Career Blast in a Half

The 5 Keys To Lasting Confidence I Nicole Kalil

"Confidence isn't built—it's practiced."
 
The Confidence Myth
What we call confidence is often just comfortable competence. 
But true confidence is revealed precisely when we don't know what we're doing.
 
The 5 Confidence Killers
External Validation: Outsourcing your worth makes you one criticism away from collapse.
Comparison: Every minute comparing is a minute not creating. Comparison assassinates action.
Overthinking: Analysis paralysis is fear wearing a lab coat.
Fear of Failure: Confident people see failure as data, not definition.
Broken Self-Trust: Every broken self-promise erodes your confidence foundation.
Building Unshakeable Confidence
Build Self-Trust: Make tiny commitments and keep them. Watch trust compound.
Use Failure: The question isn't "Will I fail?" but "What will I learn?"
Take Action: Confidence isn't built in contemplation—it's forged in movement.
Speak to Yourself Like Someone You Love: 
Your internal dialogue creates your reality. 
Choose Daily: Confidence is a choice. Choose it before you feel it.
Nicole Kalil is one of the most inspiring women I’ve met in a long, long time.
 
Her website; https://nicolekalil.com/
Subscribe to This Is Woman’s Work  her Top 0.5% podcast 
Book: "Validation is for Parking: How Women Can Beat the Confidence Con"
Free Confidence Assessment: confidenceassessment.com
 

Stop With The Age Labels : Shedding "OK Boomer" & "Entitled Millennial" I Sheila Callaham

We've created a system of fictional generational boxes that don't exist in reality.
"Boomer," "Gen X," "Millennial" - arbitrary labels with zero scientific basis.
Yet we use them daily to dismiss, categorize, and stereotype people who were simply born during a random year span.
The cost? 
Innovation stifled. 
Talent wasted. 
Workplaces poisoned.
The coming demographic shift (longer lives, fewer births) will expose this charade.
The winners will be those who see people, not labels.
The question isn't which generation you belong to.
It's whether you'll perpetuate the myth or break it.
In this fierce conversation with Sheila Callaham, Executive Director & Board Chair | Global Educator | Forbes Contributor
We break down: 
The Great Age Label Myth The arbitrary boxes assume people think identically because they were born within 15-20 year spans. We'd never accept this for race or gender – why tolerate it for age?
The Demographic Time Bomb Leaders remain dangerously oblivious: people are living longer while birth rates plummet. The talent pool is shrinking, yet organizations continue discarding experienced workers. This talent sustainability crisis will explode within five years.
The Longevity Revolution The Age Equity Alliance's Longevity Mindset Index measures how "future-ready" companies are through employee perceptions. 
The Action Plan
Recognize when age-based assumptions infiltrate conversations
Call it out – respectfully but firmly
Focus on skills and competencies, not birth years
Ask people what they want rather than assuming based on age
 
For more information, visit ageequityalliance.org or connect with Sheila Callaham on LinkedIn.

5 Secrets To Packaging Your 40+ Deep Experience

There's a gap in the marketplace—a gap between what you know and how you share it.
Most professionals +40 make the fatal mistake of assuming experience speaks for itself. 
 
It doesn't. 
Experience without relevance is a timeline 
Past tense. 
 
The marketplace invests in your future contributions
 
That’s what gets you hired. 
 
This week I reveal my 5 secrets for transforming decades of experience into what’s relevant – (and hiring managers can’t ignore)
Craft a "Tomorrow Story"  Stop documenting history and start narrating potential. Your narrative must project forward, not just recite backward.
Speak the Language of Metrics Decision-makers are fluent in numbers. Not ambiguities like more, grew or improved without context
Learn Visibly Your adaptability matters more than your accumulated knowledge. Here’s where I share the  uncomfortable truth about how learning signals trump experience signals in today's hiring landscape.
Inclusivity as Currency The modern workplace values connectors and bridge-builders. Hear the surprising way clients leverage inclusivity stories to outcompete younger candidates.
Evolution Over Stability Career stability used to be an asset. Now it's often misread as stagnation. Discover how to reframe your consistent track record as deliberate evolution.
Why This Matters Now
"Your decades of experience are either your greatest asset or your heaviest anchor. 
The difference isn't in what you've done—it's in how you package it."
 
This isn't about tips and tricks. 
 
It's about the fundamental mindset shift that transforms how decision-makers perceive your value in a marketplace that often mistakes youth for innovation.

How do I get AI tech-literate without losing my human-ness? I Kate O’Neill

The game of life (and work) has changed.
 
It’s no longer about whether to use AI, but how to wield it while preserving what makes us irreplaceable.
 
Kate O’Neill isn’t just another tech pundit.
 
As an early Netflix employee and a sought-after “human technologist,” she sits at the intersection of algorithms and imagination.
 
I pulled Kate away from her book tour and speaking engagements to help us uncover:
•Why and how tech literacy is crucial in today’s job market—and how to approach it
•The gaps between AI capabilities and human skills
•How AI differs from past technological revolutions
•Practical strategies to stay current—without feeling overwhelmed
 
The Danger Zones
•Rash leadership decisions to replace humans wholesale
•The defeatist mindset that surrenders before the battle even begins
•The “keeping up” treadmill that never stops accelerating
 
Where You’ll Win
•Contextual awareness that AI can’t replicate
•Emotional intelligence that machines merely simulate
•Curiosity that transforms anxiety into an advantage
 
You won’t master every tool—and that’s not the point.
 
This is: Approach tech with strategic playfulness, reimagining possibilities through your human lens. Instead of asking, “What can this do?” ask, “How might I do this differently?”
 
Connect:
 
Website: KOinsights.com
Latest Book: What Matters Next (Available now)
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kateoneill/
 
About Kate O’Neill
•Featured in Wired Magazine, Wall Street Journal, Inc.com, and The New York Times
•One of the first 100 employees at Netflix
•Nearly 30 years working in technology
•Author of What Matters Next and several other books on technology and human experience

The 5 Leadership Voices & Languages We Miss I Masi Willis

Leadership is one of those words that gets thrown around like authenticity or value. Everyone nods. Few translate.
 
This week, we sat down with Masi Willis, Founder of The Mason Effect.
She caught up with us between her work travels, helping individuals and businesses better communicate to understand each other.
 
What changes when that happens? Everything.
 
Here’s what I learned from Masi—and you can too:
 
The Sherpa Principle
Leaders don’t climb alone. They guide others up the mountain while ensuring everyone arrives healthy. The summit isn’t the goal—getting there together is.
 
The Platinum Rule
Forget the Golden Rule. Leadership that transforms follows the Platinum Rule:
Do unto others as they would want done to themselves.
 
Most leadership fails at this first turn—understanding both the mirror and the window.
 
The Support-Challenge Matrix
Four leadership types emerge:
•Protectors → Create comfortable mediocrity.
•Dominators → Create fear, not performance.
•Abdicators → Create organizational zombies.
•Liberators → Create growth worth having.
 
Great leaders aren’t gardeners who treat every plant the same. They calibrate the sunlight and water each person needs.
 
The Voice Mismatch
The fundamental disconnect: Organizations hire the 16% (pioneers/creatives) to lead the 73% (nurturers/guardians) without creating a shared language.
 
It’s like expecting someone to follow directions in German when they speak Japanese.
 
The Authenticity Trap
Your natural leadership voice emerged before the world told you what you ought to be.
 
Burnout isn’t from working too hard—it’s from working against your wiring.
 
Follow Masi Willis:
🔗 Take your free 5 Voices Assessment here
📄 Download the Five Voices PDF Tool
 

FOPO: Fear Of Overvaluing Other People’s Opinions I Erica Rooney

You want to feel seen, heard and accepted. 
You want to feel appreciated
And you want to feel like you’re doing the right thing.
 
But when FOPO (Fear Of Overvaluing Other People’s Opinions) creeps in, you cave. 
 
Putting ultimate goals of happiness and fulfillment aside
Devaluing the accolades you worked for
Discounting the achievements you earned
 
Why? 
 
You listened to them, but that led you to staying stuck. 
 
Our guest this week is Erica Rooney is a stuck expert, keynote speaker and author of
Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors. 
 
You ask what are sticky floors? 
 
The internal barriers that keep us all stuck.
Struggles with perfectionism 
Imposter syndrome 
And systemic barriers (like age, drinking and how things are supposed to look)
 
So how do you get the stick off? 
Short answer, you don’t
 
But in the episode you’ll find out: 
 
> How to use the SNAP framework to manage it
> How to balance the tricky nuance between feedback and FOPO
> How to overcome personal challenges to achieve greater personal and professional growth
Follow Erica Rooney 
Get Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors 
 
Follow me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/
Interested in my coaching programs: portfoliorocket.com

Welcome To The End Of Career Victimization I Loren Greiff & TJ Bennett

If you’re seeking job security, it’s gone. Long gone.  
That means that you're in charge. 
Your career is YOUR business. 
No business can survive with outdated systems, an ill informed team or strategy that doesn’t meet today’s demands. 
Same for you. 
This week I share some of my interview with TJ Bennett, host of The DesuckifyWork® Podcast. 
We talk about my mission to end career victimization and how you can free yourself from it with: 
Examples of sticky story telling. 
The truth behind the ATS
Why being qualified doesn’t make you hireable
How to replace job security with career adaptability
And what it means to stay relevant in your career
 
Because here's the thing: You're going to live longer than you think. 
The question isn't whether you'll find another job. 
The question is: What are you going to do with the next 10, 15, 20 years of your life?
 
Follow me: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/
Interested in my coaching programs: portfoliorocket.com
 
Follow TJ Bennett here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/teejaybee/
Check out his website: thepuddingfactory.net
And his substack: tjbennett.substack.com

Piplashed? The Secrets Behind Performance Plans I Dan Goodman

Over the past five years there has been a significant increase in corporate issuing performance incentive plans (up 20+)
 
But are Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs) there to help you improve or are they 
insidious tactics used by employers to manage you out of your position? 
 
How has their original intent changed over time? 
What are the subtle signs that yours may be coming? 
Who should you go to? 
What should you do about it before it’s too late? 
What does “at will” really mean? 
How do you take care of your mental well being when you’re in the midst of it and after? 
 
Our guest this week is  Employee Advocate Consultant, Dan Goodman. 
He saw through the PIP myth 30 years ago and noticed something that most people overlook: 
The gap between what employers promise and what they deliver isn't just unfair - it's wrong.
 
Here's the thing: 
Most employees don't need a lawyer. They need a guide.
Someone who can shine a light on the dark corners where "performance improvement plans" mask their real intent, where "you must sign this today" creates artificial urgency.
 
He decodes corporate doublespeak into what you need to hear.
 
Follow Dan here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniel-goodman2001/
Schedule a call with Dan here: https://www.dangoodmanea.com/
Connect with me, Loren
Website: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/
Email: Loren@portfoliorocket.com
 
Join our 30-day Blast Program: https://programs.portfoliorocket.com/blast-february-2025

How Making 10K Friends Turned Into A Real Job I Rob Lawless

What if your day job was to talk to 4 people a day for an hour each? 
What if the goal was simply to build human connection? 
What if there was no agenda during these conversations?
No set questions or criteria to be someone’s friend? 
 
This week we take a peek into non linear careers. 
 
You’ve probably experienced this yourself. 
Even asking  “How did I get here?”
 
Our guest this week is Rob Lawless. 
After graduating suma cum laude in finance and landing at Deloitte and a “Millennial move," with a pay cut a $24 million venture-funded startup he stopped coloring in the lines and launched his project 10KFriends. 
 
To date, Rob has had over 6,500 conversations with people across 90 countries
gaining media attention, on "On Air with Ryan Seacrest," the "TODAY Show with Hoda and Jenna," and the Kelly Clarkson Show. 
 
Today he’s turned his project into a thriving keynote speaking career. 
 
Discover how to: 
 
Embrace calculated risks while pursuing your next role. 
Overcome the mental hurdles holding your back
Harness the unexpected 
How to stay true to your vision when others don’t “get it”
 
Follow Rob on Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rob-lawless-robs10kfriends/Follow Rob on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robs10kfriends/
Connect with me, Loren
Website: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/
Email: Loren@portfoliorocket.com
 
Join our 30-day Blast Program: 30-Day Blast

Get Hired in 2025 I Andrew Seaman

Work doesn’t have to make you miserable
Neither does your job search. 
 
The trick – knowing how to adapt. 
 
“Things are changing much faster in labor market than 15 years ago” says our guest this week 
Andrew Seaman Host of Get Hired and Editor-At-Large for Jobs & Career Development at LinkedIn News. 
 
Today Andrew is in the interviewee seat.  
He breaks down the nuances of balancing “intelligent risk” in this job market and the need to blend being open to change with being deliberate and patient. (not easy)
 
Andrew also lets us in on pieces of his story and candid takes on: 
 
His relationship with work and boundaries
The intersection of resumes and LinkedIn
The rush of automation (AI) and his concerns on the impact on hiring
How the pandemic changed the game for older workers
Upskilling, reskilling and staying educated about the marketplace
 
Follow Andrew Seaman
Listen to the Get Hired Podcast
Subscribe to the Get Hired Newsletter