Episodes

Going local creates meaningful work. “People aren’t trying to create the next Budweiser. They are trying to create the next IPA that they can sell in the local bar and to drive a nice little employment world that is self-contained and capable of hiring and keeping people at work in their community.” - Morley Winograd, Co-author of Healing American Democracy: Going Local One revolutionary change happening in the United States right now is largely overlooked by our Members of Congress, top busi...

The Design Thinker: Turning Childhood Dreams Into Business Success “People come to me realizing that something’s not working, or, that they have an aspiration of what they want. At the end of the day, they want to make a pivot to something else. In order to get down there and make that pivot they need a strategy. And what I tell people is that it may take multiple strategies for you to get where you want to be. And we will get there. The question is, are you ready for a marathon? Because, it’s ...

Third Act By 28: One Man's Unusual Journey to do Meaningful Work (Part 2) “People said ‘well, he was a reporter, and a cop, and now he’s a cantor.’ When I look back on it, everything that I’ve done in my life, all of those jobs and the other smaller jobs in between, have always been about doing things with people, for people—helping them in some way.” - Michael Shochet, Senior Cantor of Temple Rodef Shalom, Falls Church, Virginia; Chief Chaplain of Fairfax County, Virginia Police Few of us ca...

Third Act By 28: One Man's Unusual Journey to do Meaningful Work (Part 1) “When I was a little kid, I loved police officers. I could spot a police car a mile away. I think it started when I was seven or eight years old and a police car came into our neighborhood, which never happened, to go to someone’s house to talk to them about something. And he was really nice to us—all of my friends. Who knows if that set a journey for me in the back of my mind that police work—such a noble profession—is r...

Beautiful Dreams: What did you want to be when you grew up? What were your dreams of doing meaningful work? In this special episode of The Tightrope with Dan Smolen podcast, we ask these questions which are so central to our personal narratives, but also to our pursuit of happiness. You will discover the beautiful dreams of some of our season’s guests, like: Charles Glassman who knew early on that he wanted to be a doctor; Richard Ezike who saw himself building beautiful buildings and great ci...

The Experience Shaper Part 2: One Performance Expert is Transforming HOW We Work “I was across the country in probably 12 different cities—about 500 people—and I would ask the question: How many of you have had a transformativeperformance evaluation in your career? And only THREE PEOPLE out of 500 said that they had had a transformative conversation.” - Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting Performance reviews are a stable of the workforce. It is how c...

The Experience Shaper Part 1: One Performance Expert is Transforming HOW We Work “As a child, I did have a moment when my mom said, ‘you know, you are going to have to work for yourself. You are going to find your way outside of what everyone else is doing.’ And I’ve never forgotten that.” - Adrienne Shoch, Corporate Performance Expert and Founder of 5 to 1 Consulting Early in life, she knew that her mind worked differently than the other kids. She knew she was dyslexic. But she also knew tha...

Transportation Equity: Reengineering the Quality of Urban Life “When someone is deprived of transportation options [it affects] their ability to get an education, it affects their ability to have access to healthy food, it affects their ability to access employment centers.” - Richard Ezike, Ph.D., Noted Subject-Matter Expert on Transportation Equity Transportation access remains one of the most important issues affecting American urban life. And yet, many commuters—especially those who live ...

Discovering Yourself: Knowing Your Myers-Briggs Type Opens Gateways to Meaningful Work “Myers-Briggs is all about preferences. We all have our preferences in life. Like our preference for chocolate or vanilla, we may eat both from time to time, but we prefer one over the other. So, with Myers-Briggs, the first step is to understand who we are, most naturally and comfortably. And when we are in a good place, Myers-Briggs helps us feel more empowered to make better decisions for our lives and car...

Coach MD: How One Physician Leads Patients to Live Better, Stronger, and More Meaningful Lives “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 Imagine being an average high school student who gets dream-crushing discouragement from a gui...

Meet Eva Grodberg, a corporate escapee turned travel provider of epic experiences. Imagine embarking on an advertising career on famed Madison Avenue, where all the entry level jobs available to recent college grads like you require proficiency in typing. Then imagine getting a lucky break with a pivot to print media sales where you rise to become a top direct response advertising sales mega-producer with a $20.5 million revenue portfolio and a huge expense account. Next, imagine what happens ...

Living a Life of Less Stuff And More Epic Experience According Pew Research's groundbreaking January 2017 report, the American Dream that we all knew as Upward Mobility is long gone; it was replaced by a soberer pursuit of economic stability. As a result, we now fill our homes and storage bins with less stuff. Instead, more of us, and especially Millennials, pursue profound meaning and experience. There are few industries where that shift to experience is more evident than in the travel and le...

Edythe Richards sees a path forward staying nimble for career success. The workforce’s notions of work and career have massively shifted. Edythe Richards is a veteran career counselor and Emotional Intelligence expert. In this episode, she provides a path forward, why it is so critically important that we stay nimble to achieve lasting career success in sustainability, social responsibility, and other fields. Indeed, there is a path forward staying nimble for career success. About our guest:...