Fearless Careerist with Catherine Robert

Dr. Wendell J Brown, author of The Great Realignment , joins Fearless Careerist this week to share his career path as an educator and leader. Hailing from a family of teachers, he began teaching and coaching, moving up through the ranks into larger school districts and roles. As an administrator, Dr. Brown witnessed the power of the AVID program in supporting student success beyond high school. On...

Dr. Shazia Miller, Executive Coach, joins Fearless Careerist this week to share her career path within educational research. After decades of success leading teams, then divisions within research centers such as NORC and AIR, Shazia faced a sudden layoff in 2025. With the educational research field in disarray, she instead pursued a long held interest in executive coaching. After a career of impro...

Our first guest of Season 2 moved from nursing, to law, to co-founding a groundbreaking non-profit organization. Tatyana Norman Webler joins to share her unique path that included working as a ICU nurse during the pandemic, how she felt about “Big Law,” and how she stepped out to focus on the bigger picture.  For Tatyana’s Lucid Commons substack, see: https://substack.com/@tatyananormanwebler For...

It’s the Season 1 Finale with this special Q&A episode. Kristen Hermanson, strategic communications and project management leader, returns to discuss the top questions submitted by listeners. Listen in as Catherine and Kristen review the juicy bits that were left out, look for the biggest pivots made by guests, and reveal Catherine’s favorite Fearless Careerist she’d like to have on the show....

What did we learn from the 20 career professionals that joined us in Season 1? Paul Osterhout, former Disney Imagineer and current public speaker, mentor, and pitch coach, returns to recap the end of Season 1. Listen in as Catherine and Paul review the advice that guests have provided for new career professionals, share their thoughts on networking, and how to know when you’ve “made it” in your ca...

Catherine Robert, host of Fearless Careerist, presents the Career Skills Bingo Card, and chats with returning guest, Dr. Eilene Edejer about the new way to think about our career progression rather than thinking of the career in stages. The card groups skill progression with the first things you need to know in a new job, skills needed for improving your performance in a job, skills for taking you...

Audrey Omenson, MA, LPC-S, licensed counselor and thought leader in the mental health field, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. While directing clinical operations in a high growth mental health center, Audrey developed her expertise in clinical operations, policy compliance, and building functional workflows for clinicians for productive and supportive practices. Her dedication to improving clini...

Dr. Helia Taheri, Research and Insights Lead at Arcadis, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. While practicing sustainable architecture in her early career, Helia noticed that human behavior disrupted energy use projections. Her curiosity about humans and their interactions with their built environment led to her doctoral degree and a shift to human centric architecture research. Listen to hear how...

Andrew Baines, Technology Transfer Associate at Rice University, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. While building experience in mechanical engineering research, Andrew realized that STEM students in minority groups needed examples of STEM careers. With partner Eliseo Iglesias, Andrew created the cuSTEM Journeys podcast showing examples of successful minority STEM professionals and actionable step...

Brian Kopf, Director of Cloud Client Operations for AHEAD, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Brian realized he had a passion for solving complex challenges in technology operations after a few years in sales. His skills and leadership in the industry grew along with the development of new technologies. After 26 years at the same company, Brian left the comfort of the familiar and faced a job sear...

David Loy of Leverage Brands, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. David first pursued a career in radio, but quickly realized that he did not enjoy radio ad sales. Inspired by the book, The Traveler’s Gift , by Andy Andrews, David left radio to pursue work that was meaningful and which he could build a career on. After several years placing speakers for The Premiere Speakers Bureau, David went on t...

Kurt Mosley and Neill Marshall of HealthSearch Partners, are this week’s Fearless Careerists. Neill started as an executive trainee selling plumbing supplies before moving into placing healthcare professionals into jobs. Neill went on to place health care executives and co-founded HealthSearch Partners. Kurt played baseball out of college before working in leadership roles for the GAP as a distric...

Arlene Matthews, stylist and host of Yeah Older, Yeah Cooler, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Arlene chose a career in fashion, starting as a buyer for Nordstrom moved into wholesale, retail, e-commerce, to commercial styling and influencing. She shares fashion styling tips, travel, and Chicago lifestyle content on her YouTube channel and website. For more information, see Arlene’s website at: ...

Paul Osterhout, former Disney Imagineer and current public speaker, mentor, and pitch coach, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Paul began his creative career with a passion for magic and a skill for sculpting. He moved from model making into production design and eventually held Vice President roles responsible for parks with Disney, Universal Parks, Contour Entertainment, and Century Media. He n...

Dr. Jeanne Gerlach, founding Dean of the College of Education at the University of Texas at Arlington, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Jeanne spent her career researching and promoting both English education and Women’s Studies with the goal of both shining a light on the past contributions of early women leaders and to open pathways for future women leaders. She continues to serve women’s lead...

Catherine Robert, host of Fearless Careerist, discusses research that explains the multiple models of career paths and why these models don’t fit our understanding of the modern career. See the resources below for more information about the research highlighted in the episode: Feiler, B. (2021). Life is in the transitions: Mastering change at any age . Penguin. Selingo, J. J. (2016). There is life...

Megan Livatino, co-founder of the Girls Play Sports and real estate agent in Chicago is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Megan worked in human resources and recruiting before finding a long-term match with a part-time role in Human Resource Information Systems that fit her family’s schedule. After years of working odd hours, raising a family, and co-founding an award-winning non-profit, Megan pursu...

Susan Gold, founder of the Global Game Jam and host of the GGJ Podcast , is this week’s Fearless Careerist. A passionate advocate for democratizing gaming software for student use, Susan pioneered one of the first gaming technology education programs. In this episode, learn how she worked as a travel agent and in a museum before finding her true passion as an educator and curriculum developer who...

Show Notes: Dr. Charity Gibson, author of The Working Homemaker , is this week’s Fearless Careerist. An English professor balancing family and work demands, Charity is fighting back against the definition of a homemaker as someone who does not work outside the home. In this episode, learn how she defines the term homemaker and her vision for working Christian mothers on not how they can have it al...

Show Notes: Joel Schwartzberg, author of Get to the Point and The Language of Leadership , is this week’s Fearless Careerist. A champion collegiate public speaker and public relations executive, Joel provides workplace communications coaching. In this episode, learn how he worked in PR and speechwriting roles that built a deep experience in workplace communications and eventually successfully comb...

In the first in our Foundations series, Catherine Robert discusses research that explains how and why we make our early career decisions. See the resources below for more information about the following topics: Career Identity - See Sharon Belden Castonguay’s TedX talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e6KSaCxcHs Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT) and Self-Efficacy - See Amanda DeDiego’s summar...

Dario Hernandez, retired Marine and Purple Heart recipient, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Dario retired from the U.S. Marine Corps and used his leadership training and communication skills to build success as a mortgage loan officer. This fall, Dario founded his own mortgage brokerage company that specializes in VA loans. For more information, email Dario from his website at veteransmortgagel...

Dr. Elizabeth A. Dale, President and Founder of Chilmark Nexus Advisers, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Elizabeth advises leaders in turning innovations into reality through her executive coaching, building advancement teams within startups, and providing strategic guidance for allocating funding. For example, she has worked with CraniUS Therapeutics, a company bypassing the blood-brain barrie...

Dr. Kelly Cagle, host of the Parenting IQ Podcast, is this week’s Fearless Careerist. Kelly helps parents create workable strategies for raising children with ADHD. Her inspirational and practical advice stems from her research in schools, her career as an educator, and from her own experiences raising three children with her husband, Josh. In this episode, learn how her experience as a student ne...

In this episode, Catherine provides an end-of-year recap on the podcast, talks about her progress on her forthcoming book, and discusses exciting developments for 2026. Visit Catherine’s website to sign up for our newsletter and receive podcast updates. Do you know a Fearless Careerist that we should interview? Complete the nomination form here . Contact us at: fearlesscareerist@gmail.com