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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Overview

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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Overview

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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Overview

During the pandemic, the cultural tides around work ambition turned. People were over their ambitions.

Consider these stats: In 2022, Gartner found that more than 50% of surveyed workers said they were questioning the purpose of their jobs and the role work should play in their lives. Also in 2022, the Mckinsey Health Institute found that one in four employees experienced burnout symptoms. And in mid-2022, 29% of employees who resigned from their jobs said they did so for better work-life balance, according to the Society for Human Resource Management.

Maybe you recognize yourself in one of those numbers. 

And yet as we move away from the pandemic, there is a thawing and a movement with people wanting to reclaim their ambition. 

I’ve been exploring ambition on the podcast for the last two years, and so for the 100th episode, I’m going to look back and reflect on conversations with guests, and how their insights and my research have sharpened my thinking about the three core pillars of Sustainable Ambition: Right Ambition, Right Time, and Right Effort.

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Overview

Tricia Montalvo Timm is a board director, venture investor, speaker, and author. She is also a first-generation Latina and one of the few to have attained the triple achievement of reaching the C-suite, joining the boardroom, and cracking the venture capital ceiling.

Today we discuss her new book, “Embrace the Power of You,” which is for those who are code-switching or struggling to belong in the corporate landscape and for those of us who want to support creating inclusive environments. Tricia shares her own journey of self-acceptance to show others how they can do the same. The book offers tools and knowledge needed to get to the other side of the fear people can have that can keep them from fully stepping into their authentic selves. it also offers guidance for business leaders.

In this conversation, Tricia shares why people feel like they need to hide parts of their identity, gives us guidance on how we can all support creating inclusive environments, and affirms that you are enough and your differences are beautiful and valuable.

Tricia - Your book is powerful. Thank you for sharing your story and encouraging others to do the same and step into their authentic selves.

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Overview

“I feel very ambitious even though on the outside my ambition may look very different, but it feels like ambition on my terms.” Yes! That sounds like Sustainable Ambition—ambition that’s rooted in you and on your terms.

Today I’m joined by Neha Mandhani, a certified executive leadership coach, for an open, honest conversation on what it’s like to listen and honor oneself, to move through the discomfort of choosing self-authorship, and to step out of the norm onto a path that aligns to your integrity and purpose. Neha is someone who has explored her multiple passions and interests and experimented her way to where she is now. While Neha may feel more alive today than ever, her journey has not been without its fears. She embraces those fears and keeps moving forward, encouraging you and her coaching clients to do the same.

You may hear yourself in Neha’s story. And for that reason, I appreciate her parting wisdom for you all—“How is your relationship with yourself? How well are you leading yourself?” What insight might you take from this conversation to get into action and make a positive shift towards stepping into ambition on your terms?

I’m so appreciative of you sharing your story with us, Neha. Thank you for your insights and inspiration!

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