What's A Job?

We are sending season two out with a bang with our very favorite human, @MusicCityMom née @LeahEliz, or better known as our dear friend, Leah Rhodes. Leah is a somewhat accidental content creator who shares with us what the job actually entails, how she landed her first brand deals, and what it means to keep it real with your followers when they're (technically?) your boss.

Beyond having a voice that rivals Matthew McConaughey's as measured by inspirational intensity, Ed Berry has the job of many sports fans' dreams: a sports agent. This week, we get the story about how Ed landed the job, what he actually does all day, and how in the world he has time for another job that requires him to show up every Sunday.

An episode for wealth builders and job seekers alike! Amanda talks about her path to becoming a loan officer, what a day in the life is like as she helps clients buy their dream homes, and how regular degular folks like us can use real estate to build wealth.

Have you ever been offered a job that includes an equity package that your employer described as "huge, generous, life-changing" and wondered...what does that even mean? How does this signed agreement turn into cash in the bank on some future date? This week, we talk to Kate O'Neil and Tim Mulron, two co-founders of the leadership platform Teaming, about their experiences with equity. What is it? Why should employees care about it? And how does it translate to wealth?

This week, take a seat and grab those snacks… and we mean it! Grab those snacks, because we are interviewing the gal behind all your favorite eats and treats. Ashley Ellis is a food scientist, who for years has been product developing and taste testing food products you've probably savored regularly. We learn how one gets into this niche science field, and what it takes to go from concept to grocery store shelf. We're giving you a lot to chew on!

Mimi is our first guest with a whole career under her belt, so we get an incredible look at the bets and risks she took and how they paid off, the values she used to intentionally shape her career, and some all-around great advice for the rest of us. If you've ever sat in a therapy session and found yourself wondering how on earth your therapist got so wise (or how you could become one yourself), this is the episode for you!

Unless you were a borderline frightening child like Faith who made business plans for fun, chances are you've dreamed of being a performer at least once in your life. This week we interview Bligh Voth, who chased that dream all the way to Broadway and beyond. We talk to Bligh about a day in the life of a performer, the path she took to live her actual dream, and the non-performing jobs in between that make it all possible.

This week, we talk about what it takes to produce a nationally televised show five days a week without losing your absolute mind. Jeff Weiner holds it down as a TV producer for a show many of our sporty spice listeners probably know and love AND still manages to be a super chill dude, so we get to the bottom of how exactly that's possible, his journey to landing this objectively sexy job, and what we can all learn from him when it comes to making work sustainable.

After a brief hiatus to renovate our homes, move cities, bag new jobs, secure life partners, and a few other minor life changes, your favorite job-havin' duo is back for season 2. We chat about the changes the last few months have brought in our lives, the current environment for working people (it's not great, y'all), and the advice we've found helpful for folks who are on the job market.

Your hosts reflect on what they've learned during their first season of podcasting, where their guests are now, and what's to come for the What's A Job podcast.

Ever wondered how people land great jobs after a career pivot? What about how they find themselves in leadership positions shortly after those moves? Today, your other host explains how she earns her paycheck: Faith is an unlikely Growth Marketer at a technology company, a role that she landed without any formal training or (really) relevant experience. She walks us through the many twists and turns her career has taken, how she went from corralling 8th graders to running ad campaigns, and how you can do the same.

The time has come for us to pull back the curtain on what your hosts do for their jobs, and SHOCKER! it's not full-time podcasting...quite yet. Maria's our guest this week, and she's going to take you inside one of those "inside" jobs-- lobbying. Lobbyists are an integral and frustrating part of the political process, but they aren't all so bad. Maria sheds light on what the job really entails, and also helps contextualize the differences between a lobbyist, a public policy professional, and those loud political armchair experts you all see on your feeds!

On this week's episode we welcome you to a special format episode we hope you will truly enjoy—we know we did! For all of you romantically paired people, have you ever wondered what your significant other is really doing during that 9 to 5? You know their title and where they work, but do you really know what they do? Are you sure they are even really working? We invite a married couple this week to unpack their perception versus the reality of what their spouse does "at work". Plus: learn what accountants and real estate agents do!

You've probably heard the saying, "We all put our pants on the same way" which, fine, but we are pretty sure the pants a wardrobe stylist suggests you put on just go on and stay on better. That is why we invite Celebrity Wardrobe Stylist Josh Owen to the pod this week to explain what the job of dressing people really entails. Josh explains that beyond having an eye or affinity for fashion, the job requires audacity, tenacity, and creativity to set yourself apart in a crowded or saturated industry.

This week, we're taking a behind-the-scenes tour of one of the jobs that makes Hollywood tick: Studio Directors. We hear one Studio Director's path to a high-level job in Hollywood—like most career journeys, it was a bit accidental—and how she's thinking about a mid-career pivot. How does operational leadership in Hollywood compare to other industries? How can someone get into (or out of!) the industry? No matter the title, we all have (or will) go through uncomfortable but necessary seasons of change in our careers. If you're in the midst of one, this episode is for you.

We take a brief hiatus from learning about Product/Project/People Managers to bring you an episode many of you didn't know you needed—a look into the life of a Medical Device Salesperson. This profession is one filled with a lot of misconceptions and preconceived notions around how you land the job and grow within it. We had a ton of questions for our guest, Liz Blue, who will help you unlearn what you thought you knew, and help you understand the role of a medical device salesperson.

We hope you enjoyed last week's episode about PMing—and this week we are back with another PM, a Project Manager. Project Managers are responsible for executing "projects" on behalf of a company or organization, and the projects can vary in size, scope, length of time, and type. Organizations can define "projects" in many ways, and success looks different among companies and across industries. We've invited Brad Parker to discuss what it means to project manage in the context of the live music industry. MUSIC'S BACK BABY and so are festivals! Brad gives us a view into what it means to be a project manager putting on major music festivals like Bonnaroo, Austin City Limits, and Lollapalooza. Brad's front row, literally, to how these shows come together and what it takes to leave festival-goers happy, safe, and thoroughly entertained.

This week on the pod, we start the never-ending journey into examining managerial jobs. What is a manager? What is management? What is being managed? "Manager" is an amorphous phrase: some people manage processes, some people manage things, some people manage others, and some manage themselves. Seems like anything and anyone could benefit from a manager. So to kick off the series, we start where many companies start—focused on the product or service—and speak to Wes Klipfel about life as a Product Manager.

Self-care is the moment! There is a deluge of information about the conventional and alternative means for improving health and wellness, but also quite a number of people out there who are experts, "experts", and hold jobs in the field of healing, wellness, and healthcare. So what does it mean to work as a healer? In this week's episode, we talk to Alexandra Khouri, a licensed acupuncturist and herbalist (with numerous corollary specialties) to explain the job! Alexandra is also the founder of Aweea-- a platform supporting Muslim-owned businesses, and we learn how COVID's inevitable impact to her healing business led to this new foray.

We've got episode 2! What is marketing? How does it work? What does a marketer do? We put an asterisk on this one because it's a job that means many different things across industries. We decided to crack open the wild west of marketing by interviewing a founder of an events and marketing agency in DC, Roxy Jahangeri. Roxy is the founder of IRL Agency and DC Brunch Club and talks about life as a founder, starting an events agency right before a global pandemic, and the path that brought her there.

Maria and Faith are just two gals with jobs wanting to know if they're doing this thing right. This week we wonder what it means to be in the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion space, and what it means to be at the top of that game...so we interviewed Brynn Plummer to get all the details on what we deem to be a pretty sexy job.