Alicia Menendez is an MSNBC anchor and host of the Latina to Latina podcast. Dubbed "Ms. Millennial" by The Washington Post, "journalism's new gladiator" by Elle, and a "content queen" by Marie Claire, her interviews and reporting have appeared on ABC News, Bustle, FusionTV, PBS and Vice News. In this episode of IN PURSUIT, she and host Amy Elisa dig into how women, and sometimes men as well, struggle to balance appearing to be nice but not too nice, successful but not too successful, assertive but not too much. Being “likable” proves to be a limiting label. Alicia and Amy Elisa cover how obsessing about being likable can affect your prospects of promotion, salary negotiations, and even everyday manager-employee dynamics. 

In this episode, Joy Donnell and host Amy Elisa Jackson discuss how to expand your notion of who you are at work and what you contribute creatively on the job and in life. Restricting ourselves to maintaining a personal brand can stop us from developing our personal legacy -- a deep expression of what we stand for and what we plan to accomplish in the world. The episode covers how to communicate your personal legacy in your resume writing, in job interviews, and in the media you create about yourself and your work.

In the span of a few weeks, thirty-something Nora McInerny had a miscarriage, lost her father to cancer, and lost her husband due to a brain tumor. Her life fell apart. What Nora discovered during this dark time is that, when you’re in these hard moments, it can feel impossible to feel like even a shadow of the person you once were.  Amazingly enough, Nora has built a career out of her pain. Through her books, podcast and speaking engagements, Nora doesn’t just offer advice to those who have lost a spouse, but for anyone who has gone through a major life struggle. 

Host Amy Elisa Jackson talks with Alon about his contentious split from the Besh Restaurant Group after Alon spoke out about a workplace culture that allegedly encouraged sexual harassment and assault. Alon shares how he has since pressed reset on his life and career and has created a positive work environment through founding Pomegranate Hospitality and in his restaurants by encouraging diversity, mutual respect, and by empowering employees. As he says in the podcast, “Surround yourself with people that you believe in, not because of how good they can cook, or how much money they're going to pay you, but by what they do every day. And that is more important than anything else.” 

Amy Elisa Jackson’s warm, funny conversation with Sali covers the importance of feminism and fashion, how wearing something awesome builds a powerful attitude, and why Sali believes that designers were not giving women an accurate portrayal of success. As she says, “We really pride ourselves on being a resource for women and being a tool for women having the right attitude for achieving whatever is that they want to.” Sali shares the best piece of business advice she ever received and has some wise counsel for anyone who wants to launch their own startup. Her leadership at Argent has embraced campaigning for pay equality and community-building in and out of the workplace.

“The advice I always give,” Sali says,”is never become complacent. Anytime that you are complacent in a role or you're not learning, find the next role.”

“I have always thought that transparency in every aspect of life leads to the most honest and accountable relationships,” says Molly Moon Neitzel. In this episode she explains how “the secrecy around pay is extremely patriarchal and I think women and people of color have been oppressed and held down by secrecy around pay for centuries.”

Molly comes by her activism as a result of working in progressive politics at the start of her career. Then she opened up her first ice cream shop to “embody all of my progressive values.” Eight shops later, and more on the way, “I still feel humbled by the success that Molly Moon's has had,” she says.

She shares with host Amy Elisa Jackson how she introduced the idea of pay transparency to her staff, how they accepted it (some didn’t), and how it has become a motivation for advancement and retention within the company. She concedes that some CEOs might be skeptical of the value of pay transparency. She has this to say about that: “I would ask them what their turnover rate is and how much it costs them a year. I would ask them if they ever asked their employees how happy they are. I would ask them if their children worked for their company, if they would feel proud of the compensation package they were offering?”

In addition to pay transparency, Molly has championed workers’ rights and parental leave.

“I will have never done enough. I think it's our duty as human beings to help each other as much as we can, and I will never be able to say that I've done enough,” she says.

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.

Click to listen now. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way. If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).

Jason Fried doesn’t set goals “because they're mostly artificial. You either hit the goal and you're happy [or] you don't hit it and you're upset. And if you hit it, then you just set up another one. What's the point?” His conversation with Amy Elisa Jackson in this episode is filled with wise advice that comes from his direct experience as the CEO of a successful company and co-author of Rework, a New York Times bestseller about work.   

He believes in the power of saying “no” and the freedom it brings. “What I found is the more often I say ‘yes’, the more often I regretted the decision down the road. It's really easy to say ‘yes’ to something, especially when it's later on because it doesn't cost you anything right now. No is just more specific, and it frees you up. You end up having more flexibility and more independence when you say no more frequently.”  In this episode you’ll also learn how to keep your work hours under control, be happier when you are working, and how parenthood can teach lessons you can use at work.

Jason has been a TED speaker. In addition to Rework, he’s been the co-author of It Doesn’t Have to be Crazy at Work, and Remote: Office Not Required. 

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.

Click to listen now.  Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way.  If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).   

Valerie Jarrett’s great grandfather was the first African-American to go to MIT. His father had been born into slavery. So it is with a sense of history and purpose that Valerie Jarrett pursues her life’s work. But that doesn’t mean her path has been a straight line. There have been detours and there have been hard decisions, especially when she was in the Obama White House. She has always looked for balance. As she put it on the podcast, “All of us in life have to find what grounds us. And it might be religion. It might be family. It might be a stranger. But you have to center yourself.” Valerie talks about finding her center and what it’s meant to her and to her daughter to be a working parent. She is working with President Obama on the Obama Foundation, with Michelle Obama on the voting initiative When We All Vote, and on the United State of Women.

“When you're doing what you enjoy, then you don't really view it as work. I used to say in the White House, I would pay to do this. They don't have to give me a dime. I would just for the privilege of doing this kind of work that's exciting and interesting and purposeful,” she says.

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.

Click to listen now. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way. If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).

Mothers might feel that they must be moms 150% of the time. Lawyer, law professor, and author Lara Bazelon started to question this assumption. Honestly examining the myth of “perfect” work/life balance helped Lara break through to redefine motherhood for herself. “I've never felt normal and I'm so curious to know if women listening to this also feel the same way,” she says in our interview. “Because in my mind I always had this idea of what a mom was. They were on the soccer field watching every kick. They were on the playground watching every game. I'm the kind of mom where I'm there, and then in my mind I'm writing my closing argument.”

When Lara’s passion for her legal work conflicted with the time she spent with her kids,  she learned to stop apologizing for her ambition and explain her work to them. She works for social justice, overturning wrongful convictions in court. Bringing her kids into her passion expanded their view of ”what mommy does at work” and inspired them. 

You can’t have it all every day, she recognizes, but you can play the long game.  

“I think a lot of women experience this where they've striven, they've achieved and then they find a life partner, and they have children, and there's this idea that somehow some switch is going to go off in their brain and they're going to cease to want to achieve in the professional sphere and cease to be ambitious,” she says.

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.   

Click to listen now.  Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.  Through honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way.  If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).

Vinny Eng was at the top of his game in his restaurant career. He was recognized as one of Food & Wine Magazine’s sommeliers of the year. He was a skilled and respected general manager of Tartine Manufactory in San Francisco.  Then, one day, he got an offer to become the organizing director for Suzy Loftus’ campaign for San Francisco district attorney. It didn’t take long for him to say yes. 

Why would he change his life so radically?  

“When the universe calls you, you show up. You find a way,“ he tells host Amy Elisa Jackson in this episode of IN PURSUIT. Vinny’s work has always revolved around community, whether in his early career in the theater, his success in the restaurant business, or his advocacy for people of color and LGBTQ rights. 

“We are not others in a way that make us foreign to each other. Rather we are others in a way that presents an opportunity for us to discover how much we are alike,” he says. “Your wholeness as a human being is an asset. Present your whole self to everyone. Be consistent about how you present yourself, regardless of what space you're in.”

Vinny’s pivot — and his grace navigating it — is at the heart of what the IN PURSUIT podcast is all about: arriving at a split in life’s path and making your best choice. You’ll be inspired by Vinny’s experience as you share in his life lessons. 

As Vinny says in the interview, “Don't ever confine yourself to think that a pathway is the one that you have to commit to. Trust when people show up for your life and trust when people give you the invitation to do something wildly outside anything you ever imagined.  And if it feels good in your heart, go after it, go for it. Because when you take a risk in your personal and professional career, people will show up, and support you, and push you, and hold you accountable.”

IN PURSUIT is hosted by Amy Elisa Jackson and is an original podcast from Glassdoor.  Click to listen now. Listen and subscribe on Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.  With honest and candid conversations, guests share how they navigate their careers through achievements, hurdles and heartbreaks encountered along the way.  If you have a question or feedback for us, message us on Twitter (@glassdoor using the hashtag #InPursuitPod).