Shows
DesuckifyWork®Ep 149 | How to get creative without going crazy with Justin BajanYour agency doesn’t have to be insane to produce great work.We’ve romanticized chaos in this business for years.🙀 The weekly (daily?) fire drill🙀 The wall-to-wall meetings🙀 The indecisiveness masquerading as nicenessJustin Bajan and his partner Dustin Artz wanted something different. After years riding the big-agency roller coaster, they created Familiar Creatures with an explicit goal to prioritize stability.Okay, maybe they were a little insane to think they could pull that off.But here they are 8 years later inventing stuff like Protein Vapes for Crunch Fitness—a com...
2026-10-1348 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 148 | How networking can be less painful and more useful with Greg RocheNetworking doesn’t have to involve a room full of strangers.Or shotguns.After Greg Roche was laid off, someone invited him to a networking event built around sporting clays—which is apparently like golf, but with guns.Greg sat in his car thinking:“There has to be a better way to do this.”There is.Networking can be one conversation with someone you already know. No name tags. No elevator pitch. Just two people talking like actual people.Greg writes a Substack called The Introver...
2026-10-0653 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 147 | Helping agencies relearn the art of communication with Django Weisz BlanchettaWork sucks less when we talk to each other like human beings.Especially creative work.People need to feel safe asking dumb questions, challenging assumptions, and saying, “I have no idea what you mean,” before everyone wastes three days heading in the wrong direction.We try to solve this with process.😼 We add another Slack channel.😼 Schedule another (ten) meeting(s).😼 Try our 17th project management software in the past 3 yearsAnd no one ever thinks to just pick up the damn phone.Communication isn’t a soft skill. It’...
2026-09-291h 00
DesuckifyWork®Ep 146 | Let's make work less soul sucking with Greg HarrodWork sucks less when it doesn’t suck the life out of us.Obvious, right?And yet, agency leaders spend a lot of time thinking about utilization, capacity, deadlines and deliverables—and very little time thinking about what kind of work actually gives their people energy.So the brilliant strategist spends half her week building decks.The creative director becomes a project manager.The agency founder approves every decision down to the brand of sparkling water in the fridge.Everyone is busy. Nobody is working at their best...
2026-09-221h 14
DesuckifyWork®Ep 145 | How to be an agency optimist in a crazy world with Stephen BrownIf you spend enough time reading about the agency business, you might think we’re all completely screwed.AI. Shrinking budgets. Procurement. Tariffs and trade wars. Another holding-company reorg announced before you’ve finished your McMuffin.But Stephen Brown isn’t buying the doom and gloom.After 23 years as co-founder and CEO of Fuse Create, Stephen has seen it all. He’s survived major client losses, recessions, digital disruption and a pandemic. And today, while others are panicking, he’s doubling down.Not blindly.Optimism, for Stephen, means staying grounded i...
2026-09-1558 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 144 | Making change at work less scary with Allen Hardin“There’s gonna be some changes around here.”Ruh-roh.That’s the reaction most of us have when leaders announce an exciting new initiative, new tech or new process.Why’s that?Because people are hardwired to fear change. Especially in a world where everything seems rootless and chaotic.You can’t just dump a steaming pile of new on everyone’s heads and expect them to smile and fall in line.Allen Hardin works with companies to get this right. To lead through change in a way that isn’t...
2026-09-081h 04
DesuckifyWork®Ep 143 | How to survive and confront false urgency at work with Eric ReckerFalse urgency is killing us. Literally.Nearly a million people die each year from workplace-related stress.And yet we keep feeding the beast.What if we just stopped? What if we asked the simple question, “is this ASAP BS?”Most of it is. And it’s not just killing us—it’s making us less productive, less creative and less useful.Is that really what we’re trying to do here? Eric Recker decided he didn’t want to play that game anymore. He was burnt out. Working crazy hours running...
2026-09-0146 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 142 | Let's create user guides for all of our coworkers with Jeff GibbardYou know when you order something from IKEA, you get a list of all the pieces, plus instructions on how to put them all together?Why don’t we do that with people at work?A user guide, complete with a person’s preferred ways of working. What’s their relationship with time? What environments give them energy and which ones suck the life out of them? What communication methods work best? What are their superpowers? What is their kryptonite?You know who does this? Jeff Gibbard. Jeff is a speaker and coach with a...
2026-08-251h 15
DesuckifyWork®Ep 141 | Placing a big bet on human creativity with Sam LittlefieldMost agencies are in survival mode right now.Hell, the entire world is in survival mode right now.It’s a crappy place to be.We’re defensive. On edge. Reactionary.Nervous systems fully engaged all day long.Good luck being creative when you’re crouched under your desk all day.And yet, creativity is exactly what we need right now.To build a new reality instead of being cowed by the current one.To see something beyond mere survival.It’s a leap of faith.Faith in the one thing—creativity...
2026-08-1850 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 140 | How stalking your clients leads to agency success with Kim LawtonWant the secret to running a successful agency? Stalk your clients.Not in the creepy, quite possibly illegal way. But in the over-the-top, can’t stop being curious about who they are way.This is what the teams at Inspira Marketing and Enthuse Marketing do—two agencies run by today’s guest, Kim Lawton.Who has time to dig into that kind of detail on every client? The folks who work in a culture where relationships—with clients and fellow team members—are the most critical KPI.Of course Kim cares about prof...
2026-08-0451 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 139 | He Quit His Job to Travel Forever — 27 Years Later with Derek BaronWe’ve all dreamed about it. Ditching the 9-to-5, moving to an exotic location and traveling the world.Derek Baron actually did it. And is still doing it, 27 years after he called his parents from Southeast Asia and told them he’s never coming home.Now, before you send out an FU email to your boss and start scanning flights to Bali, you’re gonna want to listen to Derek’s take on his nomadic life.He has no regrets. But he also warns… this life is not for everyone. Living out of a suitcase...
2026-07-281h 00
DesuckifyWork®Ep 138 | Mastering the art of great questions at work with Sandy SullivanThe posters on the wall. The words on the website. The sizzle real that you share with every prospect.Are they b******t?You know who knows? Your team. Take a look next time you reference your mission or your values. How far back into their heads do their eyes roll?Slick messaging may help land a client or two, but I can guarantee you it’s turning more folks off if it doesn’t ring true. And if your team ain’t feeling it? Good luck delivering work that actually lives up to tho...
2026-07-211h 00
DesuckifyWork®Ep 137 | Let's put the bullies in their place and start playing—with Jeff Harry.You can tell a lot about a culture by who it celebrates. But you may learn even more by who it vilifies.Who are the bad guys right now when it comes to making work suck? How much time do we have?😾 Meta laying off 15,000 people via mass email after telling everyone to work from home that day.😾 OpenAI CEO Sam Altman casually speaking about AI gutting white-collar employment.😾 Elon Musk tweeting (X-ing?) about everyone living on a universal basic income as if this would be a joyful existence. Have any of these...
2026-07-1459 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 136 | What Jesus can teach us about being more emotional at work with Jonas BergvallYou know who’s a good example for us at work? Jesus. Yes, that Jesus.It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian or a believer of any kind. Jesus wore his heart on his sleeve—and that’s something we need to do more of at work.But wait, aren’t we supposed to check out emotions at the office door? Isn’t being emotional a liability as a leader?Well, the guy who inspired the world’s largest religion may beg to differ. He lived in his emotions. He felt angry. Sad. Joyful. Dis...
2026-07-071h 01
DesuckifyWork®Ep 135 | Finding the balls to fail at work with Tom Hicks“More balls than most.”Those are the big, bold, embossed words on the black box Tom Hicks received from his grandmother.This was several years ago, when he was having some challenges in his life. Inside the box was a 3 ball juggling kit, which included a pamphlet titled, “A Short Course in Life Enhancement.”Okay. You had me at balls. Now I’m really curious. How in the world does juggling enhance one’s life?Quite substantially, it turns out. Because this kit helped Tom completely reframe failure in his life. Instead of f...
2026-06-3050 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 134 | Rethinking how we work with Rishad Tobaccowala“Jobs are just a silly phase work is going through.”This is a quote from Rishad Tobaccowala, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. I love the quote—because it reframes what we’re all experiencing right now in a provocative way. Work and jobs are uncoupling—the stable nine to five is becoming a hodgepodge of freelance, gig work and side hustles. It’s how we work now and the trend is accelerating.Historically, jobs are a blip on the work timeline. An Industrial Revolution creation to make sure widgets got made reliably and at scale. Before t...
2026-06-231h 15
DesuckifyWork®Ep 133 | A peek behind the HR curtain with Philip SubaJamie Gutfreund came on the show a few months back and said she would like to get rid of HR entirely.I get it. Everyone has had experiences with HR that’ve been less than stellar.Today, I speak with someone who brings a different POV. Philip Suba has worked in HR for years and believes in it, deeply. But it has to be done right.What does right look like?You need to really understand the business you work on. It’s not enough to know the HR stuff… how does y...
2026-06-161h 06
DesuckifyWork®Ep 132 | The humanizing power of music to create better work cultures with Shaka MitchellWhat song reminds you of 6th grade?Which one makes you feel invincible? What song got you through a hard breakup? Which one do you play after a miserable day at work?These are the questions Shaka Mitchell asks in his Come Together Music Project. It’s helped people with opposing political views have a civil conversation about hard topics like immigration, abortion and racism. Surely it can help a creative and an account person get along during a weekly status.This project is gold. We all have answers to these questions. And ea...
2026-06-0952 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 131 | How do detoxify company culture with Kyle, Jacky and Kianna from GigasavvyIf you run a company, work culture isn’t a part of your job. It is your job.Everything else, performance, profit, innovation, execution, is downstream from the culture you intentionally create every day.It’s a hard job. But it’s the one you signed up for. What grade would you give yourself? What do you think your team would say?I spoke with Kyle Johnston, Jacky Northgrave and Kianna Miller from Gigasavvy—an ad agency based in Orange County, CA—to see what this dynamic looks like in reality.They are a...
2026-05-261h 04
DesuckifyWork®Ep 130 | You gotta get messy to get great with Steve ChavezHumans are a messy species.And that’s awesome. Every drop of joy, meaning, purpose, love, hope and creativity comes from that messiness.AI creates slop. We’re sloppy, which leads to works of genius.So what kind of work do we want to be doing? That’s the question Steve Chavez and I dig into during this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast.Steve is the Chief Creative Officer at Buntin, an ad agency in Nashville. He’s been doing this kind of work for years. And he’s also my former boss.H...
2026-05-1956 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 129 | Learning to talk like humans at work with Michael LeeCan we talk? I feel like we can’t, actually. At least not at work. We can make word noises out of our faces but most of it is overly polite, passive aggressive, aggressive/aggressive, or corporate gobbledegook.It’s ridiculous, really. Yet another way our workplaces are distinctly not human.That’s why I brought Michael Lee onto this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast. He’s all about making work more pro-human. By helping people have useful conversations, especially ones where we embrace conflict.Conflict helps us learn, solve problems, make ideas better.But we...
2026-05-121h 02
DesuckifyWork®Ep 128 | How courage can bring trust back to the workplace with Maryam MehrtashWork sucks less when trust is more than just a word on a company website.Trust is at an all time low—from corporations to government to media—our faith in our foundational institutions is flimsier than ever. Add AI to the mix and it’s a wonder we believe anything, ever.We expect people to just show up at work and functional normally in the face of all this? It’s crazy. And if you look around and most workplaces today, “normal” is clearly not happening.Courage is the way out, according to this week...
2026-04-281h 02
DesuckifyWork®Ep127 | Normalizing and casualizing mental health at work with Paul MacFarlaneWork sucks less when talking about mental health becomes as boring as talking about going to the dentist.When it’s just another thing. Like that show everyone’s watching. The game last night. Or that new laundry detergent that really does make your whites 20 percent whiter.When it’s fully normalized and casualized.That’s what Paul MacFarlane wants. A return guest on the DesuckifyWork® Podcast, Paul is a creative soul who believes our work should bring out the best in humanity.And our humanity is crying out for some help righ...
2026-04-211h 25
DesuckifyWork®Ep 126 | Creating unity without uniformity at work with Neil GhoshWork sucks less when we realize unity does not require uniformity.A cohesive culture means everything at work. But it doesn’t mean everyone needs to show up in the same way.In fact, it’s way better when we don’t.A shared mission? Yes. And the only way to achieve it is if you invite everyone to bring the stuff that makes them interesting to the table.Neil Ghosh has made it his mission to help make this approach a reality. He’s written a book called “Do More Good” and...
2026-04-1452 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 125 | From corporate insanity to practical servant leadership with Joe Palm and Mike MossQuick, picture an org chart. Blocks filled with names and lines drawn from the top execs all the way down to the most junior team members.Now imagine flipping that chart on its head. CEO at the bottom, supporting everyone above them.Feels a lot better, right?This is the world Joe Palm and Mike Moss would like to create. And they’ve written a book to help make it happen—Practical Servant Leadership: People-First Strategies to Create Value in a Profit-Obsessed World.This is not a feel good book. It’s a do goo...
2026-03-311h 17
DesuckifyWork®Ep 123 | Bust free from the attention economy with Nick RichtsmeierThe problem:The attention (addiction) economy is killing us.The way to solve it:Moving to a trust-based economyThe world we could be creating:One where it doesn’t feel like we’re slaves to a system nobody actually wantsHow we can create it:🐱 Step away from the algorithm once in a while🐱 Notice things, wonder, be curious🐱 Give attention instead of demanding it🐱 Shift from coercive funnels to actual human connection🐱 Bring inefficiency back into the system🐱 Embrace creativityWhy inefficiency is glorious:Because it’s load-bearing. Trust is built in the slow, th...
2026-03-171h 09
DesuckifyWork®Ep 122 | Disrupt Everything and Win with Patrick LeddinThe world is on fire. AI is coming to replace all of us. Trust is at an all time low.Good news?That’s the premise of a new book co-written by James Patterson (yes, that James Patterson) and Patrick Leddin, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.The book is called Disrupt Everything and Win. And it’s basically a how to manual for the wacky world we’re living in right now.It starts with the story of Patterson, who rose up to CEO of J. Walter Thompson in NYC befor...
2026-03-101h 01
DesuckifyWork®Ep 121 | How UX can help us create better workplaces with David GreeneIf you were designing a workplace, would it look like the one you’re in now?Stop laughing.Okay, now that we’ve calmed down, what’s your answer? How would you set up your teams? How would the work flow, ideally? What kinds of training (remember training?) and learning opportunities would be provided?Put simply, what would the user experience look like?This is the question David Greene is answering every day. With a background in UX and a passion for making work not suck, he’s perfectly suited for the job...
2026-03-031h 09
DesuckifyWork®Ep 120 | Owning the dash between birth and death with Sheri ZevenbergenThe conversation was so nice we had to have it twice.It took two recording sessions for Sheri Zevenbergen and I to nail down this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast episode. Thanks to some technical difficulties.But it was so worth it. Sheri is coach, podcast host and delightful bundle of energy and insight. With a clear vision for how we can live a life that matters.It’s all about the dash. You know, the one between when we’re born and when we die. Sheri calls this the “DASH Mindset.” What are we gonna do...
2026-02-241h 15
DesuckifyWork®Ep 119 | How to become a more relatable leader with Rachel DeAltoPeople suck sometimes.All of us.Especially at work.Our humanity narrows.We turn into strange creatures who speak in acronyms, buzzwords and status updates.And we wonder why it’s all so hard.We made it that way.And we can unmake it.By becoming more relatable.Rachel DeAlto —author, speaker and former relationship expert on “Married at First Sight”—wrote a whole book about it. Two, actually. Her latest, “The Relatable Leader” lays it out plainly:We need to connect, communicate and inspire.🐱 Ditch the corporate speak a...
2026-02-171h 03
DesuckifyWork®Ep 118 | How to desuckify your work culture with Andrew GoodwinA company that makes, installs and maintains piping systems in some of the hottest and most challenging environments in the world has created a work culture that should inspire any of us who work in less hazardous spaces.I spoke with Andrew Goodwin, president of Professional Piping Systems on this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast. People love working for this company. Retention is high, career growth is open to all and the team seems to genuinely enjoy each other.They’ve cracked the code on Desuckifying Work and the good news is, it’s not all that co...
2026-02-1045 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 117 | Creating more good days at work with Brad FarrisWho are you on your best day? What about your worst?Be honest.Brad Farris, engineer turned leadership coach, took me through this exercise on this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast. And it’s pretty wild. Here are my results:Best Day:CuriousLovingEnergeticCompassionateWorst Day:Closed MindedStubbornCrankyShut DownWhat’s fascinating is how much the two sides relate to each other. curious vs. closed minded, energetic vs. shut down, etc.We all have these continuums that we live across. And the key is not to dismiss the “bad” side. We’re human. It’s to find...
2026-02-031h 01
DesuckifyWork®Ep 116 | Our work is making us sick with Sarah DawkinsThe idea that corporate jobs aren’t physically taxing is a myth.In many cases they are literally killing us. In almost all, they are taking an often invisible toll on our bodies, creating illness and injury through repeated assaults on our nervous systems.Ridiculous timelines, insane expectations, ever-changing market pressures, unstable economic forces. It’s a lot.“Hey, at least I’m not out there shoveling crap every day.” Sure. But your body (and mind, and soul) are still taking a beating.Sarah Dawkins experienced this firsthand during her career as a nurse...
2026-01-271h 14
DesuckifyWork®Ep 115 | Don't get status reports get soul reports with Carin KnoopDon’t get status reports from your team. Get soul reports.That’s the takeaway from this week’s DesuckifyWork podcast with Carin Knoop. Carin is a wonderful writer and the Executive Director of the Case Research & Writing Group at Harvard Business School.We talked about the importance of mental health at work and how managers and leaders need a whole new set of skills to deal with the issues so many workers are facing.Carin offers a bunch of great ideas for how to engage with employees who are struggling. Most of which...
2026-01-201h 09
DesuckifyWork®Ep 114 | From C-suite burnout to creating a better world with Erica Rooney.Be careful what you wish for.You may aspire to an executive job, maybe even the C-suite. And there’s certainly a lot of good that can come with that kind of role.But it ain’t all sunshine and roses.That’s certainly been the experience for Erica Rooney, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® Podcast. Erica is an author, speaker, coach and fractional CPO who spent years climbing the corporate ladder, only to find herself asking, “why exactly did I want this craziness?”The work was intense and nearly never...
2026-01-0651 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 113 | Getting in the muck with The Life Brief author Bonnie WanPeople say we’re addicted to our phones, but I think it’s deeper than that. We’re addicted to the absence of silence.The idea of spending one quiet minute alone with our thoughts terrifies us. So we grab our distraction devices and keep the inner voices at bay for a little longer.It’s hard to know who we really are if we never listen to those voices. And how could we possibly know what we want from life if we don’t know who we are?So, we end up chasing so...
2025-12-161h 08
DesuckifyWork®Ep 112 | How to be a best place to work with Jaime Raul ZepedaThere was a 4 inch gap between the bottom of the couch and the floor in the storage closet turned office 3 of us shared at Wunderman many years ago.So naturally, that space became the “goal” when we played hockey with a crumpled up piece of paper and a couple of old sticks.I don’t remember how many games I won back then but I do remember creating a ton of work I’m really proud of to this day. We all did.Because we (and our bosses) knew that those impromptu games were par...
2025-12-091h 00
DesuckifyWork®Ep111 | The secret to making remote work work with Tim CurrieIf you want remote work to work you have to work at it.You can’t just show up and expect it to be the same as in office. It’s not the same. You’ve only got 2 of your 5 senses working together. You can’t just strike up a casual conversation with the person next to you. You can’t walk the halls as a leader and feel what’s going on.That doesn’t mean it can’t work. It absolutely can. Plenty of companies are doing it right, right now.But they’ve put...
2025-12-0254 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep110 | Turning chaos into candy with CB Bowman OttomanelliChaos is a candy store.The disorienting swirl, a chance to be useful.We’re swimming in that swirl right now. AI, layoffs, mergers, tariffs, the headlines bonking us on the head every time we try to surface.We need a lifeline. No, scratch that. We need to become a lifeline.That’s how this works. “They” are not going to save us. We are. And in the midst of the madness, opportunity is everywhere.CB Bowman Ottomanelli has been gobbling up the chaos candy for much of her life. Fi...
2025-11-251h 04
DesuckifyWork®Ep 109 | The power of pressing pause with Michael WadeAll organizations are dysfunctional.Those are the words of Michael Wade, consultant, advisor, author and former Equal Employment Opportunity Administrator for the City of Phoenix. And I tend to agree with him.We’re just not that good at coming together to do stuff. We get in our way. We play politics. We blame. And we forget why we’re even doing the damn thing in the first place.His solution? Three words: “wait a minute.”Remember waiting? Pressing pause for a second to look inward, to see if we’re on the rig...
2025-11-181h 20
DesuckifyWork®Ep 108 | From work addiction to healthy ambition with MaryBeth HylandIt’s 3am. You wake up to discover you’re on the couch, cuddling with your laptop. You cringe, ugh, another night wasted, working through dinner, ignoring your family. You should get to bed and grab a few good hours before the day starts up again.But then. Hey, it wouldn’t hurt to just crack that laptop open for a minute, make sure no critical emails have come through. I’ll just skim through a few to make sure…“Good morning, honey!”What? Who? Where? You glance at your phone—it’s 7am. You’re still on the couc...
2025-11-1155 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 107 | The problem affecting our politics and our workplaces with Wilk WilkinsonWhat if the problem with our politics is also the problem with our workplaces?Our inability to truly see the people around us, keeping us from doing anything meaningful.They’re far right, far left, too hardline, too accommodating, stupid, evil, “the problem.”They’re account, creative, production, legal, stupid, clueless, “the problem.”What if “us vs. them” became “what can I learn from someone I disagree with?”Wilk Wilkinson is trying to make this “what if” real, with his podcast “Derate the Hate,” as an advisor to the ProHuman Foundation and in h...
2025-11-041h 18
DesuckifyWork®Ep 106 | Stepping up to the Sixth Level with Rachel AndreassonThere’s a controversial piece making its way around the interwebs right now, called “The Great Feminization” by Helen Andrews.Despite its edgy title and often-incorrect conclusions (in my opinion), it’s generating some useful conversation.How can men and women work together in a way that is beneficial to all?Rachel Wallis Andreasson brings a POV to this topic informed by 30+ years as a leader. And she collaborated with 3 other authors to create The Sixth Level, a book about leadership that infuses a distinctly female perspective into this conversation.The Sixth Le...
2025-10-281h 08
DesuckifyWork®Ep 105 | Timeless wisdom that will change how you lead with Richard BattleHow you feel about human nature tells you everything you need to know about leadership.If you think human nature has stayed constant over the years, you’ll find great value in the words of Socrates, Confucius, Jesus, Shakespeare and Sarah Breedlove (the first self-made black woman millionaire in the US).If you think human nature has evolved over time, you’ll see little point in the wisdom of the past and constantly seek out new thinking to guide your approach.Richard Battle falls firmly into the first camp. And he’s written severa...
2025-10-211h 05
DesuckifyWork®Ep 104 | Is it time to get rid of HR with Jamie GutfreundShould we get rid of HR?That’s the bold suggestion put forth by Jamie Gutfreund, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.Why get rid of it? Because it’s become a fear-based function that stifles creativity, prevents honest conversations and enforces a “referee” culture that treats team members like children vs. adults who are capable of sorting through hard stuff on their own.What would be build in its place? Great question. Jamie and I explore that and more during our conversation. We touch on:🐱 Generational differences at work🐱 W...
2025-10-141h 03
DesuckifyWork®Ep 103 | Making creative talent development a priority with Karen CraneHere’s what you’re admitting when you don’t develop your talent.🐱 You’re admitting you don’t expect people to hang around very long.🐱 You’re admitting you’re willing to let people just figure crap out on the job no matter how long it takes or how many mistakes get made.🐱 You’re admitting that there’s nothing special about the work you do—any schmo off the street can jump in and deliver on day one.🐱 You’re admitting you’re unaware of the cost of people figuring crap out on the job. Or the...
2025-10-071h 13
DesuckifyWork®Ep 102 | How civility can take the suck out of work with Lexi HudsonImagine if we were more civil at work.Not more polite. Politeness is BS. Civil. From the Latin, Civitas. Meaning citizen. A well-functioning member of society.Societies work when we have hard conversations. When we bring a shared respect for our common humanity. When we’re willing to offend. And be offended.This is not where we are right now. As a society or at work.We avoid the hard conversations. We substitute through-our-teeth agreement for respect. We turn offense into passive aggression.Layer that in with a culture th...
2025-09-3041 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 101 | How Radical Moderation Can Save Us All with Lauren HallRadical Moderation.Sounds like an oxymoron. But it’s actually a way we can save our world and our workplaces from whatever the hell it is we’re all going through right now.We’re in a low trust, high volatility time. And it affects everything. From the most horrific news headlines to the way we relate to the person in the desk across from us. Our armor is up. Which isn’t exactly conducive to conversation or collaboration.Lauren Hall is an author, speaker, professor, university administrator and coiner of the “radical moderation...
2025-09-2355 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 100 | Everyone's a bad boss sometimes with Mita MallickRaise your hand if you’ve ever had a terrible boss.Nice, I see lots of hands. Great.Now raise your hand if you’ve ever been a terrible boss.If your hand isn’t still up, you’re lying to yourself.The moment we start leading others, we start finding ways to be bad at it. Not because we suck. Because we’re human. And this is how we learn.F*ck around a find out, right?Mita Mallick would like all of us to find out more q...
2025-09-0957 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 99 | Forgive your way to a better work culture with Fred LuskinIs therapy culture destroying us?Pushing us to analyze every moment as a potential trauma. Turning minor slights into rage and sadness. Making us feel good about feeling bad all the time.Fred Luskin has a different idea. Forgiveness. He’s been studying it for over 30 years and the biggest takeaway? We can deal with 99% of the crap that comes our way. Feel the feeling, sure. Do some self soothing… vent to a friend, go for a run, eat a cookie. But then forgive and move on.Resentment is an addiction. Fred should know...
2025-09-0257 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 98 | Laughter will transform your company with Rob FeldThe best work I’ve ever done started with laughter.Laughing at the boss’s indecisiveness.Laughing at our friend whooping our butts at Koosh basketball and walking away with a wad of ones that would make a stripper blush.Laughing at the dog farting in our office.Laughter is like creatine for your productivity muscles. I once laughed so hard I threw my back out and went on a months-long script writing binge high on Icy Hot fumes.Laughter is the greatest thing ever. And yet most of our...
2025-08-261h 09
DesuckifyWork®Ep97 | Hospitality is a business advantage with Taylor ScottIf you want your people to work harder, try helping them feel more welcome.You know, the exact opposite of how most companies feel when you step through the doors. So many offices are sterile, inhuman habitats, designed to crush souls while cranking up productivity.But here’s the rub: crushed souls won’t stay productive for very long. You can squeeze so much blood from a stone until that stone is so tired and pissed off it decides to roll itself right out the door and write a zero star Glassdoor review.What...
2025-08-191h 01
DesuckifyWork®Ep 96 | It's time to get noticed at work with Sue Barber“My work should speak for itself.”Yeah, sorry, it doesn’t. Even Jesus had a PR guy. Four of them, actually (Matthew, Mark, Luke and John).So what makes you think you’re so special?None of us are. Which means all of us have to put the work in to make ourselves visible. Good thing Sue Barber already did a bunch of the work for us. Her book, The Visibility Factor, outlines the stuff we can do to get others to take notice of our awesomeness.She had to learn the hard...
2025-08-121h 06
DesuckifyWork®Ep 95 | Busting collaboration myths with Mark KennyYou can’t fix collaboration issues with software.Some tools actually make things worse, stressing the nervous system and putting us in a perpetual state of fight of flight. Others are so damn confusing we pretend they don’t exist until Stu from HR sends us a stern reminder email.Someone should tell Stu (and the rest of us) to step away from Outlook and have some actual conversations with people.That’s the advice Mark Kenny would give. Mark is a speaker, author and teamwork strategist—and today’s guest on the DesuckifyW...
2025-08-0540 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 91 | Finding Faith's Role in the Workplace with Mai MooreWhat role does faith play at work?If you’d asked me 15 years ago I’d probably have scolded you for even asking such a crazy question. Keep your faith out of my peanut butter, dammit.Now? I’m not so sure.Mai Moore is certain that keeping faith out of the workplace is keeping the suck firmly in place. Mai is the founder of two social impact companies and previously spent 20 years in the tech space.How can we possibly bring our whole selves to work if we’re ditching this gia...
2025-07-151h 01
DesuckifyWork®Ep 89 | Straight talk on self leadership with Elizabeth LotardoIf you’re waiting for someone to come and save you from a sucky work life, it may be a while.This is the cold, hard and much needed truth from Elizabeth Lotardo, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® Podcast.Elizabeth is the author of "Leading Yourself: Find More Joy, Meaning, and Opportunities in the Job You Already Have (Despite Imperfect Bosses, Weird Economies, Lethargic Coworkers, Annoying Systems, and Too Many Deliverables)“, she’s also an employee engagement consultant and a LinkedIn Learning instructor.Her superpower (her pudding, in my lingo) is an optimal b...
2025-07-0157 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 87 | Leading a Fearlessly Authentic Life with Jeanne SparrowShe wrote about leadership and sales. But it’s really a book about living.Jeanne Sparrow, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast is the author of “Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More and Speak Sensationally.” She is a delightful human, a masterful storyteller and has (inadvertently?) mapped out the path to a more joyful life.The key?🐱 Knowing yourself deeply and connecting with others on that level.🐱 Understanding your gifts and using them to serve others.🐱 Aligning your actions with your true self, even when things get hard. Especially t...
2025-06-171h 12
DesuckifyWork®Ep86 | Exploring theater lessons for better communication with Shana GoldIf you’ve ever been to the theater, you’ve witnessed a masterclass in communication. Each character demonstrating their ability to get what they need (or not) from each other. Creating harmony or sparking conflict. Influencing, irritating, arousing, amusing. All done for the benefit of us, the audience. Complete strangers making us care about the outcome of a make believe situation we knew nothing about just minutes before.It’s magical, really.And it’s the perspective today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast brings to her communication coaching practice every day. Shana Gold has been helpin...
2025-06-1056 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 85 | Learning About Learning and Development With Jared AndresI worked 26 years at ad agencies and never knew there was a thing called Learning & Development (L&D).Like an actual team dedicated to the growth of the people who work there.Huh.It had been my understanding that learning was a thing that happened by having your work pissed on repeatedly, forcing you to come back with so many new ideas that one might actually squeak through unscathed and you’d be invited back for the next gauntlet.You “developed” a thick skin but not much else. Leadership skills, communication, discer...
2025-06-031h 10
DesuckifyWork®Ep84 | Going against the agency grain with Veronique JamesAd agencies are good at 3 things:👏 Building brands👏 Driving sales👏 Making employees so miserable they would prefer to be literally anywhere else, almost as soon as they are hired. (Hence the industry-wide 33% turnover rate)The James Agency in Scottsdale is quite good at the first two. But has failed miserably at the third. Many of their folks have stuck around for over ten years. The CCO has been there since the beginning, 20 years, with agency founder and today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast, Veronique James (known simply as V to most).What is V doing w...
2025-05-2749 min
DesuckifyWork®Ep 83 | Solving the belonging crisis with Dan J. BergerQuick, are you a meerkat? A chimp? A snow leopard? A wolf?No, I’m not high. I’m talking about the 4 belonging personas developed by Dan J. Berger, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.This may be the most important work anyone is doing right now. We are in the midst of a belonging crisis, fueled by social media, egged on by COVID and reinforced by our own lack of clarity on how to make things better.Enter Dan.Dan’s whole life has been centered around belonging. It hasn’t al...
2025-05-201h 14
DesuckifyWork®Episode 80: Redefining productivity with Sarah OhanesianNo one lies on their deathbed and says, “I wish I was more productive.”But maybe they should. Because productivity is making progress towards our priorities. Towards the things that actually matter. That’s the definition shared by Sarah Ohanesian, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.At work, that might mean doing something we’re passionate about, or finding meaning where none seems to exist. Outside of work, with our families, our friends or off on our own, it simply means spending more time doing what we love.I think Sarah’s onto somethin...
2025-04-2943 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 78: Learning about leadership from Howard Stern with Michael KublinBaba Booey.The childish taunt of a crude shock jock or the cultural glue that helped build one of the world’s most successful media empires?Yes.The Leadership Lessons of Howard Stern is a provocative book from Michael Kublin, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast.Michael is an entrepreneur, author and founder of PeopleTek—a leadership coaching and development company.He’s also one of the most positive, uplifting and thoughtful people I’ve met. His “unauthorized guidebook” on The King of All Media outlines the unconventional ways Howard has...
2025-04-151h 21
DesuckifyWork®Episode 77: Discovering the power of ordinary resilience with Luis VelasquezLife gives us enough hard crap to deal with. Why would we add more to it, on purpose?Because that’s how we grow.Today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast, Luis Velazquez, should know. Luis was diagnosed with a brain tumor over 20 years ago. He was crushed. Angry. And at one point, suicidal. Everything he had every right to be.Today, he is an incredibly successful executive coach, working with leaders from companies like Google, Salesforce and more. His speciality? Coaching those deemed “uncoachable” by everyone else.How did he get here...
2025-04-081h 00
DesuckifyWork®Episode 76: Rediscovering the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People with Kory KogonIf you stacked every sold copy of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, it would reach over 757 miles high. That’s about 550 miles higher than the International Space Station. The air so thin, molecules almost never run into each other, flying solo until they fall back to earth or get lost in space for eternity.Perfect time for a good book, no?There’s a reason over 40 million copies have been sold since it launched in 1989. It’s good. Really good. It’s wisdom timeless, grounded and, yeah, effective.Today’s guest on the Desuck...
2025-04-011h 32
DesuckifyWork®Episode 75: Getting emotionally charged with Dina Denham SmithEver try to hold a beach ball underwater?You can do it for a few seconds, but it takes a shocking amount of effort. And that sucker will pop back up (and maybe nail you in the face) soon enough.That’s what our emotions are like. Especially at work. Where we try to stuff ‘em down all day long like good, rational girls and boys.Except we’re not rational. We’re human. Highly emotional meat bags under constant assault from a world that’s gone mad.Pop, pop, pop.How c...
2025-03-2557 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 74: Flipping the script on imposter syndrome with Kris KelsoIf you grew up when I did, you had two big fears:🙀 Quicksand🙀 ImpostersBoth were everywhere, apparently. From Gilligan’s Island to Scooby Doo to random movies of the week where someone pretending to be someone else inevitably tied up the good guys and had them neck deep in a soupy death trap.Fast froward to today and quicksand is nowhere to be found. But imposters have simply relocated. From the small screens in our living rooms to the mirrors in our bathrooms.We are the imposters now. Convinced that everyone...
2025-03-181h 11
DesuckifyWork®Episode 73: Changing the world through shared decision making with Lorraine Margherita1+1+1+1+1=The solution to almost everything.This is the promise of collective intelligence. And it’s a promise that Lorraine Margherita articulates beautifully on this week’s episode of the DesuckifyWork® podcast.Collective intelligence:🐱 Combines individual talents, skills, stories, and ambitions into something greater than the sum of their parts🐱 Is activated by clarifying team purpose, roles and responsibilities🐱 Invites people to contribute beyond just their job description or credentials🐱 Allows diverse teams—even those with limited experience—to outperform smaller groups of expertsThe key to it all? Shared decision making.It almost sounds...
2025-03-111h 13
DesuckifyWork®Episode 72: Having weird conversations with Laura CrandallWanna make work suck less? Start asking weird questions.Like, totally bizarre, off the wall stuff like:🙀 Do you understand what I’m asking you?🙀 What does productive mean to you?🙀 What does it mean to be on time?🙀 What does success mean to you?🙀 What assumptions are we making?Nuts, right? It’s so weird to ask these basic, foundational questions about how we communicate with each other. The shared language we rely on to get things done. The stuff we all skip over because we think we should just “get” each other.Like, have...
2025-03-041h 36
DesuckifyWork®Episode 71: Sleeping your way to success with Zander KeigYou want to make work suck less? Get a good night’s sleep.Poor sleep affects:🙀 Productivity🙀 Relationships🙀 Attention to detail🙀 Decision-makingIt also leads to long term health issues like diabetes, dementia and cardiovascular disease.Thankfully, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast is here to help.Zander Keig is a licensed clinical social worker who leads organizational well-being workshops for corporations. If you want to sleep better, he suggests:🐱 Reducing blue light exposure🐱 Creating a consistent sleep schedule🐱 Prioritizing 7-9 hours nightly🐱 Backing off the caffeine (fighting words, I know)Zander a...
2025-02-251h 56
DesuckifyWork®Episode 70: Exploring psychological safety with Dennis DiMaggioWhat is psychological safety?We hear the term thrown around a lot these days but I’m not sure we’re clear on what it means.🙀 It’s not the absence of stress or conflict.🙀 It’s not emotional bubble wrap, protecting us from our feelings🙀 It’s not a lack of responsibility or accountabilityIt’s quite the opposite, actually, according to Dennis DiMaggio, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. Dennis is a learning and development expert with over 20 years of experience.His career has taken him from assisted...
2025-02-181h 01
DesuckifyWork®Episode 69: Ending career victimization with Loren GreiffWould you rather be a victim or have a career your love?Being a victim is easy.😿 We play the job application lottery day after day, praying for the big jackpot… or even just a politely written “no thank you.”😿 We lament the lack of job security while doing little to make ourselves stand out😿 We get jealous of those who have better “luck” than us instead of getting curious about how they made things happen for themselvesTaking ownership of your career is harder, but way less painful. And Loren Greiff—th...
2025-02-111h 05
DesuckifyWork®Episode 68: Bringing a human centric approach to work with Jēnna ReeseIn a world obsessed with how AI will impact our workplaces, we’ve overlooked a bigger challenge. How we bring more humanity into them.It’s a problem we’ve struggled with since work became a four letter word. Work is supposed to suck. It’s supposed to be drudgery. It’s certainly not supposed to a place where you can experience love and human connection.That would be crazy. Right?🐱 People supporting each other🐱 People trying to understand each other🐱 People showing grace when someone struggles🐱 People having normal conversations with co-workers instead of hiding behi...
2025-02-041h 11
DesuckifyWork®Episode 67 1/2: Micropodding about hard conversations with Judy CirulloA hearty, desuckified welcome back to Judy Cirullo, who previously shared her wisdom on episode 13 of the DesuckifyWork® podcast.She’s here today to talk about something that many of us spend a lot of energy trying to avoid—difficult conversations. Judy is an expert on this topic—as the founder of Grow Strong Teams she helps business owners and execs create cultures rooted in trust and accountability.If you’re resisting having a tough conversation with someone at work, this is a must listen. Judy will show you the way.MicroPod Guest: Judy Ciru...
2025-01-2831 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 67: Betting big on creativity with Ashley RutsteinCreatives should be given way more opportunity to make a meaningful impact. On client business and on the world.This is the magic wand wish from Ashley Rutstein, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast (originally aired live on 12/11). Ashley is a freelance creative director, copywriter and the creator of @stuffaboutadvertising, with over 117K followers on TikTok(!) and nearly 25K on Instagram.And she believes creatives can do so much more than make TV spots. We can influence operational changes, develop new products and help the world rethink some of our greatest challenges, like the env...
2025-01-211h 02
DesuckifyWork®Episode 66: Leading with curiosity and moral courage with Willie PietersenAge is just a number. Yeah, I know, I call BS on that too when I’m sitting at home nursing my aching back as I wonder if I’ll ever touch my toes again.But Willie Pietersen has other ideas. At 88 years old, this former lawyer and CEO is a professor at Columbia’s graduate school of business, recently published his second book and consults with some the world’s biggest and best-known organizations. And I had the good fortune to speak with him as today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. The se...
2025-01-071h 31
DesuckifyWork®Episode 65: Bringing new thinking to how we work with Asmara KazmiWhat if we did something new every day?Could be something small like putting your socks on in the opposite order, or something huge like going skydiving in a chicken suit.This is what Asmara Kazmi has been doing for the past three years. Well, not the chicken suit part (I think), but she has been trying something new every day for over 1,000 days. And it’s given her a whole new perspective on life. And on how we should be running our businesses.Instead of thinking of companies as simply places to ma...
2024-12-171h 12
DesuckifyWork®Episode 62: Reimagining adulthood through play with Renee BryantNOTE: We shared this post earlier in the week without the podcast audio link. Apologies for the mistake. Here is the updated post with the embedded episode. Her name is Renee, which rhymes with play, which is something she believes we should do every day. She’s this week’s DesuckifyWork® podcast guest. She knows when we play, we’re at our best. We’re creative and alive, energetic and wiseWe communicate better, less lows and more highsOur mental health improvesWe get in...
2024-11-221h 30
DesuckifyWork®Episode 61: Inviting our humanity to the workplace with Rex SikesIs Rex Sikes the most interesting man in the world? He’s in the running, in my book. He’s a true renaissance man—an actor, author, educator, master hypnotherapist and a seemingly endless source of insight about the human condition. And lucky for us, he is this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. We talked about how we can embrace our humanness more fully in the workplace to create the kind of culture where people thrive and make a difference. Some key takeaways:🐱 Play and experimentation are vital for learni...
2024-11-121h 47
DesuckifyWork®Episode 60: Taking the suck out of agency communicationSome of the world's best communications companies have some of the worst internal communication you'll ever witness.I spent over 25 years at ad agencies and have experienced this not so delicious irony firstand, many times. We make assumptions, seeing our peers as avatars for what we need done instead of as beautifully flawed human beings working towards a shared goal. We sit in silos and judge through our tainted lenses. Account sucks. Creatives are babies. Production is out to kill our dreams. And strategy is, well, just kinda strange, no?And...
2024-11-0509 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 59: Unleashing and embodying brand joy with Michelle EdelmanWe need more joy in the world. And despite what some may think, there is no joy fairy waiting in the wings to spread that beautiful feeling over all of us like pixie dust. Joy is an act of creation. And it’s on each of us to do the creating. A smile here, an atta boy there, a joke in the middle of a dreadful meeting there. It can also come from reliable WiFi, a well brewed cup of coffee or a roll of paper towels that actually tears along the damned dotte...
2024-10-291h 10
DesuckifyWork®Episode 57: Unlocking human potential with Julie JungalwalaTwo thirds of the global workforce is disengaged. That’s about 2.3 billion people feeling “meh” or much worse about their work. The cost of that disengagement is about $9 trillion, annually. Good thing we don’t have any significant problems to deal with that could benefit from some of that lost cash. If we did, we might pay more attention to those engagement numbers. Maybe even make a big deal out of them. Put them front and center in our political debates, perhaps. Ha, a fellow can dream, right?Or we could do what Julie Jung...
2024-10-1557 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 56: Discovering the power of masterful coaching with Dan KentYou can’t spit on LinkedIn without hitting at least ten coaches. But how many of them actually know what they’re doing?The best way to learn is to observe them in the wild. Noting their presence. Scrutinizing their questioning skills. Detecting their ability to unearth insights and share them generously, without attachment. Seeing how well they listen. That’s a big one. I had the opportunity to observe and witness a truly masterful coach on the latest episode of the DesuckifyWork® podcast. Dan Kent embodies all of the qualities mentioned...
2024-10-0854 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 55: Discovering the power of Red Thread Leadership with Sonya SheltonWhat’s the purpose of your ad agency?And don’t tell me it’s to make great work. That’s table stakes. Or in some cases, total BS.What’s your point of view. What are you trying to change? What impact do you want to have? I’ve worked at agencies for over 25 years and I’m not sure I was ever clear on what any agency was really all about.And we wonder why so many clients feel the same thing. Now, your purpose doesn’t have to be about “...
2024-10-011h 20
DesuckifyWork®Episode 54: Finding your purpose, saving yourself with James MadisonYour success is killing you. Sacrificing yourself for the chase. The money, the awards, the status. Making your parents proud. Making your friends envious. Making yourself sick. Because you are getting lost in the process. This is what happens when we achieve without a well defined purpose. And it’s at the source of so much pain we see every day. Burnout. Substance abuse. Failed relationships. A toxic legacy we’re modeling for generations to come.We know we don’t want this. But we can’t always see a way out. James...
2024-09-241h 02
DesuckifyWork®Episode 53: Rising and thriving with Zoë DaltonWhat if I told you that you could spell resilience with three letters. And an umlaut. Meet Zoë. Zoë Dalton is this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. And her story will impress, inspire and invite you to look within and see what you’re really made of. With $30.28 to her name, newly unemployed, coming off an abusive marriage and with two young kids in tow, Zoe was literally starting over. She didn’t just build a new life. As she describes it, she built a “queendom,” embracing a mindset shift that gave h...
2024-09-171h 19
DesuckifyWork®Episode 52: Embracing structure in creativity with Dan NelkenWork sucks when it’s harder than it has to be. It’s even worse when we’re the ones making it harder. As creatives, we resist structure. It’s confining. It’s corporate. It’s boring. It will also blow up your career in the best way possible.Just ask Dan Nelken, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork® podcast. Dan is a best selling author, has over 40,000 LinkedIn followers and has created courses, talks and workshops that have impacted nearly every corner of our industry. If you told 5-years-ago...
2024-09-101h 24
DesuckifyWork®Episode 51: The selfless embrace of self care with Katie McDonaldYou’re a selfish b*****d. You spend all day doing things. Work things. Family things. Community things. You’re busy as hell. Impacting people everywhere you go. But you’re not making time for you. You know, that dude or dudette in the mirror who stares back at you pleadingly, begging for some relief. Maybe tomorrow, you think as you run off to do more stuff. Important stuff! People are counting on you!You are also counting on you. And it’s pretty selfish of you to ignore that fact. Because the...
2024-09-031h 24
DesuckifyWork®Episode 50: Reimagining the agency client relationship with Leesa EichbergerIf agencies are from Mars, where are clients from?Don’t answer that. Instead, listen to Leesa Eichberger, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast. Leesa has been leading marketing at large brands for a while now, including stints as a CMO at Jenny Craig and Head of Brand for Farmer’s Insurance. Full disclosure, we also worked together while I was at Chiat years ago and she ran marketing for Vonage—if you’re old enough you may have their goofy theme song ear worming its way into your brain right now. You’re welcome. Leesa knows fi...
2024-08-271h 09
DesuckifyWork®Episode 49: Being a more thoughtful leader with Chris McMahonChris McMahon may just be the most thoughtful human in advertising. Everything about him, from his presence and demeanor to the way he connects the dots between each facet of his life to develop and hone his approach to leadership, is inspiring and illuminating. Now, if you’ve spent more than a minute in advertising, you know that for every Chris, there at least a few (hundred) not Chris-es. One of the reasons I became a coach was to help folks find their inner-Chris. And you can get a head start on that work...
2024-08-201h 02
DesuckifyWork®Episode 48: Be perfectly flawsome with Michele MolitorNOTE: We had some technical difficulties with the recording of this episode and apologize for any quality issues. You’re getting very, very, emotionally healthy. Very, very, emotionally healthy…This is the power of combining coaching with hypnotherapy. Something today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast does quite well. She also does a great job busting the myths and misconceptions around hypnosis. Spoiler alert: a waving watch is rarely involved. Michele Molitor is a coach, clinical hypnotherapist and the author of the best-selling book, “I Am Perfectly Flawsome – How Embracing Imperfection Makes Us Better.”
2024-08-131h 28
DesuckifyWork®Episode 46: Figuring out what's next with Jordan AtlasWhat does the ad agency of tomorrow look like?If you think you know, you’re probably wrong.If you think you’d like to help figure it out, you should talk to Jordan Atlas, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast. Jordan’s been figuring stuff out before most of us, for the past 20+ years. He got curious about digital, before digital became everything. He moved across the country with his wife and a 3 month old. And he dove into the world of earned media as a creative as his friends looked on with a m...
2024-07-231h 14
DesuckifyWork®Episode 45: Reclaim your swagger with Jennifer Mrozek SukaloHas the ad industry lost its swagger? All indications say yes. We devalue our product (commodity pricing), we struggle to differentiate our agencies (most seem interchangeable) and we have spent so many years chasing so many trends it’s not even clear what we actually do anymore. It’s tough to show up with any level of confidence when those things are true. But what if we could get our swagger back? Jennifer Mrozek Sukalo, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast can help.She literally wrote the book on it—Claim Your Sw...
2024-07-161h 37
DesuckifyWork®Episode 44: Write your way to a better work story with Vicky Quinn FraserCan writing a book make you a better leader? A better employee? A better human?Vicky Quinn Fraser thinks so. Vicky is this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast and she believes writing can help each of us uncover the deeper meaning in our work, even in the seemingly mundane tasks. Imagine that. Writing as a tool of self discovery. To stem the swirl inside our skull. And help us find joy in the 90,000 or so hours we spend working during our lives. 🐱 Want to create more engagement with your team? Writ...
2024-07-091h 08
DesuckifyWork®Episode 43: Aligning our work and our purpose with Nell Derick DebevoiseThere are 8 billion people in the world. And sometimes we feel like we’re responsible for all of them. This is the curse of social media. We know everything. We see a world on fire. And we want to fix it. But we can’t. Not all of it. We need to resist this urge to take it all on and instead do our part. Our 1/8,000,000,000th share. This wisdom comes courtesy of Nell Derick Debevoise, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast. Nell is a speaker, coach, facilitator, advisor and author who focu...
2024-07-021h 05
DesuckifyWork®Episode 42: Creating true community at work with Angela StopperThe return to office movement is BS. Not because going back to the office is a bad thing. It can be wonderful.But because leaders have gaslit their teams, saying it’s all about creating community and connection. Sorry, but putting people side by side answering emails all day is not community. That’s just one of the many brilliant bits of insight from today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast, Angela Stopper. Angela is the Chief Learning Officer at UC Berkeley. Yes, that UC Berkeley—the top public university in...
2024-06-251h 13
DesuckifyWork®Episode 41: Remembering we all must die with Jodi WellmanWe’re all gonna die. This is the good news brought to us by Jodi Wellman, today’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast. Jodi is an author, speaker and all around fascinating human. And she’s here to tell us why the grim reaper is your new best friend. When you let Mr. Reaper into your life, everything gets better. You live more deeply, with more purpose, have more fun, try new things. You embrace the fact that you only get about 4,000 Mondays in this life and you damn sure want most of the...
2024-06-1858 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 39: Turning marketing into a force for good with Jay MandelCan marketing be a force for good in the world?This is the question at the heart of my discussion with Jay Mandel, this week’s guest on the DesuckifyWork™ podcast. On the surface, the question sounds ridiculous. Marketing, a force for good? That’s crazy. It’s built on deception, manipulation and is single-handedly responsible for the proliferation of influencers in our lives. Screw you, marketing. But Jay has a different take. And he’s creating a movement to remake marketing into something rooted in trust, transparency and accountability. The Marketin...
2024-06-041h 19
DesuckifyWork®Episode 16: Embracing our humanity with Chloé ValdaryWe are human beings. Not political abstractions. Sounds obvious, no? And yet. I think we all know how often we live up to that ideal. An ideal that is at the heart of today’s guest’s message. Chloé Valdary is a writer, thinker and entrepreneur—founder of Theory of Enchantment, a diversity and inclusion program that aims to remind us of our shared humanity. To help us create workplaces where we can unite around shared purpose and embrace our differences with love and compassion. We explore how love can show up...
2023-12-1953 min
DesuckifyWork®Episode 15: Tell your story with Patrick RileyWe are so much more than our resumes.If there is one thing you can take away from this week’s DesuckifyWork™ podcast episode with Patrick Riley, it is this simple, beautiful fact. Now, Patrick has a pretty impressive resume himself. From film school to co-founding Modern Survey—a human capital measurement company to his current role heading up RADICL, a company that blends art and science to help people create epic work experiences. Oh, and he’s also found time to make a few films along the way. But his full story comes to li...
2023-12-121h 16