My Career Journey

Curious about how to network and make new connections? Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about what networking is, when to do it, who they connect with, their approaches to meeting and reaching out to new people, common mistakes and turnoffs, thought leadership, and more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Intro 1:05 - Did you know - Interesting facts we found while r...

Ever wondered what it’s like to be an actor in Hollywood? Guest Keisuke Hoashi has been in the business for over 30 years! He's done it all – commercials, films, TV shows, theatre, voiceovers, and much more. He’s also a writer and musician and co-founded a music camp where he was the musical theatre director and where he and My Career Journey co-host Emily Banzhaf met! In the episode, Keisuke shar...

Guest Nankya Senungi has been through multiple career shifts, layoffs, and other major changes, but her passion for helping people and positive outlook are two things that've stayed consistent throughout every transition. In the episode, Nankya talks about what it’s like to be a consultant and how she turned working with Salesforce into a career. She also talks about how faith influences her caree...

Learn how hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari approach personal branding. They talk about what it is, the biggest mistakes people make, how they define and how people know their personal brands, how they’ve navigated rebranding themselves in different points in their lives, and much more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Intro 1:51 - Did you know - Facts we found while res...

Check out our interview prep guide, now available on Substack ! In the guide, you'll find: Our simple 4-step approach to interview prep How to organize your interview prep information What to research before the interview Where to find the information Questions to prepare for Questions you can ask interviewers Prompts to help you write stories from your experience A storytelling framework Ways to...

Learn how hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari think about and approach mentorship. They cover what mentorship is, myths about mentorship, when to look for mentorship, what to look for in a mentor, how to find and reach out to mentors, signs a mentor may not be a good fit, what successful mentorship looks like, and much more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Intro 1:02 - Di...

Guest Marlinda Galapon has worked for some of the biggest companies in the world, including Yahoo, Salesforce, and Zendesk. However, the path to getting there wasn’t easy. She originally started in nursing and then realized that’s not what she wanted to do. So she dropped out and worked a mix of contract and odd jobs until she found a full-time job in tech as a conversation designer. It took her a...

Learn how hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari approach giving and receiving feedback. They discuss the importance and impact of feedback, how to ask the right questions to get the feedback you need, practical frameworks for delivering constructive feedback, managing reactions after receiving feedback, and much more. ------ Highlights include: 0:00 - Introduction 1:27 - Did you know - Facts w...

Guest Mellini Monique has done it all. Starting from age 12, she worked as a camp counselor and in car washes and pizza shops, and then went to marketing research, drama therapist at an inpatient psychiatric facility, medical missionary, and founder of multiple companies. We don’t cover this in the episode, but she’s even worked as a clown! Currently, Mellini is a pitch coach for South by Southwes...

In the last part of the intro series, hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their day-to-day lives in their new careers. Emily is a senior AI content and conversation designer and Allegra is a senior consultant in transformation, focused on workforce modernization. They give an overview of what they do, explain what a typical day looks like, share details about the skills they use,...

Service and helping people is at the core of everything guest Nick Co does. After serving as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, he transitioned into tech, working as a product manager and founding Veteran Timeline to help make the military transition into civilian life easier for others. He also served as Virginia State Leader for Veterans for All Voters, leading a team that successfu...

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk interview prep. They share what they research, how to tell their background stories, questions they always prepare for, what questions they like to ask, and much more. You can now check out our interview prep guide, available on Substack ! Find us at MyCareerJourneyPod. ------- Highlights from the episode include: 0:00 - Introducing the Deep Dive segm...

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their experiences switching careers and how they did it. They discuss the decision to do bootcamp programs, how they prepared for interviews, what their interview processes were like, how they approached salary ranges and negotiation, resumes, LinkedIn, and more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Intro 2:01 - Career research 4:...

From pianist and composer to tenured music theory professor to financial analyst at CU Boulder to higher education consulting, guest Teddy Niedermaier takes us through his different careers, why he decided to leave a tenured university teaching position and get an MBA at the age of 35, and how he navigated multiple career transitions. Teddy also shares insights on storytelling, interview do's and...

From viola performance to arts administration to working at a private equity investment firm to global AI strategy and marketing operations at Motorola, guest Claire Potter-Schneider talks about her varied career path and how she navigates career transitions. She also shares insights and perspectives on topics such as asking for help, promotions, translating your story and skills into value, netwo...

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their lives as musicians before making the decision to switch careers. They dive into how they chose their instruments, musical training, what they did as freelancers, pros and cons about the music industry, and how they knew it was time to make a change. ---------- To listen to Emily's music, check out: Emily's YouTube channel To listen to Alle...

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari introduce My Career Journey, a new podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Emily and Allegra share a little about themselves, why they’re starting this podcast, and what to expect. For more content, follow @MyCareerJourneyPod on YouTube and Instagram .