Jazzed About Work

This week on Jazzed About Work, we'll be talking about how its never too late to reinvent your career. We'll be talking to Larry Meyer, journalist, novelist, and consultant. Larry, who's friends call him "Bud", started as traditional reporter but then went on to reinvent his career again and again.

Today, Bud has a lively career at a time when many of his age cohorts have opted for retirement. He's a thought leader in the field of community-assisted journalists and is currently writing his second "eco-novel".

Bev Jones talks with lawyer, law professor and health-care analyst, Dayna Bowen Matthew about racial inequality in the workplace.

Matthew just released a new book Just Medicine – A Cure for Racial Inequality in American Health Care published by the New York University Press.

She claims that African Americans and Latinos suffer from unconscious racial and ethnic biases by physicians, institutional providers and even the patients themselves. This implicit bias often leads to unintentional stereotyping and disparate care from Caucasians.

Matthew is a professor at the University of Virginia. She also has co-founded the Colorado Health Equity Project.

On this episode of Jazzed About Work, Bev talks with award-winning religion correspondent for National Public Radio and a former reporter for the Christian Science Monitor, Barbara Bradley Hagerty, about new research that explores fable that midlife is a time when things start to go "downhill". Barbara will explain how midlife can be a great new adventure when you can embrace fresh possibilities, purposes, and pleasures.

Ryan Lytle graduated from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in June 2010. In just seven years, he, as a millennial, has had a rapid rise in the job market.
For the past year, he has been leading digital audience efforts, social strategy and partnerships for Scripps Network Interactive, including the Food Network, HGTV, Travel Channel, DIY, Cooking Channel, Great American Country, TVN, Fine Living, and Asian Food.
For four years prior, he had social media positions and directorships with Mashable. He also spent two years as a producer, reporter, and social strategist for U.S. News and World Report and started right out of college with MTV handling social media tasks.
Lytle has credited some of his early success with key internships in college. As a student, he worked for the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Washington Post, and NBC’s Today Show.
Lytle attributes many of his opportunities to networking – “putting yourself and your work constantly in front of important people – even while in college.”
He talks with Jazzed About Work host Beverly Jones about always working to increase one’s skill-set of talents and building on them with each new project.
Lytle says, that even though new hires are expected to have many different skills in their career tool-box, most companies still hire people with in-depth expertise in a particular field.
Today, he says, that video skills are the ones demanding the most attention in the media workplace. Video shooting, editing, and live video are on the cutting edge and companies are hiring workers who have special talents in those fields.
After being on a rapid career path for seven years, Lytle says he is now learning more about work-life balance and he is learning that his whole life in not bundled with his career. He says this is refreshing and the balance is giving him new and fresh perspectives on life.

On this episode, Beverly Jones talks with Ira Chaleff, an author and thinker who specializes in the dynamics between "leaders" and "followers" in the workplace.
His newest work is titled, "Intelligent Disobedience: Doing Right When What You're Told to Do Is Wrong".

Donning judicial robes, taking the bench, and sitting in judgment of others on a daily basis can bring great professional satisfaction but problems may also arise, say two trial judges.
Judge Gayle Williams-Byers, an African-American woman judge in the South Euclid Municipal Court in Ohio and retired/visiting judge Thomas Hodson talk about dedicating part of their careers to service and the upsides of doing that.
Both agree that problem solving in courtrooms can give great personal satisfaction. Helping victims and making sure everyone’s constitutional rights are protected bring feelings of “doing-good” and administering justice.
These types of “service” positions are essential for society and give each judge a personal and professional sense of doing something “positive” with their professional lives. Both feel that what they do – makes a difference in their communities – a positive contribution.
Yet, both face challenges. It is sometimes difficult to make sure that courts are understandable and accessible to the general public. Both work with programs to make courts more approachable.
For example, Judge Williams-Byers livestreams all her court sessions to make what she does transparent to the community.
Both have worked with night courts and weekend courts to make courts more accessible. Also, both make sure that they are not administering “cookie-cutter” justice but tailor outcomes and penalties to meet individual situations.
Both face personal challenges as well. They say that being a judge can often be a lonely position which demands a great degree of social isolation from peers. Being a judge also demands an extreme degree of emotional reserve and control.
Retired-judge Hodson relates how that emotional withdrawal in court can sometimes spill over to one’s personal life causing some difficulties as a spouse or a parent.
Despite any challenges, both judges feel that the benefits of their service outweigh any detriments.

In this technological age, we all have major online vulnerabilities and each of us is easily “digitally documented,” according to author, consultant and public relations specialist John Paul David.
The average person, says David, is seen on surveillance cameras an average of 75 times per day.
All of this leads to online searches for potential job applicants, people seeking promotions, loan applicants, businesses and many other situations.
He not only cautions everyone but especially young people starting careers to be extra careful of their digital footprint and to routinely check their own search results for negative and damaging entries.
David also has developed a checklist for people to follow to be extra cautious.
David has been a strategic communication specialist and marketing professional for the past 25 years. One of his specialties is counteracting negative online information and reputation management.
In October 2016, David became a first-time author writing, “How to Protect (Or Destroy) Your Reputation Online: The Essential Guide to Avoid Digital Damage, Lock Down Your Brand, and Defend Your Business.”
He also writes an award-winning blog and regularly contributes to the Huffington Post.
He is a graduate of the University of Florida.

Kerry Hannon, a noted authority on work and career, has published countless articles and books about how to follow your heart to find the work you love. But, she has been hearing, as she travels across the country, that a shift in employment may not be practical for many, in these times.
So, how do you make your current job more satisfying?
“If you want to be happier, you have to DO something, to take action,” Kerry says.

Kerry joins Beverly Jones for the premiere this new podcast.

Jazzed About Work is a new series which will feature lively, informal conversations about everything it takes to create a resilient and rewarding career. In each segment, host Beverly Jones will interview professionals who can share their expertise related to the workplace. Her guests go beyond the research and get personal, as they will talk about their interesting and often surprising professionals paths.

Jones is an executive coach who wrote the handbook on building career resilience, “Think Like an Entrepreneur, Act Like a CEO.” She draws on her own experience as she talks with guests about everything from smart ways to lead, to their favorite techniques for career management and reinvention. Every segment blends good stories with practical suggestions for navigating your career.