Career Contessa

Latest Episodes:

Kristin Wong: Disrupting Money Apr 02, 2019

Show notes

Meet Kristin Wong, journalist, author of Get Money and a woman disrupting money. Today is also Equal Pay Day—a day that represents how far women have to work into 2019 to earn what men made in 2018 for the same job. We’ll dive into this more throughout the episode, but one strategy Kristin and I both see as a way to close the gender pay gap is salary transparency. What it is and how transparency can not only help you as an individual but also companies as a whole.

On this episode, you'll learn:

The psychology of money, including the most common personality types
Tips for determining your market value and how to negotiate your salary
And the four personality traits that might be keeping you from making more money

Show Notes:

The Salary Project

Career Contessa Instagram

Get Money

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Anu Duggal & Sutian Dong: Disrupting Venture Capital Mar 26, 2019

Show notes

Meet Anu Duggal and Sutian Dong, the power duo behind Female Founders Fund and women disrupting venture capitalism. You’ve probably read the headlines about how much funding women-founded companies receive from investors and those low, low numbers are no lie. That’s where Anu and Sutian come in. They are reshaping traditional venture capital by creating their own early-stage fund that invests in the power of female talent. Their portfolio includes Shine, Zola, Billie, Rent The Runway, Maven, and more well-known brands, however, while that sounds glamorous now, Female Founders Fund started because of a personal drive to build something that would fill a gap in the industry just like many other female entrepreneurs.

On this episode, you'll learn:

All about venture capital 101
What female entrepreneurs should know about pitching VCs
Why astrology was top of mind throughout our conversation
How Anu and Sutian define success in their own lives

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram
Female Founders Fund

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How to Master Time Management with Laura Vanderkam Mar 19, 2019

Show notes

Meet Laura Vanderkam, an author, productivity expert, and a woman disrupting time management skills. I first came across Laura’s work when Career Contessa published an article called “How You’re Wasting 50+ Hours a Week” and, as you can probably imagine, I was immediately taken by the article because it’s true— we all do share the same number of hours in a week—168 to be exact—but it does seem like some people machines that power through their to-do lists while others are just “too busy” all the time. Why? I naturally when straight to the time management source with Laura, a seven-time author, TED speaker, a mother of four, and a woman who has analyzed the time diaries of 900+ people.

On this episode, you'll learn:

How we can disrupt our own relationships with time and our ever-growing to-do lists
The weekly habit we can all need to adopt ASAP
The question you should ask yourself before you agree to that networking dinner three weeks from now

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram
“How You’re Wasting 50+ Hours a Week”

Laura Vanderkam

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Debbie Sterling: Disrupting the Pink Aisle Mar 12, 2019

Show notes

Meet Debbie Sterling, the Founder and CEO of GoldieBlox and a woman disrupting the pink aisle.
For many women, our childhood toys consisted of Barbies, kitchen sets, and other variations of princess obsessions. And while we may have fond childhood memories with those toys, our male counterparts were being introduced to Legos, video games requiring strategy, and, following the male daredevils they saw projected on the screen.
What we didn’t know was that those gender stereotypes and messages would stick with many of us long-term and even impact our career choices. And that’s exactly why Debbie Sterling, a Stanford-educated engineer, created GoldieBlox, a media and toy company that helps tackle the gender gap in STEM for young women.
From years spent researching gender difference and talking with neuroscientists to a successful Kickstarter campaign that raised over $1 million dollars in pre-orders, GoldieBox is empowering girls every day and Debbie’s story is one you just have to hear directly.

On this episode, you'll start to rethink pink and learn:

How Debbie turn rejection into a major success, including winning a coveted Super Bowl ad
The science behind the importance of role models for girls
The impact of STEM careers for women

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

GoldieBlox

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International Women’s Day Bonus Episode with Career Guru Liz Dolan Mar 08, 2019

Show notes

Today is a really special episode because we are celebrating International Women’s Day, a day that was first celebrated in 1911 as a way to honor women all over the world for their contributions and achievements.
And speaking of positive differences for women, I’ve invited Liz Dolan to the show. Liz is the former Chief Marketing Officer for world-class brands like Nike, Oprah Winfrey Network, and National Geographic to name a few, and now as the co-host of the wildly popular career podcast, Safe For Work.
Liz has dedicated her career and life to helping women achieve more in the workplace so get ready for some great stories and career advice.
This episode will cover:

Why the word “lucky” should leave your vocabulary
The value of a side-hustle for your overall career success
And how Liz (and you!) can support the 2019 theme for International Women’s Day, #BalanceForBetter.

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram
Safe For Work podcast
International Women’s Day

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Beth Comstock: Disrupting Imagination with author + former Vice Chair and head of marketing and innovation at General Electric Mar 05, 2019

Show notes

Meet Beth Comstock, author and former Vice Chair and head of marketing and innovation at General Electric. Beth has made a name for herself as a change-maker and someone who can convince the inconvincible to also adapt change through her almost 30-year corporate careers.

Beth’s new book is called Imagine It Forward: Courage, Creativity, and The Power of Change and that’s exactly what we’ll be covering on this episode. We’ll hear about Beth’s struggle with confidence and trouble advocating for herself at work—she even shares an embarrassing interaction with introducing herself to a CEO. We’ll cover what permission slips are and why Beth gave them to herself often, and what to do if you’re facing pushback at work with your ideas.
This episode is perfect for anyone who is:

Struggling to make their voice heard at work
Looking to stand out from the crowd or rewrite their story
And wants to hear why Beth’s first year as an author has included lots of failures

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

Imagine It Forward

BethComstock.info

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Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur: Disrupting Female Friendships Feb 26, 2019

Show notes

Meet Erica Cerulo and Claire Mazur founders of fashion and design site, Of A Kind, authors of Work Wife, and women who are disrupting the power of female friendships.

It’s true that Claire and Erica have been joined at the hip since their college days in Chicago and now as they run Of a Kind in New York City. It’s true that Claire and Erica host a hilarious weekly podcast called A Few Things. And it’s also very true that Claire and Erica are a prime example of a female power couple, I mean work wives, who are disrupting how the power of female friendships can drive successful businesses.
For too long the stereotype has been that women are catty, emotional, and are too busy competing with each other to build successful businesses. That’s complete BS. You know it and I know it. In fact, you’re probably thinking about your own work wife right now and nodding your head because you know your work is better and you’re more fulfilled at work because of her support, not in spite of her.
On this episode, you'll learn:

How Claire and Erica built a successful company that they sold to Bed Bath and Beyond in 2015
The new foundation of the workplace that’s being redesigned by female power couples
How you can find and support your own work wife

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

OfaKind.com
A Few Things Podcast
Work Wife

Christine Hassler, The Femails, Season One

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Elise Loehnen: Disrupting the Media Landscape with Goop Feb 19, 2019

Show notes

Meet Elise Loehnen, the Chief Content Office at Goop and a woman working to disrupt traditional media and ecommerce.

In addition to learning exactly how one goes about becoming GP’s (ahem, Gwyneth Paltrow’s) right-hand woman, we’ll also be chatting with Elise about all things media and ecommerce in the ever-changing digital landscape including why it’s been valuable for Goop to have their hand in lots of different projects. Pick a lane? Nope. Goop will talk the whole damn neighborhood, thank you very much.

And if you’ve ever listened to the Goop podcast, then you’re already acquainted with Elise because she hosts most of the episodes in addition to speaking at Goop events, planning content, and thinking about how she might replace herself 20 times over just like any good leader would.
On this episode, you'll learn:

The business of Goop
How Elise has managed to go from an independent contributor to a leader
And even get Goopy by talking a lot about trusting your gut and listening to your inspiration

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

Goop.com

Elise Loehnen’s interview on Career Contessa

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How Leaders Communicate at Work Feb 12, 2019

Show notes

Meet Caroline Turner, author, speaker, and a leadership consultant disrupting how both male and female leaders communicate.
You’ve probably heard that men are from Mars and women are from Venus as a way to explain our communication differences but Caroline strongly disagrees with that. In fact, we’re about to disrupt all the traditional advice you’ve heard about masculine and feminine communication approaches—including the fact that feminine does not equal “women,” and masculine does not equal “men.” No woman is exclusively feminine, no man exclusively masculine.

And if that’s true, what does it mean for communication approaches and, more importantly, for us as women? How does it impact us at work, in our lives, and how do we become “bi-lingual” in the two approaches?
On this episode, you'll learn:

The ins-and-outs of feminine and masculine communication approaches
Caroline’s advice for women in leadership roles today and tomorrow
What you can do when the research isn’t enough to get your male colleague’s buy-in

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

Difference Works

Why We Meltdown, The Femails Season One

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Sadie Lincoln: Disrupting The Fitness Experience Feb 05, 2019

Show notes

Meet Sadie Lincoln, the founder of Barre3, a boutique fitness studio offering full body workouts. Since 2008, Sadie’s been disrupting the fitness industry by putting community before company—always.
And she comes by that love for community honestly. Sadie’s childhood was anything but typical. She was born in an adobe in New Mexico without any electricity to her mother who, along with her four best friends, banned together to create a village to support their children around their common core values.
So, how did Sadie go from Eugene, Oregon to running one of the fastest growing boutique barre studios? Well, first she went the traditional route and then she listened to her intuition. On this episode, you'll learn:

How Sadie made the transition from corporate life to disrupting the wildly popular barre movement
One thing she thinks is incredibly important for building confidence
How her definitions of success are a constant work in progress

Show Notes:

28-Day Career Kickstart

Career Contessa Instagram

Barre3

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