Overview

Our work and our finances are inextricably linked. Our financial wellness impacts how we view our work and shapes the choices and trade-offs we make, whether we’re aware of it or not.

So how can we approach financial wellness with a lens that allows us to be conscious of our intentions, decisions, and behaviors so that our work works for us?

Return guest Dana Miranda joins me for a conversation about what it means to craft a life with work that we truly want and works for us. In today’s episode, we discuss how embracing the link between financial wellness and our work can actually help us find more flexibility and peace in our choices as we navigate the inevitable ebb and flow of energy and ambition in our lives.

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Overview

A “popular” HR metric people like to look at is employee engagement. But I’ve always thought this data isn’t that useful and have wondered if this is the best data point to focus on to understand how people really feel about their work. 

But if not this metric, where do we focus instead? 

Today’s guest argues that we need to overhaul our typical management culture if we want to build flourishing teams. What he calls “leading with both mind and heart” creates environments employees want to be part of, where they belong and feel supported. We talked about why the way we manage people today is unsustainable — and what leaders must do differently. 

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Overview

Knowing that our work matters is a fundamental human need. But so many organizations and leaders struggle to help people feel that their work is worthy of the effort they put in.

This disconnect contributes to, and maybe even drives, burnout. If we feel like our work doesn’t matter, what’s the point of doing it?

My guest today invites us to explore the fundamental role of work in our lives. Mattering is the ultimate energizer, not in an extractive way, but because it honors a fundamental human need. In this crisis moment when more and more people feel negatively about work, mattering is an essential antidote to apathy and disconnection.

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Overview

When we ask ourselves, what is the role of work in our lives, there are often two camps: Work is just work or find your passion in your work. 

But most of us want to find the middle ground between those extremes. Work does play a fundamental role in our lives and can and should be meaningful. But that won’t look the same for everyone.

I wanted to revisit the question of the role work plays in our lives, and how we can make work work better for us. Workplace culture expert Bree Groff joins me to talk about how we can bring more humanity and fun to our work. After all, we spend so many hours of our lives working, why shouldn’t we be enjoying it? In our conversation, Bree helps us learn how.

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Overview

I’m flipping the mic again and being interviewed by my friend and past guest, Neha Mandhani, about the journey of writing and publishing my book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work. 

In this conversation, I reflect on the vulnerable, imperfect process of writing and releasing the book and the support I’ve relied on as the book has transitioned from my hands to yours. Sustainable Ambition isn’t a magic wand that will give any of us all the answers, it’s a journey of ups and downs that I am on right alongside all of you.

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Overview

In this episode, I share conversations that informed the Sustainable Ambition method and appear in my book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work.

I wanted to revisit these segments with Heather Ainsworth, Dr. Sahar Yousef, and Jack Hsueh because they are wonderful examples of the pillars of Right Ambition, Right Time, and Right Effort and how they align to create Sustainable Ambition.

From aligning your ambitions with your values to prioritizing timelines and regularly celebrating your progress to what training for an ultramarathon can teach us about pacing ourselves, these three guests shared experiences that illustrate what thriving in life and work can look like.

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Overview

As of this recording, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work has been out in the world for two weeks and the experience has been both surreal and deeply fulfilling. I’ve been so gratified to hear from readers and reviewers that the book and its principles are resonating and that they’re already putting it to use.

This episode is a continuation of my conversation with Dr. Dawn Graham about Sustainable Ambition. Here we dive deeper into the practical aspects of the method and how you can apply them in your own life. We talk about some of the exercises in the book, how to connect with what really motivates you, and more.

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Overview

Before we can step into Sustainable Ambition, we first have to challenge what we’ve been taught to believe about success and ambition. From there, we can build the foundation for our Sustainable Ambition.

Today I’m sharing an excerpt of the audiobook for  Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work. Chapter Two is called “ Reclaim Personal Success and Ambition as Your Own,” and breaks down why you need to define success on your own terms and offers a broader, more freeing way to think about ambition.

In the chapter, I also explain why I use the word “right” when talking about Right Ambition, Right Time, Right Effort, and it’s not because there is a wrong way.

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Overview

In this special episode, I’m doing something different. I’m stepping out of the host seat and into the hot seat!

To celebrate the launch of my new book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work, Dr. Dawn Graham — corporate psychologist and career coach — joins me as guest host to flip the mic and interview me about the ideas behind the book, my personal journey, and what it really means to pursue ambition sustainably.

We dive into the stories, insights, and wake-up calls that inspired both this podcast and the book. I share how my definition of success has evolved over the years, what it looks like to be ambitious on your own terms, and how we can each design careers and lives with more joy, peace, and ease.

This conversation is a personal and heartfelt look into why I do this work, and how I hope it supports you on your journey.

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Overview

When we encounter a conflict or constraint that prompts us to question our current path, how do we determine our new way forward?

After a long career with Procter & Gamble, including a senior leadership role in R&D, Ashish Chatterjee hit a surprising and painful inflection point — one that challenged everything he thought he knew about success.

In this candid conversation, Ashish shares how a career setback in his early 50s became the spark for a deeper, more intentional life. We talk about the trauma of stalled ambition, the power of mentorship, and the framework he used to redefine success on his own terms across his work and life. Ashish’s story is a masterclass in leading through challenges, finding your center again, and building a second act (whether inside or outside a company) with purpose.

Whether you’re facing a transition, rethinking your metrics for a meaningful life, or just need a reminder that growth doesn’t end when the ladder does, this one’s for you.

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Overview

What does it look like to live your ambition sustainably, with joy, intention, and wholeness?

In this episode, I’m joined by Erica Meade, a former tech leader who made an unexpected and inspiring pivot — from product design work to making miniatures, co-founding a startup, and redefining what “work” means on her own terms.

We talk about how expanding our frame of reference for work and ambition can positively impact our sense of identity and bring more sustainability into our lives. We also discuss Erica’s creative hobbies and how these activities helped change her outlook on work and worth.

Whether you’re at a crossroads, recovering from burnout, or just seeking inspiration to reconnect with your own joy, this episode offers a refreshing, honest look at ambition done differently.

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Overview

In this deeply resonant conversation, I sit down with Moe Carrick — author, consultant, and advocate for more human-centered workplaces — to explore the role of work in our lives and what it really takes for people to thrive.

Moe brings both research and lived experience to the table, sharing the seven human needs we bring to work, how they shift over time, and why we must move beyond the “ideal worker” and “perfect mother” myths. She challenges conventional narratives about ambition, wellbeing, and gender roles, and calls for a new kind of partnership between employers and employees. 

Moe outlines a more hopeful vision of work, where we can navigate the integration of life and work with a sense of agency and shape our lives to work better for us. And together, we dig into the personal and systemic dynamics shaping our work lives today and the hope we can hold for what’s next.

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Overview

How we think about and plan our time matters, especially if we want to focus on the ambitions and goals in life and work that truly matter to us.

There’s no shortage of advice out there for managing your time. But successfully implementing it is an ongoing source of frustration and struggle. 

My guest, Laura Vanderkam, has been studying time management for over fifteen years. In our conversation, she offers a fresh perspective on common narratives about how much time we have and how we use it. Her approach is both optimistic and practical, with concrete tools and insights to put into your own practice of managing your time.

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Overview

As leaders, we have to ask ourselves, how can we create more sustainability for ourselves and our teams?

Leaders in our modern workplace environments are facing unprecedented challenges that are creating more exhaustion and burnout. Among those challenges are the emotional demands that leaders bear, whether we want to acknowledge emotions in the workplace or not.

Today’s guest, Dina Denham Smith, joins me to dig into the myths and misperceptions around how emotions impact workplaces, why we can’t keep ignoring emotions at work, and how leaders can better navigate being there for their team members in a meaningful way.

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Overview

As the Sustainable Ambition podcast reaches its 150th episode, I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the journey and the invaluable insights shared by various guests on the show. 

The podcast has consistently explored the concept of Sustainable Ambition, exploring how to be ambitious without sacrificing yourself or your life. But the scope and lens of the show has also expanded to reconsider and rethink conventional narratives about success and ambition, and crafting new ways of living and working that bring personal success and satisfaction, sustainably.

This milestone episode serves as a comprehensive roundup of themes and advice from episodes 101 to 150, focusing on several themes that have shaped my upcoming book, Sustainable Ambition: How to Prioritize What Matters to Thrive in Life and Work, and that also continue to impact my current thinking on Sustainable Ambition.

I’ll share my perspective on the fundamental challenges we face when we seek more life-work sustainability, how we can reframe success in a sustainable way, and a key mindset shift that brings more peace and ease on the journey of Sustainable Ambition.

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Overview

How can we pursue our ambitions without sacrificing our lives or ourselves in the process?

It’s easy to get overextended while following our passions, but we can use those moments to learn our limits and what we need to do in order to sustain ourselves for the long term. 

In this episode, I talk with Cheri Magid about her art and how creative practices can help us live and work in more fulfilling and satisfying ways. Creative practices don’t have to be big investments of time or money. Small, manageable habits can go a long way to serving our well-being and ability to be ambitious sustainably.

Cheri leads a full, ambitious, creative life and today she shares how investing in her creativity helps her stay committed to her work, her interests, and her values without sacrificing herself.

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