Work From The Inside Out

Liz Brunner is an Emmy award-winning journalist who co-anchored the number one rated 6 pm newscast at WCVB-TV 5, Boston’s ABC network affiliate. In 2013, she became the CEO and founder of Brunner Communications and launched Brunner Academy.com in 2020. A certified professional coach, expert communications coach, and motivational speaker, she is also the host of the multi-award-winning podcast, Liv...

Neuropsychologist Dr. Nicole Byers helps recovering perfectionists and high achievers stop the cycle of overwhelming to-do lists, procrastination, and self-doubt so they can achieve their goals without burning out.  "I’m a bit of a neuroscience nerd, and I’ve spent years learning how your brain works and what mental habits tank your productivity (including ones you probably don’t even notice!)...

Dr. Chris Johnson says we need new ways of working with each other, in our businesses, and with our own stresses. And she maintains that can be built on intentional, deliberate practice which … starts with a Pause. Chris grew up on a farm in a small town in central Illinois. Both her parents built successful small businesses and were actively engaged in their community. Yet conflict was a daily st...

Marion Spears Karr has over 30 years of experience in executive recruiting and talent acquisition in healthcare. He has led successful recruitment teams specializing in nursing leadership, c-level, VP, senior director, and physician executive searches. But don’t let that fool you; Marion is not your typical recruitment talent acquisition leader. As with everything he has done well in life, Marion...

After returning to a full-time law practice from maternity leave, Lori Mihalich-Levin discovered that she did not have the resources she needed to manage her life in the ways she wanted. Once her second child was born, her stress multiplied. Lori decided to do something about it and help other parents who had many of the same issues. She created Mindful Return to help parents transition back to wo...

Eleanor Beaton is the founder of SafiMedia , an education & coaching company for women entrepreneurs. Through SafiMedia and her podcast Power Presence Position , Eleanor and her team are committed to advancing global gender equity and a model of economic growth that nourishes the planet, one woman-owned business at a time. Eleanor grew up in Nova Scotia, Canada, although she was born in Englan...

Gustavo Razzetti’s favorite question is “what if?” That simple question has helped him on his quest for continuous exploration and experimentation. As the fifth child of seven siblings in his family, he learned early to look for new ideas and solutions and to challenge the status quo. Growing up in Argentina during the civil war added to the context in which he valued freedom and independence. Wha...

Connie Steele grew up as a first generation Chinese-American with the traditional pressures to excel academically as the pathway to success. Her Dad had a Ph. D. in economics and statistics, so there was an emphasis on excellence in math. Connie studied statistics in college. In her junior year, she sought out vocational books in the library to figure out what she was going to do next. She read ab...

Deb Coviello is an introvert who likes to talk. As a child, she often wanted to express herself and enjoyed participating in activities such as the school play. Deb was a good student and even skipped fifth grade, heading straight into middle school. Yet, throughout her early years and even into her professional career life, Deb found that teachers, bosses, and others did not always want her to sp...

Julie Schechter danced her way through childhood into college, focusing on ballet. When she wasn’t dancing, she might be hanging out with her dad in his editing room as he spliced film for his documentaries. Mom was a child psychologist. Needless to say, Julie had a front-row seat to entrepreneurism and passion-connected careers. It came as a bit of a shock when Julie announced that she was going...

RJ Singh has lived a double life more than once. He loved it in some respects because it was dynamic, yet he chooses to live quite differently these days.  Born in Australia, RJ and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay area when he was four years old, where his Dad joined his uncle in a cleaning business. He describes those early years as a “typical immigrant family with lots of big gathering...

Jill Griffin has spent her career leading innovation, digital and media strategy, content development, and marketing programs for many of the world’s top brands. Advertising Age recognized her as one of the "25 Women to Watch" and she was named one of the "50 Most Influential People in Content Marketing" by NewsCred. She’s also a two-time winner of AdWeek-Mediaweek's Media Plan...

Kelli Thompson is a leadership coach and speaker who specializes in helping women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. She is the founder of the Clarity and Confidence Women's Leadership Program and a Stevie Award® winner for Women in Business Coach of the Year. Kelli’s book, Closing the Confidence Gap, Boost Your Peace, Your Potential, and Your Paycheck , will be released in Novembe...

Vice Admiral Sandra Stosz, US Coast Guard retired, was the first woman to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes and to lead a US Armed Forces service academy. She served for 40 years in many leadership roles on land and at sea. Sandy, as she asked me to call her, is the author of Breaking Ice and Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters .  When Sandy was considering her post-high school plan...

Dr. Amanda Crowell is a cognitive psychologist, speaker, author and creator of the Great Work journals. She educates future teachers, coaches accidental entrepreneurs, and speaks about how to make progress on great work to colleges and corporate teams. She is the author of the book, Great Work, Do What Matters Most Without Sacrificing Everything Else . Amanda said her early years were both lovely...

Lisa Fain grew up in a family of lawyers and while there was no obvious pressure, she ended up going to law school. She had envisioned a career in public interest law, but upon graduation, she had significant student loan debt which she wanted to clear before moving forward. Fortunately, Lisa was able to work in an area that interested her, labor and employment law, while squaring away her loan, w...

Christina Eanes’ first career took an entrepreneurial path just as she was about to enter middle school. Living near a golf course, she would retrieve stray golf balls and set up a lemonade stand at the ninth hole, selling golf balls and ‘cold ones’ to thirsty golfers. How enterprising! While in college, Christina did an internship doing crime data analysis, and upon graduation, she was hired full...

Emma Arnoff told me that helping others has always been in her blood. As a young child growing up in New York City, she had strabismus, a condition that caused her to have crossed eyes, requiring her to wear large glasses. Her physical coordination wasn’t too good and she never felt as if she fit in with other kids. Emma’s antidote to this feeling was to befriend the school bully as she felt he wa...

As the Founder of The Confidence Project , Tracy Hooper helps people elevate their personal and professional presence, communicate with clarity, and work together better. She leads dynamic presentations for high-achieving teams and advises executives and professionals in a wide variety of industries. Tracy has been a TV news reporter, anchor, producer, and voice-over professional. She draws on the...

Laura Spero told me that she was an intense kid who gave her all to everything she did. She played soccer, competed in Tae Kwon Do, swam competitively, and rowed crew in college. As a kid still living at home, she would spend hours, hyperfocused in her basement doing art projects in a space she set up for herself. Most of the art she created was items she made for other people. Laura is a mission-...

I recently sat down with Antuan Magic Raimone to learn about his journey to become the first male universal swing for the five US companies of the popular musical, Hamilton. It’s a remarkable career story for someone in his field as he has been able to make a solid living as a performer from the start, without compromising his values. That is not to say that he did not experience some bumps in the...

This week’s Work from the Inside Out podcast is a little different than usual. Two of my previous guests, Corey Blake and Gen Georget, returned to share the work they have been doing to help people clarify their purpose through the transformative powers of storytelling. Corey and Gen lead The Roundtable Storytelling Academy, which offers a series of transformational online courses that helps parti...

When Fran Hauser was just 6 years old, she would prepare the invoices for her father’s landscaping business. Her mother was a seamstress and had a tailoring shop where she spent a lot of time. The oldest of four children, she would provide translation for her parents, both small business owners, as neither of them spoke English. Fran observed the way her parents warmly engaged their customers usin...

Sonja Price did not know what she wanted to be when she grew up, yet she was always a curious person who enjoyed learning new things. When the time came to attend college she studied psychology because she was interested in people. Then Sonja transferred to a school in Tennessee and studied music management. A variety of interests and seven transfers followed in which she studied architecture, pho...

I begin each of my weekly podcast conversations by asking my guest about their early years. They often share a story about their childhood aspirations or talk about an influential person who made a special impact on their life. This week’s guest, Michael Wenderoth, offered a different twist on the theme. His recollection was of something that he didn't want to be. Michael is half Chinese. He g...