Work Friends

Trailblazer and self-professed rulebreaker Reshma Saujani joins us on Work Friends this week. Reshma is the founder and former CEO of Girls Who Code, a New York Times bestselling author, and the host of the podcast “My So-Called Midlife.” Today, she’s also the founder and CEO of Moms First, where she continues to be an awe-inspiring culture-shifter and staunch advocate for women—from girlhood to motherhood and beyond. 

Her latest ve...

We are thrilled to welcome Retta to Work Friends today. The actor, HGTV host, and one-half of the team who brought us “treat yo self ” joins Sali to share how a prospective medical student and a somewhat reluctant stand-up comedian found herself cast on one of the most beloved sitcoms in history.

Retta is best known for her portrayal of Donna Meagle in all seven seasons of Parks and Recreation, and since the hit show wrapped, she co...

Today, Beth Hutchens sits down with Sali. Beth has spent her career in fashion, first cofounding the Rebecca Taylor brand in her 20s, alongside designer Rebecca Taylor. As CEO, Beth saw the company reach massive success. But after nearly two decades, she stepped away and launched Foundrae.

The celebrity-loved jewelry brand is known for its stunning, statement-making adornments that feature 18 karat gold, precious stones, and symbols...

Nikki Ogunnaike joins Sali to tell the story of her career, one that’s landed her at the top of the masthead as the Editor-in-Chief of Marie Claire. Prior to taking the helm over two years ago, Nikki stacked her resume with roles at some of the most prestigious fashion publications in the world: InStyle, Glamour, Elle, GQ, and Harper’s Bazaar among them. 

Over the course of her career, she’s covered the major moves in the capital-F ...

Today’s guest on Work Friends, we have a guest who—for many—needs no introduction: Ricki Lake. 

As a teen, Ricki landed her breakout role as Tracy Turnblad in John Waters’ Hairspray and, just a few years later, became the youngest talk show host in history with her self-titled show, Ricki Lake. Today on Work Friends, the ‘90s icon sits down with Sali to get into the reality (and major missteps) of her success, including:

• landing ...

This week, Sali sits down with Lisa Joseph Metelus, the Head of Athlete Brand Strategy and Board Member at Creative Artists Agency, and Co-founder of PlayMakeHer. 

Over Lisa’s three-decade career, she’s been a force behind the biggest, most-celebrated athletes of our time. This includes Hall of Famers Alonzo Mourning and Dwyane Wade, with whom Lisa has worked for over 20 years. 

Lisa has not only found incredible success in a male-do...

Today, Sali is joined by the President and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, Fatima Goss Graves. A staunch champion for all women and girls and defender of civil rights, Fatima is a first-generation lawyer who comes from a family that intimately understands the importance of equal protection under the law. 

In this episode, she gets into her backstory, as well as what it was like navigating Yale Law School (not without imposte...

This week, Sali welcomes Gregg Renfrew, the Founder of Counter, a beauty company that launched earlier this year. Previously, Founder and CEO of the now-defunct Beauty Counter, Gregg has experienced all the highs and lows of entrepreneurship as she grew her first beauty brand into a $1 billion business—only for it to go into foreclosure a few years later. At the last minute, Gregg decided to buy back the rights to the company name ...

Today, Sali sits down with Abby Phillip, the host of NewsNight with Abby Phillip on CNN. Since joining the network in 2017, Abby has covered the biggest headlines in the country and around the globe. Notably, she also co-moderated the democratic debate for the 2020 presidential election.

A self-professed introvert, Abby got her start in print and digital media and never set out to be on television. But today, she’s widely recognized...

Welcome to Argent’s first-ever live Work Friends episode, recorded earlier this month at the Tech Futures Summit in New York. Sali was joined on stage by New York Liberty Forward Breanna Stewart and Executive Vice President of Talent and The Collective at Wasserman, Lindsay Kagawa Colas. Lindsay manages an incredible roster of star athletes, including Stewie.

Right in the thick of the WNBA’s new collective-bargaining agreement, Stew...

This week, Sali sits down with Shaniqua McClendon, a political strategist, commentator, and the Vice President of Politics for Crooked Media. 

Shaniqua has spent her career in politics—starting with an internship in the Obama White House, followed by stints with several elected officials. In 2018, she joined Crooked Media—a company most known for its suite of popular podcasts, including Pod Save America—in a role that’s focused heav...

Courtney Mays is the image architect behind some of basketball's biggest stars: Sue Bird, Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, Diana Taurasi, and Chris Paul, among others. And as such, she plays a major role in the styling the players’ rotation of tunnel ‘fits and red carpet looks, alike. 

Courtney came to styling A-list athletes in a more roundabout way—starting with a job in retail, then as a stylist assistant, before working he...

Today, Sali is joined by Lauren Sherman, one of the most prominent voices in fashion journalism. The Fashion Correspondent at Puck, writer behind the Line Sheet newsletter, and host of the Fashion People podcast has her pulse on the industry’s major players, insights into how business is done, and—most importantly—is the expert at distilling it to the masses. 

An adept interviewer, Lauren has the tables flipped today as Sali gets th...

Trinny Woodall is a founder, CEO, author, podcast host, and something of a culture sensation. She was one half of the duo behind the What Not to Wear series—the original one launched in the UK in the early 2000s—and for the past eight years, she has been on a fascinating entrepreneurial journey with her namesake beauty brand: Trinny London. 

The company was launched with a focus on giving women confidence, at any age or stage of lif...

Today, Vicky Tsai shares her incredible story of building a career that aligns with her passion. The founder and former CEO of Tatcha sits down with Sali as they discuss how she built successful careers in finance and marketing before quitting both to seek a more fulfilling path.

In 2009, she launched Tatcha, an esteemed beauty company inspired by centuries-old traditions passed down from geishas in Japan. It began with a singular p...

Today, Sali sits down with Laura Modi, the woman changing the way we think about feeding babies. 

The mother of four is the CEO and cofounder of Bobbie, an organic formula company that was born out of her own feeding frustrations after giving birth to her first child. In 2018, she officially set out to launch Bobbie as a direct-to-consumer, subscription-based company, and it would become the only mom-founded and -led infant formula ...

Amanda Litman has a clear vision for what the next generation of leadership looks like—and it may include a four-day workweek, among other things. 

As the co-founder and president of Run For Something, Amanda leads an organization that recruits and supports young, diverse candidates to run for office—backing over 3,000 rookie candidates to date, and receiving an influx of over 60,000 new hopefuls since the 2024 election alone. 

Amand...

This week, Sali is joined by LaFawn Davis, the Chief People & Sustainability Officer at Indeed. Her work leading culture, diversity, and inclusion at major tech companies—including Google, Yahoo, PayPal, eBay, and Twilio—spans over a decade. 

In addition to her incredible leadership, LaFawn is a STAR, otherwise known as a professional who’s Skilled Through Alternative Routes. She’s an advocate for skills-based hiring and is herself ...

Our guest today is Shannon Watts, the founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America—the largest grassroots movement in the country. Back in 2012, Shannon began her career in activism when she posted a call to action on Facebook to end gun violence, in response to the horrors of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Her message was met with an overwhelming response, and soon after, the mother of five and former communi...