Giant Steps with Leilani Brown (formerly Your First Job)

What if the most powerful leadership development program in America isn’t at Harvard or McKinsey — but has been operating in Black churches for centuries?

L. Michelle Smith — award-winning author, Fortune 100 C-suite advisor, ICF certified executive coach, and CEO of No Silos Communications — joins Leilani to make the case that the Black church is the most overlooked leadership incubator in this country. Her new book, Call and Respo...

Episode Title: If People Weren’t Paid, Would They Follow You? (A Leadership Wake-Up Call)

What actually motivates people to follow a leader — beyond a paycheck?What happens when belief, trust, and clarity matter more than compensation?And how do leaders need to evolve as work, talent, and expectations continue to change?

In this episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, Leilani sits down with Jocelyn Lincoln, a transformational mark...

What does leadership demand in moments of national reflection? How should service, responsibility, and moral courage guide those preparing to lead? And what does Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy ask of us today?

This episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown is different.

What you’re about to hear is a formal address Leilani delivered at The Citadel, one of the nation’s six senior military colleges and home to the South Carolina C...

What career advice is actually worth listening to — and what should you ignore?

In this episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, we switch things up and kick off the conversation with a rapid-fire career game. Jirah puts Leilani in the hot seat, firing off a mix of open-ended and “this or that” questions — no overthinking allowed.

As Leilani answers on the spot, she shares her most honest, practical, and experience-backed advice on...

When trust breaks down at work, how do teams communicate when communication no longer feels safe? How do leaders rebuild confidence, clarity, and connection in a constantly shifting workplace?

In this episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, Leilani sits down with Minda Harts, bestselling author, workplace consultant, and keynote speaker, to explore how to create workplaces where people feel seen, supported, and respected. Minda s...

When everything you’ve built—your career, your business, your personal life—suddenly falls apart, how do you begin again?

In this episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, Leilani sits down with Sabena Miller, corporate training consultant, instructional designer, and entrepreneur, to explore how to rebuild and reinvent your life after profound loss.

Sabena shares her approach to resilience and reinvention—a method built through rea...

Facing job loss is stressful — emotionally, professionally, and financially. In this episode, Leilani Brown talks with Mike Daniels, CFP®, ChFC®, RICP®, about how to approach career transitions with clarity and confidence. From understanding your cash flow and applying for unemployment to managing retirement accounts and planning Social Security, Mike provides practical steps to stabilize your finances and protect your long-term fu...

When everything you’ve built suddenly feels uncertain — how do you begin again?

In this episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, Leilani sits down with Rachel Tully, founder of Still Human and former leader at Tesla, Venmo, Ford, and the SEC, to explore how to reinvent your career after disruption.

Rachel shares her signature “Boa Constrictor Approach” — a strategy for identifying, surrounding, and seizing new opportunities with pr...

How to Get Past the Shame of Losing Your Job — with Harvard Psychiatrist Dr. Helen Riess

That sneaky feeling after a job loss? It’s not failure — it’s shame.

It shows up after the layoff, the rejection, or the silence between applications — whispering that you’re not enough. But you are. You’re simply in transition.

In this week’s episode of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, I sit down with my friend Dr. Helen Riess, a Harvard psychiatr...

Welcome to Giant Steps with Leilani Brown!

Season 3 kicks off with something big—a new name and an expanded vision. What started as Your First Job was built to guide early-career professionals. But our audience has grown, and so has the conversation.

In this episode, Leilani shares why the show is now called Giant Steps with Leilani Brown, and what that means for you. From your first role to bold pivots and reinventions, this...

Season Trailer - Giant Steps with Leilani Brown

ABOUT THE SHOW

Giant Steps with Leilani Brown (formerly Your First Job, the podcast)

Imagine what you could accomplish if you just take that first step. You could land your dream role. Shift a company culture. Redefine an industry.

That’s the spirit of Giant Steps with Leilani Brown. On each episode, author, speaker, and CEO Leilani Brown sits down with leaders, innovators, creators,...

Brenda Mallory, a former chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality, joins Your First Job LIVE to discuss her journey from aspiring child psychologist to environmental lawyer. She highlighted her early exposure to environmental issues at the Connecticut Commission on Human Rights, where she worked on affordable housing and zoning laws. Mallory emphasized the importance of diverse perspectives in policy-making and sha...

Leilani Brown and Maxwell Heller discuss the intricacies of his dual career as a master fundraiser and drag performer. Maxwell, also known as Miz Cracker, shares his journey from reluctantly trying drag for the first time to becoming a successful performer. He emphasizes the importance of passion, experimentation, and balancing work with personal life. Maxwell also reflects on the evolution of drag, its cultural significance, and t...

Jesse Beckom III joins YFJ host Leilani Brown to discuss his diverse career journey, from urban planning to competitive bobsledding and tech roles at eBay, Teespring, and Atlassian. He emphasizes the importance of agility and continuous learning and highlights the transferable skills from sports, such as teamwork and resilience, to his professional life. He shares his early experiences, including selling snow in Chicago, which taug...

Graduates, this one’s for you! In this special crossover episode, YFJ host Leilani Brown joins Sonia Marta of The Smarta Podcast to share essential advice for anyone taking their first career steps. Leilani highlights the significance of relationships, initiative, accountability, and adaptability. Leilani shares her book "Campus to Career," which offers practical tips for recent graduates. She stresses the need for effective commun...

Leilani Brown interviews Eric Ryan, a serial entrepreneur known for brands like Method and Welly. Ryan discusses his early entrepreneurial aspirations, influenced by his family's automotive business. He emphasizes the importance of creating products that elevate everyday items and bring joy. Ryan highlights the significance of partnerships and capital, noting the pressure of using friends and family's money. He advises entrepreneur...

Leilani Brown interviews Paul Nasrani, CEO and founder of Adirondack Creamery, about his journey from CFO to ice cream entrepreneur. Nasrani discusses the creation of unique flavors like Black Raspberry, inspired by political unity, and Kashmiri Kawa, based on a traditional Kashmiri drink. He emphasizes the importance of community and social impact, donating half of the profits from Syrian Date and Walnut to the International Rescu...

Adam Lowry and the host discuss Adam's career journey, emphasizing his transition from chemical engineering to climate impact consultancy. Adam, President of Lowry Climate Group and co-founder of Method, highlights his work at the Carnegie Institute for Science, where he managed a climate model predicting climate change impacts. He shares the story of co-founding Method to create sustainable cleaning products, which was lat...

Leilani Brown and Kerry Chandler discuss Kerry's career journey, emphasizing the importance of first jobs and the value of unexpected opportunities. At her first job, she learned the significance of employee relations and the impact of company culture. She stresses the importance of aligning with a company's values and being an advocate for employees. Kerry advises job seekers to be honest about their employment transitions and to ...