Pivot with Jenny Blake

Joy and frustration can be equally motivating. Sometimes joy pulls our focus like a magnet to where it needs to be. On the other hand, sometimes being grumpy and frustrated is a sign we need to pivot in another direction. They both help us understand what roles or activities, or ideas we need to say no to to make sure we have enough space for what we want to say yes to.  Today, I’m joined by recur...

Is change whispering to you? For Khe Hy, a former investment banker on the fast track of keeping up with the corporate Joneses, the discomfort from following the status quo first started feeling like a pebble in his shoe. “Psst! There’s more out there for you,” it whispered.  In this conversation, we talk about his decision to leave Black Rock, how he follows his instincts when building his new co...

As the saying goes, “Worrying is praying for what you don’t want.” A close cousin is future-tripping: projecting and living in the future instead of being present with what is actually happening, keeping an open mind about whatever might happen next.  If you are inclined to catastrophize, you’re not alone! But getting caught in a fictional movie can mean missing out on important opportunities, ide...

It’s time to leave guilt spirals, perfectionism, and hedging behind. Today’s guest, Lia Garvin, is sharing her favorite tools for reframing frustrating situations through powerful questions and helpful feedback. More About Lia: Lia Garvin is the bestselling author of UNSTUCK: Reframe Your Thinking to Free Yourself From the Patterns and People that Hold You Back, leaning into nearly ten years of ex...

I’m complete. Have you ever landed on that sense of satisfaction, perhaps after a peak experience when you’ve given everything you could? Often what quickly follows: Now, what’s next?  My guest this week — the very first partner coach I brought on to help in my business — pivoted out of academia after an accomplished trajectory into running her own coaching practice. Several years ago, she was fea...

“The Sensitive Leader is a wayfinder, not a truth teller” with all the answers. Learn how serendipity helped today’s guest, Ciela Hartanov, successfully pitch an internal project to co-found and lead The Google School for Leaders; why sense-making is an essential skill when pivoting; and how to “right-size” a proposal until you get a yes.  We also discuss what it means to develop “identity agency,...

“No [person] ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river, and they are not the same [person].” —Heraclitus, a Greek philosopher from ~500 BC I share this quote in nearly every Pivot keynote because it speaks to the reality of uncertainty in every aspect of our lives, even when we’re not intentionally pursuing bigger career changes. Every day we are different, as are the compani...

Leaving the cool shade of a corporate tree with a great salary and benefits to start a business is never easy. But making the call mere months before a global pandemic hits seems on the surface to be ill-timed—to say the least. Or perhaps cosmic.  Don’t feel bad for Tony McGaharan, who is a pro at finding the silver lining in any situation. Suddenly the market for his budding business went from Be...

Is it too late to wish you a Happy New Year? Larry David, one of my favorite curmudgeons, would say yes — I have surpassed the HNY statute of limitations. While the “new year, new you” energy is still fresh, I invite you to conduct a calendar audit: What are your shiny shoulds? The coulds? The so goods? Today I’m sharing a crossover from the Free Time podcast and book about one of the most popular...

The opening epigraph to Luke Burgis’ brilliant book gave me such a chuckle that I can’t resist sharing it here: “We want what other people want because other people want it, and it’s penciled-in eyebrows all the way down, down to the depths of the nth circle of hell where we all die immediately of a Brazilian butt lift, over and over again.” —Dayna Tortorici via n+1 (as quoted in Wanting) In today...

“Even when you think something is set in stone—literal, actual stone—it changes.” Take it from actor-turned-entrepreneur and rock-climbing aficionado Ryan Devlin: successful pivots involve constant micro-adjustments. Even when you feel most stuck, you can find a new way forward, but you’ll need to double down on your unique skills and abilities. I had so much fun chatting with Ryan about starting...

Happy new year, my friends!! Transitioning from holiday time off to the frenetic energy of returning to work and regular life can be rough — so today, recurring guest (and my first career coach) Adrian Klaphaak joins me back on the pod to jam about calmer ways of reentering a new year, and recentering to decide what kind of planning and tracking is the most joyful for you.  More about Adrian: Adri...

🎉 Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business celebrates its one year bookiversary on 3/22/23!  In this episode I'm walking you through the Free Time Framework—Align, Design, Assign—so you have a technique to move from friction to flow in any project or area of your life and work in 2022. Resources Mentioned: Books: Free Time, Pivot, Who Not How Podcasts: Free Time #052: Perceived Capacity v...

This episode originally aired on April 4, 2021. Casper ter Kuile is helping to build a world of joyful belonging. He is the author of The Power of Ritual and the co-host of the award-winning podcast Harry Potter and the Sacred Text. Casper is a Ministry Innovation Fellow at Harvard Divinity School and the co-founder of startup Sacred Design Lab - a research and design consultancy working to create...

“I don’t want fans, I want friends.” This is one of many approaches to relationship-building that I admire in this week’s guest, super-connector Jon Levy. I learned that when Jon texts with “free for dinner tonight?” you cancel all plans and say YES. Both times I did, I ended up at one of his influencer dinners with famous actors, public figures, pro athletes, and C-suite executives.  Jon’s secret...

Does your calendar reflect your values and priorities? Do you pause before responding to requests, or are you saying yes to things out of fear, pressure, or obligation? I’m delighted to be in conversation with my dear friend Sarah Young this week on creating clear containers, clean vs. dirty energy, navigating “spiritual tornados of leadership,” handling inevitable criticism, and moving past peopl...

"For generations, we’ve been taught there are two ways to succeed—either from talent or practice." My guest today, Ron Friedman, shares a powerful third path: reverse engineering. In this conversation you will learn how to unpack others' success to spark breakthrough ideas of your own, with an original twist. This episode originally aired on November 28, 2021. More About Ron: Ron Friedman is an aw...

“When life takes you down, it changes you. You’re not the same after,” says Dr. Susan Biali in her new book, The Resilient Life. “When I look back on my career, my most cherished accomplishments all came with significant stress.” And yet, sometimes, that work-related stress can tip into burnout if we’re not careful—something particularly prominent these last few years. Susan is one of my longest-t...

What happens when you write a book called The Revenge of Analog, only to find a pandemic relentlessly converting everything to virtual a few years later? David Sax answered the call with a follow-up book, the only one he could write from the confines of home, describing the malaise of digital pushed to its extremes, again making the case for RR: Real Reality (and you know we couldn’t resist a few...

Since launching this show in September 2015, the podcasting landscape has grown and changed tremendously. What was once a niche sandbox of independent producers pursuing passion projects has blossomed into an abundant field where it seems as though every major media property, celebrity, side hustler, and business owner decided to throw their hat (mic?) into the audio arena. Since I’m not nearly am...

When times are uncertain should we be playing it safe? We all have a different relationship to risk—and recession-talk tends to turn the dial up on anxiety about what the future has in store. Today, I’m back in conversation with Adrian Klaphaak, talking about how to be pragmatic, taking the economic environment into account, while also keeping a flame lit for pursuing our bigger dreams. More about...

Have you ever gotten a sudden sense of certainty that you need to pursue something — maybe something totally different than your career or typical areas of interest?  I had the pleasure of podcasting in-person with today’s guests, Alisa Cohn and Dorie Clark, to learn more about how their interest sparked to co-found a Broadway theater investing company together. Building upon their successful care...

What’s your favorite kind of failure? The question isn’t if you’ll fail or get rejected, but when. So don’t let it stop you from taking action or making decisions. Today I’m sharing more on a favorite practice that I’ve heard others espouse: creating a failure resume.   🌟3 Key Takeaways: Being afraid is fine. Ask, “Is it enough to stop you?” If the answer is yes, what can you do to sidestep that...

We have had so many shakeups in the last couple of years that I’d be surprised if most of us haven’t considered pivots large, small, and totally surprising. Inspired by a thread in our BFF Community, I’ve put together a list of do’s and three don’ts for leaving a corporate job. How you leave any relationship is as important to how you begin, especially if there are personal or professional connect...

Twenty years ago, my dear friend and today’s guest, Inna Aizenshtein, moved to New York City to pursue a career in fashion. She succeeded despite dealing with a succession of demanding, stress-inducing bosses and eventually realized she was no longer willing to suffer the health consequences of doing work that was no longer aligned. Today we’re talking about the many small shifts that led to a mor...