Overview

Do you have a hard time allowing your ambitions to shift and change? Do you feel uncomfortable when at times you don’t feel as committed to your ambitions? 

These are among the dominant narratives and conventions about success and ambition that I want to challenge, so that we can thrive in our lives and in our work.

Today I want to dig into why evolving ambitions are inevitable, and even desirable, and offer three alternative ways to reframe ambition so it is sustainable over the course of our lives.

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Overview

Are you afraid to ask yourself what you really, really want?

It can be daunting, but getting clear about what you want is critical to creating the life you desire.

Today’s guest presents a compelling example of what it looks like to live boldly, with intention and imagination, from the inside out.

Bonnie Wan joins me to discuss the journey of developing The Life Brief and expanding it from her own personal practice to something she now teaches others and brought to life in her new book, why you have to get messy to get clarity, and how to courageously create the life you want.

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Overview

Having support structures in place is vital to sustaining our life and work ambitions particularly as we transition through different life stages.

Support structures take many forms, large and small, internal and external, across work and life. Entrepreneurs and people who are self-employed have an acute need for strong support structures because they tend to wear all the hats and stretch themselves too thin.

Add in pregnancy and childbirth, and the need for strong support systems is even more intense for women entrepreneurs managing and running their businesses while also caring for new life and recovering from birth.

As part of my periodic series where I invite guests across disciplines and experiences to share their insights into shifting narratives of work and life, I spoke with Arianna Taboada. She shares her unique perspective on the need for support systems, particularly for expecting entrepreneurs.

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Overview

We all have ambitions for both our personal and professional lives. The question is how do we pursue them sustainably and with resilience so we can get fulfillment and joy from both. 

In this new post-pandemic environment, we need new ideas, narratives, and models to consider and to test for ourselves.

As part of a new periodic series, I’m speaking with people from a variety of disciplines about how they live and work. In the next two episodes, I’ll be speaking to entrepreneurs about their experiences with the ambition it takes to start a new business and the resilience required to make it sustainable.

In today’s conversation with Ashley Donahey, we’ll touch on how personal and professional dreams enrich our lives, how our ambitions evolve and take shape as we grow, and why it’s so important to find ways to enjoy ourselves along the journey.

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Overview

If you’re feeling exhausted, overwhelmed or burned out, you’re not alone. But rather than push or grind through it as so many of us try to do, today’s guest offers a different approach: a resilience plan.

A resilience plan is a proactive strategy for managing our resilience, even as external factors impact us. Building resilience isn’t just for individuals either, it’s vital for the health of our teams.

In this conversation, Dr. Marie-Hélène Pelletier and I talk about consciously building resilience so that we can operate at our best and achieve our goals and ambitions without burning out.

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Overview

As we leave January behind, many of us are still in the process of figuring out what we want out of this year.

When we’re setting goals or ambition seeking, it’s not uncommon to be unsure of what we want, while at the same time longing to be clear on the path forward.

That desire for clarity can put us on a path of aiming for what we should be doing or pursuing. But if our ambitions are going to be sustainable, we have to make them our own.

Living with the ambiguity as we define our own ambitions can feel challenging. Today, I want to offer some ways of navigating the uncertainty with a bit more ease.

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Overview

The world of work is changing. And it’s not just about what industries are growing or shrinking. Attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, and motivations around work are all shifting.

It’s more important than ever to be clear on who we are and what we want in order to navigate the evolving landscape.

Connie Steele joins me today to discuss the fluid future of work and what it will take to succeed at leading ourselves and others in 2024 and beyond.

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Overview

Welcome to 2024! As we look to a new year, I’m offering some ideas and reflections to set the tone as you craft the year ahead.

I’ll talk about what the James Webb Space Telescope can teach us about shifting our own paradigms and give you several prompts to help you dial in your Sustainable Ambitions for 2024.

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Overview

As we end 2023, I’d like to offer a few prompts and reflections to help you stay grounded as you close out this year and head into 2024.

I truly believe that self-reflection is an important and powerful tool to help us learn about ourselves and craft a more positive and empowering narrative, with learning we can take forward into the future.

My hope is that these ideas and prompts will help you end your year with a little more peace and ease.

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Overview

In today’s special episode, my dear friend Sonya Thomas turns the tables and interviews me.

We explore how the concept of Sustainable Ambition has evolved for me through the conversations I’ve had with my guests on the show and my research. We discuss the  importance of defining success on personal terms, aligning ambitions with personal motivations, and the necessity of taking breaks.

Sonya shares some of her own journey and experience with ambition and navigating career pivots, and I share updates on my book project.

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Overview

What does it mean to find home? How do we develop a sense of belonging, whether to a place, a community, or even to our work?

As our world has shifted, our answers to these questions are no longer as straightforward as they may have once been. In crafting the lives we want, it’s vital that we open ourselves to experimentation as we define what finding home and community means for each of us.

Today, returning guest Amy Bonsall and I discuss making hard decisions feel lighter, why “squishy ground” is where the magic happens, and how building belonging helps us to flourish and create the life we want.

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Overview

How do we sustain a successful career over time? When we define ambition and success on our own terms, based on what’s important to us internally vs. an external yardstick, we can end up with a life and career that are fulfilling and sustainable. 

My guest today has embodied this approach in his long and successful corporate career and now in a new endeavor after retiring from his corporate role.

In this episode, Doug Milliken shares his career journey and how he shaped his roles to align with what he loved to do, what he was good at, and what his organization valued from him. We also talk about how he shaped his team’s culture to create psychological safety and honor people’s gifts, resulting in increased engagement and higher performance, and how he’s now carrying that experience forward into his latest ambition, a new business venture focused on helping companies build powerful cultures.

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Overview

Crafting a fulfilling life and career is the work of a lifetime.

Our ambitions will naturally ebb and flow over time. How we may need to balance the areas of our lives will evolve, often requiring us to pivot and transition in our roles. How can we navigate through these shifts with ease and embrace new beginnings?

My guest today is Karyn Flynn. Karyn has built a varied resume, stepped back from her career to focus on her family, and pivoted in and out of multiple fields and roles. Her trajectory hasn’t been straight, but considering her purpose and values and continually leveraging her skills has allowed her to create a more fulfilling, sustainable career and life.

She shares how building confidence through your skills and not your title can bolster you through major transitions and why getting clear on your values and holistic goals can help you create a well-rounded life.

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Overview

Ambition can guide us toward the things we want in life. But constant striving can take away from those things that contribute to our overall fulfillment.

In this episode, I’m joined by author and journalist Rainesford Stauffer.

We discuss her new book, All the Gold Stars: Reimagining Ambition and the Ways We Strive, what happens when ambition defines us, the conversations we should be having about ambition, and getting curious about ambition with a more expansive, holistic view.

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Overview

Overwhelm can happen to anyone, even me.

As we enter the often especially busy season of the fourth quarter, with holidays and end of year pressures, I want to share a few thoughts on sustaining ourselves through these particularly full periods.

We can set goals and priorities, and they can be the right ambitions, but managing a packed schedule takes intention and thought if we want to avoid burnout.

Today, I’m sharing some strategies that helped me make conscious decisions about how I was spending my time in pursuit of my goals during an active few months.

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Overview

How can we craft our goals in ways that actually support our well-being? How can we reduce frustration and, in turn, increase fulfillment as we pursue our goals?

Today, I’m thrilled to be joined by Valerie Tiberius to discuss pursuing our goals, reducing conflict around our goals, and why it’s so vital to be clear from the outset on our values and how they impact what we want in life.

Valerie’s work explores the ways in which philosophy and psychology intersect and contribute to the study of well-being and virtue. 

Her most recent book, What Do You Want Out of Life? A Philosophical Guide to Figuring Out What Matters has been especially relevant to the way I think about Sustainable Ambition, going after our goals, and navigating the conflict we can experience around our goals.

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Overview

We have more agency around our motivation than we realize.

It’s true, we are subject to circumstances and situations. But we can design our motivation and, in some cases, alter those external factors to better support us.

Today, I’m in conversation with Ayelet Fishbach, an award-winning psychologist who has done extensive research on the science of motivation.

We discuss how motivation connects to both ambition and how to manage our goals. You’ll hear how we can make choices about where we want to pull ourselves and how to create the circumstances that best support our efforts. We also delve into the idea that it’s okay to be ambitious and try to do a lot in our lives, while also needing to hold our goals and ambitions lightly so that we can offer ourselves more kindness around the pursuit of our goals.

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Overview

What lies at the intersection of ambition and expectation? 

On today’s episode, I’m welcoming back Wade Brill to discuss just that. We start first by getting clear—what are definitions of ambitions, ambitious, and expectations? And how do we manage when expectations are present? 

Expectations are tricky to manage and can cause a lot of suffering. Wade shares practical advice for noticing when expectations are present and how we can have more compassion for ourselves as we navigate these intersections, and we talk about learning to work with expectations to bring more ease into our lives. 

If you’ve been struggling with managing expectations of yourself or from others, this episode is for you.

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Overview

How do we help the next generation define success on their own terms?

My guest, Irena Smith, offers wisdom and advice from her years of experience working with college applicants and her own life experience in her memoir, The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays.

Her book explores the college application process from the perspective of a parent, college counselor, and admissions officer. She challenges the societal expectations of success, especially for young people, and encourages parents to meet their children where they are and not to force them into pursuing a passion just because it's expected.

Many of Irena’s insights don’t apply solely to young people. In fact, from my perspective, many of the college application questions in her book are good self-reflection questions for us older folks, too, and the questions Irena raises are important for us to consider as we continue to shape and grow our notions of success throughout our lives.

In our conversation, we explore the impact and consequences of well-intentioned expectations, be it if they are parental or societal, and we cover the topics of ambition, striving, finding one’s spark, and more.

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Overview

What can we learn about Sustainable Ambition from amazing women who are changing the world?

Today I’m talking with Lauren Schiller and Hadley Dynak about their new book, It's a Good Day to Change the World: Inspiration and Advice for a Feminist Future. The book features the inspiring stories of 30 ambitious female change makers from a variety of backgrounds, the tools they use for change, and how they sustain themselves.

The women in the book are taking on the seemingly intractable problems of our world and creating change one step at a time. They play to their strengths, they know they can’t go it alone, and as Lauren says, “They just get stuff done.”

There is so much we can learn from these stories and from the women who brought us the book.

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Overview

It’s easy to get caught in the loop of looking to external markers of success and constantly striving toward ever-moving goalposts of what it means to be successful.

Striving doesn’t have to be a bad thing. We can strive towards our goals and strive to improve ourselves, our relationships, and our work. But when striving towards someone else’s definition of success creates suffering in our lives, it’s time to question what and whose purpose we’re serving.

Today, I’m in conversation with the CEO of Hello!Lucky, Sabrina Moyle.

Sabrina shares her journey through founding the company with her sister, redefining success on her own terms, and the inner work she’s done to support creating a sustainable, creative, joyful life for herself and her family. We discuss finding purpose in our day-to-day and she shares valuable insight about managing time and nurturing the community around us.

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Overview

What is performance and what does it mean to perform?

My recent conversations with D’Arcy Webb and Charles Gilbert, inspired me to reflect further on performing and performance.

In this episode, I explore differences in perception and understanding between these two words, how these show up in our individual careers and team dynamics, and the mindset that affects our relationship with performance.

For many, performance implies being inauthentic. But what if we defined performance as being wholly present, uninhibited by our fears, and unrestrained in expressing our instincts?

As D’Arcy Webb says, "We’re always performing. It doesn’t make us less authentic." I couldn't agree more.

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Overview

I had the pleasure of sitting down with Charles (Charlie) Gilbert, a lifelong creative, a writer, a composer, a director, and a teacher.

This is a continuation of the conversation we started in the previous episode with D’Arcy Webb — who happens to be Charlie’s wife — around sustaining our ambition and creativity throughout our careers.

In this episode, Charlie talks about sustainable creative habits, how retirement has opened up new possibilities for his work, and his big ambitions for this chapter of his life.

Charlie also shares his perspective on defining success, particularly in an industry where rejection can be the norm, and the importance of support and partnership in pursuing creative goals.

Ambition isn’t just for the young. Both Charlie and D’Arcy demonstrate that we can be ambitious at any age, if we so choose.

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Overview

What does it look like to sustain ambition over time?

Today, I’m joined by D’Arcy Webb, an award-winning speech and vocal coach with decades of experience in her field. She and her husband, Charlie Gilbert, are a power couple (Charlie will be my next guest) who come from the performance and creative world. Both are in their 60s and both continue to be ambitious. 

Among her past roles, D’Arcy served as the voice, speech, and performance coach for TEDx Cambridge and was the head of vocal training for Heroic Public Speaking. Today, she runs her own voice coaching business that she founded at the age of 67.

In this episode, D’Arcy talked about what it’s like to be ambitious at this stage of her life and how she’s able to sustain her drive. She also talked about the power of using your voice, no matter your age, and how stepping into that kind of power can change your life.

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Overview

What is sustainable? What is ambition? What happens when you put these two seemingly incongruous words together?

Some people think they are mutually exclusive, but I disagree. 

In this episode, I dive into what I mean by each of these terms with a hope that you can better understand that these two words can live together, making you a believer in Sustainable Ambition, too.

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Today, I’m in conversation with Olga Trusova, author of the new design book, Calm Living.

In this episode, Olga introduces us to design thinking principles and exercises that we can use to design our spaces and experiences so they work better for us and support us in doing our best work.

She offers accessible ways to shape your space and how you work to really work for you, not against you, and to create calm instead of chaos.

This is an invitation to make simple, accessible design choices to make your days more sustainable. Olga shows us how to do this with intention and experimentation.

Let’s step into Calm Living with Olga Trusova.

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Today I'm in conversation with Christina Wallace, author of the new book, The Portfolio Life: How to Futureproof Your Career, Avoid Burnout, and Build a Life Bigger Than Your Business Card.

This book is on point with what we explore here on the podcast, the idea of having big ambitions and navigating the natural rhythms of our life and work, while also allowing ourselves to craft these in a way that results in more joy and less stress.

What does Christina mean by a Portfolio Life? We’ll dig into that in the episode, but briefly, Christina writes in the book that Charles Handy coined the term in 1989 in his book The Age of Unreason.  “He bristled at the notion that your life’s work should be one narrowly-defined job and argued that instead, it could be a collection of passions, interests, and hobbies.” Handy’s definition broadens the possibilities for your work.

Christina’s book expands that definition to include relationships, community, personal growth and impact, creating a full portfolio across work and life. In her book, Christina explains the why, what, and how: why this is so important now, what your portfolio looks like, and how to make it a reality.

In the episode, you’ll hear how the portfolio life invites you to own your agency in crafting the life you deserve.

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Today, I’m joined by Jessica Marati Radparvar.

Jessica serves as inspiration as someone who is practicing Sustainable Ambition, crafting a life with work that works for her. In Jessica modeling this for us, it makes it feel more possible for all of us to thrive in life and work.

Jessica works in the field of sustainability, and regularly sees firsthand how building resilience is critical for impact practitioners who carry the weight of, and champion, making change in the world. As she says, “You can’t drive change from an empty cup.”

Today we’ll discuss how Jessica practices Sustainable Ambition in her life and work, as well as cover the work she does to support changemakers in the world.

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Overview

In today's episode, I'm joined by Dana Miranda. 

Dana is the author of the forthcoming book, You Don't Need A Budget and her work brings visibility and voice to the diverse experiences we have with money and finance that aren't currently being recognized and expressed in our culture.

You might find for yourself that traditional financial and money management tips don't resonate with you, and Dana is offering new perspective through her media company, Healthy Rich.

My hope is that this episode offers at least two pieces of value for you. First, that it starts to get you to think about how your view of money and financial management can support your Sustainable Ambition. And the second is to raise your awareness around creating a more inclusive world around money and finance, and what might be your part in that.

What you'll hear in today's conversation is how our work is inextricably tied to money, and our relationship with money is inextricably tied to both our histories and personal experiences and the goals we set for our lives. Getting comfortable with our own views on money can be foundational to our Sustainable Ambition.

Let's hear how with Dana Miranda.

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Overview

Part of the Sustainable Ambition pillar of Right Effort is about how we can best use our energy so that we can go after our ambitions sustainably. There is benefit in learning how to work smarter, not harder.

That’s why the topic of focus is important. Most of us know what it’s like to struggle to stay focused and get work done. At the same time, many of us are plagued by feeling too busy. It’s hard to find time to do all we want or need to do. Yet, based on today’s episode, I started wondering—is our busyness problem actually a distraction problem? We aren’t able to be efficient with our time because we’re constantly distracted.

That’s why I was excited to talk with Nir Eyal, author of Indistractable: How to Control Your Attention and Choose Your Life, and hear his thoughts on why we get distracted, why we should be shooting for traction not just focus, and why we should take responsibility and set intentions around how we use our time.

Let’s hear what Nir Eyal can teach us about becoming indistractable.

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In this episode, Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, closes out the yearlong series on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year.

In this episode, it’s time for the 12-month review. How did your year go? How did you do with your ambitions and making your life+work more sustainable? Kathy offers prompts and shares her own experiences as she guides us to think about what we’ve learned and what’s next for the new year.

A reminder that these episodes are good ones to do while out on a walk or making time for quiet reflection. You’ll likely want to pause the episode, think, take notes, and then hit play again. Have your notes app ready or have a journal nearby!

Happy holidays everyone and have a beautiful new year! I look forward to being with you in 2023. Cheers!

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Overview

Today I’m happy to be in conversation with one of my besties, Carol Best! Carol and I have known each other for almost 15 years, and I wanted to have an informative yet fun conversation about how Carol keeps herself engaged in her work, how she’s learned to both step into her ambitions and navigate them across both work and life, and why she prioritizing stepping into being an upbeat, passionate, and optimistic leader.

Carol is a champion of personal purpose and lives it. We hear about that in this episode and how she is someone who supports other women in the workplace. I can attest to that having benefited from her support.

Carol - Thank you for sharing your personal journey with us and all your sage counsel. I learn from you all the time and benefit from your positive energy and optimism. I’m so lucky we met so many years ago!

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Overview

Today I’m joined again by Al Dea, the founder of Betterwork Labs, an organization focused on helping companies create cultures where their people can thrive. Al is an author, speaker, podcast host, and researcher on workplace trends and talent development.

I had Al back for a second episode so we could go deeper and get Al’s perspective on Sustainable Ambition. I love how Sustainable Ambition takes on different meanings for different people, and Al shares that for him it’s about having the autonomy and agency to define how and where one wants to be ambitious, defining one’s own success. This aligns with the long-term view of Sustainable Ambition that we talk about and managing one’s life and work from decade to decade aligned with their own desires and sense of fulfillment.

In this conversation, we also talk about how the work world historically hasn’t armed people with alternative ways to think about and manage their careers and define their own success, how some companies and thought leaders are innovating to create these new norms, and Al’s counsel for stepping into agency to proactively stay on top of one’s career.

Al - This was another great conversation! Thanks for coming back and sharing your career management wisdom with us.

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In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto talks about finding purpose in your work and in your life where you are, rather than looking for it externally outside of yourself. She also offers a more accessible definition of purpose and provides examples that can broaden our view of what it can mean and how we can achieve it. It just might be easier than we think.

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Today I’m joined by Tara McMullin, a writer, podcaster, and producer, to discuss her new book, “What Works: A Comprehensive Framework to Change the Way We Approach Goal-Setting.” Tara has also studied small business owners for over 13 years. She’s been an inspiration to me, and her wisdom has helped tremendously on my own journey of self-employment, getting me to rethink and figure out what works for me.

Her book is for anyone looking for a new approach to goal-setting, one that you might find better aligned to who you are and more satisfying, while still producing results. In this conversation, we discuss what brought Tara to rethink her approach to goal setting, the importance of examining one’s life and making conscious choices, the power of reframing towards practice and commitments, and why she’s found the new approach much more satisfying while helping her create substantive results.

Tara - I absolutely loved being in conversation with you! And I loved the book and appreciate the perspectives and practices you are offering people to help them live a life and do work that is more in sync with who they are, what they want, and how they want to live in the world. So good!

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Today I’m joined by Jennie Blumenthal, author of the new book, “Corporate Rehab: ditch the hustle culture and thrive again.” After 20 years as an executive in Corporate America, Jennie chose to leave during the pandemic pivot after realizing that she had lost herself and was no longer leading the life she wanted to live.

In this conversation, Jennie shares her career journey and what led her to make her pivot, why it’s easy to fall into hustle culture, how it’s important to step back and re-evaluate and align our values with our work, and how her REHAB methodology can help put people on a more fulfilling path. Where is Jennie on the other side? Having reached her goal of putting more life in her life.

Jennie - thank you so much for being on and sharing your experiences, insights, and REHAB method with us. We champion your personal purpose of helping to heal the C-suite across Corporate America to have a positive impact across all organizational ranks. We’ll be cheering you on as you take each step, one at a time.

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Today I’m joined by Todd Cherches, CEO of BigBlueGumball, a NYC-based management consulting firm specializing in leadership development and executive coaching, and author of "VisuaLeadership: Leveraging the Power of Visual Thinking in Leadership and in Life."

In this conversation, we talk about Todd’s book, the power of visual thinking, and how visual thinking can be applied through visual images, mental models, metaphors, and stories to be more effective in your thinking, decision-making, and communication. Visual thinking can help us lead more powerfully both at work and in life.

Todd - You’ve packed so many useful tools into your book! And, you give more depth of insight in this conversation. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us.

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Are you a hybrid or remote worker? And, did you know that in today’s remote and hybrid work environments that many of us are feeling disconnected from each other?

• 72% of employees say they aren’t able to socialize enough when they’re remote (Workplace Intelligence)

• 60% of remote workers say WFH (working from home) makes them feel less connected to their colleagues (Pew Research)

That’s a problem. Why? Because having friends, relationships, and a community at work has huge benefits! That means each of us needs to be proactive in making connections and friendships at work.

In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto talks about all the benefits and offers tips on how to double down on building your work relationships.

The Takeaway: If we choose or have to work from home, over-invest in building relationships.

The Action: What’s one action you’ll take today to start or deepen a relationship at work?

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Luis Velasquez, an expert in resilience. Luis is an Executive Coach, Stanford University facilitator, and an HBR Ascent contributor. He is also an avid endurance athlete and a brain tumor survivor.

In our conversation, we dig into the definition of and Luis’s equation for resilience, which = Commitment + Persistence x Optimism. We hear core themes of what resilience truly looks like through Luis sharing his own personal experiences from his childhood in Guatemala to surviving a brain tumor to completing endurance events. What comes through is that resilience isn’t a superpower. Sure, resilience might start as being about survival, but Luis notes that it is really about adapting and thriving. He also believes that we are all already resilient. We just need to unlock it and take the next step.

Luis - It was wonderful to have you on! I appreciated hearing your personal journey and lessons on resilience, as well as how you are shaping what Sustainable Ambition can really look like through your own life and work choices.

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In this episode, I’m happy to be joined by my business school classmate, Mike Trigg. Mike has worked for twenty-five years in Silicon Valley as a founder, executive, and investor in dozens of venture-funded technology start-ups. And now he’s turned his attention to creative pursuits, having just published his first novel, a corporate thriller called “Bit Flip.”

In this fun conversation where Mike and I talk about the book, we discuss what it’s like to have an entrepreneurial career in tech, the role of ambition in Silicon Valley and how it plays a central role in the book, the shifting view of the tech industry today, and how an unbridled and over-abundance of ambition is resulting in negative impacts in our world. The book is meant to be a cultural critique and to get people thinking. Mike wanted “Bit Flip” to “be a cautionary tale for people coming to Silicon Valley embarking on their careers to say, ‘I need to keep this in balance. I need to do this in a way that is sustainable, not just for two years of doing a startup but for the 40 years of my career.’”

I encourage you to pick up the book for a fun, energetic read that will make you reflect on your own ambitions.

Mike - I loved this conversation! Congratulations on the book and can’t wait to read the next one!

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This episode builds on the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year. Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, is back with Part 2 of the Q3 Review to now focus on Q4 planning.

Here she talks about dialing in your ambitions for the end of year, creating a sustaining plan to avoid the end of year crush, and has you focus, despite her own resistance, to looking ahead to 2023 to make initial plans for making it all more sustainable if you expect the fourth quarter to be demanding.

A reminder that E79 and this episode are good ones to do while out on a walk or making time for quiet reflection. You’ll likely want to pause the episode, think, take notes, and then hit play again. Have your notes app ready or have a journal nearby!

Here’s to an ambitious, sustainable, and joyful end to the year!

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Overview

In this episode, Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, builds on the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year. In this episode, we check in on your Q3 progress. Then in Part 2, we’ll look at planning for Q4 to avoid the end-of-year crush and make our end to the year more sustainable.

A reminder that these episodes are good ones to do while out on a walk or making time for quiet reflection. You’ll likely want to pause the episode, think, take notes, and then hit play again. Have your notes app ready or have a journal nearby!

As we look back to Q3, we want to think about: How have things gone? What worked? What didn’t work? Kathy shares her experiences and learning on working with discernment and when to operate from this or that or this and that around goal setting, free-thinking vs. directed attention, and thinking vs. doing times.

Now it’s your turn! What did you learn, and what do you want to practice next?

And be sure to listen in for Part 2 to plan a sustainable close to the year.

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Overview

Joining me today is Stephanie Movahhed, a leadership coach based in my hometown of San Francisco. In this conversation, Stephanie talks us through her career journey and offers learning and tips from her personal and coaching experiences.

Stephanie has had an interesting career full of pivots that have kept her challenged and growing. Her experiences are a great illustration of staying engaged and in action to help identify one’s next career arc. What comes through is how Stephanie has always been guided by what was important to her and her values, interests, curiosities, and what was calling her next. She also shares how she has leaned into experimentation to de-risk career transitions.

We close with Stephanie offering thoughts on how to step into living and working aligned with one’s values, how to build supporting routines, and how one can coach themselves if they don’t have access to a resource.

Stephanie - thank you for sharing your journey and your tips for navigating pivots in one’s career! I truly believe your story is an inspiration for how others can navigate their career journeys with more joy, confidence, and ease.

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Today I’m joined by Jeffrey Shaw, author of The Self Employed Life and host of the podcast of the same name. Jeffrey is a champion of self-employment and through his book, podcast, institute, and coaching guides people to lead a successful life of self-employment.

In this conversation, we hear what pulled Jeffrey into self-employment for his entire career and what’s given him the focus to support others choosing this courageous path. We cover a lot of ground discussing what calls people to self-employment, the importance of giving yourself a runway before making the leap, getting clear on who you are and your offer, accepting the integration between our businesses and our lives, and much more.

Jeffrey - Thank you so much for being on! I so appreciate all the work you do to champion self-employment and to guide those courageous souls choosing this path.

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In this solo episode, host Kathy Oneto builds on Episode 75 with Dr. Dawn Graham where they talked about building confidence to make a career switch. Hear Kathy answer a listener question that builds on that prior conversation: “How does one find the courage to take a step back in their career to then move forward onto a new path? And what are smart ways to do that?”

Kathy shares six smart actions to consider from her research, the podcast, and what she’s personally learned over the years that can help build your courage and give you the confidence to step into what’s calling you next.

Ready to make a switch? Let’s get you started.

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Overview

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Dr. Dawn Graham, a career switch coach and author of "Switchers: How Smart Professionals Change Careers and Seize Success."

If you are contemplating a career switch, this episode is for you. What I appreciate about Dawn’s approach in her book is that she tells you the really reallys, because she doesn’t want you to be surprised. We’ll have more resilience to get through the process if we have realistic expectations of what it will take to move from this to that.

Yet, for that reason, I start with why we should be optimistic about the process. What makes it worth it to step into making a career switch? Then we delve into aspects of the book and core principles Dawn lays out that help you get confident in your switch so you can show that confidence to hiring managers, giving them the confidence to hire you.

We cover a lot of ground also discussing being market focused, putting aside ego, and forming relationships with people who can become personal ambassadors. And a parting word of wisdom from Dawn that we champion here at Sustainable Ambition: pay attention to your career with a yearly check-in. Don’t go on autopilot.

Thank you so much for being on, Dawn! You offer switchers a great roadmap to get confident in making a change that will put them on a more fulfilling path.

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In this episode, host Kathy Oneto talks about how age should not be viewed as a limiter. If we want to be ambitious in our second stage, “Go for it!” Despite what Arthur Brooks writes in his recent book, “From Strength to Strength,” decline is not inevitable. Sure, our intelligence may shift, as he claims, but there are more types of intelligence than he references, and there’s plenty of evidence that bucks the claim that older workers don’t perform as well as younger workers.

Frankly, this is what gets us fired up. These are the types of claims that don’t serve us and create a dangerous narrative that suggests that companies shouldn’t hire older workers when the evidence suggests otherwise.

A different book, “The Formula: The Universal Laws of Success,” by Albert-László Barabási suggests the opposite of what Brooks claims. The fifth law says, “With persistence, success can come at any time.”

Sustainable Ambition is possible. Find your ambition, then get to work. Be consistent and be persistent.

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Today I’m joined by Al Dea, the founder of Betterwork Labs, an organization focused on helping companies create cultures where their people can thrive. Al is an author, speaker, podcast host, and researcher on workplace trends and talent development.

In this conversation, we talk about key aspects of building a sustainable career. Both Al and I believe in paying attention, following your curiosities, and the power of community. Al shares more on the importance of being self-reflective while also getting into action, building your career operating system, and fostering a mindset for career growth. Al offers a lot of great wisdom bombs in here!

Al - I love what you champion and appreciate your ambition to create better work for all. Thank you for sharing your experiences and insights with us!

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In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto talks about career arcs with adventure, grace, and courage. Often when people are at a career inflection point, they can feel angst and guilt and be cautious. Why? Because there’s a lot of well-meaning, yet inaccurate, work and career advice out there that sets the wrong expectations. When we aren’t able to live up to those expectations, stress manifests. Instead, Kathy talks about reframing towards adventure, grace, and courage to help reduce the stress associated with such transitions and, most importantly, redirect our energy to help us enjoy and make positive progress on our career journeys.

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Today I’m joined by Leanne Hughes, an Australian businesswoman, entrepreneur, and high-performance business consultant who helps organizations lift performance through people. Leanne is also the host of two podcasts: First Time Facilitator and Leanne Hughes’ Work and Live Large.

In this conversation, we hear about Leanne’s own career journey, what led her to find her zone of genius, and what took her out on her own leaving Corporate. We learn about one of Leanne’s core philosophies around treating life like an experiment. Leanne is a prime example of someone who leans into taking action and learning by doing. For her, a paradox is that it isn’t confidence that gets her into action, but rather knowing that being in action is what actually breeds confidence.

What I loved in this conversation was hearing how Leanne is continuously moving towards how she operates best in the world and leans into what’s possible for herself, just as she is championing with Work and Live Large, through which she helps you imagine what's possible is possible for you.

This was such an energizing conversation, Leanne! Thank you for being on and sharing your journey and wisdom with us all.

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Overview

This Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip builds on the last Quick Tip in Episode 67: On Don’t Know? Get Into Action. Many of us often get caught off guard when our life and work algorithm shifts. How can we avoid being surprised, leaving us standing in the messy middle of a career transition not knowing what’s next? By being proactive and consistently exploring and investing in our next play. Thinking about what’s next as a practice can help us avoid feeling angst on the journey and being overly cautious along the way.

This concept is rooted in the Sustainable Ambition method, yet this episode was inspired by a talk I was able to hear back in May with Shane Battier, the basketball player who played for Duke in college and won two NBA championships with the Miami Heat. This core mantra of Duke’s former, legendary basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski (Coach K), has relevance for all of us.

How are you exploring and investing in your next play?

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In this episode, I’m joined by my friend, Wade Brill, who was on the podcast with me early on in Episode 5. Wade is a Mindfulness Coach, Podcaster and Speaker.

Wade and I got together to discuss Pace, a topic we’re passionate about as it shows up in the work that we both do. If you’ve been listening to the podcast, you know that I’ve talked about pace on a few other episodes in the past year: Episode 52: On Setting Your Own Pace and Episode 39 on Rethinking & Shaping Your Time.

We thought it would be interesting to explore this topic further and share our own experiences working with and experiencing pace.

This is the second episode where we talk about ambitions, goals, and pace. How does pace show up when we consider ambitions and where that intersects with life and work? We hope through these two episodes that we raise your awareness of the power of thinking about and being intentional with pace both in your daily experiences and how you manage your personal and professional ambitions.

It’s been a pleasure, Wade! What thought-provoking conversations, and I was even a part of them! These discussions have further deepened my own consideration of pace in my life and my decision-making.

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Overview

In this episode, I’m joined by my friend, Wade Brill, who was on the podcast with me early on in Episode 5. Wade is a Mindfulness Coach, Podcaster and Speaker.

Wade and I got together to discuss Pace, a topic we’re passionate about as it shows up in the work that we both do. If you’ve been listening to the podcast, you know that I’ve talked about pace on a few other episodes in the past year: Episode 52: On Setting Your Own Pace and Episode 39 on Rethinking & Shaping Your Time.

We thought it would be interesting to explore this topic further and share our own experiences working with and experiencing pace.

This is the first episode where we talk about how we define pace and what works for each of us around a slow or fast pace and when it feels right. We close with some tips on what works for us in working with pace. Perhaps you’ll get inspired to try some of our practices and see what works best for you. We hope at minimum that we raise awareness for you of the power of thinking about pace and being intentional with pace both in your daily experiences and how you manage your personal and professional ambitions.

Wade - I always love being in conversation with you. 😊 And thank you for being one of my guides on my own journey of Sustainable Ambition, often reminding me to get centered and be thoughtful about my own pace.

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In this Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tip, host Kathy Oneto offers an antidote to not knowing what you want to do. When you don’t know, get into action.

Kathy shares how one of the most common phrases she hears from coaching clients and those in a career inflection point is, ”I don't know what I want to do!” It’s usually said with angst and frustration. She found the same having done research with those who made career transitions; they often start the process in a state of not knowing. If you are in a career or life transition and find yourself saying the same thing, this quick tip is for you.

Putting this quick tip into action requires just that. Action. Listen in for more.

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Today I’m joined by Art Markman, a professor of psychology, human dimensions of organizations, and marketing and vice provost of continuing and professional education and new education ventures at the University of Texas at Austin. Art brings insights from cognitive science to a broader audience through his blogs at Psychology Today and Fast Company, as well as his radio show/podcast Two Guys on Your Head.

I wanted to have Art on the show because I kept running into his content from the above blogs and in Harvard Business Review. I then went on to read his books. I knew he’d have a lot of great insights to share on how to think about career management, be more fulfilled in our work, and how to work at our best, especially in today’s environment. Art didn’t disappoint.

We cover a lot of ground in this discussion, and Art offers a lot of great nuggets of wisdom on how to manage one’s career over time, feel more successful day-to-day, be more productive, and sustain oneself. I love the idea of starting meetings with a joy moment and the sneaky, smart tip to put a meeting with a “fake” person on your calendar to carve out thinking time. I’m doing both!

Art - thank you so much for being on and being willing to share your brain insights with all of us!

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In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 5 of the series, the final episode, we talk about getting your brand and new business going: the launch and beyond.

We cover some similar ground yet go deeper in exploring how to build your visibility, activate your connections, other approaches for sales and marketing, and be prepared to demonstrate your credibility and the importance of doing great work. Throughout, we offer power tips and set expectations to embrace the journey of work-life after corporate life.

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for the fun and informative series, Philip! Always great to be in conversation with you.

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Overview

In this episode, Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, builds on the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year. This episode is about checking in on your Q2 progress. How have things gone? What worked? What didn’t work? What do you want to practice next? It’s time to Assess and Adapt to help you both stretch and sustain yourself in your life+work in the months ahead.

The series coincided with the launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together over the year. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

Have a beautiful and enjoyable summer! Here’s to sustaining ourselves!

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 4 of the series, we talk about getting resourced for going out on your own and running your business. What is the “infrastructure” you need to put in place to have your business operate.

Another way to think about it is what do you need for your front office (like your website, social, email lists, and more) and back office (like administrative systems and your physical office) and with whom are you going to work (not clients, but partners or team members) to deliver your product or services.

A fun discussion, Philip! On to Part 5 in the series! To close things out: Getting your brand and new business going: The set-up and beyond.

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Today I’m joined by Jack Hsueh who is an ultra-marathoner who has run races like the Tahoe Rim Trail 100-mile race, Tor de Géants which is a 330km race in Italy running through the Alps (which takes about 6 days to run!), and the Western States 100. Jack does these events while managing his career and having a family.

I wanted to have Jack on to learn how participating in endurance events that require commitment, resilience, and grit helps inform how we might manage our life+work from decade to decade, which in our modern times is an endurance event, as well.

Building on Episode 54 with Dominic DeMarco, in this conversation with Jack we discuss finding motivation in loving the journey, the benefits of putting in the work, redefining success beyond the outcome, embracing failure, and how others support you along the way.

Jack - I loved our conversation! Thank you so much for sharing with us. You’ve given us a lot to think about and consider on how to apply your experiences to our own life+work journeys.

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Overview

On Episode 61, I’m in conversation with Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 3 of the series, we talk about what to do before you leave your Corporate gig, putting plans in place so you have a soft landing when you do go out on your own, yet knowing that you can’t plan it all and will need to learn and pivot along the way.

In the end this conversation is about managing the transition from one to the other, from Corporate to being on your own, and that includes creating a transition plan to start with, addressing both internal and external support you’ll need. Then think about your initial business model and brand plan for how you want to present yourself. And be prepared for the fact that it will evolve over time.

We’re on a roll, Philip! On to Part 4 in the series! Next up: Getting resourced to be ready when you start your own work outside corporate.

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Overview

Ruth Gotian has for decades studied and researched the most successful people of our generation, including Nobel laureates, astronauts, and Olympic champions, to understand what they do when the world isn't watching that ultimately put them in an elite class of people who achieved exceptional success.

In this conversation, we dig into Ruth’s research and her new book, The Success Factor: Developing the Mindset and Skillset for Peak Business Performance. We discuss why it’s important to find what you love to do, how to optimize what you work on and when to improve your productivity and avoid burnout, the importance of breaks and staying true to the fundamentals, and why mentorship is critical to success. Ruth offers many great insights from the best of the best, and the book offers useful guides to support your own personal journey.

Thank you, Ruth, for sharing your insightful work on unlocking the keys to success and showing all of us the way to reach beyond the average.

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 2 of the series, we talk about recognizing it’s time to go and how to go.

In this conversation, we share our own experiences with stepping out on our own, talk about the importance of paying attention to the internal and external signals you might be noticing that are telling you that leaving Corporate might be a good next step for you, acknowledge that transitions can take time, and importantly share how to leave to best support you on your next adventure.

Great discussion, Philip! On to Part 3 in the series! Next up: What to do before you leave.

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Overview

In our first episode in the series of Sustainable Ambition (SA) Quick Tips, host Kathy Oneto talks about sustaining ourselves through energizing.

Oftentimes we think that recovering and building resilience come from rest. But what if that’s not the case? What if instead we actually need to get our metabolism going? We need a shot of adrenaline?

That’s what I learned over the last year during the pandemic, both through my own experiences and also through coaching and talking with friends.

How can you put this quick tip into action? If you are like some of us who are starting to feel a little antsy or dull even and you are looking to find a new spark or need some stimulation, add an energizer. What will energize you or inspire you?

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Overview

In this episode, I’m excited to be joined by my good friend and mentor, Philip VanDusen, whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that we’ll share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 1 of the series, we talk about the importance of building your personal and professional brand before you go out on your own.

In this conversation, we discuss why this topic is of interest, our own personal experiences with leaving Corporate despite loving our experience working on the inside, the importance of lifting your head up and considering the outside world even while you’re still employed, and how to think about building your professional and personal brand. Or, if the “branding” terminology makes you uncomfortable, just think about it as building your reputation and how you want people to think about you as your best self.

Philip - as always, I love being in conversation with you. Looking forward to Part 2 in the series! Next up: Recognizing it’s time to go and how to go.

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Sarah Moore, a partner and Director of Brand Strategy at Mission Minded, a brand strategy firm that works exclusively with nonprofits and foundations. We cover a lot of ground in this conversation.

I wanted to have Sarah on the show for a couple of reasons. First, I’m interested, as always, in people’s career journeys, and Sarah shares her experience with pivoting from for-profit to non-profit. And second, I’ve had listeners ask how to bring philanthropy, giving back, and volunteering into one's life to make it more fulfilling and to find purpose outside of one’s professional life. Sarah shares tips on how to start this exploration of giving back in your own way.

And I couldn’t let Sarah go without hearing more about the best practices that Mission Minded has learned from being a virtual, remote company for 20 years. What has the company done to make remote work work, and what can individuals do to support themselves in successfully working from home? Sarah weighs in.

Thank you so much, Sarah, for the work you do and for sharing your journey and insights with us!

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Today I’m joined by Jinny Uppal, author of the new book, IN/ACTION: Rethinking the Path to Results. In this conversation, Jinny shares how the book was written for people who are ambitious and that there is a better way to drive results than to always lean into the prevalent cultural bias for action. She encourages us to find the courage to embrace reflective thinking and strategic inaction, which offer a less stressful and more efficient way of achieving more by “doing” less.

Test it out and put in/action into action and see how this powerful strategy can help you get the results you seek.

I really enjoyed this conversation, Jinny! Thank you so much for championing an easier way for us to find nonlinear paths to better results.

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Overview

In this episode, I’m thrilled to be joined by my good college friend, Dominic DeMarco (who you’ll hear also goes by Mimo in friend circles), who is a small business owner and an adventure traveler who successfully hiked the 2100 mile Appalachian Trail, hiked the 2600 mile Pacific Crest Trail, and bicycled the 4000 mile TransAmerica Bike Route.

I wanted to have Dominic on for 2 reasons: 1) I want to learn from people who have engaged in activities that require endurance and resilience and understand if there is learning from those experiences to apply to how we might lead more sustainable lives+work; and 2) Dominic followed a non-traditional career path from early on and now runs a successful small business.

In this conversation, we hear life lessons from Dominic’s long-distance treks, a redefinition of success for the 99% of us, the importance of embracing a growth mindset and “micro-tries” as adults, and what it takes to carve out space for yourself if you run a business.

Mimo - thank you so much for being on and being willing to share your personal experiences with us. So many good gems in this conversation!

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Overview

In this episode, Kathy Oneto, founder of Sustainable Ambition, builds on the series that kicked off the year on planning and living a more sustainable+ambitious year. This episode is about checking in on your Q1 progress. How have things gone? What worked? What didn’t work? What do you want to practice next? It’s time to Assess and Adapt to help you both stretch and sustain yourself in your life+work in the months ahead.

This series coincided with the launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together over the year. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

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Overview

In this solo episode, host Kathy Oneto shares her personal experience with setting the pace in her life to not fall into the “I’m so busy” frantic narrative that often surrounds us. You’ll learn 5 tips that have helped Kathy create boundaries around how she experiences her time. This has been a topic that has held Kathy’s attention for months now, and she continues to play with her own practices to not let the external world command her personal, day-to-day experiences.

How do you want to experience time? What pace do you want to set?

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Dr. Sahar Yousef, a cognitive neuroscientist and faculty member at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business. Sahar researches and teaches busy leaders and their teams how to be more productive and effective at work, runs the Becoming Superhuman Lab, and teaches one of the most popular MBA classes, called “Becoming Superhuman: The Science of Productivity and Performance.”

In this conversation we discuss how our future self can help us make decisions today and for our future, cadencing career possibilities across our lives, how to avoid “reckless ambition!,” and tips to becoming superhuman to get work done in less time and with less stress so you can get back to your life. There are so many smart, practical tips in this conversation that you can implement today, right now!

Thank you for being on, Sahar, and for the work you are doing to uncover new insights to help us care for and sharpen this powerful tool we all carry with us (our brain) to support us in achieving Sustainable Ambition!

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Overview

I can’t believe I’m already at Episode 50 🎉. It’s really been such a joy to be in conversation with experts, authors, and friends over the last 15 months. I’m so grateful for all my guests who have been on and shared their knowledge, insights, and experiences. And I’m so grateful for all of you listening in!

In honor of my guests and all of you, in this solo episode I’m sharing 10 themes and common wisdom insights we’ve heard from all these wonderful guests and what I’ve learned over the last year about living and working with Sustainable Ambition.

Sustainable Ambition is aspirational. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! These insights will help us all on our journey to find fulfilling work, while also living a fulfilling life, from decade to decade. The end goal—experience more joy and ease in your professional and personal lives and less angst and guilt, while still being ambitious.

Here’s to the next 50 episodes and more learning ahead! Thank you for listening and being a part of my community!

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Overview

Today I’m joined by Annie Auerbach, an expert in cultural trends and co-founder of Starling, an agency which keeps brands relevant through understanding cultural change. She is also the author of *FLEX: reinventing work for a smarter, happier life,* which came out pre-pandemic, but is so relevant as we rethink our world and how we live today as we enter a new stage of the pandemic. Is it any wonder that Annie was on top of this trend? It wasn’t just because she tracks cultural trends; it’s also that she has been living, modeling, and championing a “flex” life for 20 years.

In this conversation, Annie shares how living flexibly is ambitious and that now is the time to reimagine how we live our lives more flexibly to make it all more sustainable. She advocates to first look within to what you need now and then to think big and muster the courage to craft and ask for what you want. One of the things I love about Annie’s approach is that it is multi-faceted; flex is not one thing and not just about work. Rather, Annie shares how flex applies also to home, mind, body, and future and is really a holistic philosophy: “It should be about a more progressive way of living and a more progressive way of society working.” Listen in to learn more, and pick up Annie’s book. So good!

Thanks so much for putting your beautiful book into the world, Annie, and for sharing your insights with us and championing flex for us all!

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Overview

Today I’m joined by one of my favorite people and someone who has been an inspiration for my career and business, Jenny Blake. Jenny is the author of three books; her latest “Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business” comes out on March 22, 2022. Jenny is also the author of “Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One,” an important life+work book that won the Axiom award for best business book in the careers category in 2016 and is for anyone who wants to be “high net growth” and successfully manage change throughout their career in today’s ever-changing environment.

In this conversation, we talk about the new book and also how Jenny finds the courage and conviction to build her business her way and create Free Time for herself. After 10 years of running her own business and sharing her lessons with her private community, now called BFF, Jenny shares her lessons for eliminating business stress through systems and non-traditional ways of running one’s business, like following your intuition and a Jenny-ism I love, “Let it be easy, let it be fun.”

If you are already a small business owner, someone looking to go out on your own, or a creative person looking to find more spaciousness to your best work, check out the book and Jenny’s podcast of the same name, Free Time with Jenny Blake.

It was such a joy to have you on, Jenny! This podcast wouldn’t exist without your generosity in sharing your knowledge and wisdom. Thank you for continually showing us the way to more freedom to do our best work, while, as you say, “serving the highest good for all involved.”

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Overview

I was pleased to be joined by Mark Herschberg author of The Career Toolkit, Essential Skills for Success That No One Taught You, for a conversation on the importance of career planning and its ROI, assessing role and culture fit when job hunting, and the benefit of learning these essential skills throughout one’s career and with others in peer learning groups.

Mark is a model of being a multi-hyphenate, someone with a serious day job, an established "side gig," and many additional talents. He's certainly not one note and has a lot to share on career management from his 20 years of teaching at MIT's "career success accelerator."

In his book, via the accompanying app, and resources on his website, Mark offers a highly practical and insightful guide to the tools you need to manage a successful career over time. It's a toolkit you can pick up at any stage to support you in where you might be going next.

Thank you so much, Mark, for sharing all your great insights and learning with us!

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Overview

In today’s episode, I’m joined by Tammy Gooler Loeb, career and executive coach and author of Work from the Inside Out: Break Through Nine Common Obstacles and Design a Career That Fulfills You. She is also the host of the podcast of the same name.

We discuss Tammy’s new book that addresses the main obstacles that many people face in career transitions that keep them from reaching fulfillment. Tammy shows us how to break through these barriers. The book is really a wonderful mix of awareness building, storytelling through others’ experiences, and reflection and exercises to move you forward.

In our conversation, we also talk about the importance of intuition, surrounding yourself with positive people when making career transitions, and to always be learning to foster a sustainable, regenerative career.

This was a great conversation with an expert in career reinvention. Thank you for being on with me, Tammy!

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Overview

Join Kathy Oneto, host and founder of Sustainable Ambition, for a 4-part series to help you plan a more sustainable+ambitious year ahead. We’ll explore what will be stretching for you and what will sustain you.

This series coincides with the upcoming launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

First, Sustainable Ambition is aspirational. It asks us to hold two opposing ideas—sustain and stretch—at the same time. How can we sustain ourselves (sustainable), while stretching ourselves (ambition)? That implies it is a practice that calls for perspective, personalization, pacing, and patience. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! That is where this series comes in.

Over 4-weeks, Kathy will guide you through exercises to create a plan to help you manage a more sustainable life+work over the coming months. The goal is to create awareness and structures that foster the ability to dance in our dynamic world, learning how to both stretch and sustain ourselves. How? By knowing ourselves better, defining our own Life+Work Resilience Rx (prescription), creating a plan, practicing, and progressing over time.

Here’s a review of the series and this episode is Part #4:

• Part #1: My Ambitions: My Next 12 Months - In this first episode, Kathy shares exercises to help you set a vision and your intentions for the coming year. What are your ambitions?

• Part #2: My Sustainable: My Life+Work Resilience Rx - In the second episode, we’ll explore what would make your life+work sustainable—what is your personal Life+Work Resilience Rx?

• Part #3: My 12-Month Planner + 6-Month Horizon - In the third episode, we’ll pull out our calendars and create a 12-month plan considering what you need on your calendar to allow you to stretch and sustain yourself.

• Part #4: Quarter 1 + Monthly Planning - We’ll close the series in episode four creating our aim for the first quarter of the year and setting you up to act and then assess and adapt as you reflect at the end of the first quarter to keep you operating at your best throughout the year.

Kathy will come back each quarter to do a review with you and will come back at the end of the year for a 12-month review to see what we learned about building our own life+work resilience.

While a sustainable and ambitious life+work is aspirational, the journey may not always be easy along the way. Yet, we believe we can do it and find our way. We can take back control and be in choice to build a more sustainable life+work.

Here’s to a sustainable+ambitious 2022!

P.S. If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

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Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.

Overview

Join Kathy Oneto, host and founder of Sustainable Ambition, for a 4-part series to help you plan a more sustainable+ambitious year ahead. We’ll explore what will be stretching for you and what will sustain you.

This series coincides with the upcoming launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

First, Sustainable Ambition is aspirational. It asks us to hold two opposing ideas—sustain and stretch—at the same time. How can we sustain ourselves (sustainable), while stretching ourselves (ambition)? That implies it is a practice that calls for perspective, personalization, pacing, and patience. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! That is where this series comes in.

Over 4-weeks, Kathy will guide you through exercises to create a plan to help you manage a more sustainable life+work over the coming months. The goal is to create awareness and structures that foster the ability to dance in our dynamic world, learning how to both stretch and sustain ourselves. How? By knowing ourselves better, defining our own Life+Work Resilience Rx (prescription), creating a plan, practicing, and progressing over time.

Here’s a review of the series and this episode is Part 3:

• Part #1: My Ambitions: My Next 12 Months - In this first episode, Kathy shares exercises to help you set a vision and your intentions for the coming year. What are your ambitions?

• Part #2: My Sustainable: My Life+Work Resilience Rx - In the second episode, we’ll explore what would make your life+work sustainable—what is your personal Life+Work Resilience Rx?

• Part #3: My 12-Month Planner + 6-Month Horizon - In the third episode, we’ll pull out our calendars and create a 12-month plan considering what you need on your calendar to allow you to stretch and sustain yourself.

• Part #4: Quarter 1 + Monthly Planning - We’ll close the series in episode four creating our aim for the first quarter of the year and setting you up to act and then assess and adapt as you reflect at the end of the first quarter to keep you operating at your best throughout the year.

Kathy will come back each quarter to do a review with you and will come back at the end of the year for a 12-month review to see what we learned about building our own life+work resilience.

While a sustainable and ambitious life+work is aspirational, the journey may not always be easy along the way. Yet, we believe we can do it and find our way. We can take back control and be in choice to build a more sustainable life+work.

Here’s to a sustainable+ambitious 2022!

P.S. If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

Get the Recording & Show Notes

Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.

Overview

Join Kathy Oneto, host and founder of Sustainable Ambition, for a 4-part series to help you plan a more sustainable+ambitious year ahead. We’ll explore what will be stretching for you and what will sustain you.

This series coincides with the upcoming launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

First, Sustainable Ambition is aspirational. It asks us to hold two opposing ideas—sustain and stretch—at the same time. How can we sustain ourselves (sustainable), while stretching ourselves (ambition)? That implies it is a practice that calls for perspective, personalization, pacing, and patience. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! That is where this series comes in.

Over 4-weeks, Kathy will guide you through exercises to create a plan to help you manage a more sustainable life+work over the coming months. The goal is to create awareness and structures that foster the ability to dance in our dynamic world, learning how to both stretch and sustain ourselves. How? By knowing ourselves better, defining our own Life+Work Resilience Rx (prescription), creating a plan, practicing, and progressing over time.

Here’s a review of the series and this episode is Part #2:

• Part #1: My Ambitions: My Next 12 Months - In this first episode, Kathy shares exercises to help you set a vision and your intentions for the coming year. What are your ambitions?

• Part #2: My Sustainable: My Life+Work Resilience Rx - In the second episode, we’ll explore what would make your life+work sustainable—what is your personal Life+Work Resilience Rx?

• Part #3: My 12-Month Planner + 6-Month Horizon - In the third episode, we’ll pull out our calendars and create a 12-month plan considering what you need on your calendar to allow you to stretch and sustain yourself.

• Part #4: Quarter 1 + Monthly Planning - We’ll close the series in episode four creating our aim for the first quarter of the year and setting you up to act and then assess and adapt as you reflect at the end of the first quarter to keep you operating at your best throughout the year.

Kathy will come back each quarter to do a review with you and will come back at the end of the year for a 12-month review to see what we learned about building our own life+work resilience.

While a sustainable and ambitious life+work is aspirational, the journey may not always be easy along the way. Yet, we believe we can do it and find our way. We can take back control and be in choice to build a more sustainable life+work.

Here’s to a sustainable+ambitious 2022!

P.S. If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

Get the Recording & Show Notes

Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.

Overview

Join Kathy Oneto, host and founder of Sustainable Ambition, for a 4-part series to help you plan a more sustainable+ambitious year ahead. We’ll explore what will be stretching for you and what will sustain you.

This series coincides with the upcoming launch of the Sustainable Ambition 12-Month Workbook+Planner: Your Life+Work Resilience Rx. The workbook+planner offers inquiries, exercises, and planning tools to help you lead a fulfilling, sustainable, and ambitious life+work. Learn more at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

First, Sustainable Ambition is aspirational. It asks us to hold two opposing ideas—sustain and stretch—at the same time. How can we sustain ourselves (sustainable), while stretching ourselves (ambition)? That implies it is a practice that calls for perspective, personalization, pacing, and patience. And that admittedly means it isn’t easy! That is where this series comes in.

Over 4-weeks, Kathy will guide you through exercises to create a plan to help you manage a more sustainable life+work over the coming months. The goal is to create awareness and structures that foster the ability to dance in our dynamic world, learning how to both stretch and sustain ourselves. How? By knowing ourselves better, defining our own Life+Work Resilience Rx (prescription), creating a plan, practicing, and progressing over time.

Here’s a review of the series:

• Part #1: My Ambitions: My Next 12 Months - In this first episode, Kathy shares exercises to help you set a vision and your intentions for the coming year. What are your ambitions?

• Part #2: My Sustainable: My Life+Work Resilience Rx - In the second episode, we’ll explore what would make your life+work sustainable—what is your personal Life+Work Resilience Rx?

• Part #3: My 12-Month Planner + 6-Month Horizon - In the third episode, we’ll pull out our calendars and create a 12-month plan considering what you need on your calendar to allow you to stretch and sustain yourself.

• Part #4: Quarter 1 + Monthly Planning - We’ll close the series in episode four creating our aim for the first quarter of the year and setting you up to act and then assess and adapt as you reflect at the end of the first quarter to keep you operating at your best throughout the year.

Kathy will come back each quarter to do a review with you and will come back at the end of the year for a 12-month review to see what we learned about building our own life+work resilience.

While a sustainable and ambitious life+work is aspirational, the journey may not always be easy along the way. Yet, we believe we can do it and find our way. We can take back control and be in choice to build a more sustainable life+work.

Here’s to a sustainable+ambitious 2022!

P.S. If you’d like to do this work with others, consider creating a circle of friends or professional colleagues to plan and learn together. Doing this work as part of a community can support you in setting intentions, holding yourself accountable, providing encouragement, and learning together along the way. Find guides for a Planning Circle or Workshop at Work at: sustainableambition.com/planner2022

Get the Recording & Show Notes

Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.