The Employee Success Podcast

Early Career Growth: Building Confidence and Connection (with Mallory Newby)

In this episode of The Employee Success Podcast, we sit down with a familiar guest, Mallory Newby, Career Development Specialist in the Employee Success Center, to talk about what it really takes to grow early in your career. Drawing on her experience working with students, staff, and faculty across UofL, Mallory shares practical insight on building confidence, forming meaningful connections, and navigating the often uncertain transition into the workplace. The conversation goes beyond resumes and job searches, focusing instead on developing the self: understanding your strengths, learning how to advocate for yourself, and showing up with intention in professional spaces. Whether you’re just starting out or looking to reset your path, this episode offers grounded, actionable ways to build momentum and create a more connected, confident version of your career!  Check out Mallory's Career Navigation Guide here [https://universityoflouisvilleemployeesuccesscenter.createsend1.com/t/y-i-atruuuk-l-j/].  Send a CARDGram [https://my.louisville.edu/employee-success-center/recognition/send-cardgram] to a professional peer who has helped you along your career journey! Tap into all of the additional great offerings by the Employee Success Center here [http://louisville.edu/employeesuccess].

Prioritizing Self-care and Creating a Campus Culture of Well-being (with Adam A. Smith)

In this episode of The Employee Success Podcast, Brian sits down virtually with Adam A. Smith, an author, educator, speaker, consultant and change-agent who has dedicated his almost three-decade career to ensuring college access and success for all Americans. They discuss the importance of creating a campus culture that prioritizes the well-being of the entire community. Smith recently released his first book, Multiracial Roots, Black Fruit: An inspirational journey of love, faith, and becoming. He and his wife Linda operate an educational consulting firm, Smith Education Associates [https://smitheducationassociates.com/], LLC and Adam is a multinational speaker represented by SpeakOut, the nation’s largest nonprofit speaker’s agency. Check out Adam's book here [https://yellowdoorpublishing.net/#author:~:text=Order%20Now!,Adam%20A.%20Smith].  Send a CARDGram [https://my.louisville.edu/employee-success-center/recognition/send-cardgram]. Check out the incredible opportunities provided by The Employee Success Center [http://louisville.edu/employeesuccess].  Learn more about UofL's Employee Assistance Program [https://louisville.edu/hr/benefits/employee-assistance-program] (EAP) and Get Healthy Now [https://louisville.edu/gethealthynow] (GHN).

Cultivating Joy at Work (with Rebecca Barrett)

In this episode, we sit down with UofL School of Nursing Program Manager and Mindset Coach Rebecca Barrett to explore what it truly means to cultivate joy at work—not as a fleeting feeling, but as a powerful, practical skill. Brian and Rebecca dive into how to intentionally tap into your mind and emotions in the workplace so you can navigate both challenging seasons and moments of success with clarity and resilience. Rebecca shares actionable insights on emotional awareness, mindset shifts, and the science behind sustainable joy at work. Listen in to learn about how to respond rather than react, reframe obstacles, and harness positive experiences to build momentum and engagement. Learn more about the School of Nursing here [https://nursing.louisville.edu/]. Send a CARDGram [https://my.louisville.edu/employee-success-center/recognition/send-cardgram]!      Check out all the incredible opportunities offered by the Employee Success Center here [https://louisville.edu/employeesuccess].

The Cardinal Spotlight: Dr. Sarah Anne Strickley

In this episode of the Employee Success Podcast, we sit down with Dr. Sarah Anne Strickley—writer, professor, faculty editor of Miracle Monocle, and Director of Undergraduate Studies in English.  Dr. Strickley shares how her own creative practice informs the way she teaches and mentors students, from helping them generate bold new work to introducing them to the worlds of editing and publishing. We talk craft, collaboration, and what it means to build literary communities inside and beyond the classroom—and she gives us a sneak peek at a new book on the horizon!  -- Sarah Anne Strickley is the author of the short story collection, Incendiary Devices; the novella, Sister; the short story collection, Fall Together; and a collection of essays, Ode to Collapse, forthcoming in October 2026. She’s a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing fellowship, an Ohio Arts grant, a Glenn Schaeffer Award from the International Institute of Modern Letters, the Copper Nickel Editors’ Prize for Prose and other honors. Her stories and essays have appeared in Oxford American, A Public Space, Witness, Harvard Review, Gulf Coast, The Southeast Review, The Normal School, Ninth Letter, Hotel Amerika, Copper Nickel, storySouth and elsewhere. She’s a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and earned her PhD from the University of Cincinnati. She’s the Director of Undergraduate Studies at the University of Louisville and serves as faculty editor of Miracle Monocle [http://miraclemonocle.com], [http://miraclemonocle.com] UofL’s award-winning literary journal.  -- Visit the new Miracle Monocle site here [http://miraclemonocle.com].  Keep up with Dr. Strickley on her website [https://www.sarahannestrickley.com/] and that of Finishing Line Press [https://www.finishinglinepress.com/].  Learn more about UofL's English program here [https://artsandsciences.louisville.edu/academics-programs/academic-departments/english]. Check out the Employee Success Center website [https://louisville.edu/about/departments/employee-success-center]!

When Values Clash: Understanding Moral Injury at Work (with Meg Hancock)

What happens when the work you are asked to do conflicts with the values you hold most deeply? In this episode, we explore moral injury at work and examine how it shows up across the higher education workplace and beyond. Our guest, Dr. Meg Hancock, draws from her recent study, Changing Industry: A Qualitative Study on Moral Injury within Former Sport Employees, which uses college athletics as a powerful case example. Through conversations about NIL, the transfer portal, and increasing commercialization, the discussion opens up to a broader look at how organizational change, value misalignment, and institutional pressures can leave employees feeling disillusioned or morally compromised in many professional settings. Together, we unpack what moral injury looks like, why it is different from burnout, and what leaders and employees across industries can learn from these experiences. Dr. Hancock joins us to share her research, insights, and practical takeaways for navigating values-based conflict at work. Learn more about The Pipeline Project here [https://the-pipeline-project.org/]. Send a CARDGram: https://tinyurl.com/CARDGrams [https://tinyurl.com/CARDGrams] Check out the Employee Success Center website here [http://louisville.edu/employeesuccess].