Episodes

Two headhunters on executive recruiting, and the rewarding experience of helping people connect with work and career. About this episode with two headhunters on executive recruiting: Listeners of The Tightrope Podcast know that Dan Smolen successfully managed a 20-year run in executive recruiting—a career act that happened because of our guest, Victoria James. She is the founder and president of Victoria James Executive Search, a nationally recognized and respected recruitment firm that places...

With Nicole Rousseau, we discuss how to instill nurturing workforce culture. About this episode: Nicole Rousseau has made it her mission to help people in the workplace thrive. During a Fall 2019 appearance on The Tightrope Podcast, Nicole described how she helps people and hiring managers work effectively and happily to scale revenues, but also to make the work that they do more meaningful. She has been so particularly effective in her work that clients dubbed her the Queen of the Millennials...

One thought-leader is guiding entrepreneurs to conscious leadership. In this episode: Jake Mitchell, the founder of consultancy Serenity Labs, says that impact entrepreneurs tend to give all of their energy towards making a positive difference in the world, among people, and their communities. But, he also asks: how can those same impact entrepreneurs change the world for the better when they are totally drained? Guiding entrepreneurs to conscious leadership is Jake Mitchell's mission. It’s ...

We explore a Londoner's work in recruiting and radio. About this episode: We go across-the-pond to chat with Russell White, a London-based executive recruiter who doubles as a radio host representing 1970s-era Disco music. Russ recounts his considerable success placing professional talent in executive roles in United Kingdom and European Union companies, and, offers his surprisingly positive post-Brexit outlook for people seeking work. But, it is during evening hours behind a radio station mi...

Adrienne Schoch discusses how to apply science and empathy for work. About this episode: If you are committed to finding meaningful work in the new year, then we urge you to consider an internship. We discuss why they are not just for career-focused college students; internships help mid-career professionals to seek meaningful work. Also in this "between the seasons" episode, we meet Adrienne Shoch of 5 to 1 Consulting who describes steps needed to apply science and empathy for work. She is a...

A discussion of how we went about designing the user experience for DanSmolen.com with Gresham Harkless, Jr. About this episode: In the first of our "between the seasons" episodes, we ring in 2020 with New Year's resolutions—particularly the ones in which people set out to find a new job. According to an Inc. Magazine survey, 16 percent or nearly 53 million of us will seek a new job this year. It surprises us that the number is not higher; the Gallup Organization reports that 66 percent, or 14...

Settle the debt: school lunch debt relief non-profit provides attorney meaningful ork About this episode: "In 2017, I was just driving down the street and I heard this interview on NPR and it was about this child in New Mexico who had gone to get a school lunch. And he walked up to the cash register with his meal in his hands, and it turned out that he didn't have enough money in his account to pay for the lunch. So, the lunch lady took the meal out of his hands and threw it in the trash right...

Bravery Part 2, an episode about the superpower that people need. About this episode: “When you heard the process that they went through to get there, it was painful and it was my process, too. It’s like putting aside everything you’ve ever been taught and saying: I’m really good at this. And, it all came down really to the biggest problem people have which is self-doubt.” - Public relations executive Aimee Stern By all measures, she was successful in ways that mattered most in the professio...

Bravery Part 1: the superpower people need to do meaningful work. About this episode: “When you are 26-years-old and being thrown into boardrooms to interview the CEO of Pepsi and General Foods and places like that, you really have to learn how to talk to people and to be a little differential, but still to be yourself. Otherwise, [they] won’t tell you anything.” - Public relations executive Aimee Stern By all measures, she was successful in ways that mattered most in the professional world:...

Courtroom to Screening Room: A Lawyer Finds Purpose as a Filmmaker About this episode: "Let me say it, again. Matt Weiss, a traffic lawyer from New York with no experience whatsoever, got to direct an Oscar winning actress. I mean, how cool is that?" - Attorney and Filmmaker Matthew Weiss Matthew Weiss is a successful attorney and a restless dreamer. He built a formidable New York City-based private law practice that helps thousands of people. And yet, he yearned for greater purpose in his l...

As Coach MD, Charles Glassman is a doctor on a meaningful work mission About this episode: I told my [high school] advisor that I was thinking of going into medicine. Well, he kind of paused as he said: ‘Look, medicine is a really tough field. Maybe you ought to think of something different?’ And when he said that, that made me decide—no matter what—I WAS GOING TO DO IT.” – Charles Glassman, MD With grit and determination, Charles Glassman, MD has achieved success as a gifted physician, publ...

Bridgeport: City Strives for Meaningful Work. About this episode: "We are in a global race for innovation, and, if we do not prepare—and we can't wait for kids to graduate high school and college—we need that work now." - Career coach and entrepreneur Natalie Pryce The city of Bridgeport—the second largest in the state of Connecticut—was once an industrial powerhouse. Fueled by New Deal-era federal investment, Bridgeport became home to companies that supported our armed forces during World W...

Queen of the Millennials: One Leadership Coach's Passion for Gen Y Empowers America's Intergenerational Workforce About this episode: "At the end of the first group that I had, we were wrapping up and we're saying goodbye. One of them said, 'you're the only one who likes us, no one in the company likes us ... you are like the Queen of the Millennials!' And I was like—DING!!!—and I went on GoDaddy and got that URL!" - Leadership Coach Nicole Rousseau Nicole Rousseau is not a Millennial. And y...

Stand Up: Comedy Connects Veterans to Beautiful Dreams and Meaningful Work About this episode: "It was very interesting to come into a fully formed class that has a clear way of getting you from 'you think that you are funny?' to 'how does that translate on stage for five minutes?'" - US Army veteran and ASAP comedian Monica Daly Typical hard-working Americans often do work that becomes devoid of meaning...and good humor. According to the Gallup Organization, 66 percent of the American workf...

To B or Not to B: A Nature Lover Turns Businesses into Benefit-Driven Brands About this episode: "[They've got some stuff] that makes good headlines on sustainability, but it is not moving many at all on the speed of urgency." - Jen Boyton, regarding her decision to "break up" with Amazon.com As a young child growing up in rustic New Hampshire, Jen Boynton discovered the joys of nature. Play for her and her siblings was dirty, lots of sticks and stones...and mud. In 2007, she helped to laun...

Emotional Intelligence: How EQ Helps People to Succeed in Meaningful Work Part 2 About this episode: "How often do you know people who take the time to actively pay attention to what they are feeling, identify the source of their feelings, and, take the time to think about how that affects other people?" -Emotional Intelligence Expert Edythe Richards Most everyone knows what IQ means—it’s the intelligence quotient, a score derived from several standardized tests to measure a person’s intelli...

Emotional Intelligence Part 1: How EQ Helps People to Succeed in Meaningful Work About this episode: "Every reveal, so to speak, is unique and everybody's results are unique. So, before [they even get their] results back, I think it is really important to provide an understanding of what Emotional Intelligence is." -Emotional Intelligence Expert Edythe Richards Most everyone knows what IQ means—it’s the intelligence quotient, a score derived from several standardized tests to measure a perso...

Give Piece a Chance Part 2: An Entrepreneur Disrupts Chicago’s Food Scene About this episode: “We didn't have the luxury of a soft opening. So, we're packed, it's hard getting the product out of the kitchen, because we really don't know how to do volume yet. And we're learning how to do service. So, we're pissing off people right and left and it took awhile to settle down. And fortunately, it did. But definitely it was a double-edged sword. And we were in the papers; we were in the media all o...

Give Piece a Chance Part 1: An Entrepreneur Disrupts Chicago’s Food Scene About this episode: “There were plenty of naysayers. Chicago is known for deep dish pizza. That is what Chicago is. And people were telling me [you can’t go] into Chicago with a New Haven-style pizza, because frankly, not many people know where New Haven is let alone what New Haven-style pizza is!” - Billy Jacobs, founder of Piece Pizzeria & Brewery In this episode, we learn how one entrepreneur dared—not once, but twi...

Beyond Dreams: where will the Tightrope take us? We tackle the topic. About the episode: On the Fall 2018 season of The Tightrope, we learned that, born from our beautiful childhood dreams, we can find success as adults doing meaningful work. Through their own storytelling, our guests inspired us to seek out work and career opportunities that are profound, empower people, protect the planet, and fun-to-do. But we also learned that dreams alone cannot lead to meaningful work. We must aid our ...

Serving Those Who Serve: Finding Meaningful Work as a Police Chaplain About this episode: “My career has been one of twists and turns, but ultimately things connected to each other. And what I do now—to help people in need—is something that helps me feel whole.” - Michael Shochet, Senior Cantor of Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Virginia; Chief Chaplain of Fairfax County, Virginia Police Few can tell a personal career story as dramatic and ever-changing as Mike Shochet. He became one of t...

Neurocentricity and recruitment align the corporate mission to meaningful work. “We’re looking at a world of more empathetic buying, empathetic recruitment, empathetic reading, empathetic leadership. It is absolutely the way of the future. It is allowing anyone who is connected to a common cause to feel respected and safe in a way that will change the world.” - Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting An unusual alignment of forces is taking hold in today’...

A meaningful career: leading autonomous vehicle adoption In Urban America. “The community has to trust developers of the cars, users of the cars, and they also have to see that these cars are going to take them to the places that they have had difficulty getting to.” - Richard Ezike, Ph.D., Noted Subject-Matter Expert on Transportation Equity Dr. Richard Ezike’s earliest childhood dreams of doing meaningful work were about building beautiful buildings and cityscapes. But after earning advance...

Dr. Charles Glassman explains overcoming Brain Drain and other obstacles to leading a meaningful life. “It’s so convincing, the physiological feeling that we have when we’re anxious: our stomachs feel tight, we might have to go to the bathroom, we might feel jittery, we might have brain fog, we might not feel on top of our game or strong. And those are very convincing feelings to tell us we have to fight or flee.” - Charles Glassman, MD In this episode of The Tightrope with Dan Smolen podcast...