Sixth & Daniel

Jimena was kind enough pause her studies during finals week to chat. She is the sitting President of our Psychology Leaders group in the final year of her undergraduate degree. We reviewed a productive and fun year of activities, presentations, workshops, and stress relievers...while also taking time to anticipate the upcoming summer break!

AI is THE hot topic in all walks of life these days. So, I found an alum who "empowers people to confidently champion AI technology." Erica is a self starting entrepreneur who founded "Nerdette Ventures," a beacon of light for women who are underrepresented in tech. Now she has 3 apps in development, strong opinions on chocolate chips, and nothing but love for Illini hoops. Kee...

This season, the plan is to expand the content of the podcast and feature more students, organizations, faculty, and staff. I figured the perfect start would be to focus on UIUC's Undergraduate Psychology Journal, "Psych Bites." We spoke with Jess Chen and Hannah Lamb about the creation, evolution, and focus of this exciting new project. Listen to how you can consume and/or get invol...

Sitting down with Brittany reminded me that a job doesn't have to be work. She is an accomplished keynote speaker, panelist, and frequent podcast guest. She could've steered the ship on her own. I loved hearing about how she sculpted her path out of the gate. Collaborating with our amazing advising staff, Brittany knew exactly what she wanted to do and checked all the boxes to get them don...

"Sometimes you gotta learn to roll..." I had an enjoyable time talking with Eli, and when we finished on that quote, it really summed everything up perfectly. Eli is one of those guys that rolls with it. He has accomplished so much in his career while balancing a lot on his plate, but the way he describes it all in such an easygoing manner, it almost seems effortless—and we all know it w...

Katie Glaser is a Senior Innovation Manager with a well-established career in brand management with some powerhouse companies. In this episode, we discuss how her interest in I/O psychology, specifically the Emotional Labor Lab, sculpted her interest in matching psychology with marketing. Plus, the observations of the perfect sandwich, favorite emojis, and the complex nature of cereal mascots.

Amanda Fitts held a narrow focus when choosing where she went to college. Ultimately, it led to the UIUC Psych program and one course taught by Eva Pomerantz. Now she is currently the College and Career Counselor of Oak Park High School in California, and opening a world of opportunities to her students. Plus, giving our host a few playlist pointers during the "Fast Five"...

Tom Haig visited the University of Illinois to consider joining the diving team and stayed because of the educational opportunity. After graduation, Tom and his brother took a unique trip to Italy, and they made "The Bridge to Venice Rule." The focus is on taking the more difficult route in life to live it to the fullest. After traveling the world as a professional diver, Tom was in an u...

Recently, our Master of Science in Psychological Science (MSPS) program introduced a Psych Peer Mentoring service. Expanding the range of guests on the podcast, I scheduled some of the students to come on and discuss the origin of the service, some advice from the topics they specialize in sharing, getting over the hump of seeking and contacting a mentor, and plans for the future...plus some cooki...

I officially checked off another "first" on the podcast guest list. Nikki is my first psychology alum who also works at UIUC! I met Nikki years back during my previous career, and it was a pleasure to cross her path again. We discussed her college days and figuring out where her career would lead. During the interview, she introduced me to the term "wandering student." I feel t...

I am thrilled to be joined by rockstar Communicator and Change Analyst Amisha Shah. We dig deeper into some of the unique responsibilities from various Human Resources angles. Right before we hit our record date, Amisha learned that her company was downsizing its workforce by over one thousand employees. We dive into that lifestyle change and still have time to lighten the mood chatting about pers...

We are staying warm in the new year with a fresh episode featuring Jocelyn Nelson LCPC. Jocelyn joined us as a guest in a previous Alumni Career Panel and really made a splash, so it was natural to have her back to expand her thoughts and experiences. On this episode we discuss...the pros and cons of private practice and telehealth, plus selecting a masters program and the UIUC Study Abroad Progra...

I am excited to have Bryan finally on the podcast. He was one of our highly insightful guests in our Virtual Alumni Panel Series. I learned about his plans to attend the UIUC Psych program since middle school! This level of planning and preparation spilled into his other career choices, including acquiring a PsyD as opposed to a more traditional PhD route and his selection of Rehabilitation Psycho...

Jacob Triplett graduated in 2021, so this was my first time speaking with a NEW member of our alumni family. He is a Senior HR Manager for Proctor and Gamble and is eager to establish a psych grad pipeline to that well-established company. We talked about recruiting on the campus, what it is like working for such a huge place of business, his time working for the UIUC Career Center and the service...

Amy Charvat pops by Sixth & Daniel to give insight into the world of Occupational Therapy. We discuss her decision to step out of her comfort zone in choosing a bigger university than initially planned, plus how she overcame her struggles to find a sense of family and routine in a new place. Through the "Fast Five," we also cover aromatics, summer trips, and the balance of honesty vs...

Keeping it close to home once again with our latest guest, Matt Difanis. After leaving the halls of Sixth & Daniel, Matt pursued his law degree while becoming a practicing Realtor. We delve into how his work in real estate has evolved since then, especially his work with teaching courses on implicit bias and his role in eliminating housing discrimination. Plus, we get into a local lesser-known...

It is time to kick off the new year with new guests! Dr. Dohleman joined me to discuss her career path from UIUC to huge groundbreaking companies like Nike and AbbVie...spoiler alert...it all started at a job fair on campus! We tap into her upcoming talk discussing how industry trends are defining the workplace of the future.  Plus, a Fast Five section filled with the Harry Potter universe, f...

My first "townie" guest! I had the pleasure of talking with Lisa Sullivan, the Director of Marketing and Communication for "Salt & Light." We kick things off in a "normal" fashion...discussing scary movies, the pains of menu planning, and famous lunch guests. We then settled into what it is like to return to the workforce after taking time off to raise a family, the depths of how Salt & Li...

Maximizing the potential of your mind and body is Jimmy's specialty. He is the owner of Ingrained2Train in Naperville, Illinois.  We discussed his journey to unlocking that desire to help others from stepping foot on campus after his first year at UIUC.  He also broke down exactly how difficult it can be as a student-athlete one day and then run your own business later in life.  Jim...

Learn about the world of "unconsulting" from the CEO and Co-Founder of Inspirant Group! https://inspirantgrp.com/ We talked with Meg about her path to her current role, creating a charity near and dear to her heart, the ins and outs of the Forbes Business Council, yoga instruction...and, of course...tacos... Please subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts to learn when new episodes drop. Add a 5-...

Paige Fox is an Attorney at Chuhak & Tecson who specializes in Elder Law. She is also an advocate, an ally, a fantasy football player, a beach bum, and a former bartender! These are just some of the layers we peel back about Paige during this episode covering her journey from our psych department to the present day. Be sure to follow @PsychIllinois on your favorite social media outlet to see w...

Graduation is right around the corner! Congrats! You have put in a lot of work to reach this career stage.  We sat down with Denise, Vice President of Human Resources at Litania Sports, to discuss finding that first job.  We cover resumes, cover letters, benefits, do's and don'ts, the salary discussion, and more. Denise has over 20 years in the industry and tells it like it is.  Be...

Dr. Bokhari has been quickly climbing the ranks in Major League Baseball over the past seven years. He is currently the Assistant General Manager of the Chicago Cubs.   Before starting that journey he earned three graduate degrees from UIUC, including his Masters and Ph. D. from right here at Sixth & Daniel.  We talk about the decision to start a career in athletics, scratch the surf...

I could've continued talking for hours with my new friend Natalie, and boy, did we cover a lot of ground in this episode!  Dr. Halliger is a very respected member in her field, so we, of course, talk about her journey to the tech start-up world, the process of choosing secondary education, and her experiences teaching at Loyola. To get there...we touched on jewelry making, comic book creation...

Here we go! Welcome to Sixth & Daniel! I am honored to have Dr. Patricia Deldin join me as the first ever guest on the program. Dr. Deldin is currently a professor at the University of Michigan in the Departments of Psychology and Psychiatry. She is also the Founder and CEO of "Mood Lifters." www.moodlifters.com I uncover that Patricia is a first generation college grad, avid reader, former tr...