Ann Dunkin on Reinvention, Grit, and Breaking Into Rooms That Weren't Built for You

Anthony Dyer | Retired Combat Veteran, 14 Deployments. On rock bottom, writing through it, and scars as a roadmap.

Here's the Spotify description: He joined the Air Force for a paycheck. No direction, a chip on his shoulder, and no real plan beyond getting out of a small mountain town in western North Carolina. What happened over the next 20 years — 14 deployments, a gunship over Afghanistan, a torn pec mid-hoist in East Africa, a waffle man who turned out to be the enemy, and eventually a bottle that almost cost him everything — is the kind of story that doesn't get told enough. Anthony Dyer told it anyway. And he wrote it down. ☕ If this episode hit, support the show → buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles In this episode you'll learn: * How to find purpose again after the mission that defined you is gone * How to feed the positive wolf when you've spent years doing the opposite * Why "we'll see" might be the most powerful two words you carry into uncertainty * How writing down your trauma becomes the beginning of healing * How to keep your identity intact through every reinvention, not just the ones that worked There's a line Anthony said that I keep thinking about: scars are a roadmap to perseverance. This episode is that map. What We Discuss: 0:00 Intro | 3:00 Growing up in the Appalachians | 4:45 The two wolves | 7:18 Why he joined the Air Force | 11:05 9/11 and the shift that changed everything | 14:26 What being a gunship operator actually means | 20:09 Afghanistan — RPGs and the Casablanca mission | 22:17 The Waffle Man | 31:20 Hospitalized in Germany and telling no one | 41:46 Rock bottom — the bottle, the pills, and the choice his wife forced | 43:34 Prolonged exposure therapy | 48:00 Writing the book | 54:16 Navajo culture and raising Sullivan with two belief systems | 1:04:45 What he hopes Sullivan finds in this conversation 35 years from now Get Anthony's book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3Q8XYAJ [https://amzn.to/3Q8XYAJ] MORE FROM LBT: 📺 YouTube | 🟢 Spotify | 🍎 Apple Podcasts | 🎵 Amazon Music. COMMUNITY: 📝 Substack | 💼 LinkedIn | 🎵 TikTok | 📸 Instagram. PARTNER: 💰 Become a Sponsor | 🙋 Be a Guest #LifeBetweenTitles #careertransition #layoff #reinvention #humanstories #nextchapter #leadership

Hon. John Sherman on Leading with Kindness, 9/11, and a Life of Consequence

Here's the full Spotify package. SPOTIFY EPISODE TITLE Hon. John Sherman on Leading with Kindness, 9/11, and a Life of Consequence SPOTIFY DESCRIPTION I've known John Sherman for years. He gave me ten minutes when he didn't have to. That turned into one of the most consequential relationships of my career. What I didn't know until we sat down for this episode was that the man who led the largest technology enterprise in the country once described himself as beyond intense, often aggressive, and ready to conquer the world when he left college. That's not the John Sherman I know. Which means somewhere across three decades of federal service, something changed. I wanted to know what. Support the show and keep it going: Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles] In this episode you'll learn: * How to lead with kindness without losing your edge or your accountability * How to stay mission-focused across Republican and Democratic administrations * How to get up to speed on technology you don't understand yet * How to make the call to cancel something big before it takes everything with it * How to build a career of consequence, not just a career of titles * Why being on duty in the White House Situation Room on 9/11 still shapes how John leads today John Sherman spent 30 years in federal service, including time as a White House Situation Room duty officer on September 11th, 2001. He served as Intelligence Community CIO overseeing 17 agencies, and as Senate-confirmed DoD Chief Information Officer, the largest technology enterprise in the country. He's now Dean of the Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University. What We Discuss: 0:00 Intro | 2:00 The LinkedIn post John almost forgot he wrote: "I wasn't always like this" | 7:00 Kindness as honesty, not softness | 14:00 Coming out of the Corps of Cadets aggressive and ready to conquer the world | 22:00 What the White House Situation Room actually looked like on 9/11 | 32:00 Crossing the Roosevelt Bridge and seeing smoke from the Pentagon | 35:00 Working across administrations: what actually connects them | 39:00 How John got into technology leadership without being a technologist | 44:00 Canceling JEDI and the IC Common Desktop | 50:00 How to hire for character when resumes can't tell you who someone is | 54:00 A life of consequence SUPPORT THE SHOW & TOOLSTeal AI Resume Tool [https://get.tealhq.com/zzNxQ7] | Online-Therapy Anxiety Assessment [https://go.online-therapy.com/SHwO] | Guided Reflection Journal [https://amzn.to/4reFQSB] Some links above are affiliate links. They cost you nothing and help support the show. MORE FROM LBT📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@LifeBetweenTitles] | 🟢 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1olZo0VDvHh9w0F2D2vEir?si=A0UYDnCoQzKtS0dksS0MrA] | 🍎 Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-between-titles] | 🎵 Amazon Music [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/389edb76-ac7c-41f3-ab48-81b70c09f500] COMMUNITY📝 Substack [https://substack.com/@lifebetweentitles] | 💼 LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/company/life-between-titles] | 🎵 TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@lifebetweentitles] | 📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lifebetweentitles/] PARTNER WITH LBT💰 Become a Sponsor [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/become-a-sponsor] | 🙋 Be a Guest [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/guest-submission] #LifeBetweenTitles #careertransition #layoff #reinvention #humanstories #nextchapter #leadership

Gladdys Uribe on Immigration Law, ICE Raids, & Building a Practice on Your Own Terms

ICE raids. Deportations. A system moving faster than families can react. Immigration attorney Gladdys Uribe sees it all in real time — and she decided at 16 she'd be the one standing between her community and the worst of it. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, trained under one of LA's top lawyers, she built her practice on her own terms — as a working mom, in the middle of the most chaotic enforcement era in decades. In this episode, we talk about what it actually looks like to say yes when fear is the loudest voice in the room. If this show has helped you, consider buying me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles [https://buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles] ————————————————————— In this episode you'll learn: * How to build a career around a mission you committed to before you knew what it would cost * How to navigate a field that wasn't designed for you — and build a practice on your own terms * What ICE enforcement actually looks like on the ground right now, and what families need to know * How to use fear as information instead of a reason to stop * What it means to practice immigration law as a working mom without apologizing for either role The immigration system didn't get more forgiving. The enforcement didn't get quieter. Gladdys built her practice anyway — not in spite of the pressure, but inside of it. This is what it looks like when someone says yes to the thing that scares them, and keeps saying it for 26 years. What We Discuss: 00:00 — Introduction 02:00 — Growing up as the daughter of Mexican immigrants and deciding at 16 to become a civil rights attorney 08:00 — Getting into Occidental College and UCLA Law — and what no one tells you about being first 16:00 — Training under Enrique Arevalon, one of LA's top immigration lawyers 24:00 — What Trump 2.0 enforcement actually looks like: ICE raids, detention, daily policy shifts 34:00 — The moment she decided to build her own practice instead of fit into someone else's 42:00 — Building a working-mom-friendly firm — and why that design was intentional 50:00 — What saying yes instead of no out of fear actually changed 58:00 — What she wants families to know right now ————————————————————— SUPPORT THE SHOW & TOOLS Teal AI Resume Tool [https://get.tealhq.com/zzNxQ7] Online-Therapy Anxiety Assessment [https://go.online-therapy.com/SHwO] Guided Reflection Journal [https://amzn.to/4reFQSB] Some links above are affiliate links. They cost you nothing and help support the show. ————————————————————— MORE FROM LBT 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@LifeBetweenTitles] 🟢 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1olZo0VDvHh9w0F2D2vEir] 🍎 Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-between-titles] 🎵 Amazon Music [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/389edb76-ac7c-41f3-ab48-81b70c09f500] ————————————————————— COMMUNITY 📝 Substack [https://substack.com/@lifebetweentitles] 💼 LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/company/life-between-titles] 🎵 TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@lifebetweentitles] 📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lifebetweentitles/] ————————————————————— PARTNER WITH LBT 💰 Become a Sponsor [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/become-a-sponsor] 🙋 Be a Guest [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/guest-submission] ————————————————————— #LifeBetweenTitles #careertransition #layoff #reinvention #humanstories #nextchapter #leadership #immigrationlaw #ICEraids #Trump

Ann Dunkin on Reinvention, Grit, and Breaking Into Rooms That Weren't Built for You

Here's the Spotify title and description: TITLE:Ann Dunkin on Reinvention, Grit, and Breaking Into Rooms That Weren't Built for You DESCRIPTION: Ann Dunkin has been in rooms most people never get into. Former CIO of the Department of Energy spanning three presidential administrations, HP veteran of 20 years, and now back at Georgia Tech as a professor and external fellow. She didn't get there by playing it safe. She got there by never getting too comfortable. We talked about what grit actually looks like when you've had every advantage stripped away. About being a woman in engineering in the South when the professors in the room didn't think you belonged there. About leading teams full of people smarter than you, and why not knowing everything is sometimes the best management tool you have. About the Boys Club, Gen X getting squeezed out, and what it costs when diversity gets treated as a threat instead of a strategy. Support the show: Buy Me a Coffee [https://buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles] In this episode you'll learn: * How to know when comfort is actually holding your career back * How to lead highly technical teams when you're not the most technical person in the room * How to build a career across sectors without losing yourself in the process * How to navigate being the only woman in rooms that were never designed to include you * How to think about grit, privilege, and what it actually takes to build something that lasts What We Discuss: (0:00) Introduction (1:18) Georgia Tech, industrial engineering, and the world it dropped her into (5:23) How video games shifted the gender balance in computer science (10:40) What Georgia Tech raw material actually means (16:20) Building grit in yourself and your students (18:02) Why immigration raises the bar for everyone (25:51) The phone call from HP that changed everything (30:23) How one recommendation shaped how Ann pays it forward (36:40) Leading technical teams when you're not the most technical (39:07) Trust over micromanagement (41:02) Being the woman in the room and the most senior one (42:40) Gen X, the Boys Club, and what still needs to change (46:03) Keeping girls engaged in technology early (54:16) Change management at the Department of Energy (58:15) Why F1 is a technical sport disguised as racing (1:02:03) Advice her father gave her that she had to unlearn (1:10:42) The thing she's most proud of that isn't on her resume SUPPORT THE SHOW & TOOLS: Teal AI Resume Tool [https://get.tealhq.com/zzNxQ7] | Online-Therapy Anxiety Assessment [https://go.online-therapy.com/SHwO] | Guided Reflection Journal [https://amzn.to/4reFQSB] Some links above are affiliate links. They cost you nothing and help support the show. MORE FROM LBT: 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@LifeBetweenTitles] | 🟢 Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1olZo0VDvHh9w0F2D2vEir?si=A0UYDnCoQzKtS0dksS0MrA] | 🍎 Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-between-titles] | 🎵 Amazon Music [https://music.amazon.com/podcasts] COMMUNITY: 📝 Substack [https://substack.com/@lifebetweentitles] | 💼 LinkedIn [http://www.linkedin.com/company/life-between-titles] | 🎵 TikTok [https://www.tiktok.com/@lifebetweentitles] | 📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lifebetweentitles/] PARTNER WITH LBT: 💰 Become a Sponsor [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/become-a-sponsor] | 🙋 Be a Guest [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/guest-submission] #LifeBetweenTitles #careertransition #layoff #reinvention #humanstories #nextchapter #leadership

Danielle Frank on Career Pivots, Breaking Off an Engagement, and Writing A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting #wineindustry #author

Career transition, reinvention, and second chances don't always look the way you expect. Danielle Frank calls herself a veteran of pivots: New York to LA in her late twenties, a toxic PR firm she quit in three months without another job lined up, twenty-two years in the wine and spirits industry she thought would be temporary, an engagement she broke off in her late thirties because she wanted children and he did not. In this episode of Work Unscripted, Danielle walks through what it takes to leave something that looks fine from the outside, how writing became her way of telling herself the truth when she was lying to her therapist, and why she refused to die with a fourteen-year-old manuscript still sitting in a drawer. This is not a story about having it figured out. It's a story about trusting the feeling in your stomach when it tells you the life you're living is not the one you want. ☕ Buy Me a Coffee to Support LBT [https://buymeacoffee.com/lifebtwtitles] Chapters * 00:00 Pre-show and introductions * 01:05 Why Danielle calls herself a pivotal princess * 02:02 The theme of transformation as a cornerstone of identity * 05:19 Leaving Miramax International and moving from New York to LA * 07:27 Walking into a toxic PR firm and finding publicists crying on day one * 09:21 Quitting without another job because the feeling in her stomach wouldn't go away * 10:22 Landing in the wine and spirits industry at Bacardi, thinking it was temporary * 12:36 Meeting her ex at 32 and realizing the relationship wasn't what she needed * 15:00 The first night in the new apartment: going home early and feeling free * 17:43 What the wine industry actually looks like from the inside * 22:29 Why belief in what you're selling matters, even if you're selling toilets * 24:44 Writing as therapy after breaking off the engagement * 26:38 How the path of motherhood not happening didn't take away the nurturing * 27:06 The whining niece and the wine industry insider: how the book came together * 29:29 Why she shelved the manuscript for fourteen years * 30:22 Hybrid publishing and the decision to finally bring it to life * 31:22 The Mulled Wine chapter: helping parents recognize when their kid is the bully * 33:02 Why the themes haven't changed in fourteen years * 52:31 Getting on California Live and the pinch-me moment of being back in the green room Gift-Worthy Books Inspired by Danielle's Story A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting [https://amzn.to/4tnLLGB] Support the show and tools I recommend Teal AI Resume Tool [https://get.tealhq.com/zzNxQ7] | Online-Therapy Anxiety Assessment [https://go.online-therapy.com/SHwO] Some links above are affiliate links. They cost you nothing and help support the show. 🌐 Website [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com] Listen to Life Between Titles * 📺 YouTube [https://www.youtube.com/@LifeBetweenTitles] * 🍎 Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/life-between-titles] Join the Community * 📝 Substack [https://substack.com/@lifebetweentitles] * 📸 Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/lifebetweentitles/] Partner with LBT * 💰 Become a Sponsor [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/become-a-sponsor] * 🙋 Nominate a Guest [https://www.lifebetweentitles.com/guest-submission] #lifebetweentitles #careertransition #identity #lifetransition