Know Who You Are, Find Adjacencies, and Always Be a Beginner with Melissa Cassera

You Bring the Meaning with Carrie Gaines

Carrie Gaines and I have a shared work experience but very different relationships to work in general. We worked together in the grant-seeking and management department of a health professions university - a workplace that set the bar for both us when it comes to professional and supportive work environments. Carrie transitioned from her grants management role after getting new assignments at the University that piqued her interest even more. This is the story of her transition, the supportive response she received from the workplace she was leaving, and the internal work she finds most important of all. Carrie has been an inspirational voice in my work life - she's a soundbite a minute! I can't wait for you to meet her. Chapters 02:56 Carrie's backstory, early understanding of work 05:30 Kid dreams and first experience with college 08:13 Finding what you like at work by doing it 10:08 Our shared experience in a positive workplace 15:34 How that workplace reacted to her new interests 18:01 Personality in the workplace ("I only extrovert for money") 25:50 Carrie leans into new interests and a work transition 30:34 Internal work first ("Wherever you go, there you are") 36:03 Personal responsibility in work experiences 44:50 Carrie's transition, a brand new track 52:33 If you want to work in compliance... 55:46 The importance of internal work (reprise) 01:00 Finding Meaning in Work 01:09:42 Talking to kids about work 01:12 Everything is going to be okay 01:15 It worked for me 01:16:44 We all have more in common than we think Links Carrie on LinkedIn [https://www.linkedin.com/in/carrie-gaines-5b5ba990/] We took our Myers-Briggs assessment at 16 Personalities [https://personality.co/16personalities-test] I Do This For a Living is independently produced.  @serenitylive [https://www.instagram.com/serenitylive]

When Knowing Yourself Means Quitting the Dream Job with Charity Long

It's another sister episode! Today, Serenity chats with her younger sister, Charity, "a singer and a mom." Charity had her dream job, a paid worship pastor at her church. She has a lot of insight about what it really means to have a job in ministry/nonprofit. When her leaders took the team through the Working Genius framework to discover their work personalities, Charity realized why the administrative parts of being an on-staff worship paster had been so challenging for her. There came a point when she determined the right move would be letting go of the job that looked so perfect for her on paper. This is her story! Charity also talks about homeschooling, creative dreams, and making a big family adventure possible. Chapters 2:56 I want to be a singer and a mom 7:36 First jobs 9:19 From volunteering to a staff position in ministry 12:33 How ministry/nonprofit is unique from other jobs 20:01 Artist questions - is there more I could do, did I miss my break? 23:17 Quitting the dream job 30:16 Leveraging cosmic insignificance in decision-making 39:20 The Working Genius framework and realizing you’re in the wrong job 48:09 The difficulty of untangling your identity from your title 1:00:03 What it takes to homeschool 1:07:45 Taking the whole fam to Costa Rica for 10 weeks! 1:12:02 It Worked for Me Links Charity on Apple Music [https://music.apple.com/us/album/love-more-perfect-ep/556403359] Charity in her role as worship leader [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlQPZoMtq28] Parenting is for Losers  [https://www.youtube.com/@ParentingIsForLosers] Working Genius [https://www.workinggenius.com/] Charity and her husband, Ryan, sing an original song about NOT telling their younger selves how great it’s going to be: Don’t Tell Them Anything [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iS4St5azSGI] Also discussed:  Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown  Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals by Oliver Burkeman  I Do This For a Living is independently produced.  @serenitylive [https://www.instagram.com/serenitylive]

Follow Your Dream (The Kids Will Be Okay) with Dr. Deana Berrey

Deana Berrey was nine years into teaching when she looked for a pivot and found medical school. Today, she is Dr. Deana Berrey, an anesthesiologist who loves her job and has inspiring ideas for anyone considering a tough road toward a new dream. Dr. Berrey's episode addresses mom guilt, quality over quantity when it comes to the time we have for what matters, and walking through life's open doors when they present themselves. Her full, delightful life includes three grown daughters, reading all genres, and playing the cello. It's a beautiful life and an inspiring story. 2:55 Astronauts and Rockstars 6:23 Deciding to teach 8:29 New dream: Medical school! 14:47 How does it happen? (Looking for open doors) 17:56 The kids will be okay 19:48 Choosing anesthesiology 34:37 Advice for med school (and life!) 48:19 What do you like to do? 50:42 Making the most of each season (then moving on!) 57:53 Gratitude for supportive friends & fam 58:20 The kids will be okay (reprise) 1:00:13 It worked for me Deana's Book Rec: Theo of Golden by Allen Levi (S1E7) I Do This For a Living is independently produced.  @serenitylive [https://www.instagram.com/serenitylive]

Know Who You Are, Find Adjacencies, and Always Be a Beginner with Melissa Cassera

Serenity interviews Melissa Cassera, a screenwriter, author, and publicity strategist, who introduces herself as a girl who has lots of obsessions. Melissa wants us all to celebrate something every single day, specifically something we accomplished. She offers advice about knowing what you want to do and applying it at a high level in many different ways, describing how she is a storyteller, which plays out in her publicity work, her screenwriting, and her books. Melissa's final advice is to put ourselves in positions to lose, or to be a beginner, because it will make us unflappable in the face of any rejection. Melissa's conversation is packed with advice for learning to validate ourselves, trust our gut, and discover who we are outside of any specific type of work.  Chapters 2:08 Melissa describes herself as a storyteller, which plays out in many ways 5:10 How Melissa's work history mattered when she started screenwriting 5:58 Knowing what you want to do and finding adjacencies 10:00 Celebrate something. Every Day. 14:07 Our wish: work optional 21:11 Melissa starts a business and returns to acting to help fund it 27:19 From the casting chair, Melissa tells us all: It is not personal 29:40 Melissa's quitting story: leaving pharmaceuticals to start a business 34:35 Getting free of the need for external validation 42:24 When to question whether you've tied your identity to the wrong thing 50:42 What you accomplish is good enough and it absolutely counts 55:28 Melissa's podcast about having multiple income streams 1:02:27 It Worked For Me: Put yourself in a position to lose and always be a beginner Links Melissa Cassera [https://melissacassera.com/](website) Drip Trickle Flow Flood [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/drip-trickle-flow-flood/id1802211812] (Melissa's podcast) Other things we reference in this episode: Work Optional, a book by Tanja Hester I Do This For a Living is independently produced.  @serenitylive [https://www.instagram.com/serenitylive]

A Little Romantic, a Little Heroic, and All the Hats with Josh Smith

Meet Josh Smith. He loved stories of knights as a kid (a little romantic and a little heroic), and he makes sure his life today is about serving others in the same way. He does this wearing many hats, including IT manager at a drug and alcohol recovery center, husband and dad, youth pastor, gamer, and writer. He also cooks, plays the bass, and loves to travel. Josh has a dynamic friend group that writes together when they're not playing Dungeons & Dragons or posting their adventures online. Josh is an inspiration - he fills his days with all the things he loves and is driven by a purpose he has believed in since he was young. Chapters 4:19 Childhood Dreams  13:03 Journey to IT 22:37 A typical day in all Josh's hats 25:00 Josh's bigger picture: IT for a drug and alcohol recovery center 30:58 Do we actually *want* work to be challenging? 34:18 Workplace flexibility 36:09 What do you like to do? (travel! video games! reading! writing!) 40:22 Minecraft on YouTube 42:29 Josh finds his tribe (writing together nd playing D&D!) 51:45 How authors are using Kickstarter for presales 57:03 AI and creativity 58:24 Same as ever: the tough thing about being creative is making the time 1:01:44 Gifting vs. calling vs. doing good things 1:07:44 It Worked for Me Links Josh on YouTube: @mrdiscoman [https://www.youtube.com/@mrdiscoman] Eon City Burnout [https://a.co/d/05EqZNSD](by Josh and other authors) CompTIA for A+ and other IT certifications [https://www.comptia.org/en-us/certifications/a/core-1-v15/] Realm Makers - https://www.realmmakers.com/ [https://www.realmmakers.com/] Josh's writer's group: * Jason C. Joyner [https://www.jasoncjoyner.com/] * Becky Dean [https://beckydeanwrites.com/] * J.J. Johnson (author of Iggy & Oz [https://substack.com/home/post/p-161535552?]) and his podcast Geeky Dads Talk About Geeky Things! [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/geeky-dads-talk-about-geeky-things/id1625017438] * Steve Rzasa [https://steverzasa.com/] Other fun things referenced: Star Wars Legion I Do This For a Living is independently produced.  @serenitylive [https://www.instagram.com/serenitylive]