliana Schroeder, associate professor at UC Berkeley Haas, has spent her career unpacking how we perceive other minds—both human and machine. In this episode, she breaks down how AI isn’t just reshaping tech—it’s reshaping the psychology of communication itself. From virtual assistants to algorithmic...

Confidence might be the most overused word in leadership—but Lucy Gernon is here to give it teeth. After two decades in the pharmaceutical world, Lucy faced a moment of reckoning when a family tragedy pushed her to stop waiting and start living on her own terms. Now, as a multi-award-winning executive coach and founder of the Executive Presence Blueprint, she helps high-achieving women get out of...

What happens when the dream job turns into a corporate casualty? Benedikt Oehmen spent nearly two decades at Blizzard—first as a support staffer, then a beloved team leader—only to watch the company’s gamer-first culture erode after its merger with Activision. When layoffs came, it wasn’t just a paycheck he lost. It was identity, community, and certainty. But Benedikt didn’t stay stuck. He pivoted...

Ian Myers isn’t here to give you startup hacks—he’s here to tell the truth. At just 26, he became a CEO. By 30, he’d built Oceans, a $10 million agency connecting skilled professionals in Sri Lanka with U.S. startups. But his story isn’t a straight line—it’s an open map. From literature to venture capital, Japan to New York, success and failure, Ian has treated life like a Tintin adventure: follow...

For the first time, the Chief Change Officer podcast returns to its birthplace—Hong Kong—to spotlight local artist and community builder May Yeung. From doodling on walls at age two to sculpting giant dim sum steamers for public exhibitions, May’s journey is anything but typical. She swapped Goldman Sachs for gallery spaces, battled cancer with faith (and clay), and now leads Art of My Family , a...

Vince Jeong isn’t your typical edtech founder—and this isn’t your typical training conversation. After immigrating to Canada at 12 and learning English from scratch, Vince chased uncertainty across five continents and a dozen careers—from McKinsey to NGOs in Tanzania to Latin American startups. That winding path led him to one insight: real learning happens when real people engage together, not al...

Sienna Jackson, the CEO of Nortera.io, walks us through her unexpected shift from entertainment executive to impact strategist. Rather than chasing a title, she followed a thread—registering an LLC, collecting ideas, and finally stepping into work that aligned with her values. Now, she’s helping professionalize the field of social impact by focusing on measurable outcomes, not slogans. From impact...

From film sets to SaaS, Sienna Jackson has lived through more than one reinvention. A two-time founder, former entertainment executive, and current tech CEO, she joins Chief Change Officer to break down what it means to build, to create, and to change—on your own terms.  In Part 1, she shares what it was really like working in the music and production trenches at the Weinstein Company, how she nav...

Brian Sims, the CEO of Agenda PAC, walks us through what it was really like inside the halls of power—getting his mic cut on the House floor, confronting closeted anti-LGBTQ colleagues, and learning the limits of both strategy and ego. Now in the private sector, he’s using data to fight back—not with louder voices, but with smarter ones. Key Highlights of Our Interview: When the Mic Goes Dead “I g...

From a military childhood to a college football captain, Brian Sims didn’t exactly grow up in activist circles. But a fiercely independent mother and a slow-burning coming-out story set the stage for something bigger.  In Part One, Brian, the CEO of Agenda PAC, opens up about finding his voice, leaving law for civil rights work, and eventually winning his first election—becoming the first out gay...

In this final installment, Gen X executive coach Jennifer Selby Long goes deep on the real decision behind office politics: should you stay or should you go?  Drawing from decades of experience guiding leaders through complex change, she lays out the subtle dynamics that determine whether a culture is salvageable—or just stuck. From the hidden toll of hybrid models to bosses who subtly push out hi...

In this third installment with Gen X executive coach Jennifer Selby Long, we zoom in on one of the messiest, most misunderstood realities of modern work: office politics.  Jennifer breaks down why politics often stem less from individual egos and more from structural dysfunction, emotional disconnection, and leadership blind spots—especially in hybrid teams. She explains how outdated views of lead...

Jennifer Selby Long is no stranger to messy transformations. With three decades of experience in executive coaching, digital change, and tech leadership, she helps seasoned professionals navigate the personal minefield that comes with professional change.  In this second installment, Jennifer dives deep into neuroscience-backed insights on why we sabotage ourselves—and how to stop. She breaks down...

Jennifer Selby Long has spent 30 years helping leaders navigate change—long before “change management” became a buzzword.  In this episode, the Gen X executive coach reflects on how she stumbled into her calling during the early days of IT transformation, and why emotional intelligence—not just operational efficiency—is what drives successful digital change. Drawing from her own career pivots and...

In Part 3, Waverly Deutsch steps into her latest role: founder of Wyseheart, a coaching firm designed to help the most overlooked founders build ventures that last. Focused on meaningful business, not unicorn exits, she brings her full career of coaching, teaching, and hard-won insight to early-stage leaders across age, gender, race, and identity.  For Gen Xers who aren’t ready to “retire,” this i...

In Part 2, Waverly Deutsch opens up about her decades at Chicago Booth, where she helped founders refine not just their business models but their ability to lead. She discusses how emotional connection strengthens logic, why confident delivery isn’t enough, and how AI is changing but not replacing human insight.  For Gen Xers mentoring across generations or rethinking their own leadership, this ep...

We meet Waverly Deutsch not as a Chicago Booth professor or coach for entrepreneurs, but as a real human navigating career decisions in a world that often asks us to pick between passion and practicality.  From falling in love with theater to entering computer science as one of only three women in a class of 30, Waverly’s story is one of blending head and heart across every career twist. She share...

Dominic Carter, CEO of the Carter Group, shares how a personal frustration with his aging parents’ care became a long-term mission: building real, user-driven aging tech in one of the world’s oldest—and most demanding—markets. From human-centric research to venture studio development, Dominic shows how Gen Xers can lead the future of aging by solving the problems we’re all going to face. This isn’...

Dominic Carter, the CEO of the Carter Group, didn’t become an aging tech founder by chasing trends—he got there by building slowly, listening deeply, and surviving the kind of early burnout that forces reinvention.  In Part 1, he shares how moving to Japan, launching businesses, and failing hard shaped the systems-thinking approach that now powers his work on aging innovation. This isn’t a startup...

This episode offers you $79 worth of value—completely free. Read till the end for the gift. In Part 2, Kevin introduces the core ideas behind his latest book, Flexible Leadership . He explains why leading isn’t about finding the perfect style—it’s about flexing based on the situation without abandoning your principles. We break down how intention, context, and flexors all work together, why rigid...

Kevin Eikenberry didn’t start in a leadership lab—he started on a farm where animals had to be fed no matter what else was happening. In Part 1, he shares how early lessons in discipline and systems thinking carried into his leadership work decades later. From his unexpected pivot from fertilizer sales to corporate training, to founding the Kevin Eikenberry Group, Kevin talks about the mistakes, p...

In Part 2 of his conversation, Tokyo-based American Gary Bremermann moves beyond his own story to share the frameworks and realities that shape career reinvention today. From his Seven Steps to Career Clarity to his candid views on Japan’s ageist hiring market, Gary offers a Gen X blueprint for change: slow, thoughtful, grounded in values, and fiercely human. For anyone tired of chasing titles and...

Tokyo-based American Gary Bremermann didn’t stumble into career clarity—he fought for it across countries, careers, and crises. From hitchhiking North America to building and burning out of his first company, Gary’s story is a blueprint for real Gen X reinvention: practical, nonlinear, and painfully honest.  In this first of a two-part series, he shares how early travel, entrepreneurial scars, and...

In the second half of his conversation, Collin Plume moves beyond financial products into financial legacy—sharing how Gen Xers can teach resilience, ownership, and critical thinking to the next generation. From diversifying income streams to protecting family futures with real assets, Collin reveals why wealth isn’t about a flashy portfolio—it’s about building something that lasts, even when syst...