Send us a textOn this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, after more than 60 interviews, today the tables are turned, and I’m the guest. My interviewer is my husband, Corey. If you’d like to learn more about his work, check out his episode on life as a Marine Engineer. In this interview, I answer all the questions I have asked my guests, but I also reflect a lot on what I have learned in this process, which as it turns out, is a lot of things. Before we get into, I just wanted to say how ...

Send us a textOn this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life I’m talking with Mike Ettenberg, a firefighter and the founder of Frontline Optics, a sunglasses company focused on the needs of the First Responder Community but suitable for anyone. If you’ve ever considered becoming a firefighter or you wonder what it’s like, we get into it all: the joys of camaraderie and making a clear and tangible impact on people's lives, but of course, with the lows of the profession like burnout and spendin...

Send us a textOn this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life I’m talking with LaQuita Johnson, about life working as a Pharmacist. We get into all the details about life in this field, like the burnout risk in the retail sector, to the challenge of transitioning from school to actually working in the field. If you’d like to learn more about LaQuita, you can find her at LaQuitaJohnson.com. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy one of the many episodes I’ve done covering life in the...

Send us a textOn this week’s episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Kelly Tag. Kelly teaches special education for preschoolers in a public school system and before that had experience teaching online on a variety of subjects . We talk about getting started with a provisional license, working in a field in whatever capacity you can before committing to it, and so much more. Follow Kelly at https://www.youtube.com/c/TeacherKellyTagOther episodes that might interest you:Meagan, ...

Send us a textOn this week’s episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Chaundria Singleton, a medical imaging and radiation therapy professional, or a radiologic technologist. One path we talk about here is one that I don’t hear quite as much about, the path from entrepreneurship into a career as an employee. I’m so glad to have an opportunity to share that path, because we so often romanticize the path of ditching your 9-5 to be your own boss, but there are tons of reasons that being...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Ashlee Cervantes Thomas, an experienced security professional from Guardian Protection Force in California. Like so many of the fields I’ve spoken with people about, there are so many different paths you can take within security, from the security guards we’re all familiar with in retail stores and offices, to events security to executive or celebrity bodyguards. There is room for all types of people with ...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Meagan Tehseldar, a high school English Language Arts teacher. When I first envisioned this podcast, teacher was definitely a career that was high on my list, and Meagan was the perfect guest for this because she’s had experience across different states, public, private, and charter, and now is teaching virtually, so if you’re curious about what life as a teacher might be like, we get into so many differen...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life I’m talking with Scott Fulmer, a seasoned private investigator. This field is in high demand, and includes a lot of different specialties within it, so it could be great for someone that’s not interested in a regular job and interested in the freedom and variety that can come from this type of work. I learned so much about this field that I didn’t know, I think you’re really going to enjoy this interview. If you’d like to l...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Janice Marquardt, an experienced Supply Chain professional that recently struck out on her own as a consultant, founding Passwall Solutions. If you’re curious about a career in Supply Chain, this episode is for you, but we also cover a lot of ground here and many of the themes we talk about would be relevant to many jobs in the corporate realm, pursuing advanced degrees, building strong professional networ...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Jordan Barnett-Parker, a master goldsmith. Jordan has had a really interesting career, and he’s one of quite a few people I’ve talked to at this point that found their career passion through a class in high school, so maybe a vote in favor of just trying as much as you can as early as you can, because you never know what might catch your interest in a way nothing else has before. We also talk about how pur...

Send us a Text Message.On this episode of Real Work, Real Life I’m talking with Meg, who is recently retired after 15 years in the army. While in helicopter pilot then worked in special operations as a psychological operations officer. If you’ve ever considered joining the Armed Forces, this is a great episode for you, we cover so much about that this path, from the educational opportunities and wide-ranging benefits, to the challenge of a job that you can’t just quit when it’s not a go...

Send us a Text Message.On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Tiffany Baxter of Backyard Butchery, a mobile whole animal butcher. Tiffany also manages her own farm and a business doing bee removals. This was such a fun discussion, and so much of what we talk about is applicable to any small business owner. If you’re interested in learning more about what Tiffany does, you can find here here: If you enjoyed this episode, you might also enjoy two other recent epis...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Katie Dotterer, founder of Agvokate Agriculture Education, teaching Spanish and English as a second language, primarily to people working in agriculture. I learned so much in this episode. We get into a lot of the challenges and joys of entrepreneurship, using language to improve life for everyone working in agriculture, and that A.I. means something completely different in the dairy industry. You’ll have to listen to the end...

On this week's episode, I have a very special guest, I’m talking with my best friend and husband, Corey. Corey is a merchant mariner, working as an engineer on an oil rig. If you’ve listened since the beginning of this series, you might remember that the original idea behind this podcast came from a desire to help guide our children as they thought about their own careers and how work would fit into a fulfilling and joyful life. Corey has been my biggest supporter throughout this project (and...

On this week's episode, I’m talking Saranya, an attorney in intellectual property. Saranya originally went to undergrad and graduate school and started her career in engineering and after finding success in the field, realized the paths ahead of her weren’t the right fit, so she went to law school at night, and is now a partner at a major firm. I know you’re going to enjoy this interview as much as I did, and if you want to hear more from Saranya, check out her Instagram account, Shelves of...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Annie Yang. Annie is employed full time as an accountant, but also has a side gig doing similar work for other clients. Annie also helps job seekers land positions quickly, so we talk a lot about strategies there. If you’re currently on the job hunt, check out Annie’s website, which you can find linked in the shownotes. Annie is one of so many people out there that don’t just do one job, they have lots of plates in the air, and...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Caite, who works remotely full time for a software company, hosts a podcast called Barnyard Language, and raises beef cattle and sheep with her husband on their farm. The work that Caite does in the software field is really interesting, essentially preventing abuse of the software, and would be a great option for nonlinear, creative thinkers, even if they don’t have the skills you might typically associate with someone working...

Welcome to Real Work, Real Life where I talk to real people about what they do for work and what that means for their lives. Today I’m talking with Beth Sandlin, a Pilates Instructor, and the founder of Trifecta Pilates. After years of working as an in person instructor, Beth started Trifecta to expand the reach and accessibility of Pilates, offering teacher training and online Pilates workouts (long before that became so normalized during the pandemic) available through membership, an app,...

On the week's episode of Real Work, Real Life I'm talking with Ed, a merchant mariner who works on tug boats and captains a charter fishing boat, the Rita B, in his off time. We talk a lot about general life in the maritime industry and also get into all the details of working as a charter captain. It can be great gig for passionate anglers who love active work on the water and meeting lots of new people you might never meet otherwise. Because it’s seasonal in our area, most captains either...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I'm talking with Jenna Jozefowski (also known as Jenna J). Jenna is a semi-retired professional dancer, dance teacher and yoga teacher, turned personal trainer and kettle bell instructor. Jenna describes her approach as anti diet, so she doesn’t coach intentional fat loss. We talk about that in the interview, but if you want to learn more, check out her podcast Tough Cookie Talks. While this interview would be great for someone that ever...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Charles Read. Charles is a CPA and the CEO of Get Payroll, which provides payroll services for companies across the country. Becoming a certified public accountant today requires a master’s degree and an incredibly challenging three day exam, but it’s a field that is in high demand with tons of potential if you’re well-suited to the work. We cover so much much in this interview, from good business practice advice for any...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Jorge Gonzalez. After a successful career in warehouse logistics, Jorge was injured on the job and found himself unable to do the work that he once did. We talk a lot about that work and his new career as a Real Estate agent, so if you’re interested in either of those fields, this will be a good episode for you. But I also think his experience with injury and unexpectedly being unable to continue in a career he was thriving in...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Urmi Hossain, an investment associate based in Canada with the goal of becoming a portfolio manager. Urmi is a CFA, or a Chartered Financial Analyst. CFA is a globally recognized professional designation that measures and certifies the competence and integrity of financial analysts. Candidates are required to pass three levels of exams covering areas, such as accounting, economics, ethics, money management, and security...

On this week's episode of Real Work, Real Life, I’m talking with Dalene, who retired at 50 after a career working for the government supporting law enforcement agencies. If you missed last week’s episode, I talked with Tim who retired after 30 years in the air force and is about to retire again after working for the government in security, so that would be a great episode to go back and listen to if you’re considering a career in the public sector (you can find it here:...