It’s often fascinating to pinpoint when someone received the first inkling of what their eventual career would be. For many, of course—thinking of all the kids who grew up wanting to be professional athletes, movie stars, astronauts, or firemen—their idealized career path often follows a long and winding road of self-discovery, full of detours and roadblocks that transport them to an eventual destination that was not on their original radar.

But what if you could date your dream? Get some firsthand experience in your supposed career of choice? Would you remain totally enamored with the opportunity and steadily move toward further engagement? Or, would you, like Seinfeld’s neurotic George Costanza, break things off with a nonchalant, “It’s not you, it’s me”?

Today’s guest, Jeanette Bennett, CEO and founding editor of Utah Valley Magazine and Bennett Communications, had that revelatory experience while working as a camera operator at an Idaho TV station when she was in high school. It turned out to trigger the first of many career reframes for this talented entrepreneur and storyteller.

There’s a reason we call it a mental rut – this deep groove in the mud.  It’s a pattern of behavior that we’ve dug into our brains, and when we go down this road, it’s where our mental wheels get stuck.

When have you been stuck in a rut? Maybe it’s coming back day after day to a job you hate. Maybe it’s something small, like knowing you should eat lunch at home but finding yourself in line at the Sweetgreen every morning. Getting stuck is human. But so is shoving the wagon out of the rut and cutting a new path.

On today’s episode, we’re here to talk about what that really looks like. Our guest is Yamini Rangan, CEO of HubSpot. If you’re a small or medium sized business, you’re probably already familiar with HubSpot’s value – helping entrepreneurs track customers, make sales and follow up on those relationships. But the real focus here is Yamini’s journey to the top, from studying engineering in India, to taking her first step into the world of sales, and eventually – the C Suite.

It’s been a journey of rewiring herself, learning how to build new mental roads while staying true to her authentic self. 

In just about a month, on the 26th of July, 10 thousand athletes from all over the world will gather in Paris for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics. 

Being an Olympian has a way of consuming a person’s image. Olympians dedicate their body and their mind to the perfect backstroke, or the perfect arrow release, or this year – even the perfect breakdancing routine. 

So when an Olympic athlete hangs up the towel… who are they? How do you leave behind the biggest S Curve of your life? Although he’s better known for the Winter Olympics, Apolo Ohno has some ideas. The most decorated American in the Olympics’ chillier half, Apolo is known the world over for his gold-medal talent at speed skating.

I wanted to bring back my conversation with Apolo, in light of the Olympic Games on our doorstep, but also as a reminder this summer that although we should honor our past, we are never tied to it when it comes to trailblazing our future. What did retirement look like – what did slowing down look like – for the man who built his career around being the fastest athlete on the ice?

We don't give much thought to consumer packaging — the "stuff" that all our stuff comes in. But the packaging industry has a massive influence on how we perceive products and the companies that make them. It also plays a huge role in what we’re doing to our environment.

Wes Carter is the president of Atlantic Packaging, which is the largest, privately-held packaging company in North America. Chances are, if you’ve bought something recently (and who hasn’t?), it was touched by Atlantic somewhere along the supply chain.

But Wes sees that influence as more than big business. It’s also an opportunity to affect sustainability in ways that individuals, companies, and even governments struggle with. Small, conscious changes across the global supply chain can have huge ramifications for our environment. And these lessons can be applied to our career S Curves as well.

Legendary San Francisco 49ers quarterback Steve Young is a Super Bowl champion, an MVP many times over, and a member of the Football Hall of Fame. His level of elite play required the utmost confidence and perseverance. So why was he going days without sleeping and throwing up before taking the field?

In this very personal conversation, Steve opens about about his childhood social anxiety that he never understood until well into his NFL career, and how these challenges have completely shaped how he views everyone fighting their own battles.

A philosophy of pure selflessness has allowed him to tackle his anxieties head-on and unlock his full potential, on the field, in his businesses, and family life. Even in extremely transactional negotiations, the language of selflessness can eliminate "winners" and "losers," and make business more like a team sport.

His new book is called "The Law of Love," which is full of tactical advice and extremely personal stories.

Launching a project, a product, or a work of art that you've spent years creating is terrifying to say the least. That's the space that Becky Robinson thrives in.

She's the CEO and founder of Weaving Influence, a marketing agency that specializes in book launches and PR. Her new book is called Reach, and
it codifies 10 years of wisdom she’s gained working with brilliant thought leaders from across the business world — many you’ve heard on this podcast.

Becky and Whitney unpack what sustainable influence looks like in an age of social media virality and fractured attention, and why small, in-person connections are more valuable than ever.

Trust is a thorny topic. In business and relationships, we're always assessing whether someone is trustworthy.

But what about our ability to trust others? To delegate those big projects we are so used to doing ourselves? To relinquish control and face the possibility that someone else might do it differently…do it worse…or even do it better than us?

This can be scary, but Stephen M. R. Covey and McKinlee Covey say that overcoming this fear is well-worth it, and can be absolutely life-changing for both the truster, and the trustee.

This father-daughter team have a new book out, entitled "Trust & Inspire: How Truly Great Leaders Unleash the Greatness in Others." It's filled with fantastic examples of how setting up clear expectations and boundaries can form a cycle of trust that inspires teams to greatness. They also argue that the old approach to management, about commanding and controlling, is outdated, especially in an era of hybrid work and high burnout.

The only finite resource in our lives and work is time. We always want more, and there's no way to create it.

But we can radically rethink how we relate to time. That’s the crux of Richie Norton’s captivating philosophy. He says the tools of “time management” are designed to squeeze every drop of productivity out of us. The results – as we’ve discussed – are burnout, career dissatisfaction, and S Curve stagnation.

Richie’s new book is called Anti-time Management, where he illustrates a skill called “time tipping” that can re-prioritize daily tasks at the micro level, and change the trajectory of your life in the macro.

Personal tragedy has compelled Richie to think deeply about the power of “now,” and why the past is not as influential as we might think. He also explains why setting positive constraints, like where you physically live and what devices you use for work, can have an enormous impact on the quality of your life.

This week we cover the one thing we're ALL bad at: Change. Jason Feifer is obsessed with the moral panic we feel when faced with new technologies, trends, and social norms. 19th century musicians despised record players. Elevators would tear apart our social fabric. And Teddy Bears threatened our very children!

What he's learned from these now-laughable examples is that the people who see opportunity in change have more long-term success than those who only see loss.

By day, Jason is the editor-in-chief of Entrepreneur Magazine. By night, his podcast and new book Build For Tomorrow is all about finding ways to strengthen our adaptability in a world where change is inevitable (and accelerating).

If your family's viewing habits changed a bit during the pandemic, you're not alone! One enormous trend was the rise of Korean dramas on U.S. streaming services.

But entertainment journalist Regina Kim says this has actually been happening for years, even decades. She wrote a fantastic piece for Elle Magazine called “The K-Drama Renaissance: How South Korean entertainment took over your TV.”

The South Korean entertainment industry has been enormously disruptive to the media landscape, with pop groups (BTS), hit TV shows ("Squid Game"), and blockbuster movies ("Parasite") that dwarf the global popularity of their U.S. counterparts.

So, what’s their secret? Regina says it a has a lot to do with innovation, iteration, and a generational history of cross-cultural investment that is now paying off in a global way.

The outdoor brand Cotopaxi is known for colorful backpacks and athleticwear. But its founder and CEO Davis Smith explains that the origin and mission of the company is about much more.

Davis had a unique childhood and a profound experience in South America that compelled him to start a company with social change in mind. But as you’ll hear, this was not an overnight success. In fact, it wasn’t his first business venture, and the road to where Cotopaxi sits today is about as rocky and steep as the volcano in Ecuador for which it’s named.

Money can be one of the hardest things to talk about with your kids. It's emotional, and often tied to feelings of generational self-worth. But just like the "Birds and the Bees," we also need to be honest about "Dollars and Cents."

That's where financial journalist, author, and podcaster Bobbi Rebell comes in. She has written extensively about the financial relationship between parents and children, which — at its core — is based on love.

Her book, "Launching Financial Grown-Ups," unpacks the complexities of imparting financial literacy on your kids. Bobbi explains that meeting your kids where they are, at the appropriate moment, and having an honest dialogue about money – even your own struggles with it – leads to far better outcomes than avoiding the topic or pretending everything’s perfect.

Jonathan Johnson became CEO of Overstock.com in 2019, right before the world was turned upside down by Covid. Like many leaders, he was tasked with difficult choices about how to protect employees and keep the business healthy. But the company was uniquely positioned to re-focus its core business and create a very progressive hybrid work policy that continues to pay dividends.

Jonathan and Whitney talk about how this extreme focus weathered the storm, and why always telling the truth isn't just the right thing to do, but often leads to the best business outcomes.

He also shares lessons learned from his candidacy for governor of Utah, his trick for making contentious conversations more productive, and why challenging ideas without personal conflict is a better way forward.

How many times have you looked back across your whole life, looked at all those S Curves you’ve taken on and thought – wow. “I guess things do come together in the end,” even though, in the moment, those S Curves seemed so treacherous, and we felt so lost and afraid climbing them.

There’s an element of faith in that statement, sure, but just as strongly, there’s an undercurrent of grit, determination, stick-to-it-ness. We appreciate the journey a lot more if we also can appreciate having felt lost and afraid – and then pushing through it.

Our guest today has had an unusual trajectory, to say the least. Lisa Shalett started her career in 1990s Tokyo, producing those classic game shows – then she zig-zagged to the world of equities at Goldman Sachs, – zagging again to its compliance division – and then in charge of the bank’s entire brand during a PR disaster. And today, she’s the co-founder of Extraordinary Women On Boards, a community dedicated to supporting high-achieving women.

So what can we learn from Lisa’s journey?

Comparing ourselves to peers is natural, but when that gap creeps into our self-worth, the damage begins.

When she was a new mom, Brooke Romney fell into this trap. After a lot of reflection and personal growth, she came out the other side as the author of the book “I Like Me Anyway,” which is about knowing yourself, finding your strengths, and empowering your children to do the same.

Brooke and Whitney discuss the the power of focusing on what you can control, giving kids the gift of self-confidence, and why supporting your child's dream — even if it's doomed to fail — is better than saying "no."

Marcus Buckingham is obsessed with challenging common wisdom about human potential. He's a self-described psychometrician, on a quest to find the real data behind how and why we act. He spent so much time studying high-performers at Gallup that he co-created his own Strengths Finder tool, and now coaches executives around the world.

But there are some things about human achievement that simply can't be measured. His latest book is called "Love + Work" and it's about that special magic that unlocks when you're passionate about anything. It's about much more than finding the "dream job." It's about asking deeper questions: What do you actually love to do? And when was the last time you were really there?

Ken Blanchard is one of the most revered thinkers and writers on business, leadership, and management philosophy. He’s authored more than 60 books, consults with Fortune 500 companies, and speaks around the world. You probably know him from his 1982 book "The One Minute Manager," which has sold more than 15 million copies.

Ken has no intention of slowing down, despite turning 83 years old this year! If you’re craving a dose of inspiration, you’ve come to the right podcast.

Ken and Whitney discuss how to seek the "pearl of good" in everyone, the power of the word "we" when it comes to servant leadership, how to avoid being a "seagull manager," and the importance of vulnerability.

You can learn more about "The Mulligan" movie, based on Ken's book, here: https://themulliganmovie.com/

What IS happiness, really? And what’s the difference between biting into a bar of chocolate and a much more sustained contentment that often eludes us?

Ph.D. psychologist Emma Seppälä has studied happiness for much of her career. She’s a best-selling author who also teaches business leaders at the Yale School of Management.

Turns out, achieving career success and wealth doesn’t lead to that contentment. If you’re searching for mental well-being, Emma says: Start with your body, specifically, your breathing.

She explains how anyone, from a stressed out manager to a soldier in a warzone, can use breathing techniques to gain focus and ingenuity. Emma also deconstructs many myths about what makes us happy, and how focusing our minds on others leads to long-term emotional resilience.

Danny Ainge has a storied career in the NBA as a star player, coach, advisor, and executive, currently with the Utah Jazz.

To say that sports are Danny Ainge’s life is an understatement. The work, the preparation, the visualization, and competition create a meditative focus for him. Sometimes this was all-consuming, and as a husband, father, and now grandfather, he came to a point where he had to take a step back.

Danny and Whitney talk about how basketball – a seemingly simple game – has been disrupted multiple times, even during his career. He also explains how the S Curves of playing and coaching are different but deeply intertwined, and why hiring women was the best move he made as a leader.

Back in 2004, the marketing definition of a "gamer" was narrow. It was young, and mostly male, and the video game industry was starting to stagnate. But Nintendo was poised to disrupt the gaming landscape (as it had done previously in the 1980s), and re-open the video game community to everyone. In North America, they had help from an enthusiastic new marketing VP named Reggie Fils-Aimé.

Reggie later became president of Nintendo of America, and during his 16-year tenure with the company, he became its public face in the West. Video game fans around the world looked forward to his presentations and game announcements because they could tell he loved "Super Mario Bros.," "Pokémon," and "The Legend of Zelda" as much as they did. Nintendo's big swings resulted in some of the best-selling game systems in history: The Nintendo DS, the Wii, and the Switch.

Reggie has since retired from Nintendo, but his new book "Disrupting the Game" recounts the successes, risks, mistakes, and many mentors he found along the way, including Satoru Iwata, the late president and CEO of the company.

Parenthood is arguably the ultimate S Curve of learning. We read the books, we get advice, and we plan the perfect Pinterest nursery. But we don't REALLY know what we're in for until we hear that first cry.

Lindsey Shipley saw this gap in parental preparedness, specifically when it came to breastfeeding. After giving birth to her own kids, she observed the current hospital system wasn’t providing new moms with the confidence and knowledge they need to breastfeed.

So she set out to build an online business for breastfeeding consultation called Lactation Link, an extraordinary feat in itself. But she did it while raising her own family and battling life-threatening cancer 4 times over.

In the midst of recovering from surgeries and chemotherapy, Lindsey says she “couldn’t sit still.” Today her company serves 1,000 families per month and was recently acquired. Her community of 130,000 followers on Instagram is a testament to how much she’s helped families with newborns over the years.

Lindsey shares her inspiring story of survival, service, and family.

In 15th century Florence, the Medici family was well-known for patronizing great artists, scientists, engineers, and writers. This investment in cross-disciplinary thinking planted the seeds of the Renaissance, a time of extraordinary growth and enlightenment in Europe.

Today, we have other words for this practice: Diversity & Inclusion. Author, speaker, and consultant Frans Johansson wrote "The Medici Effect," about how expanding your "surface area" of perspectives can help companies, families, governments, and any organization benefit from the alchemy of diversity. And he has the stories and data to prove it.

Frans' book was originally published in 2004, and has exploded in popularity as D&I and social justice conversations move to the front of our culture. In this fascinating conversation, Frans and Whitney unpack the philosophy of intersectional diversity, and focus on very practical ways to activate it in your organization.

Getting your "big break" rarely comes down to luck. But it's also hard to engineer a breakthrough moment. Anne Chow believes it's a combination of science and serendipity: Planning ahead so you can seize a lucky moment when it appears. Her career embodies that philosophy.

Anne is the CEO of AT&T Business, and a 2nd generation American. As the daughter of Taiwanese immigrant parents, their outlook on success was tremendously formative for her.

She's a Julliard-trained musician who became an engineer before one mentor suggested she try sales as a path to leadership. Despite being rejected multiple times, she credits that unlikely S Curve jump as the key to her long-term success as an executive.

Anne and Whitney discuss the resilience it takes to stay with one organization for so long, how to make our inherent human biases work for us, and why it's time to re-think what retirement looks like in the 21st century.

When we spend 50-60 of our waking weekly hours at the office, our "work family" sometimes eclipses our actual one. Companies capitalize on this. Our jobs become our identities. Our work becomes very personal. And this can lead to emotional disaster during career changes, layoffs, and other transactions.

What if we valued work differently? What would the world look like if we stopped treating work itself as our purpose, but as a means to enjoy a more important purpose: Family, relationships, hopes, dreams, and love?

That’s just the starting point of Sarah Jaffe’s book, "Work Won’t Love You Back." Sarah is a journalist who covers labor issues and social movements, and she’s observed a major shift in the way we view our jobs.

She profiles teachers, interns, programmers, and professional athletes to identify which kind of work is valued, and which is not. And as “The Great Resignation” has hinted, many people want out — but where are they actually going?

Is there a particular conversation you’ve had with someone, that keeps resurfacing as you grow and get older? In difficult moments, you find yourself traveling back to that day at the cafe or whatever it was, sitting down for a conversation you didn’t know would shape you as much as it has.  For me, it’s my talk with Brené Brown, all the way back in 2019. 

In case new listeners need an introduction, she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair as a research professor at the University of Houston. You might know her best as the writer of Daring Greatly, or The Gifts Of Imperfection, or as the speaker for one of the most popular TED Talks ever. When we spoke, she had just released her Netflix special, The Call To Courage, and it was a conversation that reminds me even today to appreciate the meaning that emerges from the human condition.

I want to bring back that conversation today in light of her most recent book, Atlas Of The Heart – all about the thousand different ways our body generates emotion. Like Emma McAdam says, stop trying to feel better, and get better at feeling – that’s something I’m still working on today. Brené’s work on the link between emotion and the meaning we make for ourselves is just as important today as it was in 2019. 

Any career contains thousands of S Curves, large and small, and Russ Wheeler's journey certainly embodies this. He's the CEO of BBQGuys, a retailer for all things grilling, smoking, and camping, but he's worked as an executive in the home improvement business for decades. That means many tough decisions about how to balance the needs of his employees, customers, and himself.

But Russ' core values keep him grounded, even when he's not sure if his decision is right. As he explains in this candid conversation with Whitney, "sharing the gains" with every member of the team was a way for him to take leaps he was initially skeptical about.

Russ shares the difficult choice to not take the company public, despite years of work to do so, and why he loves hiring people at the beginning of their careers so they can grow into mastery on the job.

Nobody wants to be sad. We actively avoid it, and use all the technology in our power to distract ourselves from it. But Susan Cain says, maybe we should seek sadness out.

She knows a thing or two about it. Her books about introversion and quiet reflection are New York Times bestsellers, and her TED talk has been viewed 40 million times.

Her latest book, "Bittersweet: How Sorrow and Longing Make Us Whole," is about what we miss when we stop confronting sad feelings. Susan explains that reflecting on pain -- including the pain of others -- is something we need more of in our lives, especially in a digital world, where we increasingly only see vacation photos, smiling kids, and job promotions.

This practice can be about deep personal connection, or simply seeking a sad song or choosing a heartbreaking movie once in a while. After all, there's a reason history's most enduring art is about longing and loss.

This episode references Whitney's recent newsletter, which you can read (and subscribe to!) here: 

"The way we've always done it" is often not the best way. This is the very definition of disruption, but getting "stuck" on old habits can sneak up on us — in our personal lives, and our companies.

That's what Roger Martin explores in his latest book, "A New Way to Think." Roger has built his career as an author and professor studying disruption, mainly identifying business models that we've relied on for decades, and then asking, "Does this really work?"

Roger returns to the show for another rousing discussion about career satisfaction and employee retention, especially in the wake of "The Great Resignation." He also contends that we've structured modern knowledge work too rigidly, and why that can stifle innovation.

He also shares the single most discouraging phrase you could ever say to a member of your team, and how to avoid it.

Achieving something that's important to you: That's probably a big reason you're listening to this podcast. But what is it about success that drives us? Do we achieve for its own sake, or is there something more?

That's what Marshall Goldsmith is exploring. He's one of the most recognized thinkers and writers on the topic of leadership, but in his latest book, "The Earned Life," he asks: Why are we doing all this? Does success really make us happy? And what if those two things were not so deeply connected?

Whitney and Marshall sit down for a conversation that turns traditional Western views of success and happiness on their head. He notes that some of the most successful leaders are great at delaying gratification, only to look back on what they missed out on in life. In fact, after we accomplish something great, we should stop expecting more, but default to a new beginning.

"Fear of Missing Out" or "FOMO" is wired into our brains for a reason. When our ancestors flocked to greener pastures, it was advantageous to follow. FOMO can inform modern, strategic decisions as well, but Patrick McGinnis says we should be vigilant against its more dangerous sibling, FOBO: "Fear of Better Options."

This is a kind of decision paralysis that's catastrophic for personal well-being and companies. Patrick has studied it closely. After all, he invented the term "FOMO" back in 2004, written multiple books on the topic, and hosts the podcast FOMO Sapiens.

He and Whitney discuss how the breakneck speed of 21st century FOMO can trick us into "fear-based decision making," and why outsourcing low-stakes choices to Siri or a coin flip can be incredibly liberating.

John David Mann is a writer and the co-author of more than 30 books. Ana Gabriel Mann is a professional therapist, speaker and coach. Together, they’ve been married for more than 25 years, which also happens to be the subject of their latest work.

The Go-Giver Marriage is rooted in a framework of gratitude, kindness and self-disruption that John has been writing about for years. When Ana thought to apply this to relationships, it was a “light bulb” moment for both of them.

They join Whitney to discuss the 5 secrets that don't just apply to relationships in trouble, but can help an already good relationship (marriage or professional) become great.

Running a marathon, writing a book, or learning piano. These are big undertakings that require discipline and practice. The harder we work each day, the faster we'll succeed, right?

Wrong, say authors and podcasters Jami and Jeffery Downs. Biting off more than our daily chew can lead to a cycle of discouragement. Instead, commit to laughably small steps: Write one sentence a day. Practice for five minutes. These micro goals are much easier to sustain, and when you keep the streak going, you'll find that sentences turn into pages, and minutes turn into skills.

A revelation in their personal lives lead this husband and wife team to develop "Streaking," a philosophy of personal accountability that applies to anything: Learning, personal relationships, and health.

Jami and Jeffery speak with Whitney about the myths of habit forming, and why some tasks — no matter how often you repeat them — will never become automatic.

We've covered bias in previous episodes, but this week we tackle it head-on — specifically, how our language choices affect people, and the difference between bias, prejudice, and bullying.

Kim Scott is a coach to some of Silicon Valley's most influential CEOs, and known for her groundbreaking book Radical Candor, about the complexity of giving critical feedback, even when it's hard.

Trier Bryant is the CEO of Just Work, a consultancy specializing in identifying harmful bias and injustice in the workplace, and providing the tools to overcome it.

Together, they help employees and managers develop a shared vocabulary so everyone feels safe to say, "that word/phrase is not OK." It's a crucial, but often missing step on the path toward true diversity, equity, and inclusion. It's harder than it seems, but making the effort to own your language — even during this very interview — is a great first step.

Kim, Trier, and Whitney go deep on how caring for others can go hand-in-hand with challenging them directly, and why casual word choices take a heavy toll on marginalized people over time.

Hybrid offices. Work-from-home. Unlimited vacation. Parental and sick leave. Diversity, equity, and inclusion. The scrutiny of company culture has intensified during the pandemic as millions ask: Is there a better way to work?

Johnny C. Taylor set out to write a book about this in March 2020 when we all expected a 2-3 week "pause" in normalcy. Two years of pandemic later, the thesis of his book transformed.

RESET: A Leader’s Guide to Work in an Age of Upheaval is Johnny's analysis of a radical post-COVID re-think. But he's not just an observer.

Johnny is a lawyer, longtime HR pro, and currently the CEO of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), an organization that educates and advises HR professionals. And while HR was previously viewed as the team to nag about payroll and benefits, Johnny says they've become the "emotional first responders" in a time of unprecedented uncertainty.

Johnny explains what workers want and expect from companies in 2022, the power of the perfect CHRO + CEO partnership, and why Diversity & Inclusion efforts require more than passionate good intentions. He also shares how firing one employee long ago changed his life forever.

If you feel like the world is "speeding up" technologically and culturally, you're not alone. "Future shock" is real. We are faced with daily decisions that our grandparents could never conceive. This makes planning your life, career, and family rather hard.

Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist, who uses data to imagine the unimaginable. She doesn't predict the future, but plans for every possible outcome so companies can be better prepared.

One area she's been particularly fascinated with is synthetic biology. It's the merging of computer science and genetics. Imagine a world where we can program cells like tiny computers to cure diseases, grow corn in a city warehouse, and manufacture real meat without ever killing animal. It's already happening, and the benefits are huge.

But when people hear about modifying DNA and growing chicken cells in a bio-reactor, they bristle. The "newness" of this science, filtered through politics, media and social media, often disrupts honest discourse about it.

In her new book, The Genesis Machine: Our Quest to Rewrite Life in the Age of Synthetic Biology, Amy explains that healthy skepticism of new things is good, so long as it's tempered with a good faith discussion of the data.

It’s not a pretty truth of life, but we all argue with family, eventually. In fact, those arguments can be some of the most explosive moments of our lives. But why? Is it just that the folks closest to us know how to push our buttons? If so, how can we overcome that to grow? And grow alongside our family?

Our guest today has a couple ideas. Cathy Carroll is the president and founder of Legacy Onward, a leadership coaching business dedicated to helping – you guessed it – family businesses. All those images I just conjured up, of fighting with your family: now add money, a lot of money, to the mix, and that’s where Cathy operates. She even comes from a family business herself – rodeo equipment manufacturing.

Today, Cathy’s out with a new book, Hug of War, a real guide to navigating that tension between the good of the business and the good of the family. So what do we do when we’re fighting with the people we love most? Is it possible, as Cathy claims, for both of us to be right? And if so… then what?

Navigating conflict is part of everything: Family, relationships, business. Productive disagreement can lead to innovation, compromise, and inclusion.

But investigative journalist Amanda Ripley has spent much of her career studying what she calls "high conflict." This is where disagreements get so entrenched that they become identities, and a cycle of blame. People are quickly sucked into a tribal mentality: "It's Us verses Them." This is what has become of our politics, our online discourse, and actual warfare, as we've sadly seen in recent weeks.

But there's hope. After covering disasters, warzones, and local politics for years, Amanda has identified specific signals that turn good conflict into high conflict. And there are tactics we can use to break the cycles of tribalism.

Through this lens, Amanda and Whitney discuss ways to address intractable conflict at any scale: Marriages, co-workers, neighborhoods, government, and even the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

When we think of high-performance jobs like pro athletes and the military, practice is 90% of the work. An NFL quarterback trains a lot longer than the handful of games he plays, and benefits from a team of coaches.

Yet in the professional world, we are thrown into the deep end, often learning on the job. This has its benefits, but also creates uncertainty, stress, and burnout. With mental health in sharp focus recently, so too has professional coaching become more important.

But not everyone has access to it. That's the problem Alexi Robichaux has been trying to solve as the co-founder and CEO of BetterUp. It's an online platform that connects thousands of people to coaches to maximize their potential. But figuring out what the world wanted from a company like this was a confusing, bumpy ride. "There is no hack," Alexi says, when re-framing leadership coaching as a well-being practice, rather than a corporate band-aide.

Alexi shares the "gentle intervention" he received from a colleague that lead him to re-think his career and start the business, and why the world wasn't ready for an online coaching network...until now.

We never stop learning on this show, but this week's topic is about the formal structures of education we all grew up in: school. It comes in many flavors these days, but in a world of rapid technological and social acceleration, many teachers, parents, and students wonder if the current model is still working.

Dr. Ulcca Joshi Hansen is a teacher, author, researcher, and the Chief Program Officer at Grantmakers for Education. Her new book is called "The Future of Smart," and it looks at history, psychology, and our current technological moment and asks: “What if school was more dynamic, more inclusive, and more empowering for all kids?”

We all want this. But getting there isn't a 3-5 year tweak to the curriculum. Dr. Hansen argues it's a generational project that could take 20 years — but there's no better time to start than right now.

Dr. Hansen and Whitney discuss the history of modern education, and how a holistic, mastery-based approach might better prepare students for a world of rapid change.

You're in the sweet spot. You've mastered your role. Everything is going right. And then: You're laid off. The market shifts. A company goes under.

These are always looming threats, but they came into sharp focus during the pandemic. Matthew Swaney has been an airline pilot for more than 35 years. When travel patterns shifted at the height of COVID, he was let go from his job with limited prospects for a new one.

Re-inventing yourself early in your career is one thing. But Swaney built a lifetime of experience around flying, only to have it taken away so close to retirement. As a regular listener of "Disrupt Yourself," he reached out to Whitney for advice. The result is this candid conversation about grieving the loss of your identity, and the fear of jumping to a completely unknown S Curve in uncertain times.

Sometimes, we're racing forward at 35 mph. Everything is going right. Momentum has kicked in. We're flying past the competition And then: WHAM.

This week's guest knows this figuratively, and literally. Apolo Ohno is a world champion speed skater and Olympian with 8 medals, two of them gold. Even as one of the world's greatest athletes, he's hit his share of walls — sometimes on the ice, and sometimes in business, personal relationships, and in his challenging transition away from sport.

As part of the recent "Begin, Grow, Pivot & Learn" event, Whitney had a chance to interview Ohno about his life after the Olympics (a time he calls "The Great Divorce"), which taught him to stop saying "no" to new experiences and explore strengths and weaknesses he never knew he had.

Ohno also shares insights from his new book, "Hard Pivot," which is available everywhere on February 22.

Jumping to a new S Curve is hardest when your identity hangs in the balance. This happens often with professional athletes and members of the military who have trained their entire life for one job ... until it's gone.

Our guest this week is Angela Ruggiero, one of the greatest ice hockey players in the world. She has represented the U.S. at four Olympic games, brought home multiple medals (including the gold), and served on the International Olympic Committee. But one of the greatest challenges of her life was reinventing herself after all that came to an end. A lot of soul-searching and more hard work resulted in the Sports Innovation Lab, a market research firm devoted to understanding 21st century fandom.

Angela shares the hard lessons about teamwork she learned on the ice, the time she gave herself permission to walk away from hockey (and eventually return), why CEOs must get used to hearing "no," and the advice her father gave her as a young player that informs every decision she makes to this day.

Finding the gift that makes each of us special is apparent to some, and a long, difficult journey for others. Waking up every day and choosing growth as our default setting goes a long way toward this self-actualization.

So says Dr. Scott Barry Kaufman, a cognitive scientist who has written several books on the subject of human potential, and hosts the Psychology Podcast, which has received more than 20 million downloads.

And even when you do self-actualize, you'll likely need to jump to new S Curves later in life. After all, Scott was an opera singer and American Idol contestant before he found his true instruments: writing and listening.

Whitney talks with Scott about his popular sailboat metaphor for emotional wellbeing, why exploring your own mind is just as important as exploring the world, and the importance of letting go of shame from the past.

Workplace culture, work/life balance, and burnout have been under the microscope in recent years. But long before the unique challenges of the pandemic, Fran Katsoudas has worked to build a "conscious culture" at Cisco.

She's a 25 year veteran of the technology company, and currently the Chief People, Policy and Purpose Officer, who knows that our "work selves" can't be separated from our "regular selves" — especially when we work from home.

Because of this, purpose is paramount — not just for the individual, but for the entire company. “Purpose has to be embedded in your day-to-day business,” Fran tells Whitney. And that's not just a feel-good mantra. She has the data to show that a "system of goodness" improves your products, and is always better for the bottom line.

Fran shares how we can bust commonly held myths about employee satisfaction, use tech to facilitate leader attention, and why hybrid work can be a powerful force for inclusion. She also shares the time she stepped back from a big promotion in order to change her perspective.

We've got another bonus episode for you this week, because who doesn't love Adam Grant? Whitney's conversation with the author and organizational psychologist from July 2019 is one of our favorites.

It's all about how we perceive reciprocity: givers, takers, any why it's so important not to confuse "takers" with those willing to receive help. Adam breaks down why this informs so much of our personal and professional lives.

If you haven't heard this one, you're in for a treat. And even if you have, it's absolutely worth another spin.

--Original Show Notes: July 16, 2019--

When Adam Grant joined his high school diving team, his coach told him he had good news and bad news: Adam lack flexibility and grace, two of the three components needed to be a successful diver. The good news? His coach would be there to support him the entire way.

This event had a profound impact on Adam. His coach not only believed in him but was willing to match the effort that he would put into his own success. His influence was also felt as Adam reached out to help other divers—even those that would be in direct competition with him—because he knew that he could help.

This week, Whitney shares the entire first chapter of her new book Smart Growth: How to Grow Your People to Grow Your Company, which covers the launch point of any new S Curve of learning: Exploration.

Exploring something new is exciting, and we can be better decision makers if we consider criteria like: Is this achievable? Is it worth the cost? Does it align with my values? We also take a lesson that TV host Mike Rowe (Dirty Jobs) shared on this very podcast.

If you're learning a new musical instrument, a TikTok dance, or a major career shift, this chapter will be your road map.

Smart Growth is now available as an audiobook, paperback, hardcover, and Kindle edition on Amazon, or wherever books are sold: 

Think of a relationship in your life that you’d describe as a true partnership. Why did that person come to mind? There are words and phrases that come easily when you’re describing a partnership that works:  feeling supported, encouraged, the sense that when I have my back turned, you’ve still got my back.

So where do those feelings come from, and how do we solidify them? How can we grow a new relationship into a partnership? How do you pick the people you can trust?

Today we’ve got two guests that are partners on paper, at the private equity firm Brand Velocity Group, but as you’ll hear, it goes much further than their roles. Steve Lebowitz is the founder and managing partner of BVG, and Eli Manning – well, you might recall his S Curve with the New York Giants, but this episode is all about a new S curve. 

So how did the first overall draft pick in 2004 partner up with a revolutionary in private equity – and what do they do to make it work?

We have an extra dose of inspiration for your week with this encore episode from January 2020. Author and speaker Simon Sinek sat down with Whitney to ask the simplest question: "Why?"

"Why am I doing this work? Why am I on this career path?" These questions lead to a disruptive change in Simon's life. Despite uncertainty, Simon is so successful because he seeks out challenges, rather than looking for obstacles.

--Original Show Notes from January 7, 2020--

To kick off 2020 I am talking to Simon Sinek, who is best known for popularizing the concept of “why” in his 2009 TED talk. To date, it is the third most-watched talk at TED.com with over 40 million views. Simon is the author of several best-selling books, including “Start With Why,” “Leaders Eat Last,” and “The Infinite Game,” which was released in October of 2019.

For those who are long-time listeners to this podcast, my first question may surprise you. Instead of my usual beginning, I asked Simon one simple thing: What is your “why”?

“My ‘why' is to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, so together each of us change our world for the better.”

There really was no other way to begin the conversation. Simon has been speaking about the importance of “why” since 2005, when he “fell out of love” with his marketing career and began speaking publicly about the importance of “why” to friends, and eventually friends-of-friends. The organic growth of his ideas eventually caught the attention of the US Air Force, and by mid-2006 he was invited to speak at the Pentagon and military bases across the US.

We can't talk about personal disruption without discussing disruptive technologies, so this week's episode is a bit different. It's a 101 course on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, NFTs, and the philosophy behind the decentralization movement.

Most of us have heard these terms by now, but many (even those who dabble with them) don't understand how they actually work, or why they matter. Adam B. Levine joins Whitney to provide a primer. He's the managing editor of CoinDesk, host of the "Speaking of Bitcoin" podcast, and the CEO of Tokenly.com.

Levine shares practical examples (and some great metaphors!) about how blockchain tech verifies "who owns what stuff" on the Internet, and what the future might hold for NFTs and Bitcoin once the current mania subsides.

Editor's Note: This episode does not provide financial advice. Commodity and currency trading of any kind carries risk.

Eating smarter is always popular in January, so we're excited to share another bonus episode with you this week. This time, it's Whitney's conversation with wellness author and podcaster Shawn Stevenson from February 2021.

Shawn was diagnosed with a debilitating disease in his early 20s. Doctors gave him pain meds and told him to lay in bed. His athletic career was over.

That is, until he disrupted his diet.

Today our guest is Shawn Stevenson, the host of the #1 Nutrition and Fitness podcast in the U.S., The Model Health Show. He’s the author of Sleep Smarter, and now most recently Eat Smarter, which at the time we spoke, was one of the top ten selling books on Amazon.

Shawn’s passion for empowering individuals to take control of their health and wellness is apparent to all who connect with him. Diagnosed with a debilitating degenerative bone disease at just 20 years old, Shawn found himself overweight, in constant pain and severely depressed. Determined to change his circumstances, he began a transformational journey discovering just how much influence we can have on our bodies through nutritional and behavioral levers. Now, motivated to help others discover the power of nutrition, Shawn provides actionable steps to help people embark on their own wellness journey.