JobSpeakers

Our guest this week is an award-winning poet, young adult novelist, and cookbook author as well as an activist, public intellectual, performance artist, and scholar. Named by Southern Living as “One of the 50 People changing the South,” Caroline Randall Williams views her work and her identity as inextricably linked. As a truth-teller who endeavors to "have a say in how things get remembered," Caroline in this episode unpacks the jobs of being a writer, professor, and change agent in the context of serving causes that matter to our time now and will "impact the record" for years to come. Like the beautiful meals in her cookbook, Soul Food Love, our guest this week serves up the gritty and glorious experiences that have shaped her career and life journey, so that we may all learn a thing or two. Bon appetite!

Our guest this week is an award-winning poet, young adult novelist, and cookbook author as well as an activist, public intellectual, performance artist, and scholar. Named by Southern Living as “One of the 50 People changing the South,” Caroline Randall Williams views her work and her identity as inextricably linked. As a truth-teller who endeavors to "have a say in how things get remembered," Caroline in this episode unpacks the jobs of being a writer, professor, and change agent in the context of serving causes that matter to our time now and will "impact the record" for years to come. Like the beautiful meals in her cookbook, Soul Food Love, our guest this week serves up the gritty and glorious experiences that have shaped her career and life journey, so that we may all learn a thing or two. Bon appetite!

Her job is cool, really cool. Visit the operating room to watch surgeries live? Check. Talk to surgeons and nurses about how to make their instruments better? Check. Devise cutting-edge instruments a joystick-operated robot will use to perform surgeries? Check. Yes, very cool indeed - but being a biomedical engineer also involves behind-the-scenes design and development processes that require exacting rigor, thorough testing, detailed documentation, and organized project management - along with a big dollop of creativity and problem-solving. Our guest this week walks through the ins and outs of a biomedical engineering profession while sharing how she has risen to the executive ranks, what she has learned about being a leader in her field, and whom she hopes to inspire as a result.

Her job is cool, really cool. Visit the operating room to watch surgeries live? Check. Talk to surgeons and nurses about how to make their instruments better? Check. Devise cutting-edge instruments a joystick-operated robot will use to perform surgeries? Check. Yes, very cool indeed - but being a biomedical engineer also involves behind-the-scenes design and development processes that require exacting rigor, thorough testing, detailed documentation, and organized project management - along with a big dollop of creativity and problem-solving. Our guest this week walks through the ins and outs of a biomedical engineering profession while sharing how she has risen to the executive ranks, what she has learned about being a leader in her field, and whom she hopes to inspire as a result.

Do you work to live, or live to work? It's an important question many of us ignore ... but not this week's guest, David Connell, who has crafted a successful career in digital communications while managing to be crystal clear about his personal and professional priorities (hint: David knows how to unplug after a productive day to spend time with his wife and two sons). As for choosing his working path, says David, "my generation was never expected to pick a career before college - that's when we were supposed to start figuring that out!" Still, David had the presence of mind to pursue a liberal arts education that helped him learn to communicate and think critically, and he used those skills to pursue writing and eventually web design and content development opportunities. Now a director, David shapes the Urban Institute's digital communications strategy and leads a team to execute that strategy. Hear more about David's career journey, the four paths to pursue a digital communications career, and, as a bonus, a little-known novel David might one day publish!

Do you work to live, or live to work? It's an important question many of us ignore ... but not this week's guest, David Connell, who has crafted a successful career in digital communications while managing to be crystal clear about his personal and professional priorities (hint: David knows how to unplug after a productive day to spend time with his wife and two sons). As for choosing his working path, says David, "my generation was never expected to pick a career before college - that's when we were supposed to start figuring that out!" Still, David had the presence of mind to pursue a liberal arts education that helped him learn to communicate and think critically, and he used those skills to pursue writing and eventually web design and content development opportunities. Now a director, David shapes the Urban Institute's digital communications strategy and leads a team to execute that strategy. Hear more about David's career journey, the four paths to pursue a digital communications career, and, as a bonus, a little-known novel David might one day publish!

Can you change the world? Guess what - you can! This week's guest Jennifer Burden had an idea about the power and diversity of motherhood and now, ten years later, the World Moms Network represents a growing family of moms from 30 countries who rally behind important causes like reducing poverty, providing safe drinking water, supplying vaccinations, and providing relief to victims of human trafficking. As Jennifer says, "We like to handle the tough issues," and this is exactly what she and her moms have done. Hear this inspiring story about the power of hope and perseverance and learn about the amazing people and experiences that have made up Jen's journey to date.

Can you change the world? Guess what - you can! This week's guest Jennifer Burden had an idea about the power and diversity of motherhood and now, ten years later, the World Moms Network represents a growing family of moms from 30 countries who rally behind important causes like reducing poverty, providing safe drinking water, supplying vaccinations, and providing relief to victims of human trafficking. As Jennifer says, "We like to handle the tough issues," and this is exactly what she and her moms have done. Hear this inspiring story about the power of hope and perseverance and learn about the amazing people and experiences that have made up Jen's journey to date.

From his first job working in the duty free shop of an airport in the Dominican Republic, Hugo Lembert joined a newspaper in New York City to drive classified advertising sales ... until that business dried up overnight and forced him to adjust his career path and migrate toward the digital media space. In this episode, learn more about advertising sales, how to build trust with customers, and the lessons you learn when you have to navigate a career during periods of uncertainty. 

From his first job working in the duty free shop of an airport in the Dominican Republic, Hugo Lembert joined a newspaper in New York City to drive classified advertising sales ... until that business dried up overnight and forced him to adjust his career path and migrate toward the digital media space. In this episode, learn more about advertising sales, how to build trust with customers, and the lessons you learn when you have to navigate a career during periods of uncertainty.