Life is Work

Life Is Work - Ep 67 - Self Care Check In

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 37:30

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - Nostalgiaholic, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Self Care Check In

• RESULT: To check in on our resolutions, goals, and discuss how we’re creating ways to prioritize ourselves.
• Camnecdote
  • Areas of Life activity keeping in my bag all year

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Self Care Check In
  • Halfway through the year (almost!)
    • In US, the July 4th holiday is a good way to mark halfway through the year
  • Common Pitfalls
    • We’ve been swept away by schedules
    • We were derailed by imperfect progress
      • perfection/productivity
        • “Im not perfect right away so it must not be for me”
      • Mindfulness app “streak” example
  • Creating space to prioritize ourselves
    • Every day is a new opportunity!
      • Reframing/mindset shift
      • “We can always begin again” (Sharon Salzberg)
        • Mindfulness - tendency to catch myself getting very overwhelmed by my emotions and needing to pull back to observe them, instead of “oh i messed up!” a core part of the practice is just returning to your center. Coming back again is key to growth, awareness, and trying anything new
        • Black is King, Beyonce - you can always return home to yourself
    • Mindfulness & resolution episode resources
      • NVC observation - what’s actually happening
      • Try not to jump to judgement
      • Dan example - “Try to reduce the gap between your values and your actions.” - Miriame Kaba
        • Identifty - what are my values? What are my commitments to those values?
        • Commitment + Practice = Capacity
      • If we notice (observe) that we are not committed, the response should be curiosity - why am I not committed?
        • Is this the “right” goal for me at this time in my context?
      • If we notice we do not have capacity, the response is compassion - we are human and can only do so much!
        • Start anew with the proecss
      • Ongoing practice, you can always return home to yourself, always return to your values and reassess. Lifelong discipline
• Adaptive self care
  • Prioritizing ourselves throughout the day
    • Ex: Movement break, outside time, process with a friend, relax your shoulders! 3 deep breaths
  • How do you want to use 5 minutes?
• Check in with your support systems
  • How can we support each other?
  • What do we need?

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 37:30

• Body Scan

We Are Always Students

• Selfcarefully by Grace Obuchowicz
• Burnout by Amelia Nagoski and Emily Nagoski
• Headspace on Netflix
• Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawaab

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • What do you need right now?
• Community-care
  • Have I checked in with my loved ones recently?
• Systems-care
  • How are your environments (i.e. office, schedule, city, etc) supporting or inhibiting your goals?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• MBSR Coure - www.palanteconsulting.com/mbsr
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 66 - Hiring: Onboarding

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 36:00

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Onboarding

• RESULT: To finish our hiring series by walking through the onboarding process and identifying areas for improvement to better welcome new people to the team. 
• Danecdote
  • Generally stunned at transition from beinin school all the time to “prepare” for working, and then at work it’s rare for anyone to take time to teach you things 
    • Also a weird pride in “I taught myself! No one is gonna do it for you!” 
  • Also had a job where I got a ton of training but it was over a six month period, it was a TON of content, and after 4-6 hours of training would just have to go do it 

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Onboarding
  • You got the job!
    • A quick note before accepting: negotiating an offer
      • Some sectors this is more of a norm than others
      • Power dynamics
      • Ask for what you’re worth
      • If salary isnt negotiable, benefits & perks
        • Work from home
        • Flex days
        • AskAManager can be helpful in navigating this system
  • Current approach: get you producing/generating work as fast as possible
    • Issues
      • We aren’t robots
      • Communication & jargon - unclear requests
      • Learning takes time
      • If everything is new, difficult to prioritize
    • Challenges
      • Hiring folx is a net loss for the org
        • Trying to minimize losses
      • Not always a designated person to train and onboard
        • HR usually focused on HR stuff and not job training
      • Doing & teaching are wildly different skills
        • Maybe the best person on the team at the job is not also the best teacher……
          • Makes training new folx difficult
  • What could it look like
    • New hirees
      • Communication & asking questions
        • Try to minimize assumptions and guessing
        • Framing: I know how to do things, and I want to ensure they are completed in a way this team/org/dept needs them
          • Helps to minimize imposter syndrome
        • Also - make sure you have tried to find the answer yourself with the knowledge you do have. Organize and make a list of questions - try to reduce asking any questions that come to mind all day long and plan a time to follow up with your questions 
      • Patience
        • Know your boundaries, and stretch them a little
        • It will take time - about a year
      • Set boundaries as early as possible
        • Email & calls after hours
        • Working late/through lunch
      • READ THE EMPLOYEE HANDBOOK
    • Welcoming teams
      • Self
        • How can you embody compassion, patience, and care for the new person?
        • Can you remember what it was like being new?
      • Community
        • How can your group best plan for a new hire?
        • Are there things that aren’t written down but just “known”?
          • Write them down
        • Clarify roles - who is training, welcoming, checking in on, etc (how often, for how long, etc)
        • Timeline of training
          • When should they realistically be able to start xyz
      • Systems
        • What unspoken rules or expectations exist in your office?
        • What is the work culture like?
        • What policies are outdated or could use clarification?
        • How can the org as a whole better establish equitable hiring processes for the entire process?
          • Accountability
          • Diversity
          • Justice 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 36:00

• Mindful Movement

We Are Always Students

• Real Happiness at Work
• Dare to Lead
• Employee Handbook

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • When you enter a new space, what do you need? 
• Community-care
  • What unspoken rules or expectations exist in your office?
• Systems-care
  • While hiring is a net fiscal loss for organizations, how can organizations invest in the gained aspects of a new employee, including talent, perspective, and expertise? 

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 65 - Hiring: Team Fit

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 33:50

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Team Fit

• RESULT: To continue our hiring series by exploring the process of determining whether or not a candidate is a good “fit for the team,” some common issues with this process, and how to determine a “good fit” more authentically and with more intention.
• Camnecdote
  • team lunch

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Team Fit
  • Intention: To see if a candidate will be comfortable in the team/work culture, and vice versa
  • How it usually works
    • Personality tests
      • Enneagram
      • Color
      • Meyers Briggs
      • Strengths
    • Some personality type questions during the interview
      • Ex: How do you like to keep your work desk?
      • Do you tend to speak up in meetings or lean back?
      • Describe your work style
      • How do you handle conflict
  • Lunch with a few people on the team/adjacent departments
• Issues
  • There are a lot of “unsaid” culture things at play here. What does it mean to be a good fit?
  • Common things “culture fit” means but are not said (isms) (also reminder to Dan about department at Fidelity)
    • Age
    • Gender
    • Race
    • Sexual orientation
    • Physical appearance
    • Socioeconomic status
    • Experience
  • This can be a problem because it either
    • Makes the team real homogeneous (everyone is similar)
    • Or there is a tendency to tokenize people
  • Re: personality tests
    • I love personality tests, but if they are used as /the/ determining factor about a person then we are giving them too much power
    • My MBTI is very accurate, a good tool to understanding why I am the way that I am, and also it is only part of who I am
  • Re: Personality questions in an interview
    • It’s an interview, so it already feels like a test
    • Because of the environment/general experience of the interview, everyone (including you) will be tempted to provide an answer they think you want to hear, vs. what is authentic
  • Re: Lunch with a few ppl
    • This is actually really nice, the issue is often power dynamics - who is able to attend the lunch has all of the say about the kind of fit the candidate is
      • Even if the candidate is great for the job, it doesn’t mean everyone I. The office will wanna have lunch together
• How to Do Better
• Hiring Bodies
  • First: remember
    • It takes time to really get to know people
    • Because there is inherently a limited time involved to get to know a candidate before hiring them, know that there is only so much you can really learn about a person in that time
  • Be clear about what you mean by “culture fit”
    • Write them down and make sure you are comfortable with and intentional with them
    • Do this practice as a team
    • Make sure that the list does not turn out to be you looking to hire another you
  • Use personality tests, but only as a tool - not a deciding factor - and share your own
    • A general rule at PLLC is to always be willing to model the vulnerability you are asking of other people
    • Be clear with yourself on why you are hoping to learn about the person with the personality test - beyond asking for just their number or letters, ask yourself, “what do I wish to learn about the candidate with this tool? How does what I want to know apply to the work culture?”
  • Instead of asking things like, “do you speak up in meetings?” Use situational/preference  questions - “tell me about a meeting you thought was really productive. How did you contribute?”
  • Lunch/some other activity the team enjoys doing
    • Ensure the team members this person will work most closely with can go to the lunch
    • Not too large of a crowd - maybe 4-5 people
    • Try to find a place where the tables are round so that not only a few people are able to have a conversation (Dan hates rectangle tables)
    • Should be obvious, but pay for the candidates’ lunch!
  • Ensure a curated set of people who will work closely with the candidate if hired have some time to spend with them
    • Hear everyone’s input, trust your gut, come to consensus as a group
• Applicant
  • All of the advice above, + remember that you are looking for the right culture fit for yourself as well
  • Think of questions you can ask that will give you clues to day to day life in this workplace
    • What are the expectations around flexible work time?
      • Listen for:needing to submit time, “special occasions,” as needed, etc. and ask follow up questios
    • What is the standard cadence of team meetings?
      • Listen for: how often, how they are scheduled, what is expected in each meeting
    • How do we keep each other informed of work projects?
      • Listen for: formal tools (what’s included/involved: biweekly check-in example)
    • What is your decision making process like?
      • Listen for: “when we are told XYZ by another department,” reactivity vs. strategic planning (ex “I just want to do more”)
  • Notice power dynamics
    • Does everyone you are speaking appear comfortable? Engage with you? Paying attention? There are a lot of things going on in people’s lives all the time, but so your best to read them room and determine if there is anyone who appears disengaged/overlooked
  • Trust yourself
    • If it feels right or if it doesn’t feel quite right - notice and trust it

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 33:50

• Breath Practice

We Are Always Students

• MBTI/Enneagram (technical)
• Something adaptive
• Something fun (@cam what’s a good pop culture rec here?)

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • What kind of work culture are you looking for in a workplace? Write down what comes to mind.
• Community-care
  • How do your teammates contribute to your team culture? What traits do they uniquely provide to create the culture that you have?
• Systems-care
  • How can the process for finding a team fit be more authentic across an entire organization?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 64 - Hiring: Doing Work For Free

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 35:00

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Doing Work For Free

• RESULT: To continue our hiring series by addressing a common phenomenon - asking candidates to do work for free to show their skills. We will talk about how it usually works, some common issues, and how to be more thoughtful and intentional about this practice. 
• Danecdote
  • Have had a few experiences with this personally
    • Created a workshop for teenagers on bullying
      • The grown adults I was interviewing with “acted” like teenagers, threw things at me, called me names, etc. during my workshop to see how I took it
    • Had to bring in a kind of portfolio of a successful project to show how I managed it from beginning to end (extra work because obviously no one at current job needed a document like this)
    • Had to facilitate a meeting in real time while different ppl on the interview panel “played” different parts to see how I would maneuver them
  • Had to PAY to interview to be a lifeguard (training) 
  • Someone I know was actually put to work on an /actual/ current project at the company,  ALL DAY, to hear their thoughts and brainstorming around a project they were trying to solve to get an “outside” perspective and then did not hire them. R U FOR REAL

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Doing Work For Free
  • Intention: For hiring managers to see the translation of what you describe in your application to how you can apply those skills in real time
    • Implication: I see what you wrote here - I’d like to see you prove it in real time
  • How it usually works
    • Bring in some work you have done before (the softest ask)
      • Portfolio
      • Examples of work - correspondence, link to videos/website/etc
    • Prepare something specifically for this interview
      • Workshops
      • Short presentations
      • A response to a problem of some kind
    • A surprise work assignment
      • ‘We will ask you do something like xyz, will provide the full details during the interview’
      • Or it’s just a surprise entirely
        • Here’s a problem, take some time to show us what you would do to solve it 
  • Issues
    • This is time and thought and intention and work to ask someone to do without compensating them
      • We are proponents of gift economy (giving what you can, not ‘quantifying’ everything with a dollar value), and also that is not the system that we live in. We live in a system where we need our time to turn into points to pay for our lives. Asking people to do things for free without return is no small thing
    • THIS IS SO STRESSFUL
      • Interviews are already stressful (as mentioned), and by also asking candidates to do extra work, it adds another layer of preparation/stress to an already difficult experience
    • The implicit “prove it” of the intention - like, “i see you said you know how to do xyz - prove it”
      • Regardless of intention, the impact can feel like aggression and mistrust - a tough way to start out a new relationship with a potential new employee
    • The existence of doing work for free as part of the job interview is composed of two parts:
      • An inherent distrust of the candidate - that what they tell you they can do and what they can actually do don’t align
      • A challenge for candidates to ‘get ahead’ of one another. Getting ahead is a mantra of capitalism - and by telling candidates to create work for you, this is their opportunity to ‘get ahead’ of other candidates. It is a way to perpetuate a system where there is only room for a few at the top. 
    • You are looking for the right person to fill the role - there is nothing wrong with that - but by requiring candidates to do extra work outside of what is already going on in their own lives (and if they are applying for a job, there is a guarantee that there is a stress of some kind in their lives), you are assuming that they also have access to a lot of other things:
      • Time to do the work without pay
      • Access to technology to make whatever it is “look” professional
      • Experience with a work culture like yours that would allow them to know what you are looking for 
    • Essentially, if you are an organization that says you are “equal opportunity” - consider how your hiring practices address and are intentional about that commitment 
  • How to Do Better - Mindset Change
    • Assume positive intent
      • Every candidate is doing their best, wants to find meaningful work and provide for themselves and their community
      • Hiring managers - related to what we mentioned in our interview episode - be fully aware of the power you have in the room and use it to support candidates
    • Every candidate has skills and expertise to offer a position and an organization. It may not be this position or this organization, but every person who is going through the hiring process is a full human being, experiencing the constant catastrophe of life, and deserves our respect
  • Hiring Managers - How to Do Better
    • Reminder - know exactly what you are looking for in a candidate:
      • Dreams
      • Negotiables
      • Dealbreakers
      • Quick No’s
    • Stick with situational questions - this is what they are for! 
      • Tell me about a time when…. 
        • This is conversational, and will show you the experience of the candidate pretty quickly
        • Don’t do too many of these - use your “what do I want to see in this candidate?” guideline as a framework and pick a few situational questions that will help you determine if they meet your guidelines
        • Also - if the candidate covers the areas you are looking for with the first three situational questions, do not keep asking questions they have already answered/shown their expertise in.
        • Spoiler, this is all about valuing people’s time, including yours!
    • If you absolutely need the candidate to show something to the hiring committee - portfolio, some small exercise, etc., be clear about that in the job description so it is not a surprise to the candidate that it will be required
      • Also, maybe put in a time limit on the assembly of the thing - acknowledge that you know you do not work for the org yet and want to value their time, so please do not spend any more than 20 minutes putting this together. 
      • Candidates will do what they are going to do, but acknowledging the time it takes to complete the request and giving them a framework of expectation with a time limit will help take the pressure off
      • Also - CONSIDER PAYING PPL!
        • Put it in the budget
  • For those of you applying:
    • Be on the lookout for this ask
      • If you a prompted with a ‘work for free’ request, have your list ready:
        • Dreams
        • Negotiables
        • Dealbreakers
        • Quick No’s
      • Make sure this position is one that you are excited about enough to meet their request. 
      • Put your own time limit on how long you will spend assembling what they have asked for. Ask yourself questions like,
        • Will this benefit me in the future?
        • Do I enjoy doing this kind of activity? (if not, maybe not a good position to pursue)
        • Can I complete this activity in X time that feels reasonable to me
      • Step into your power and give yourself the choice. Just because an org makes the request does not mean that this is:
        • The job for you
        • A request that you have capacity for right now
      • If you are interested in the job and you don’t have a lot of capacity, you can offer something like:
        • Happy to do so, but I am currently able to provide the time to complete X components of this request. When hired I will have capacity to do more
        • Ask clarifying questions
          • How much time to complete?
          • Can you elaborate on the expectations - how long? How much? 
      • If you are not excited about the job or the ask, it’s okay to walk away

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 35:00

• RAIN - welcoming your emotions

We Are Always Students

• The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer 
• The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron 

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • What are the boundaries you have around doing work in preparation for an interview? Do you feel that your boundaries need to be tightened or loosened up?
• Community-care
  • What are some ways that you can support potential teammates who may be asked to create extra work as part of their hiring process?
• Systems-care
  • Why is doing work for free a prevalent part of the hiring process? Who benefits? 

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod

Life Is Work - Ep 63 - Hiring: Interview

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 39:15

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Interviewing

• RESULT: To continue our hiring series by advising how to navigate the current interview process, and some suggestions for both applicants and hiring bodies to improve the process.
• Camnecdote
  • Burning Holes
  • 6 different interviews/conversations for a job
    • Took a long time
    • Unpaid work
    • Had to keep it secret from current job
    • “Is this job even worth it?!”

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Interviewing
  • The goal: to get to know one another, clarify roles/culture & “fit”
  • This problems
    • Impossible to do in 1-2 hours
    • Sales pitch from both sides
      • No one is being their full selves
    • Anxiety/nerves
    • You don’t know each other!
  • Solutions
    • Applicant
      • Get clear on what you want
        • This is a time to ask about your deal breakers
          • Ex. cam work flexibility
      • Write down all your questions you have
        • What’s unclear to you
        • What do you want to know more about
        • What worries you
        • What foreseeable challenges do you see
      • Prioritize these questions
        • Probably wont have time for all
          • Follow up email/call/interview
      • Do a mock interview with a mentor, friend, colleague
        • Ask for specific feedback
      • Print copies of resume on nice paper
      • Prep as much as possible the days ahead
        • Outfit
        • Route to interview
          • Or logon time
        • Eat something - coffee will just make you more nervous
        • Set aside self care time after
          • Even just 5 minutes
      • Breathing exercises for waiting room
      • Be yourself
        • If you cant be you in the interview, can you be you in the job?
        • Negotiating safety and “professionalism”
          • Different sectors are different here
    • Hiring boards
      • Get clear on what you want
        • Don’t waste time having people recount their resume and cover letter
        • Review all applicant materials - you required them to do them - honor that by spending time with them
        • Write down all your questions & prioritize
          • HR guidelines
          • Probably wont have time for all
            • Follow up email/call/interview
      • Is there anything you can incorporate into the interview to help give a sense of the work place
        • Ex. cam spending time with students during advising interview
      • Prep as much as possible the days ahead
        • Try not to rush into the room if it can be avoided
        • You’re selling yourself/dept/org too
        • Are all roles clear for everyone involved?
          • Down to who is offering water/coffee?
        • Is the timing clear to everyone if more than the talking part of the interview
          • Tour, etc
      • Be yourself
        • Try to show the applicant who you and the org are every day, not just the sales pitch version

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 39:15

• 5 Step Meditation

We Are Always Students

• Radical Candor
• Real Change in the Workplace (Real Change by Sharon Salzberg?)

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • Have you ever had a job interview you enjoyed? What parts resonated?
• Community-care
  • How can you support your department in the next hiring process? A friend who’s on the job hunt?
• Systems-care
  • Why don’t organizations build in time and incentives to create a more robust hiring process? How do the systems benefit, if at all, from a 45 minute interview?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 62 - Hiring: Applying

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 42:00

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Applying

• RESULT: To continue our hiring series by advising how to navigate the current application process, and some suggestions for hiring bodies to improve the process.
• Danecdote

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Applying
  • SUCH A TEDIOUS UNFORGIVING PROCESS
    • Job postings - sites, boards, word of mouth, groups, etc
    • Job descriptions
    • Application process
      • Free labor - essays, letters, tailored resume, etc
      • Conflicting and ever changing recommendations
        • 1 vs 2 pg resume
        • Email follow up or dont call
        • Knowing someone or applying blind
        • Etc etc
      • Humanless experience
        • “To whom it may concern”
        • Hiring bodies/departments
        • Automated responses
  • Suggestions for how to navigate the process
    • Get as clear as you can on what you want
      • What are your
        • Dreams
        • Negotiables
        • Dealbreakers
        • Quick No’s
    • Take some time to find out “where” these jobs are
      • Certain sectors use certain places
        • Linkedin
        • Professional Job Boards
        • Internal Hires
    • Take time to tailor letter and resume, etc
      • What is the position asking for
      • How do YOU fit those requirements in your way
      • How do you as a whole person add value
        • You are valuable and worthy, job or not
        • You’re communicating the value you can add in this position
    • Follow-up
      • Read the description and HR sites clearly - many state to not follow up
      • If no clear boundary, research appropriate person
        • Department lead
        • Admin
        • Front desk
      • 2-weeks - Short phone call or email
    • Moving on
      • You will likely not hear back from most positions
      • That means it wasn’t the right one, even if it “sounded” like the right one
  • Hiring bodies
    • Get as clear as you can on what you want
      • What are your
        • Dreams
        • Negotiables
        • Dealbreakers
        • Quick No’s
      • HR requirements
      • Equity intentions - how is this position or the description encouraging a diverse body of applicants
    • Take some time to find out “where” these people are
      • Recruiter
      • LinkedIn
      • Job Boards
    • Take time to review submissions
      • Remind yourself what is the position asking for
      • Applications are a snapshot
        • These are real people
      • If receiving a lot of submissions, how can you be clearer about the job requirements or your needs? How can you more clearly sift through applications?
        • Decide this BEFORE posting
    • Follow-up
      • I know it’s tedious, but follow up with everyone
        • Email template/mail merge
      • You build trust as a place that cares about people
    • Moving on
      • If you don’t find what you’re looking for, take it down, review, and post later
      • Don’t settle just to fill the position

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 42:00

• Chair Yoga - 6 Movements of the Spine

We Are Always Students

• LinkedIn
• Dare to Lead
• Read Happiness at Work
• Journaling

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • Have you ever had a positive hiring experience? What about it did you love? What can you replicate?
• Community-care
  • How can you improve your workplace hiring practices? How are those decisions made?
• Systems-care
  • Who, if anyone, benefits, from the current inefficient hiring processes?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 61 - Building a Network

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 38:28

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Networking

• RESULT: To explore the function of networking, the pitfalls of how it often works, and ways to network in a way that is authentic and meaningful to you and your goals.
• Camnecdote
  • Im awful at it
  • College department trivia

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Networking
  • What it means in work culture, generally: making connections with people that will help you attain future opportunities
• Usually looks like
  • Networking “events”
    • Ew
    • Intention is everyone is there to connect (like a dating site)
    • Issue is similar to most formalized tools (see “teambuilding” and “icebreaker” episodes) - you are taking the natural occurrence of connection between people and formalizing/commodifying it so it feels less like connection and more like performance art
  • Informal networking events
    • Not labeled as a “networking event,” but the attendees have access to power/positions/resources so we attend to be seen (show face) and to know and be known by those in attendance
    • Also - temporary jobs/internships
      • Surprise Danecdote - was so exasperated when, in my first temporary position in a department I wanted to work in full time, that it was awkward and taboo for me to be clear about my intentions of wanting to stay in the department long-term
      • In our current culture, expected that you are ‘grateful’ for a temporary position and go above and beyond to prove your worthiness for a long-term position
    • Volunteer positions
      • See episode on labor/service
      • In nonprofit sector, a way to network is to provide your labor for free to prove your interest and worthiness
• How to network authentically and meaningfully
  • Human connection - SURPRISE this is what we are really talking about all of the time
  • It is helpful to be aware of power dynamics, but centering them creates a disconnection - a feeling of ‘using’ people and opportunities vs. being present in the moment
  • Notice where you are already spending your time and live into your values when you are in those places
    • Be the person you want to be with all people all of the time, not just when you have determined it might be specifically beneficial for you
      • Dan hairdresser job story
      • Dan CCFW story
  • If you notice that you are not spending your time in a lot of spaces, be curious about why that is and how you can change that
    • See our adaptive self care episodes
    • Take inventory of your time
    • What are your interests/“hobbies”/ that draw you in? Find communities around them
      • Dan sociocracy/NVC example
  • Technical Tool: LinkedIn
    • Especially when first starting off in a career, helpful to use LinkedIn to see the trajectory of other people’s careers who have held the job titles you are interested in
      • DO NOT “ask to pick their brain”
      • Just make note of their path and see if anything speaks to you/aligns with your vision
      • If you want to reach out, make sure you offer something in return
        • Buy them coffee/lunch
        • Offer a skill you have to compensate them for their time and energy
        • They may not take you up on it but the awareness that their time is valuable and their advice is /work/ will be so appreciated
  • Be a networker for other people
    • Say people’s names in meetings they aren’t in
    • Give ppl credit
    • Be a networker for others - gift economy
  • BE YOURSELF
    • Dan (so many anecdotes for this, sry) moved around A LOT in early 20’s, didn’t have language to describe the need for community but found if I just did me, just did things I wanted to do, I met people I connected with and was able to build relationships anywhere that I was
      • Find your version

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 38:28

• Sun Breaths  Meditation

We Are Always Students

• Daring Greatly by Brene Brown
• Areas of Life chart
• Community Care cartoon by @deannazandt

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • What are communities in your life that you are actively involved in? What communities would you like to connect with?
• Community-care
  • Is there anyone in your current communities you haven’t spent time with? What is a way that you can reach out to them?
• Systems-care
  • How are our systems currently designed to cultivate - or not cultivate - a network of support? What is a change, if any, that you would like to see in our current systems?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 60 - Hiring: When I Grow Up

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 35:09

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

When I Grow Up

• RESULT: To begin our hiring series by exploring how we’re taught to pursue certain professions, and consider how to identify a variety of potential careers at any time in our lives.
• Danecdote
  • a brief journey of trying different things

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Hiring Series Overview
  • Over the next 7 weeks, we’re going to walk through the hiring process to explore different ways of thinking about the hiring process
  • Provide support and tips on how to navigate this system in a way that promotes our humanity
  • Many folx are currently without jobs, and so while these suggestions are the “ideal”, we’re happy to partner and help You Do You
• When I Grow Up
  • Current Culture
    • When i grow up, i’m going to be a:
      • Doctor, Teacher, Vet, etc
      • Usually gendered
      • Usually a “coveted” career, but not necessarily money focused until HS/college
    • School “tracks”
      • Electives
      • HS Counselors
      • Aptitude tests
      • Go to college
    • College
      • Picking majors
    • Graduation
      • Masters
      • Career centers
      • Just need a job!
  • Where are we now
    • How many of us out there are working in a job where our major was? Our interests?
    • Job satisfaction & career satisfaction
    • Second careers
  • How to evaluate
    • Skills inventory
      • knowledge/expertise
      • “Soft” skills
      • Natural skills
      • interests/passions
    • Exploration “Networking” - talking to connection in other fields
      • CEUs/workshops/free courses/youtubes
      • Our You Do You individual consulting
    • Taking a risk - being vulnerable
      • Internship
      • Going for it

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 35:09

• Journaling exercise from Julia Cameron's "The Artist's Way"

We Are Always Students

• The Artist’s Way, Julia Cameron
• Nomadland: Surviving America in the 21st Century 
• Your Art Will Save Your Life by Beth Pickens

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • What’s your dream lifestyle? What does it look, sound, and feel like? What excites you about it?
• Community-care
  • Do you know the dreams of those around you? Are there ways you can support them in achieving those dreams?
• Systems-care
  • How would organizations benefit if more people were following their passions? Why don’t more organizations support more people doing so?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 59 - Voting & Workplaces

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 29:00

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Voting & The Workplace

• RESULT: To provide a light overview of voting laws in the workplace, how it currently works in our society, and some suggestions for how to do better to encourage teammates and employees to get out and vote!
• Camnecdote
  • Early voting on campus when worked there

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Lil Overview of Workplace Voting Laws/AKA, Know Your Rights! (cr: https://www.workplacefairness.org/voting-rights-time-off-work)
  • Time Off to Vote
    • Varies by state
    • In some states, the law designates a specific amount of time that workers must be allowed off to vote
    • Time off can be paid or unpaid
    • Some states require your employer to give you time off only if you will not have enough time to vote before or after work, while the polls are open
    • Most but not all states prevent your employer from firing or disciplining you because you take time off to vote
    • In some states, if you do not actually vote even though you took time off for that purpose, your employer can dock your pay for the hours off, so save your receipt or other proof of voting in case you're later questioned.
  • A note on political speech at work
    • There is no U.S. federal law that protects private-sector (nongovernmental) employees from political affiliation discrimination, and only a few states prohibit such discrimination. Similarly, in the U.K., only Northern Ireland requires that political affiliation be considered a protected class.(cr: Ford Harrison Law Firm)
    • TLDR; The First Amendment does not protect against action taken by private employers.
    • It varies a little by state (see this link to check your state), but on the whole, private employers can dismiss you for engaging in political advocacy in the workplace/during workplace hours
• How It Currently Works
  • Salaried jobs have more flexibility
  • In theory can go during the day, but not always possible for scheduling reasons
    • Also not typically ‘advertised’ at work - no announcements on when and where to go, if and when early voting is available, etc.
  • Also, culture and power dynamics are at play
    • Unprofessional/taboo/unsafe to discuss politics at work
    • Sometimes, politics are discussed but it is under the assumption that everyone holds the same view, no space given for conversation or cultivating an understanding of each other
• How to Do Better
  • S/o to Stacey Abrams, these are from “Our Time is Now”, Steps every business can take to increase access to voting and democracy:

1) provide voter registration info to employees and remind them to verify their current registration

• This is so simple and has nothing to do with any particular political persuasions, it’s just ensuring everyone has the information they need to be registered to vote

2) Ensure employees know when elections are occurring

• Same thing - nothing to do with political ideas, it’s only providing the ppl with information on where to go to participate in our democracy

3) Make Election Day a holiday with paid leave

• We get all kinds of other national holidays off, set an example for your organization and honor our democratic republic by making voting day a holiday!

4) Encourage employees to be poll workers on Election Day 

• If employees have the day off from their dayjobs, encourage them to work as poll workers!
  • It’s a paid gig
  • Can only imagine it’s a super interesting experience
  • Another way to encourage participation in democracy

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 29:00

• Daily Intention

We Are Always Students

• Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams
• https://www.vote411.org/
• https://www.workplacefairness.org/voting-rights-time-off-work
  • State laws for voting in the workplace

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • In what ways do you prioritize casting your vote in your community?
• Community-care
  • What steps can you take to ensure that your family, friends, and co-workers are encouraged and have the ability to cast their vote?
• Systems-care
  • Which of the structural suggestions for encouraging voting in the workplace are in place at your organization? How can you advocate to include one or more of the suggestions?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]

Life Is Work - Ep 58 - Nonprofit & For Profit Culture

Co-hosts, Producers:

Danielle Stenger 
Cameron Navarro, LMSW 

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 33:24

Melanie Wilmoth Navarro, LMSW, RYT, TSTSY-F

Owner, Lead Facilitator - Whole Moon Wellness

[email protected]

Contact Info:

Website

Email

Twitter 

Instagram

Music:

Intro - King Must Die, by Picnic Lightning

MMM Transitions - Sur, by Picnic Lightning

Outro - Pa’lante, by Hurray for the Riff Raff

Nonprofit & For Profit Culture

• RESULT: To explore the difference between nonprofit and for-profit culture, how they are often misunderstood and misinterpreted, and how best practices for work culture apply in both sectors.
• Danecdote
  • SO MANY OBSERVATIONS from a decade in non-profit
    • Primarily people who had excelled in for-profit workplaces were hired for VP/C-Suite jobs in non-profit
    • Would hear complaints about how much the CEO got paid, how much /I/ got paid because people “wanted the money to go to who needs it”
    • Cultural messaging about being there for a cause, and it resulted in having little power over paygrades/benefits
      • Ex. we’d like raises! And the response was always “we’re competitive with industry standards” and then nothing would happen

Protein - Main Event - Topic d’jour

• Nonprofit and For Profit Work Culture
  • Starting with definitions
    • Non-Profit
      • Organization organized and operated for a collective, public benefit
        • “Charity”
        • Most political organizations, schools, business associations, churches, social clubs, and consumer cooperatives.
      • Any revenues that exceed expenses must be used for the org’s purpose, not used for the profit of its owners
      • Usually tax exempt
      • Accountable to donors, founders, volunteers, program recipients, and the public community
    • For-Profit
      • Exists to earn earn profit through its operations and is concerned with its own interests
      • Accountable to shareholders
    • Main Differences
      • Just in their mission and the way that profit can be used
      • Mainly in the presentation, not structure
    • Similarities
      • Nonprofits aim is to serve the public in some way, yes, but just like any organization they need money to do it
        • Rise in “social enterprise” businesses - businesses within the nonprofit that help generate revenue to pay for services and people to do the work
        • Sales team in for profit = development/fundraising in nonprofit
      • They can have slightly different tax breaks and mission statements, but they both still operate in capitalism
      • Re: Dan’s example about for-profit executives “retiring” into work at a nonprofit, their experience making revenue was highly valuable because like any business, non-profits need money to run
      • People work at both places, and all people in our current system need to be paid to do things!
        • Dan was so perplexed by the outrage that people had for well paid CEO’s in non-profits that they did not also harbor for non-profit CEO’s
        • See previous episode on work/labor/service
        • Why is the work required of a CEO of a nonprofit inherently less valuable than the CEO of Charter Communications (his name is Tom Rutledge, and his current salary is $116, 995, 201 btw)
        • This idea that the work of people in non-profits is somehow less valuable than the work of people in for-profits is a social construct
          • All people need points to buy things and do things and take care of themselves in our world
      • “Moving up” is the same game
        • Who do you know
        • Power dynamics
        • What “skills” do you have (see again, for-proft experience highly valued in non-profits)
      • Silo-ing is a problem in both workspaces - the system is organized the same, so often people in positions with the least amount of knowledge of impacts of a decision hold all of the power
        • Ex in nonprofit: making everything online
        • Ex in for profit: sales team making a decision that impacts the implementation team (surprise!)
           
  • Best Practices for Work Culture
    • Spoiler - they are the same for both sectors!
      • Meaningful Meetings
        • Ensuring all voices are heard
      • Work Culture
        • Power dynamics
        • Hierarchy in cultural value, hierarchy in pay
        • Teambuilding and shared power
        • Role clarity
        • Centering the whole person
        • Etc etc etc - every topic we have ever covered is applicable to both sectors; there is a layer of complexity given the context of each workplace, but the root issues and side effects of the root issues are often the same because it is the same system

Mel’s Mindful Minute: 33:24

• Joint Movement Series

We Are Always Students

• Why Do Non-profits Exist Article (Cam sent this to Dan back in first part of job)
• Mutual Aid by Pyotr Kropotkin 
• Corporate Culture in the Nonprofit Sector: A Comparison of Fringe Benefits with the For-Profit Sector by Rosemarie Emanuele and Susan H. Higgins published in the Journal of Business Ethics in March 2000
  • “One explanation that may be given for why nonprofit organizations pay lower wages than do other organizations is that nonprofits are more pleasant places to work.
  • Analysis shows that nonprofits are not more likely to offer these conditions in many instances” WOOF

Sharing is Self-Caring

• Self-care
  • Have you ever donated to a non-profit? What drew you to that organization? Are there similarities between what draws you to non-profits and which businesses you shop at regularly?
• Community-care
  • What mutual aid organizations exist in your area, if any? How can you support them?
• Systems-care
  • What good works have you seen from non-profit organizations? From for-profit organizations?

Reach Out!

• lifeisworkpod.com
  • Find questions submission link
• Instagram @ lifeisworkpod
• Ko-Fi Coffee 
• [email protected]