Episodes
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Welcome back to Professional Life Crisis! This week we’re going on a rollercoaster with our guest, Bo Abrahams. Ex-Hedge Fund Analyst, Co-Founder of Kommu, an app to swap homes with people in your network. We discuss:
* Bo opened up about his personal health experiences that heavily influenced his career choices at various points in his life, including a debilitating illness during college and the story of his HS friend Mallory, who unfortunately passed as a result of Cystic Fibrosis (CF). These experiences led him toward business school to pursue a career in Venture Health.
* Getting to business school and realizing that Venture Health wasn’t actually his strong suit, and he wasn’t going to be one of the top contributors to the space, and that he should instead focus on a problem that he feels well equipped to solve.
* Bo talks about the financial pressures of business school, including spending heavily on GMAT tutors and application fees, which led to accumulating credit card debt just to keep up with his peers and the expenses related to traveling.
* So… Bo and his co-founder started Kommu, a platform for finding short-term places to stay based on your network, rather than paying for Airbnb or a hotel.
* To wrap it up, Bo gave some advice for your early career- rip the bandaid off if you’re going for a goal (like studying for the GMAT to get into business school)- commit to it for a set period of time, and give it 100%. Don’t prolong the suffering, spread it out too much or half ass it.
Spending too much for hotels or rentals when you're traveling? Try kommu. With tons of homes listed for anything but a profit, you're sure to find a lot of incredible options. Don't want your home to sit empty while you're on the road for business or pleasure? List with kommu and avoid paying double rent.
Download kommu today
If you feel so compelled to share this week’s episode with a friend, and subscribe on Youtube, I would love that.
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
I am SO excited for this week’s new episode with the incredibly Katy Culver, AND *the new branding*!
* This week, Katy and I both reflected on our journeys in consulting- the good, the bad and the, well necessary experiences we had to go through in order to be able to offer any halfway decent career advice and help the next generation of professionals.
* Katy discusses how revisiting her old journals helped uncover some long-held dreams and get better aligned in her business.
* The absolutely crucial role that mindset plays in navigating career changes, starting something new, and fulfilling your full potential in your life & career.
* The strategy Katy’s used for growing her personal brand between Twitter & LinkedIn, highlighting how consistent writing and engagement have been key to her success.
* Our thoughts on manifestation, the importance of a clear vision, and saying those difficult “no’s” to things that don’t align with your goals can be a game-changer in your personal and professional life.
Brave and willing to share your embarrassing work story so we can all feel a bit better about the dumb sh*t we do at work? Don’t worry, all stories remain anonymous- neither of us wants to get a call from your boss.
If you feel so compelled to share this week’s episode with a friend, and subscribe on Youtube, I would love that.
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Episodes manquant?
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This week on the podcast, I was honored to speak with a woman with such a light and positivity about her, Brittany Martin. In this episode:
- Brittany shares her journey from HR business partner (HRBP) at household name companies like Target and Anheuser Busch, to starting her own business where she is a Chief People and Culture Advisor for teams looking to improve their dynamic.
- We discuss the importance of being comfortable with being multifaceted in your personal and professional life, and how Brittany embraces her role's complexities, proving that one title doesn't define you.
- Brittany offers insights into what an HR Business Partner (HRBP)/People Business Partner (PBP) does and why the role is crucial for bridging the gap between the business and the people & why HR is not the enemy!
- She opens up about her struggles and the enlightening moment that prompted her to make her dream of moving back to New York a reality.
- Brittany provides valuable advice on finding joy in your career, being compassionate toward others, and the importance of having patience with yourself when making significant changes.
It’s a great listen if you’re going through & growing through career changes right now and feeling frustrated if it’s not all coming together as quickly as you thought.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend, and subscribe on YouTube!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week, I had the pleasure of interviewing a friend and colleague, Nina Chichelo, a full-time marketing manager and the founder of her own marketing agency, Allorable. We talked about her winding career journey from aspiring to work on the Tonight Show, to launching her career in marketing and eventually her own agency.
* Nina shared her personal experience of going through 2 layoffs and how those difficult moments pushed her to start her agency, while starting a new, full time role (crazy right? when does she sleep!)
* What the film industry’s structure of pre-production, production and post-production taught Nina about her career likes and dislikes, and how she developed a work ethic that helped her outshine the competition later in her career.
* How she pivoted from the TV industry into digital marketing during Covid when she needed to transfer her skills to something she could do working from home.
* Some of our fav past career blunders; special shout out to: crying at work in the open floor plan & how to deal with terrible managers.
* We ended the conversation with her valuable advice on digesting your failures to learn from them, learning to delegate, and the importance of leaning on your network for support when you need it.
Listen now on: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend, and subscribe on YouTube!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Welcome back to part 2 with Lindsey Fine, (ex- Salesforce, Meta, Dropbox, and Amazon) where we talk all about detaching from our work identities, burning out and finding fulfillment through self employment.
* Lindsey reflects on her career, transitioning from leading sales teams at big tech companies to working for herself and helping startups with implementing sales strategies and sales tech stacks.
* A flexible approach to her offering and allowing potential clients to guide the conversation during discovery calls based on the needs of their business.
* Lindsey’s honest reflections about her skewed prioritization of work vs family life, missing out on irreplaceable time with her growing children, and how she’s readjusted that balance during her self-employment.
* Some of the most important career lessons Lindsey wishes she would have known early in her career, including the significance of failures for growth, and the need to always advocate for yourself in the workplace.
Listen now on: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend, and subscribe on YouTube!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
In this week’s episode, I had the wonderful opportunity to catch up with my former colleague and friend, Elizabeth Manuntag- customer marketer, TikToker and UGC content creator with over 25k followers. We related about our experiences with getting laid off, transitioning careers, and the emotional rollercoaster that is self employment. In this episode we cover:
- Liz shared her journey, from working in a corporate setting to embracing the freedom and challenges of being a digital nomad and content creator.
-What being a customer-focused marketer taught her about great content creation.
-Liz’s work and travel routine now that she’s given up her apartment, sold most of her belongings and taken content creation on the road 🚗 throughout Asia
- The importance of not taking feedback or failures at work too personally and how to detach emotionally from work when it feels all encompassing.
- We wrapped by playing my new game where we react to your embarrassing work stories, which was both hilarious and loaded with second hand embarrassment. Want to submit your funny work stories? (anonymously of course- neither of us wants to get a call from your boss 😳)
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend, and subscribe on YouTube!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week, Lindsey Fine details her extensive background in sales, starting her career at Salesforce and moving through other major tech companies like Meta, Dropbox, and Amazon, before diving into startup territory.
* The challenges and dynamics of working in big tech versus startups, emphasizing the significant learning curve and the uniqueness of sales at each company-stage.
* All about "Amazon Docs" and the realization that big-name company experiences don't always translate into immediate respect or success in the startup world.
* Striking the right balance of process and structure vs the freedom of the trial and error approach.
* How being part of the growth phases of these companies provided invaluable insights into how sales changes as a company grows.
* Turning her past experiences into an independent consulting gig
Listen now on: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend, and subscribe on YouTube!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
-Amanda
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Shabnam Golmohammadi is a leadership coach for women in tech, and previously spent 6 years in strategy and planning at Uber where she worked on Uber Eats before it was the brand that we’ve all come to know and depend on during our darkest gremlin hours. Before that, she did her time in management consulting at Deloitte. In our chat, we cover:
* Whose validation are we seeking when we go after jobs and opportunities, and why do we spend so much time thinking about how others will perceive us?
* Is it necessary to hone your weaknesses vs just leaning into your strengths
* How to get the f*ck over the fear of being seen trying something new
* Building up your financial runway (and very *unofficial* financial advice) for launching a new venture
* Defining what your own version of success looks like at each stage of your life, and leaning in when growth feels uncomfortable
Listen now on: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Some housekeeping:
Thanks for being patient as I overhauled a few things with the podcast this week. Exciting things have been in the works, like new guest interviews and our new video format- we’re launching on YOUTUBE! From now on, all guest interviews will be available to watch on YouTube (or you can carry on listening from your favorite podcast app like: Apple or Spotify).
Now Back to our regularly scheduled programming:
This week, I was so thrilled to sit down and chat with Emily Marion about her career transition from finance to tech, her role as a Commercial Lead at Venmo, and how moving to LA shaped her perspective on work and life. Our conversation really helped me put into words some of the experiences I had as an early consultant and hope it will help demystify some things for you too.
- AB
Emily Marion is a Commercial Manager at Venmo (sometimes referred to as Strategy & Biz Ops), and has a previous background in finance (JP Morgan). In our reflective conversation, we discuss:
* Emily’s journey from feeling stifled in finance to embracing the dynamic world of tech in her new at Venmo.
* A deep dive into the role of a commercial lead at Venmo: the day-to-day tasks, long-term strategizing, and the intersection of biz ops & strategy.
* The evolution of Venmo's business model, including the introduction of business profiles, and the challenges of monetizing a platform known for P2P transactions
* Living in LA vs. New York: how relocating to LA and leaving the echo chamber of Wall St. has impacted her perspective on work-life balance
* How shifting our focus from seeking passion in work to finding job satisfaction and optimizing our lives outside of work, has led to a healthier perspective on work and life.
Listen now on: Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
If you enjoy these career chats share Professional Life Crisis with a friend!
Thanks for being here 🫶🏼
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week’s episode is a bit of a personal diary entry about my reflections of being how it’s been being self-employed for the past 6 months. The highs, the lows and a little “woot woot” to my past self for leaving consulting and setting myself up to be in the position I’m in now.
Topics I cover:
* How I’ve overcome (or at least managed) my imposter syndrome
* Uncapped income potential (exciting and terrifying!)
* How important it’s been to show up, at live in person events and make a name for myself
and some scary things I haven’t loved like:
* Dealing with finding health insurance
* Figuring out how to set up my LLC
* TaXesS?!
If you’re newly self-employed, or know someone who is, send them this episode 🫶🏼
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week’s episode is a little different. We’re taking a deep dive into what I’ve learned in the last two years about why AI startups tend to fail. Even if you don’t work for a startup, I hope you’ll learn something about how product teams build product, and what it’s like to work for a pre-product market fit startup. If you’re interested in jumping into the startup world, I’m always happy to chat if you send me a DM!
The pitfalls we cover:
* Cool idea but no market validation before diving in
* Trying to solve problems that just aren't real problems
* No clear target audience, and worse, no clear buyer
* Founder Ego
In this episode, I also announced the launch of my marketing consultancy for startups. If you're looking for a flexible, short-term solution to marketing at your early-stage AI startup, follow me Amanda Branson and send me a DM if you're ready to bring on some marketing support to scale your startup!
-AB
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
In this week’s part two episode with Justin Mazza, we talk about all things career transition, to the decision to MBA or not to MBA, and how his perspective on work changed after the loss of his mom.
We cover:
- Shifting careers away from being an industry operator into consulting, and how to make that jump.
- The stigma of doing your MBA online and its financial benefits vs. prioritizing the full experience of attending a top-tier program in person
- How he’s accelerated his career growth by focusing on growing his strengths and leveraging a team to help him fill gaps in his weaknesses
- His new perspective on setting work boundaries after reflecting on his relationship with work while his mom was ill
If you’re curious to hear part 1, where Justin talks all about “WTF is Consulting??” you can find it HERE.
Listen to Justin’s podcast, Life Lanes, the Brotherly Guide here.
Share this episode with a friend who’s going through a perspective shift on work and life 🫶🏼
-AB
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Hey there! In this week’s episode, Justin Mazza breaks down a very convoluted topic, WTF is Consulting??
We talk about:
* What even is strategy consulting? Strategy for who, strategy for what, and whose problem is it to take that strategy forward?
* Expectations at different levels from analyst, to director all the way up to partner, and how the manager level feels like a “V”
* How to be a good manager built on trust, and enabling people to do the work that they’re best suited to do
* Leaning into your strengths vs working on your weaknesses and how to build a team around you that compliments your weaknesses
Share with a friend who’s been wondering “WTF is consulting??”
-AB
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Hey everybody! This week’s episode answers the question: how can I get more satisfaction out of my work ?
Within this episode we discuss:
* The top 10 ways that people find satisfaction in their jobs
* Some tips to consider based on your personality and how you uniquely derive satisfaction from work.
After some personal self reflection and research about what impacts people’s job satisfaction, I highly encourage you to reflect on how many boxes your job is ticking for you, and make a change if it’s not high enough on your job satisfaction scale. Life’s too short!
As always, sharing with a friend and leaving a review is the best way to support me, and the podcast!
-AB
Share this episode with a friend 🫶🏼
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week’s episode is the second in the series: “WTF is a ______??” And today we’re talking all about: WTF is a Media Planner?? We cover:
* What is digital media, how does it fit under the marketing umbrella?
* How would someone get into an advertising career nowadays?
* What role would be best suited to me within digital media? (creative, paid, planning and strategy and more)
* Justifying your impact as a marketer, or creative agency to executives and CMOs
…and in addition to all of this, we had a lot of fun too 😋
If you know someone interested in a career in marketing, and they could use a hand understanding what digital media is, we’d love if you would share this episode with them.
Catch you next time,
AB
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week’s episode features Wesley Braden, a fellow ex-Chief of Staff and ex-Googler. In this part 2 conversation, Wes is incredibly open about sharing his struggles with mental health challenges like OCD and Bipolar Disorder. Listen to part 1 here if you’re interested in hearing about his experience in the Chief of Staff role at an early stage startup.
What we covered:
* Wes’ experience with OCD and Bipolar 1 disorder and how it’s affected him both positively and negatively in a demanding workplace
* Wes’ Professional Life Crisis: realizing he won’t stay in tech startups forever, even though he felt attached to is as his work identity since college
* How his mental health challenges have led him to pursuing a career as a therapist
* Tips for other folks who may just be starting conversations with their employer about their own mental health struggles
If you or someone you know is struggling with your mental health in a very demanding job environment, know that you are not alone.
Share this episode with a friend who needs to hear it 🫶🏼
If you enjoyed today’s episode, drop it a 5 star review- it’s really fun to see your comments, and it helps the podcast get discovered by other awesome professionals like you.
-AB
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Today’s episode features Wesley Braden, ex-Chief of Staff at Clay and Ex-Googler. In our conversation, we talk all about what the Chief of Staff role is, Wes’ journey to get there, and some of the biggest obstacles along the way.
Some highlights:
* WTF even is a Chief of Staff? (because *I* didn’t know until I became one)
* The differences between a seed stage CoS and a late-stage CoS
* Corporate vs startup experience & whether our corporate roles set us up well for the CoS role (hint: mine didn’t!)
* How to bring the good parts of corporate to startups, which may only be 20%, or maybe just 10, or 5%
If you enjoy today’s episode, please leave it a 5 star review and share with a friend who would love these career chats!
-AB
Share this with your favorite Chief of Staff, or corporate friend who you know would make a great one!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
This week’s episode with Porter Hayes is a must listen if you’re a young female professional, navigating the early steps on the corporate ladder and don’t know who to look to for meaningful advice and feedback.
We discuss:
* Learning to love a mindset of “continuous adolescence” instead of constantly battling imposter syndrome
* How it’s just as important (if not more) to learn what you DON’T want for yourself as it is important to learn what you DO want.
* How to vet other people’s feedback early in your career, and decide which feedback you internalize, vs which you say “thank you, next”
* Consulting skills vs startup skills: what transfers, and what doesn’t
Share this with a girlfriend that’s currently navigating Corporate America 🫶🏼
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
In this week’s episode I talk with Harry Catalani, about what it’s like to work in the beer industry (Anheuser Busch), move all around the country for work, and how to decide when it’s time to leave after 6.5 years.
We cover:
* Moving to new cities and establishing a life multiple times in your twenties
* Punching above your weight when you’re total unqualified to do so, and how being humble can help you learn what you don’t know
* How to take ownership over your career path (without panicking)
* Determining how you view your career (like Mount Everest or like a rock climbing wall at a gym) and understanding which model gives you more personal satisfaction
If you know someone who will love this episode, please share with a friend, and thanks to everyone who has already shared!
Thanks for reading Professional Life Crisis! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com -
Today’s episode is another episode in the series, 10 things I learned working for a startup, and today we’re deep diving into #2 on the list - Learning how you like to learn.
By the end of the episode, you’ll have some solid strategies for learning more efficiently and identifying how much time and effort you actually need to spend learning new skills to be amazing at your new job.
Some highlights?
* You don’t need to know everything, follow your natural curiosities
* Building scalable and repeatable processes vs the “brute force” method
* Defining your preferred mediums and channels for learning
-Amanda
Please share with a friend if you found today’s tips useful!
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit amandabranson.substack.com - Montre plus
