Sharpen: The podcast for young professionals

I have heard it said in workplaces that they can teach hard skills, but they have to find people with soft skills.  Well, I am here to challenge that mode of thinking. While some of us have been fortunate enough to have had mentors and people to guide us in our personal and professional development, many of us have not had the opportunity to learn soft skills.  But they can be lea...

Curiosity can lead us to learn about things that we may not have even thought we needed before, but can lead us to new opportunities.  In this episode I sit down with Aaron Seabron and we discuss how much he learned by staying curious in jobs that were not his dream jobs.  He shares with us how by recognizing the areas he was weak in he was able to hone his skills so that he could...

With the right resources and given the opportunity, anyone can succeed.  That is the message that we are discussing today.  In this episode, I talk with Dr. OJ Oleka as we discuss his own personal journey and how education transformed his father’s life, and as a result, also changed his own. Because of the drastic change in his own life, this led OJ to begin to look into the syste...

Sometimes in life, we can get so caught up in chasing the corporate ladder that we forget the importance of the work itself.  In this episode, I sit down with Anthony Casablanca as we dive into the importance of not just chasing titles, but working and living with intention and finding a deeper purpose in our work.

Strategy among companies is constantly shifting.  Jobs that we didn’t even know about now exist, and on the other hand jobs that used to be prevalent are no longer a thing.  So how do we stay current in this ever-shifting work environment?  In today’s episode I sit down with Travis Martin and he talks about his own personal journey from working with large companies to shiftin...

Work diligently, live simply, risk wisely, and give generously, and love unconditionally. In this episode, I sit down with Pete Ochs as he discusses how he has slowly learned over the years how his life is not ownership, but stewardship. So if that is the case how do we properly steward our lives, and what does that look like on a practical day-to-day basis?

Pete shares wisdom that he has learned ...

What does it mean to promote diversity both at home and in the workplace? In this episode, we sit down with Bryana Clover and discuss what that looks like. She tells us her story of moving to Texas from Detroit and entering the AG world as a young black woman. What challenges she was met with as a result of that, and how she got to the place of helping companies and individuals better understand diversity.

We...

As a young professional in the workplace, it can be challenging to really make a stance on things you believe in, and also admit your shortcomings. In this episode, I sit down with Blake and we talk about how crucial it is to play into your strengths, and admit your weaknesses so that those around you can help not only feed your strengths but also help you in the areas you are still learning in.

W...

When it comes to taking ownership over our lives what does that look like? Both on a personal and work level. How do we step up and say the hard things both at home and at work without pushing people away? How do we step into our calling, and feel confident in the work we are producing and the way in which we own ourselves?

In this episode Lisa Granadino sits down with us and discusses how not only is it ...

What does it look like to cultivate a work environment where you are not only leading to the best of your ability but also following to the best of your ability? We often think of how we can better portray our leadership skills, but one of the most beneficial things we can do is support the best ideas that come forth, whether they stem from us or someone else in our organization.

In this episode, ...

We are joined again by Curt Thompson and today we dive into the need for both grief and gratefulness. Often we focus only on the gratitude portion when bad things happen to us. And while that is important to do and to put things into perspective, it is equally as important not to downplay our grief.

In this episode Curt walks us through how to be both grateful, but also how to give ourselves grace to grieve. ...

The way in which humans connect and communicate is often much more involved than we think. We don’t realize the everyday small things such as body language, the seemingly unimportant water cooler talk, or the casual conversation in the hallway actually have a huge impact on our relationships with others. It’s these small things that we may be missing without even realizing as we are largely working from home and carryin...

There is no doubt that the world is filled with a lot of stress and tension right now. The unknown is a big factor for many people, and fear is often a big motivator. In today’s episode I sit down with Wesley Cate as we talk about how to find peace and stillness in the midst of chaos. He tells us some concrete ways that we can find that inner quietness despite the world being filled with a lot of noise.

This is part 2 of our conversation with Rick Woolworth

We can probably all say that we would love to have a mentor. So how do we go about finding one, and also finding the right one? In this episode I sit down with Rick Woolworth, who has created an entire business and movement around mentorship. In this interview we talk about how to “date” your may-be mentor to be sure they are a good fit.

We als...

This is part 1 of our conversation with Rick Woolworth

We can probably all say that we would love to have a mentor. So how do we go about finding one, and also finding the right one? In this episode I sit down with Rick Woolworth, who has created an entire business and movement around mentorship. In this interview we talk about how to “date” your may-be mentor to be sure they are a good fit.

We als...

How do young professionals step into leadership roles when they feel insecure or unqualified? How do you gracefully transition between careers and feel confident while doing so? In today’s episode I sit down with Katie Huey and we discuss how to position yourself in your work and evaluate what career feels right for you.

Katie generously shares with us about the different jobs that she has had and what she ha...

Have you ever wondered if your job matters? Have you found yourself being discontent and wondering how you ended up working a job where all you wish for is the weekend? In this incredible episode, we sit down with Zach Mercurio who explains to us that often it’s not a matter of our job lacking purpose, but our mindset being stuck in thinking that our job is supposed to give us purpose.

Zach flips conventional...

Sharpen listeners! This is the very last episode of 2019. However it is with great joy that we celebrate all the wonderful episodes that we had this year where we covered a variety of topics including things like the Enneagram for young professionals. Today we wrap up our series on mentorship with my own mentor group!

I could not think of a better way to close this series than by hearing from our group member...

As you may know, I am a HUGE fan of the power of mentorship and have been apart of an amazing organization called Edge Mentoring for years. Today we are welcoming Claire Couch and Linda Hajduk who have been in a mentoring relationship for years. They share with us their wisdom of how to mentor as well as how to adjust when you need to. From mentoring online or over the phone to in person these two have done it all.