Episodes

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Overflow PBC co-founder and CEO Laura Marella on finding success in independent work. Laura co-founded Overflow PBC to help solo-entrepreneur marketing and strategy professionals succeed. In 2021, the rise of independent benefitted people who compete for business with large firms and agencies. As a business accelerator and professional community, Overflow PBC provides independent professionals with specialized tools and resources that they need to c...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen asks Plutoshift's Prateek Joshi: will artificial intelligence improve future work? Prateek is the founder and CEO of Plutoshift, a company that uses artificial intelligence or A.I. to make the world a better place. This we know: artificial intelligence frightens people who fear that robots will take their jobs and paychecks. And, truth be told, A.I. will soon replace millions of low-skill jobs; it manages many tasks faster and better than people. But A.I. has...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discovers Raj Subrameyer's immigrant's future work story. Raj arrived in the United States for graduate study. He was an introverted Southern Indian student who pursued the lofty career goals that others expected him to follow. Astonishingly, he applied for over 1,200 jobs and got but a handful of interviews. That’s when he decided to focus on his own happiness; he began a process of discovery which got him unstuck to start his own business. Now, through his b...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Cristina DiGiacomo who wants people to get philosophical for work success. An author, podcaster, and practical philosopher, Cristina draws on ancient insight to help people solve contemporary problems. And as the founder of MorAlchemy, she guides people with practical philosophy to lead happier, more purposed lives doing meaningful work. Skeptics may not recognize the value to get philosophical for work success. But, for every stressor, difficult wor...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews author Daniel Pink to discuss what drives us to work. Daniel is The New York Times' best-selling author of several books, including DRIVE: The Surprising Truth of What Motivates Us. In good economies and bad, what drives us to work remains unchanged. During the pandemic, millions in the American workforce adjusted to remote work. And a large share of them became part of The Great Resignation. Yet often, motivations drive us to work towards positive ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen uncovers a culture of workplace empathy with podcast guest Hannah Jew. Hannah Jew (last name pronounced "Joe") is an empathy building brand strategist for Scotts Miracle-Gro, the nation's leading lawn and garden care company. A culture of workplace empathy is central to how Hannah does her job; it helps drive value for consumers who rely on her company's products to grow flowering plants and food from seed. Hannah accepted employment at Scotts Miracle-Gro whil...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets with Nina Froriep to discuss how video storytelling drives career success. Nina is a veteran video marketer and principal of Clock Wise Productions. She helps people across the globe to promote themselves and their brands effectively on social media. We have all experienced massive disruption caused by the pandemic. And 18 months of remote work placed us in Zoom Rooms where video became our chief engagement tool. Likely is the case that we all don't use ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets with marketing expert Amanda Blair Davis who experienced The Great Resignation turned Great Empowerment. Amanda built a successful career as a corporate marketing executive. During the pandemic, she thrived working remotely. But, in 2021, when her company called people back to the office, she resigned. Undaunted, she built a life and new career as an entrepreneur. Amanda founded Hudson Davis Communications, a marketing agency to serve the needs of many cl...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Genein Letford to discuss the case for intercultural creativity at work. Genein Letford is a public speaker, podcaster, and thought-leader in intercultural creativity. She works with hiring managers to help them create thriving workplaces. When people at work collaborate, they often pair up with others who are most like them. The old expression "birds of a feather flock together" aptly describes the preferences that we have in others. However, the w...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Dr. Dan Hill, who believes that "blah, blah, blah" hurts the workplace and career professionals. And in Blah, Blah, Blah: A Snarky Guide to Office Lingo, Dr. Hill and co-author Dr. Howard Moskowitz crowd-sourced over 600 examples of workplace jargon that are typically dismissive, patriarchal, and toxic. One cannot discuss The Great Resignation now happening in thousands of companies without first considering the impact of workplace jargon. So many pe...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen unpacks the Power of Hybrid Professional Identities with Sarabeth Berk, Ph.D. Dr. Berk is a self-described Chief Creative Disruptor. She believes that hybrid professional identities help people in the workplace to project their unique value to hiring managers. When asked: "what do you do for a living?," most people respond with their current job title. Or they launch into a non-succinct elevator pitch. However, Dr. Berk believes that that denies people opportu...

A stand-up comedian and workplace culture expert answers the burning question: Is the future of work funny? David Horning is the principal of Water Cooler Comedy. He works closely with organizations to inject humor into the workplace, to help them build strong, positive, and enduring cultures. As a young child, David discovered that he could make family, friends, and teachers laugh. Later on, he found inspiration listening to Monty Python, George Carlin, Jim Gaffigan and others to do his own s...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen interviews Andrea Koppel, who is helping people pivot from college to career. Andrea is a former CNN correspondent, PR and nonprofit sector corporate executive. She draws on those amazing professional experiences to empower 1 million students to turn their degrees into careers they will love. Each week, she hosts and executive produces the Time4Coffee Podcast which features the stories and unique experiences of top career professionals. Her guests have all pivo...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets a tech career strategist who helps people get unstuck for the future of work. Raj Subrameyer arrived in the US for graduate study. He was an introverted South Indian student who pursued the lofty career goals that others expected him to follow. Raj says he applied for over 1,200 jobs and got but a handful of interviews. That's when he decided to focus on his own happiness; he began a process of discovery which got him unstuck to start his own business. N...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen meets with Rob Citronberg MD to discuss the pandemic and the workplace. Dr. Citronberg is Advocate Aurora Health Care's Executive Director of Infectious Disease and Prevention. What is more, he leads his healthcare system's Covid-19 response and addresses the needs of hospitalized Covid patients. Beyond his hospital responsibilities, Dr. Citronberg also counsels members of the business community on their return to the workplace. Main interview segment starts a...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen believes that Career and Technical Education or CTE is key for future work. As students across the U.S. return to the classroom, more school systems are delivering STEAM instruction and career and technical education or CTE. STEAM and CTE are key for future work. Provided together, they help students to gain access to well-paying jobs that don’t require a 4-year college degree. This is indeed a positive development. But getting public school educators to engag...

Podcaster and Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen believes that times like these are perfect to turn crisis into career opportunity. It takes a steeled spine to log onto the New York Times' website and read so much grim news. However, it is in times of deep crisis that people can connect with the dream of doing meaningful work. Right now, we can turn crisis into career opportunity. Throughout Dan's life, he has known people who set course on meaningful careers born out of crisis: Rob Glassman ...

Future of Work Sherpa Dan Smolen discusses how the Code Red for Humanity's future work will deal with existential crisis. The UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that humans have changed Earth in ways both dire and irreversible. The IPCC calls this a "code red for humanity." Without intervention, during the next 20 years, human activity will cause Earth to get 1.5 degrees Celsius hotter. In the United States, that means a 2.7 degree Fahrenheit increase in the average tempe...

Podcaster Dan Smolen is in awe of Gymnast Simone Biles' future of work masterclass. By far, the biggest story to emerge from the Tokyo Olympic Games has been mindfulness of elite athletes. And American Gymnast Simone Biles is the face of mindfulness at these games. Biles exited team competition when her mind and body fell out of sync. Apparently, there is a name for such disconnection: the twisties. What is more, Biles confirmed her Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis. A...

Crisis and the future of work are now intertwined. And, the effects of climate change and the pandemic altered the work that we do and hope to do. During each day, practically everyone in the workforce addresses issues. Often, these are time and place-related included in the job spec. For instance: a marketing manager's task is in overcoming customer loyalty erosion. However, in the first seven months of 2021, the work we do became existential. With fires on the West Coast, and the Covid-19 ...

Podcaster Dan Smolen sees future work in local food production. We have a serious food problem. And, according to the International Monetary Fund, the price of food has jumped 47 percent in the past year. Our once reliable agricultural model scaled a food pipeline driven on abundant water, millions of acres of rich farmland, a huge supply chain, and cheap labor. However, the pandemic and climate change destroyed that model. Most of the food that we eat travels long distances to reach our tabl...

Future of work podcaster Dan Smolen says that the time has come for healing an emotionally distressed workforce. Gallup's latest workforce study is out, and it indicates that workers across the globe are suffering. And Jim Clifton, the Chairman and CEO of Gallup, minces no words: “What if the next global crisis is a mental health pandemic? It is here now.” Gallup concludes that the global workforce is enduring a second pandemic. People who work suffer mental and emotional distress at alarm...

Future of work podcaster Dan Smolen asks: do our best days lie ahead? Lately, some workplace observers have taken me to task for the tagline of this podcast: our best days lie ahead. With pandemic restrictions eased, we are in the midst of the biggest workforce and workplace disruption in over 100 years. Now, a career professional must come to an understanding of "new normal," whether they office at home, remotely from another venue, at a traditional co-location, or at a hybrid combination of ...

In this episode, Dan discusses becoming the future of work sherpa: Months ago, I challenged myself to come up with a succinct value statement to explain the scope of my work. I also sought to differentiate myself from other experts in future of work. And that is how I arrived at the notion that I am the future of work sherpa whose mission it is to help people connect with work that is profound, protects the planet, empowers people and communities, and is fun to do—meaningful work. Although I ...