Where Coffee Gets Spilled

She once asked a broker where the mentors were in real estate. He told her that isn't how the industry works; nobody hands over their secrets. Her response? Watch me. Mindi Kessenich spent twelve years as a surgical tech in an orthopedic operating room, a career she loved but one with no room left to grow. A season of home staging while raising her kids turned into an unlikely opening in real esta...

When asked what she did, she said it quietly. She had just become Chief HR Officer for the State of Wisconsin. Hear how Jen Flogel went from uncertainty to conviction once she let the work show her why she belonged there in this clip from her episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Curiosity isn't just a personality trait. It's a career strategy. Watch Jen Flogel share why staying curious will open doors and help you grow in this clip from her episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

What if not knowing exactly where you're going is actually the point? Jen Flogel never set out to be a generalist. She set out to be curious. And that curiosity walked her through finance, technology, change management, organizational design, compliance and eventually to the top HR role for the State of Wisconsin, not because she climbed a ladder, but because she kept asking how the pieces connect...

Most of us spend more energy on what we're not good at than what we are. In this clip, Ali Khaleel and Erich George dig into the 80/20 rule for strengths development and what it actually looks like in practice. Watch the full conversation in his episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Every leader has people they connect with more easily, and people they don't. Ali Khaleel has a name for both, and a challenge that every leader needs to sit with. Catch his Butterflies and Moths framework in this clip from his episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

The career you plan and the career you build aren't always the same thing. For Ali Khaleel, that gap turned out to be the whole story. In college, Ali decided to major in international studies with the idea of becoming a foreign diplomat. Then a friend of a friend arranged a coffee conversation in DC with someone who'd actually done the job, and in about an hour, Ali had a clearer picture of what...

In life, don't just show up. Don't just take initiative, be prepared.    Listen to Doug Cox explain how he learned this lesson in this short clip from his episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

If you understand what motivates and drives you, you'll be more successful in your work.    Hear Doug Cox explain what that means to him in this short clip from his episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

For fifteen years, he knew exactly what he wanted to do next. This year, he stopped waiting. Doug Cox spent 30 years in the healthcare industry, in sales and other leadership roles. It was never about hitting his targets. It was always about the people. Early on, he had managers who believed in him and then teams he helped develop, and he discovered that helping others grow felt more fulfilling th...

Getting where Lexi Bonilla has been takes a certain kind of scrappiness. Hear her boot camp survival story and how she built her way from there in this clip from her episode of  Where Coffee Gets Spilled  with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Things may not always go as you planned.   Hear Lexi Bonilla talk about that in this short clip from her episode of Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Lexi Bonilla has always found a way. When tuition got real in college, she joined the Navy Reserves and figured it out. Three years into community social work, she recognized burnout before she even had language for it and chose a different path. When group practice felt like a setup to repeat the same cycle, she built her own. She's always tried to find a way first, and when she couldn't, she was...

There is no better teacher than just jumping in. Hear Chad Keller share what that means in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Careers don't always come with a playbook. Sometimes you have to write your own. Chad Keller has spent over 20 years in finance and accounting at some of the most recognizable names in entertainment, from the Walt Disney Company to Saban, the creators of the Power Rangers. He got there by getting fired early, hanging up on the Disney recruiter twice, and once moving a Bobcat he was not certified t...

She always dreamed of owning a business. Turns out the answer was in the kitchen the whole time. Mabel San came to Chicago from Myanmar, chose accounting as her path to independence, and built a career as a CPA. The discipline, the precision and the problem-solving all came naturally. But she kept asking herself one question: would young Mabel be happy seeing this version of me?   That question le...

DescriptioWhen you hit a wall, it may not be there to stop you. It may be a signal to pause and reassess. Hear Laurice McGinnis Lincoln speak about overcoming barriers in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.n

Emotions can cloud what you’re seeing right in front of you. Watch Laurice McGinnis Lincoln share methods for creating change in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

The first difficult conversation is always the hardest. But it's the one that makes everything else possible. Laurice McGinnis Lincoln has spent over 20 years helping organizations do the work most teams avoid. And what she'll tell you is that real change doesn't start with a new initiative or a fresh strategy. It starts with a difficult conversation, and the courage to separate what actually happ...

There are many versions of spiciness when it comes to neurodiversity.   Hear Malynnda Stewart explain what this means in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

When rooms go silent, and people aren't asking questions in the workplace, you have a problem.   Hear Malynnda Stewart share the dangers when this happens in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Life is not promised to be long. Make it count. That belief is at the core of everything Malynnda Stewart does. Every success is a lesson. Every failure is a lesson. The only question is whether you stop long enough to ask what you learned. And at 39, she discovered she was AuDHD. Not a plot twist. More like the piece that made everything finally make sense. Today her work is built on three values...

For many immigrants, curiosity is a necessity and a survival skill. You have to learn as much as you can as fast as you can.   Hear Nydia Martinez explain her navigation strategy in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

Creativity doesn't happen when everyone thinks the same, acts the same and comes from the same background.   Hear Nydia Martinez discuss the importance of discomfort for innovation to happen in this clip from Where Coffee Gets Spilled with Erich George and Lindsay Mayer.

She grew up in rural Mexico with a dream of speaking English and seeing the world. The path to get there? She figured that out as she went. Dr. Nydia Martinez learned early that not knowing something was never a reason to stop. It was a reason to observe, ask questions and lean in. Curiosity became a survival skill, humility opened the doors, and she discovered that the most powerful connections i...