What's Your Work Fit?

Entrepreneurs need financial security to scale business, but also have choices to do meaningful work. And more broadly speaking, financial security plays a big role in the future of work. Some entrepreneurs strive to scale take their start-ups public. But, more often than not, they are just people looking for autonomy to create products and services that solve vexing problems. And their pursuits t...

We revisit some amazing interviews with workplace futurists who helped the future of work to become present. Astronishingly, 2020 ushered in massive changes in how and where we work. Helping to us navigate the changes are these featured guests from The Dan Smolen Podcast: Anne Driscoll and Chris Schultz: Launch Pad is their co-working community of first believers. Anne and Chris , the married co-f...

When we achieve a career agility mindset, we benefit with boundless opportunities in the future of work. A year out from the start of the 2020 pandemic lockdowns, one key driver has emerged for people in the workforce:  a career agility mindset . Agility is the-most important attribute of successful career professionals. People now must respond to new tasks, skill requirements, company directives,...

Emerging from the pandemic. virtual assistants help professionals to succeed. They take over many critical tasks that are associated with scaling a business. As millions of business founders and entrepreneurs settle into remote work, many of them turn to virtual assistants for help. As principal of VirtualKGB.com , Kate Gable Bright delivers the capabilities of big marketing services companies. Of...

Launch Pad is a coworking community of first believers founded by Anne Driscoll and Chris Schultz . Anne and Chris know firsthand the struggles of starting a business.  As serial start-up entrepreneurs, they often heard “no” or “that will never work." Thus, in establishing Launch Pad's first believer premise, Anne and Chris set up their coworking brand and members for success. First believers help...

As hiring managers navigate the future of work, they must also help to create opportunities for a neurodiverse workforce . Larysa Kautz is the President and CEO of Melwood , a nonprofit organization that helps people with disabilities find and do meaningful work. In the broad future of work discussion, neurodiversity gets scant attention. And yet the number of neurodiverse people in the workforce...

Future of work thought-leader Nellie Hayat describes a brilliant future at transformed workplaces. Nellie is the Head of Workplace Transformation for VergeSense . Her mission is to empower companies to reimagine their workplaces so that their talent thrive in them, wherever they may be located. Since the start of Covid lockdowns one year ago, the American workplace has permanently changed. No long...

Dan Rosenzweig  appears on the podcast, to describe how novel venues reimagine the workplace. There are many players in co-working. But among them, KettleSpace turned a glaring problem, underutilized spaces such as hotel lobbies and restaurants, into dazzling places to work. As co-founder of KettleSpace, Dan wants to give people who work: "[the opportunity] to choose their WHERE, so that they can...

As we leave 2020 behind, we ask: can grief influence career choices? Meet New York Times best-selling author Hope Edelman . Through a series of books starting with Motherless Daughters , Hope helps people turn grief into a healing and meaningful experience. Now, her latest book,  The AfterGrief , gets grieving people to a place a positivity and purpose: "There really are only two stages of grief t...

Designing work from home space is mission critical in the age of the pandemic and the future or work. Leah Margolis Nathan is responding to her clients' needs for intentional space to work and conduct Zoom meetings. Based in Saratoga, New York, Leah helps her clients to brilliantly reimagine their square footage to live and work. What is more, she carves out beautiful and functional areas for kids...

In 2021, the rise of independent work will benefit people who compete for business with large firms and agencies. Laura Marella co-founded Overflow to help solo-entrepreneur marketing and strategy professionals succeed. As a business accelerator and professional community , Overflow provides independent professionals with specialized tools and resources that they need to compete effectively with b...

Volunteer programs benefit careers and extend corporate social responsibility. As the CEO of Realized Worth , Angela Parker leads an organization that inspires professionals at AT&T, Deloitte, Microsoft, Walmart and other companies with meaningful volunteer program engagements. "Volunteering can be a safe and non-threatening space where we encounter our own humanity." Nearly one year separated fro...

Following a year of workforce disruption, career coaching empowers professionals to succeed in life and work. Rich Gee is arguably one of the-most successful career coaches in the United States. As principal the of Rich Gee High Performance Coaching , he empowers professionals to improve their on-the-job results and career outcomes. Incidentally, when he encounters clients for the first time, Rich...

Darren Murph works to unleash the remote workforce. As GitLab's Director of Remote Work, Darren is "the voice in the room" that evangelizes the trailblazing company's remote work operating model. What is more, he authored The GitLab Remote Work Playbook , which over 80,000 people around the globe have downloaded. As 2021 unfolds, positive forces of change will unleash the remote workforce . Those...

The new year and the pandemic inform how we use space to live and work. It turns out that one good thing happened in 2020. Because we sheltered in place for weeks and months, we discovered that we could work successfully from home or in a hybrid combination of traditional and untraditional work spaces . In 2021, how we use space to live and work will be entirely up to us. During the early pandemic...

Comedy empowers veterans careers: see how ASAP's novel stand-up comedy training program helps the people who served enjoy meaningful lives and work. The Armed Services Arts Partnership  or ASAP is a nonprofit organization that uses stand-up comedy training to empower people to connect with beautiful dreams and meaningful work. ASAP cultivates community and growth among veterans, service members, m...

In the Spring of 2017, we interviewed noted labor historian and academic David Jacobs,  and we asked him: what does it mean to work? Nearly four years have passed since we interviewed Professor Jacobs, and yet very little in the workforce has changed. People who work still have to place their financial concerns above all other considerations. And yet, in this interview, Professor Jacobs describes...

When you discover your personality type, you can benefit in the future of work doing meaningful work. Globally recognized Myers-Briggs expert Edythe Richards returns to The Dan Smolen Podcast. By administering Myers-Briggs assessments, she helps people enjoy better life and work experiences. In this episode, Edythe takes us through the utility and benefits of a Myers-Briggs assessment by reviewing...

As the pandemic rages on and unemployment spikes, one  online platform engages former employees. Forward thinking brands that must furlough large numbers of people use online alumni community platforms. They help former headcount develop new skill, find jobs at other companies, or return to the company in new full-time employment roles or contracting assignments. To that end, alumni communities en...

In this episode, two headhunters discuss recruiting. During 1998, Victoria James and Dan Smolen both entered the executive recruiting field. After 20 years, Dan moved on to future of work thought-leadership and podcasting, However, Victoria still enjoys a great run in placing executive-level candidates. Victoria  is the founder and president of Victoria James Executive Search. Her company is a nat...

One thing is clear: localism shapes the future of work. This week, we re-visit our 2018 interview with Doug Ross and Morley Winograd . They are, with Mike Hais, the co-authors of the book  Healing American Democracy: Going Local . When Joe Biden becomes President on January 20, 2021, he will engage with a deeply divided government. Meantime, real governing power is " going local " by moving to our...

Let's ditch the monthly unemployment report. On January 20, 2021, Joe Biden assumes the U.S. Presidency. But, right now, Mr. Biden focuses time and energy on forming task forces to mitigate the spread of COVID . He will also put in place the supply chain necessary to deliver a vaccine to some 330 million Americans. COVID will consume the new president's early days and months in office. But, the ec...

Subject-matter expert Edythe Richards explains the connection between Emotional Intelligence and Hybrid Work.  Emotional intelligence or EQ helps people to be aware of, control, and express their emotions, and to handle interpersonal relationships judiciously and empathetically. As the pandemic continues into a tenth month, nearly 8 out of every 10 full-time workers have shifted to remote or hybri...

Workforce expert Adrienne Shoch joins the podcast to encourage us to create hybrid workplace presence. "[We are] constantly helping people get comfortable with certainty. It likes the same thing. It likes routines and all kinds of things. And, we don't live like that, anymore." Adrienne Shoch of five to one in Washington, D.C. is a brilliant thought-leader in workforce and the future of work. A fr...

One key outcome in how we work and where we work is fast emerging: a workforce revolution supports hybrid work . The radical shift in our podcast's branding inspired us to explore deeply the suddenly changing nature of work. Not surprisingly, we found that hybrid work has emerged as the way many of us will operate, splitting time each week between home and office. "[The revolutionary forces] unlea...