Looks Like Work

Being radically generous in business - with Amelia Hruby

This week I’m excited to welcome our Looks Like Work producer onto the podcast! Amelia Hruby is the founder of the feminist podcast studio Softer Sounds the host of Off the Grid podcast about leaving social media, and the editor of this show!
 
In this episode, we talk about—
her intentional process for starting her business
writing ourselves permission slips to “grow slow”
creating flexible, shame-free boundaries with our work
how radical generosity requires energetic sovereignty
 
This is a powerful conversation for entrepreneurs and anyone who wants to change their life and live in alignment with their values. I hope you enjoy it.  
 
Links:
Softer Sounds Studio
Off the Grid podcast
Courses Amelia mentioned: Feminist Business School, The Alignment Course, Laura Holway
Amelia’s podcast episode on energetic sovereignty
Amelia’s Podcaster Archetype Quiz
Quitted podcast
 
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Permission to speak - with Hadar Shemesh

How confident are you in your voice? In today’s episode, Hadar Shemesh joins us to discuss how she helps non-native English speakers raise their voice and cultivate permission to speak.
Hadar is a linguistics expert and communication coach who’s worked with companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook, IBM, GM, Wework, Wix (and many more!). In this episode, she shares how pursuing her dream of becoming an actress made her hyper-aware of her “otherness,” and then led her to create a business helping speakers of English as a second language communicate confidently and joyfully in English.
We also talk about the lies of “standard” English, our bilingual households, combating perfectionism as content creators, and addressing conflict with a global audience.
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!
 
Links:
Hadar’s website
Hadar’s InFluency Podcast
Who is your madwoman in the attic?

Is it the age of anti-ambition or are we all simply exhausted?

2022 is being called the year of anti-ambition, but is that really the case? In this solo episode, Chedva unpacks her relationship with ambition – the good, the bad & the ugly of it – while refusing to agree that being ambitious is inherently toxic.
 
She explores: 
why entering the workforce was so important to her as an ultra-Orthodox woman
when her start-up ambitions led her deep into burnout
& how COVID made her face the realities of work amidst crisis
 
Tune in for an open and honest reflection on why we don’t actually want our work to be “on steroids.” As well as Chedva’s thoughts on how we can heal our burnout without giving up our ambitions in the process. 
 
Links:
“2022 may be the year my ambition truly dies” in The Cut 
The Age of Anti-Ambition in New York Times
Listen to Chedva discuss “Torah & Tech in Israel” on BBC’s The Documentary Podcast
“I’m not asking people to change their accent for me, just asking for basic respect” Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on Twitter 
Rejecting mispronounced & whitened names in Toronto Star
“It’s harder than ever to care about anything” in Time
‘My dark secret’: Orthodox women reveal their abortion stories in Forward
 
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Be the CEO of your career — with Maya Grossman

Are you waiting for career opportunities to come your way? Or are you creating opportunities to bring your dream job closer?
Maya Grossman is a marketing executive, blogger, speaker, podcast host, and best-selling author who helps people become the CEO of their careers. She’s worked with Microsoft, Google, Tesla, and many other successful companies. 
In this episode, she shares how she shifted from “Maya-the-travel-agen” to “Maya-the-marketer” to “Maya-the-career-coach.” We also discuss how to find your purpose & passion, ways to intentionally craft your career, and the magic of LinkedIn.
 
Links:
Maya’s website
Follow Maya on LinkedIn
Follow Maya on Instagram
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Bloom in the business you planted — with Elisheva Manekin

What can plants teach us about personal growth and business growth? A lot, it turns out!
Elisheva Manekin is a plant lover, home decor designer, and the founder of Loop Living. In this episode, she shares how her passion for plants led her to create a thriving e-commerce business, selling botanical wares for beautiful homes.
Together, we discuss: believing in ourselves even when others don’t, growing healthy & profitable businesses, managing a team, becoming confident with money, and more.
 
Links & resources:
Loop Living
Follow Loop Living on Instagram
Follow Loop Living on Instagram (in Hebrew)
Make Life Beautiful by Studio McGee
Katy Leeson tweet about overworking 
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Burning bright — discussing burnout with the Rooms & Words team

Have you ever felt burnout? When was the last time it happened, and how did you respond?
In this episode, Chedva shares her experiences with burnout and chronic illness as a successful entrepreneur. Then, she welcomes her team to the pod! Rooms and Words team members, Lauren Turner, Michal Shemesh and Navriti Sood join us to reflect on the first six episodes of Looks Like Work and to share their experiences with work, parenting, culture, and of course— burnout.
 
Links & resources:
Katy Leeson tweet about overworking
The 7 Types of Rest that Every Person Needs
Closing My Restaurant Forced Me to Learn How to Take Care of Myself
Can’t Even by Anne Helen Petersen 
Burnout by Emily & Amelia Nagoski
Rooms & Words
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the Looks Like Work newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Cultivating courage & creating boundaries with your work - with Gili Yuval

How often has a poem written by a stranger made you feel seen? Gili Yuval is a poet whose career spans marketing, events, museums, and more.
In this conversation, we discuss her career journey across countries, the challenges of setting boundaries with your work & your art, inspirations for and responses to her poetry about work, and transforming her writing into a business while keeping a 9-to-5 job.
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

Designing a Creative Career that Suits You - with Lital Gold

How do you stay inspired when making art is your full-time job? Lital Gold is a designer and artist who has worked with global brands including Free People, Anthropologie, Tory Burch and Kate Spade. She also teaches painting workshops at companies like Netflix and Facebook.
In this conversation, we discuss how Lital landed her first job with Free People, the many evolutions of her career as a freelance artist and textile designer, the challenges of being a new manager at the start of the pandemic, and how she stays creatively inspired by drawing every day – even if it’s just five lines. 
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!
 
Links:
Lital’s website
Lital’s shop
Lital’s Instagram
Katy Leeson tweet about overworking
 

Stepping into your true voice and caring about what YOU think of yourself - with Casey Erin Clark

Close your eyes for a second and imagine what authority sounds like to you. Did it sound anything like your own voice? Casey Erin Clark is a professional actress who, after 18 months on tour with Les Miserables, read the book Half the Sky and got very fired up about issues facing women in the world today. She co-founded Vital Voice Training where she lives out her bio "Loud girl learns to amplify others." 
Casey's also one of my favorite people to have meaningful conversations with. In this one, we talk about SO MANY topics, including: accessing your true voice (and not trying to change it to fit!), code switching, falling in love with your many focus areas and learning to live with the fact that your big childhood dream isn’t your only dream anymore, working with partners who have different work styles (and brains), understanding that you deserve ease, pleasure and comfort – and that they hold no less value than perfection.
 
Links & resources:
Vital Voice Training 
Casey’s Website 
Follow Casey on Twitter & Instagram
Dreamers & Doers
Sorry to Bother You (film)
Rachel Wynn on Casey’s podcast Voice Is
Anne Helen Peterson’s newsletter & her book Can’t Even
Hustle and Float by Rahaf Harfoush
Rahaf Harfoush on Voice Is
Katy Leeson tweet about overworking
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!

There’s No Playbook for Leadership - with Yali Harari

One of my first memories of Yali Harari - CEO and Co-Founder of Innovesta, former investor and serial entrepreneur - is her giving me a hug when someone hurt my feelings. I immediately knew that her brand of leadership is one I want to follow. 
In this conversation, we discuss why there’s no “one size fits all” kind of leader, what the true meaning of impact is and how empathy, values and business all interact. 
 
Links & resources:
Follow Yali on LinkedIn
Innovesta
Synergy Business Associates
Katy Leeson tweet about overworking
Please subscribe, rate & review the podcast wherever you listen. And subscribe to the LLW newsletter for more updates from Chedva!