Work From The Inside Out

Gustavo Razzetti’s favorite question is “what if?” That simple question has helped him on his quest for continuous exploration and experimentation. As the fifth child of seven siblings in his family, he learned early to look for new ideas and solutions and to challenge the status quo. Growing up in Argentina during the civil war added to the context in which he valued freedom and independence. What began as responsibilities he took on as a child, such as cooking meals for his siblings when his parents were traveling, has translated into a lifetime of continual experimentation, learning, and discovery.Change has always been a constant to Gustavo. His diverse background is at the intersection of change leadership, marketing strategy, innovation, and design thinking. He has led and transformed six organizations in different scenarios over 20 years: start-up, high-growth, and turnaround, and has worked in diverse places: New York, Argentina, Chicago, Puerto Rico, and Los Angeles. He loves advising CEOs from both Fortune 500 and startups alike.The author of hundreds of articles on change leadership, innovation, and self-improvement, Gustavo released his most recent book in June 2022: Remote Not Distant: Design a Company Culture That Will Help You Thrive in a Hybrid Workplace. He addresses multiple areas of company cultures, from keeping teams connected and improving remote collaboration to managing asynchronous communication, facilitating courageous conversations, and defining the right hybrid model for your organization.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Gustavo’s journey:He was invited to participate in the cutting-edge Innovation Leadership Program at Stanford University.Gustavo is the author of three books prior to his current publication: Stretch for Change: How To Improve Your Change Fitness And Thrive In Life, Stretch Your Mind: How to conquer your comfort zone one stretch at a time, and Stretch Your Team: How to Adapt And Thrive in a Changing World.Learn more and connect with Gustavo here:TwitterLinkedInFacebookFearless Culture websiteRead: Remote Not DistantFacebook: Liberating ChangeStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Connie Steele grew up as a first generation Chinese-American with the traditional pressures to excel academically as the pathway to success. Her Dad had a Ph.D. in economics and statistics, so there was an emphasis on excellence in math. Connie studied statistics in college. In her junior year, she sought out vocational books in the library to figure out what she was going to do next. She read about marketing research, then took a marketing class and loved it. Connie went to the University of Michigan for a master's degree in applied statistics where she was also able to take classes in the business school. Later, she earned a doctorate in statistics. Today, Connie is passionate about helping leaders build fluid organizations to adapt and thrive in a world where uncertainty is the new certainty. She is on a mission to help professionals and companies get unstuck to achieve their goals confidently. With over twenty years of working at Fortune 500 companies, such as AOL and General Mills, start-ups and scale-up organizations, and high-growth tech companies, Connie shared with me the full range of how businesses have had to become more collaborative and fluid. Connie has always been intrigued by the “why” behind companies and careers that thrive. Her goal is to help people discover their portfolio career or super job, their “career mashup”, her term for the career of the future in which they merge their skills, passions, and values. In her best-selling book Building the Business of You, Connie shares future work trends that explain how people’s motivations and expectations are changing with respect to work and life. She couples this with a five-step long-term strategic planning framework to help readers take greater control of their careers, personal and leadership development.Connie just published "What Workers Want," the second annual State of Work and Career Success survey. Connie is conducting this survey annually to understand what does it take to be successful now in this new world of work? What holds us back as individuals (not employees) from reaching our goals? What does it take to reach one’s career potential, and what is that relationship with their company’s potential?In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Connie’s journey:Connie is the host of the Strategic Momentum podcast, devoted to meaningful work-life fit in an ever-changing world through inspiring stories, actionable tips, and pragmatic advice from those that found their fit.Her perspectives and advice have appeared in Forbes, Authority Magazine, TechRound, and Thrive Global.Learn more and connect with Connie here: Book “Building the Business of You"Podcast: Strategic MomentumWebsite: conniewsteele.comLinkedIn Instagram: @conniewangsteeleTwitter: @conniewsteele Stay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Deb Coviello is an introvert who likes to talk. As a child, she often wanted to express herself and enjoyed participating in activities such as the school play. Deb was a good student and even skipped fifth grade, heading straight into middle school. Yet, throughout her early years and even into her professional career life, Deb found that teachers, bosses, and others did not always want her to speak, so there were periods of time when she would clam up. This created misperceptions of her abilities. Teachers assessed she was not too bright and bosses perceived she was not aligned with the team. In college, Deb found a zone where she could offer her voice and became a natural leader. She studied biomedical engineering (at a school her guidance counselor told her she would not be able to get admitted to!) and upon graduation entered a manufacturing management development program with her first employer. From there she built a 30 plus year career in strategy, quality and operational excellence roles, primarily in the flavors and fragrance industry.Today, Deb has struck out on her own as an advisor, author, podcast host, and founder of Illumination Partners, a consulting firm for CEOs navigating change. A trusted partner to C-suite leaders, Deb supports her clients as they work together to identify, assess and solve the issues that may be preventing their business growth. Deb has developed powerful programs devoted to helping CEOs identify emerging leaders. She hosts a weekly show, The Drop-In CEO Podcast . And she is the author of the book, The CEO’s Compass, Your Guide to Get Back on Track.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Deb’s journey:Deb is certified as a Lean and Six Sigma Black Belt in process improvement.She is a board member of Women in Flavor and Fragrance Commerce.Deb is an avid curler with the Cincinnati curling club and won a silver medal in a national tournament.Learn more and connect with Deborah here:Website: dropinceo.comLinkedIn The CEO’s CompassDrop in CEO PodcastFacebook: Twitter: @DropinCEOInstagram: @dropinceoStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Julie Schechter danced her way through childhood into college, focusing on ballet. When she wasn’t dancing, she might be hanging out with her dad in his editing room as he spliced film for his documentaries. Mom was a child psychologist. Needless to say, Julie had a front-row seat to entrepreneurism and passion-connected careers. It came as a bit of a shock when Julie announced that she was going to Harvard Law School. There’s more to that story…After studying dance in college, Julie spent two years in Americorps, a national program that engages Americans in intensive community service to meet needs in education, the environment, public safety, health, and homeland security. Julie worked with nurses going into preschools in the San Juan Capistrano, CA area, near the Mexican border, doing wellness checks on children, and trying to identify health needs because English was not their first language. She was inspired by that experience and decided she wanted to be like Atticus Finch, from To Kill A Mockingbird. Upon entering law school, Julie intended to pursue a career in public interest law, and like many in her shoes, she had a huge debt load at graduation. So, she joined a large law firm and became a litigator, an experience she values to this day. Yet, she is no longer practicing law.Julie in her heart is a serial entrepreneur. Once she left law, she leveraged her background as a ballet dancer to create the successful fitness company fitBallet, which ran for three years in New York City’s hyper-competitive fitness market. Today, Julie is the co-founder and CEO of Small Packages. Her curated care packages help busy people maintain their friendships despite the pressures of physical distance.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Julie’s journey:Julie took a day job counseling attorneys while she was building fitBallet to support herself. Small Packages has been featured in NYT Wirecutter, CNN, Good Morning America, and awarded a Visionary Women Grant by Shark Tank’s Barbara Corcoran.Learn more and connect with Julie here:LinkedInInstagram: @smallpackagesTwitter: @smallpackagescoWebsite: smallpackages.coStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

RJ Singh has lived a double life more than once. He loved it in some respects because it was dynamic, yet he chooses to live quite differently these days. Born in Australia, RJ and his family moved to the San Francisco Bay area when he was four years old, where his Dad joined his uncle in a cleaning business. He describes those early years as a “typical immigrant family with lots of big gatherings and cousins to hang with,” yet RJ reports that he felt as if he did not know who he was. He was a very active, high-energy kid and a talented soccer player in the Olympics development program. RJ was also intellectually bright, yet his active behavior in school was considered to be disruptive, and by seventh grade, he was getting suspended from school regularly. In high school, RJ was getting into alcohol and drug use. Thus began his double life between athletics and drug use. By 14, he easily fell into addictions, which continued into his twenties, along with many run-ins with the law, jail time, and periodic stays in rehab. RJ started to deal drugs to support his addictions. He says this was the first time he felt a solid sense of identity. Again, he was living a double life. After more than a decade of involvement in the juvenile justice system and struggling with his addictions, he continued to deal drugs while attending a private university to earn his college degree. Eventually, he quit drugs but not alcohol while still selling drugs. Several years later, he became completely sober by committing to a 12-step program. Today RJ lives in Australia with his wife and two children. He has his MBA and works as a chief revenue officer, consultant, and advisor to many start-ups and businesses. He is an ultra-endurance athlete who is dedicated to the pursuit of self-mastery.  In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about RJ’s journey:RJ’s mission is to lead by example and share the ultra habits needed to achieve ultra performance in all areas of your life.He says that becoming sober required a lot of structure, and once he met his partner and they started a family, he had to learn to let go and be more flexible.Learn more and connect with RJ here:FacebookLinkedInYouTubeWebsiteStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to newsletter

Jill Griffin has spent her career leading innovation, digital and media strategy, content development, and marketing programs for many of the world’s top brands. Advertising Age recognized her as one of the "25 Women to Watch" and she was named one of the "50 Most Influential People in Content Marketing" by NewsCred. She’s also a two-time winner of AdWeek-Mediaweek's Media Plan of the Year. Whether she's working with startups, thought leaders, or renowned global organizations, Jill has sat on all sides of the table. She works with organizations to create strengths-based cultures to increase performance, retention, and well-being. And yet, her road to success was not quite as smooth as it may seem.When Jill’s career started to pick up steam, she was involved in an accident that led to head trauma, forcing her to rethink, reset, and reboot her career and her life. The injury forced her to live on purpose rather than in reaction. She felt compelled to consider how much of an impact her thoughts played in creating her results. And it forced Jill to adjust her own career trajectory. While she still spent many years consulting with big brands like The Coca-Cola Cola Company, Microsoft, Hilton Hotels, and Samsung, Jill also became a certified coach passionate about helping others create fulfilling careers and lives. Today, Jill works with busy clients to achieve results by clearing out their old B.S. (belief systems). This necessary work gets them clear on what they want to create, and it rewires their thoughts so they can see the results they desire and be confident it’s within their reach.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Jill’s journey:Jill has written for Fast Company, HuffPost, and Metro UK. She has been quoted by leading media outlets like Adweek, Advertising Age, Forrester Research, The New York Times, NewsCred, Newsday, Media Week departures, and the Wall Street Journal. She is a Gallup® Certified Strengths Coach and has helped hundreds of clients amplify their strengths, increase visibility, create career clarity, and design a brighter future.Learn more and connect with Jill here:LinkedInFacebookInstagramWebsiteStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Kelli Thompson is a leadership coach and speaker who specializes in helping women advance to the rooms where decisions are made. She is the founder of the Clarity and Confidence Women's Leadership Program and a Stevie Award® winner for Women in Business Coach of the Year. Kelli’s book, Closing the Confidence Gap, Boost Your Peace, Your Potential, and Your Paycheck, will be released in November 2022.Kelli characterized her early years as sheltered. She grew up in a small Midwest town, attending a Catholic school in a homogenous environment where most people shared the same values and followed common rules and social norms. Kelli described her emerging adulthood as checking off the boxes on a list and staying on track with the expectations she was raised to fulfill. She went to college, earned a master's degree, married, and had her daughter by age 24. Kelli presumed that these accomplishments would bring her happiness and success, but that is not what happened. She divorced and worked in banking for 14 years, getting experience in a variety of areas from sales to human resources. From there, she built a career in training and development in technology companies until 2019, when she started her own coaching practice.Kelli has coached and trained hundreds of women to trust themselves, lead more confidently, and create a career they love. She has served as an adjunct management professor and has more than 10 years of senior leadership experience in financial services and technology organizations.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Kelli’s journey:Kelli opened up and shared some of her personal challenges while attempting to start her coaching business shortly before the pandemic hit. She experienced some major losses and candidly spoke about how those experiences impacted her decisions.Her thought leadership has been featured in Forbes MarketWatch, Parents Magazine, HuffPost, and Working Mother.Learn more and connect with Kelli here:LinkedInRise Confidently FacebookFacebookWebsiteStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to newsletter

Vice Admiral Sandra Stosz, US Coast Guard retired, was the first woman to command an icebreaker on the Great Lakes and to lead a US Armed Forces service academy. She served for 40 years in many leadership roles on land and at sea. Sandy, as she asked me to call her, is the author of Breaking Ice and Breaking Glass: Leading in Uncharted Waters. When Sandy was considering her post-high school plans, she learned about the option to attend the U.S. Naval Academy, thanks to the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment and the implementation of Title Nine, which required the military to open their service academies to women. Sandy was immediately intrigued by the potential opportunity to see the world and be a part of something bigger than herself while securing a free post-secondary education. Just a few years prior, this would not have been possible for a female. In order to apply to the Naval Academy, Sandy needed a nomination from a member of Congress, which she was able to secure for admission. Her guidance counselor suggested that she not put all of her eggs in one basket, however. Sandy received a Coast Guard Academy flyer in the mail, and their admission process was based more directly on her merits. She was accepted into the Coast Guard Academy and decided to attend it because “I wanted to go to a school and join a service that values me for what I know, not who I know.”Sandy started out in the US Coast Guard as an ensign, serving aboard polar icebreakers conducting national security missions from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Her 40-year career was filled with leadership lessons. Sandy served for 12 years at sea, commanding two ships and led large Coast Guard organizations during times of crisis and complexity. She finished her career as the first woman assigned as Deputy Commandant for Mission Support, directing one of the Coast Guard's largest enterprises. In 2012, Newsweek's The Daily Beast named Sandy to their list of 150 women who shake the world.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Sandra’s journey:Sandy volunteers in leadership roles, including as chair of the Coast Guard Academy Sailing Council and as a trustee for the Coast Guard Academy Institute for Leadership.She lectures widely on leadership and has been featured on C-Span and in other media.Learn more and connect with Sandra here:LinkedInFacebookTwitterWebsiteStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Dr. Amanda Crowell is a cognitive psychologist, speaker, author and creator of the Great Work journals. She educates future teachers, coaches accidental entrepreneurs, and speaks about how to make progress on great work to colleges and corporate teams. She is the author of the book, Great Work, Do What Matters Most Without Sacrificing Everything Else.Amanda said her early years were both lovely and complicated. At two years old she was diagnosed with a developmental seizure disorder, meaning that once her brain was further developed, the seizures would stop. Until she was nine, she took medications that affected her motor skills and general alertness. In this week’s podcast episode, Amanda shared her experience of those critical developmental years. She had difficulty functioning in school and in social interactions, but she did have friends, was able to watch TV and knew her teachers’ names. Once she discontinued the seizure medication, everything opened up. At times it was an overwhelming experience. It also sparked a tremendous sense of wonder and curiosity about people and social dynamics as the world unfolded in front of her.Today, everything Amanda does as a coach, author, speaker and podcast host of Unleashing YOUR Great Work, points to doing the work that matters the most to you, what she refers to as YOUR Great Work. It might involve building a business, inciting a movement, creating breathtaking art, writing world-changing books, or helping other people to heal and grow into their potential. YOUR Great Work is a combined fascination with human achievement and a passion for helping others in order to explore how to get YOUR work out into the world where it belongs. In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Amanda’s journey:Amanda’s TEDx talk “Three Reasons You Aren't Doing What You Say You Will Do” has received more than a million views, and has been featured on TED's ideas blog and TED shorts.  Her career took a few twists and turns from continuing legal education, event planning to communications, and a potential admission to law school.Amanda teaches psychology at Hunter College School of Education in New York City in their teacher certification program.Learn more and connect with Amanda here:TwitterLinkedInRead: Great WorkStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter

Lisa Fain grew up in a family of lawyers and while there was no obvious pressure, she ended up going to law school. She had envisioned a career in public interest law, but upon graduation, she had significant student loan debt which she wanted to clear before moving forward. Fortunately, Lisa was able to work in an area that interested her, labor and employment law, while squaring away her loan, working for a large law firm. She enjoyed counseling clients, using her negotiation and mediation skills while focusing on matters pertaining to EEO, diversity, and compliance.Yet, still, Lisa knew this was not the way she wanted to work. The turning point came after she had pulled an all-nighter preparing for a litigation case. She saw a blinking light on her phone indicating she had a voicemail. It was a message from her four-year-old daughter. She said “Mommy come home. We need a mommy, not a lawyer.” Lisa shared, “It was the worst best gift I ever got because I recognized that I wasn't living my values. Although I was doing great work, I wasn't able to be the kind of mother that I wanted to be.”Lisa left the large firm and transitioned to an in-house role at a company where she developed workplace policies, eventually focusing on diversity, equity, and inclusion. She loved the work and demand across the company grew. Lisa was asked to create a mentoring program so she reached out to Lois Zachary of the Center for Mentoring Excellence to provide consultation on how to set it up. Full disclosure: Lois is Lisa’s mother! Fast forward to today: Lisa is the CEO of the Center for Mentoring Excellence. She is a global speaker with expertise in cultural competency and mentoring. Her passion for diversity and inclusion fuels her conviction that leveraging differences creates a better workplace and drives better business results.In this week’s Work From The Inside Out podcast, learn more about Lisa’s journey:Lisa is the co-author with Lois Zachary of Bridging Differences for Better Mentoring and the 2022 revision (3rd Edition) of The Mentor’s Guide: Facilitating Effective Learning Relationships.She is an Executive Coach who guides leaders to create better workplaces and is known for her frank, kind, and holistic approach to helping leaders help themselves.Learn more and connect with Lisa here:TwitterLinkedInWebsiteStay Connected:Connect with Tammy on LinkedIn@TammyGoolerLoeb on InstagramWork From The Inside Out WebsiteSubscribe to  newsletter