THE SUSTAINABLE AMBITION PODCAST
What if you could have more fulfillment, peace, and ease in your professional and personal life — while staying ambitious?
Learn to align your ambitions with what matters most, navigate transitions with adventure and ease, and create sustainable success — without sacrificing your wellbeing or losing yourself in the process.
We’re taught that ambitious careers come with a price: our time, our peace, maybe even our wellbeing. But what if that story is outdated? What if you could pursue meaningful work, advance your career, and still have energy for the life you want to live?
Join Kathy and her guests — experts, authors, and innovators — as they challenge traditional narratives about success and ambition and explore new ways of living and working. While life and work rarely go according to plan, it's never too late to create a life and career that truly work for you.
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CAN AMBITION BE SUSTAINABLE?
Host Kathy Oneto talks with experts, authors, and friends with insight on her philosophy about life and work focused on three concepts: Right Ambition, Right Time, and Right Effort. Kathy shares ideas for navigating your career at different stages of life and work. You’ll learn to define your own success. You’ll embrace a consciously ambitious approach to better align life and work. And no matter what you choose to take on, you’ll have the resilience to tackle the challenge and the practices you need to sustain your energy.
Each new person who embraces Sustainable Ambition makes it easier for all of us to thrive in life and work.
9. On A Year Off & Deviating from the Norm with David Brown
Overview
Joining me on this episode is friend, author, and traveler David Brown. David and I met working in the marketing and branding world, but we also have another thing in common. We both took time off and traveled. Shhhh! Don't tell anyone!
David and his wife, Alexandra, took a year off traveling the world and then chronicled their journey and learning in a beautiful book, “A Year Off: A story about traveling the world—and how to make it happen for you.”
I wanted to talk with David about his experience of taking time off, in addition to talking about general career satisfaction and walking your own path. In the end, David shares more about the impact of what he learned from traveling and shares wonderful insights for those of us who follow more non-traditional career paths.
David talks about the importance of paying attention, being present to your life and experiences, and that it’s okay to carve your own path leaning into who you are. He states so beautifully, “There really isn’t a sustainable option other than to be yourself.”
Now, I know that during the pandemic, we’re all not traveling. But I think David shares good lessons regardless of how you travel (meaning daydreaming or side jaunts!), and I think at this moment in this pandemic we could all use a little dreaming about what a pause might look like. Also, David and Alexandra’s book includes beautiful photography throughout, so I encourage you to pick it up to carry you abroad now while we’re hunkered in place.
A final thing I will note, as I ran out of time to discuss this with David, is the lasting impact that travel has. Dr. Rick Hanson talks about building resilience by having an experience and embedding it within you. I love his advice and I know for myself, I consistently go back to my memories of my extended travel, and it sustains me and fills me up. I still call upon my travels and its reserves. It is the gift I have given myself that keeps on giving. David also shares, “It was such a good decision. I loved it!”
And, David - I loved our conversation and so appreciate your wisdom! Thanks for being on with me.
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8. On Paying Attention & Knowing Your Strengths with Maghan Haggerty
Overview
In this episode, I’m joined by Maghan Haggerty, founder of Connecting Dots Coaching & Consulting and a Gallup Certified Strengths Coach. I wanted to have Maghan on the show to share her wisdom on the importance of tapping into your strengths to help you find more work fulfillment. One of Sustainable Ambition's pillars is Right Success, which is about defining success on your terms and defining your own personal reward. I believe a key component of that is leaning into your strengths, especially those that put you into flow.
So, you'll hear in my early interviewing days that I'm very CURIOUS about what Maghan has to share! She talks about the importance of leaning into one’s strengths, how to define them (they are the activities not just that we are good at, but that we have an affinity for), as well as how our strengths can at times turn into weaknesses. We talk about Gallup's CliftonStrengths Assessment, which Maghan is certified in administering, and how the philosophy is such that the strengths can be applied to any profession, because they are about how we interact in the world.
Another important theme you hear us talk about throughout the episode is PAY ATTENTION! If there's one thing to take away, that is it. Don’t go blindly through your career. Pay attention.
I hope in listening to Maghan you get convinced of the importance of investing in identifying your strengths, and even more importantly working to determine how to bring them into your everyday life experiences.
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7. On Powerfully Managing your Career & Talent Mobility with Amber Beam
Overview
Joining me on this episode of the Sustainable Ambition Podcast is Amber Beam, a collaborator and fellow career coach who brings wisdom around managing your career over time, especially for mid-career changers.
Amber tells us about the importance of continual learning in today’s market environment, advocates burning the proverbial career ladder, and instead champions managing one’s career through lateral moves and creating a portfolio of experiences or gigs to progress you forward towards your goals. She shares her concept around talent mobility, The Growth Effect, and is an advocate for employees and employers to get past old structures and norms to create more growth for both parties. Amber drops many wisdom bombs in this episode, including great advice on how to manage your career in your 20’s, 30’s and 40’s.
It's hard not to have a good time being in conversation with Amber, so I hope you appreciate her enthusiasm and encouragement to build a career with more flexibility and growth no matter your stage and age. Really, Amber’s energy is quite infectious!
Thank you for sharing so many great insights, Amber! I loved being in conversation with you!
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6. On Navigating Careers & Building Your Personal Brand with Philip VanDusen
Overview
In this episode of the Sustainable Ambition Podcast, I’m joined by friend, mentor, and business colleague Philip VanDusen. Philip is one of my favorite people to talk to, and I seek him out often for his wisdom. Philip has held esteemed roles in his creative career, such as VP Design at Old Navy and Pepsico, as well as serving as an Executive Creative Director on the agency side. After Corporate life, Philip went out on his own and now runs his own branding agency, as well as fosters a creative community. Philip offers a lot of free content to creatives and entrepreneurs, which I encourage you to check out (with links below in the resources section).
I wanted to talk to Philip and hear his insights on navigating a career over time, what it’s like to jump out of a traditional corporate gig and into entrepreneurship, and why, when and how one should build a personal brand. As you’ll hear, we cover a lot of ground, and I still didn’t get to ask him everything on my list! I’ll definitely have to have Philip back again.
I hope you find the conversation as enjoyable as I did. Thank you for sharing all your wisdom with us, Philip!
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Find the recording and check out full show notes from this episode with links to resources mentioned.