Sh*t I Just Quit My Job

Slightly Scandalous, Completely Badass

Michelle Stanek has been dancing since she was four years old. She drew a ballerina in a second-grade coloring assignment when they asked what she wanted to be when she grew up. Decades later, she is a professional pole artist, world-touring performer, national champion, and now — inventor. The path there was anything but straight. A toxic dance director who made her cry in the car at 16. A grad degree in art history. A job she loved and lost in the 2009 economy. A random Tuesday afternoon pole class a coworker dragged her to. And then — millions of views, workshops in Japan, Russia, Australia, Iceland, and a competition performance in 2012 that people still show their moms and aunts when they want to explain what pole dancing actually is. In this conversation we get into what it really takes to make art your career (hint: the "find something you love and it never feels like work" line is, in her words, bullshit). We talk about teaching philosophy, neuroplasticity, going deeper instead of harder, and the difference between being a sellout and just trying to pay your rent. We also talk about the Stanek Spinner — the pole accessory she's been prototyping and bringing to market — and what it means to make a physical art form accessible to more bodies. Michelle is one of those people who makes you think and laugh at the same time. This one runs long because I couldn't bring myself to cut it. About Michelle Stanek: Michelle Stanek is a NYC-based pole dancer, boy mom, part-time art fair producer, and newly-self-appointed entrepreneur whose motto is "I'll figure it out." Connect with Michelle: * Instagram: @michellestanek [https://www.instagram.com/michellestanek/] * 2012 USPDF performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih2yztRNTFg [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ih2yztRNTFg] * Michelle on the Stanek Spinner at Pole Theatre Canada June 2025: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPwq1-pdA38 [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPwq1-pdA38] Connect with me: * quitmyjobpod@gmail.com [quitmyjobpod@gmail.com] * Instagram: @quitmyjobpod * Substack: https://maricellaherrera.substack.com/ [https://maricellaherrera.substack.com/] Show Notes: 00:00 - Work You Love Myth 00:23 - Show Mission Intro 00:54 - Life Updates and Substack 03:02 - Editing vs AI Debate 05:46 - Meet Michelle Stanek 09:34 - Childhood Dance Dreams 10:35 - Quitting Ballet at 16 14:05 - College and Real Job Track 16:11 - First Pole Class Spark 18:29 - Layoff to Pole Career 21:55 - Gig Economy and Income Streams 25:47 - Pole Grit and Empowerment 28:18 - Competing and Going Viral 32:02 - Why That Performance Hit 34:24 - Imposter Syndrome After Winning 37:43 - Cancer Fueled Mantra 38:56 - Winning Then World Tours 40:36 - Art Business Not Sport 41:41 - Aging And Sustainable Income 43:08 - Money Passion And Pressure 49:13 - Beyond Basic Teaching 52:07 - Building Self Directed Students 57:24 - Inventing The Spinner Platform 01:03:57 - Prototypes Patents And Process 01:05:46 - Daily Progress Mindset 01:10:01 - Advice To Younger Self 01:11:47 - Closing

You Know Your Values, Now What?

Alana Winter spent 25 years building a national video distribution business before realizing she'd built something successful without ever asking herself what she actually valued. In this episode, Alana and Maricella talk about being raised by a serial entrepreneur dad who taught her to control her destiny, the moment the business became a grind and she didn't know who she was without it, and the three-year process of figuring out her own core values, and how she helps leaders do the same in a much shorter time frame. They get into the difference between needs, values, and your why (and why most people confuse all three), what she means by "the how matters less than the what," and her story about the bathroom attendant at the Beacon Theater that made me tear up. About Alana Winter: Alana Winter is an executive coach, facilitator, and serial entrepreneur who helps leaders navigate the moments when outward success no longer matches their inner truth. After building and running businesses for more than 25 years, including a nationwide video distribution company and the internationally covered Stiletto Spy School and MI6 Academy, Alana found herself in the disorienting space that comes after a major chapter ends. That experience led her into a deep exploration of identity, core values, and what it really means to build a life and business from the inside out. Today, Alana works with founders, CEOs, executive teams, and leadership groups around the world, helping them clarify their values, communicate more honestly, make better decisions, and lead with greater self-awareness. Her work blends psychology, lived entrepreneurial experience, and a highly intuitive ability to see the patterns beneath the surface. She holds a B.A. in psychology from Wesleyan University and has worked with thousands of leaders through EO, YPO, WPO, Chief, and private executive coaching engagements. Her work has been featured by NPR, The Today Show, The Wall Street Journal, Psychology Today, and other major media outlets. Show Notes: (00:00) - Nothing To Do Identity (00:21) - Show Intro And Premise (00:52) - Purpose Values Episode Setup (02:05) - Meet Alana Winter (04:54) - Childhood Dreams Icebreaker (06:19) - Raised To Be Entrepreneur (07:37) - Building Video Distribution (13:10) - Meaning Fades Business Grind (16:16) - Betrayal And Embezzlement (23:09) - Burnout Signs And Body (25:57) - After the Exit Void (28:09) - Meaning Over Opportunity (30:33) - Purpose Work for Kids (33:34) - Three Year Values Quest (38:15) - Values Needs Why Framework (44:20) - Living Values Anywhere (47:16) - Clarity Becomes a Calling (50:06) - Advice for the Goo Phase (52:18) - Podcast Closing

The Proof Is in the Pictures

What if figuring out who you want to be doesn't start with imagining your future self — it starts with looking at your past one? In this minisode, Maricella walks through a deceptively simple exercise: scrolling through last year's photos to find the one where you look exactly how you want to feel. What she found was more layered, and more useful, than she expected. From a trip to Greece to a random Tuesday alone in her apartment, this episode gets into how the feeling behind a photo, the memory it holds, and the moment you're in right now are three completely different things. Plus what nostalgia actually is scientifically, why play keeps showing up as the answer, and how to use your past self as an emotional anchor for the person you're becoming. Show Notes: (00:00) Intro (00:38) No Resolutions (01:42) Why Feelings Make For Bad Goals (03:03) Future Self and Manifesting (06:02) The Photos Exercise (07:57) Three Layers in Every Photo (09:54) Greece Trip and Disconnection (12:38) Cat Costume Joy and Buckets (15:22) Oven Broke but I Persisted (18:40) The Through Line Is Play (21:37) Nostalgia and Self Continuity (24:59) Closing the Gap to Future You (26:47) Try It and Final Goodbye (27:59) Outro Subscribe and Connect Takeaways: * Go through your photos from the past year and find the one where you look exactly how you want to feel. How you feel right now looking at it is data too. * Every photo has three layers: how you look in it, how you feel seeing it now, and how you felt when it was taken. They're not always the same thing. * Play isn't just about fun. The moments that light you up are telling you something about what you need more of. * Nostalgia isn't only backward-looking. Research suggests it's your brain connecting past you to present you in order to push you toward future you. * You don't have to picture an abstract future self. Start with a real past feeling and use it as the anchor. Links: * Em on the Brain (Emily McDonald) — Planet Em podcast on Spotify [https://open.spotify.com/show/1KV6h0wWN1Jh9t6qUPYIuQ] / Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/emonthebrain/id1852295289] * Emily McDonald on What Now? with Trevor Noah — "Can You Rewire Your Brain?" [https://open.spotify.com/episode/3mADIFfy4ByVVYItLY0JHn] * What a Broken Oven Taught Me About Myself — Substack [https://maricellaherrera.substack.com/p/what-a-broken-oven-taught-me-about] Find Maricella: * Substack: https://maricellaherrera.substack.com/ * Instagram: @quitmyjobpod [https://www.instagram.com/quitmyjobpod/] * quitmyjobpod.com

The Spiritual Abolitionist

Host Maricella Herrera introduces a nurturing, candid conversation with Kvon Tucker, CEO and founder of Consciously, a purpose-driven coaching and consulting firm. They discuss fear, courage, and “spiritual abolitionism,” which Kvon defines as helping people release narratives and conditioning that keep them stuck and move toward liberation. Kvon shares his path from studying psychology and workplace behavior to leadership development roles at Netflix, Amazon, and Google. While at Google, he built a coaching practice during the pandemic and new fatherhood, but fear kept him from leaving his full time role. An internal investigation into his online activity and perceived integrity became a breaking point, and he quit on his daughter’s first birthday, later moving toward Costa Rica. Kvon has a vision of helping leaders escape limiting corporate structures. About Kvon Tucker: Kvon Tucker is the CEO and Founder of Consciously, a purpose-driven coaching and consulting firm helping leaders grow with clarity, freedom, and purpose. A Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with nearly 20 years of experience in leadership development, Kvon has coached and developed executives at companies like Netflix, Amazon, Google, Meta, and Tesla. His mission is simple: all I know is how to help people grow. www.consciously.one [https://www.consciously.one/] Show Notes: (00:00) Teaser + Intro (00:52) Welcome to the Episode (03:25) Meet Kvon Tucker (05:17) Childhood Dreams (07:16) Spiritual Abolitionist (09:18) Fear and Courage Practice (12:43) Fearlessness vs Recklessness (15:44) How He Got Into Tech (17:06) From Depression to Purpose (24:46) Netflix Amazon and Ego (29:29) Google Exit Reflections (32:39) Coaching Origins And Certification (34:11) Pandemic Dad And Coaching Boom (37:05) Fear Of Leaving Corporate (39:26) Investigation And Breaking Point (41:37) Quitting And Moving To Costa Rica (44:41) Support Systems Through Crisis (48:27) Underground Railroad For Leaders (51:34) AI And Identity Beyond Work (55:25) Finding Clarity What Do You Want (57:00) Advice To Past Self And Closing

What If Your Superpower Is the Obvious Thing?

Dr. Sofia Pertuz spent 25 years in higher education before realizing the skills she'd been using her entire career — coaching, training, building systems, facilitating hard conversations — were exactly what she should be doing on her own. In this episode, Sofia and I talk about the long road from resident assistant to associate VP and dean of students, the burnout she didn't have a name for, pivoting through the nonprofit world and Billie Jean King Enterprises, and what it finally took to bet on herself. Plus, she's revealing something publicly for the first time on this show. We dig into why the things that come most naturally to us are often the last things we recognize as valuable — and what happens when you finally flip that switch. About Dr. Sofia B. Pertuz: Dr. Sofia B. Pertuz is a certified executive coach, consultant, and workplace culture strategist who partners with leaders and mission-driven organizations to strengthen culture, performance, and leadership capacity. As Founder of Mainstream Insight, she designs executive coaching engagements, leadership development programs, and team retreats grounded in values alignment and organizational growth. Sofia’s career spans senior leadership roles at Billie Jean King Enterprises, The Jed Foundation, and Hofstra University, where she advanced leadership pathways, workforce engagement, and organizational resilience. A bilingual facilitator and international speaker, Sofia leads transformative conversations on leadership, cultural identity, organizational change, and LGBTQ+ advocacy in both English and Spanish. She holds a PhD from Seton Hall University, serves on nonprofit boards, and is certified as an ICF Professional Certified Coach, Certified Diversity Executive®, and certified practitioner of Intercultural Development Inventory ®, Everything DiSC® and CliftonStrengths®. https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiabautistapertuz/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/sofiabautistapertuz/] https://www.instagram.com/sofiabpertuzphd [https://www.instagram.com/sofiabpertuzphd] Show Notes: (00:00) Teaser + Intro (05:00) What Sofia wanted to be growing up — and the secret audition her mom never knew about (10:00) How a raffle ticket explains the curse of competence (14:00) 25 years in higher ed — from RA at 22 to associate VP and dean of students (17:00) The weight of life-and-death decisions on campus (21:00) Getting recruited out of academia and discovering what freedom feels like (24:00) The standup comedy class — and why trying something totally new matters (27:00) From Jed Foundation to Billie Jean King Enterprises (34:00) Seeing the DEI backlash coming — and pivoting early (39:00) The moment she decided to bet on herself (42:00) Quitting, grief, and why she wasn't ready to talk about it until now (45:00) A first-time public announcement: Sofia wrote a book (49:00) The change implementation model she keeps coming back to in coaching (54:00) Earning your freedom with discipline (56:00) Her mom, Avon, Tupperware — and why "hustle" isn't the right word