In a pandemic, big city living loses its allure. As pricey, small spaces feel ever-more stifling, we talk with three people about leaving. 

Does talent matter? Researcher Angela Duckworth thinks it's not the most important thing. Exceptional performance requires passion and perseverance - it’s what Angela calls “grit.” In this conversation with Hello Monday host Jessi Hempel, Angela outlines her philosophy on grit, explains why grit isn’t the only trait that matters, and shows how each of us can move the needle forward in our own professional and personal lives. This conversation was recorded as part of Yext’s “Answer Me This” series.

A linear life is a nice idea. But as 2020 has taught us, life is way more like a game of chutes and ladders. We’re up. We’re down. We’re sidelined by a global pandemic. Unexpected change can feel disorienting, but according to author Bruce Feiler, navigating through is also a huge opportunity for growth. Bruce sits down with Jessi to share the chutes and ladders that lead to his new book, Life is in the Transitions: Mastering Change at Any Age.

This week we draw from the archives to bring you Troy Carter. Troy bets on underdogs, and it pays off. This bears out in music (he managed Lady Gaga) and in investing (he bet early on companies like Uber and Warby Parker). In this conversation with Jessi Hempel, Troy shares how he made it from West Philly to Los Angeles, and what it taught him about taking risks.

We’re at a critical moment in the country, and the world. Protests against systemic injustice have touched every corner of the globe. Statement after statement of support has gone out. But what happens next? Saying Black Lives Matter is a great start (and they absolutely, unequivocally do). But that statement has to be followed by action if we’re going to make real change to inequitable systems. That takes a lot of time and a lot of work. This episode features Dr. Darnisa Amante-Jackson, co-founder of DEEP - the Disruptive Equity Education Project - in conversation with host Jessi Hempel, about how to do that work with love.

In this episode, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author and podcast host Charles Duhigg visits Jessi to discuss the relationship between work and meaning. Charles tells the story of his experience attending Harvard Business School and all that followed after. It turns out that a paycheck - even a fat one - doesn’t buy a meaningful life. Charles and Jessi dig deep on the perks and pitfalls of business school, point up the importance of perseverance, outline the space between a job description and the job itself, and challenge listeners to make meaning in any job.

Author, business professor, and coach Dorie Clark is a master at reinvention. She learned to be. Her job evaporated after 9/11. In the years since, she’s written a number of books, including one called Reinventing You. She’s a communication coach, and she has taught at the business schools of both Columbia and Duke. On this episode of Hello Monday, Dorie and Jessi chat all about making a good Plan B, how willingness to learn is a key to success, and why you shouldn’t wait until things seem dire to plan for what might come next.

Earlier this year, just before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down so much of the world, Jessi traveled to Tupelo, MS, to interview the founders of Blue Delta Jeans, Nick Weaver and Josh West for an episode of Hello Monday. Nick and Josh are small business owners with a twist: Their base of operations is in Tupelo, but their business - selling bespoke jeans - happens online and around the world. A bunch of MLB and NFL athletes swear by their jeans. So does Nicole Kidman. In the first half of this interview, they talk about how they got started and what it means to build industry in their hometown. When the pandemic hit after the first part of this interview, Blue Delta Jeans figured out a way to keep the lights on and be of service to their community. In the second half of this episode, they share their experiences as SMB owners during the pandemic, and how they augmented their business to supply PPE to first responders in Mississippi.

Each week on Slate's How To! podcast, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, takes on his listeners' toughest problems. He calls up an expert, and together, they find answers. This week's question: How to Find a New Career Before it's Too Late. And that expert Charles called? It's our own Jessi Hempel. We're excited to welcome Charles to the Hello Monday family with this special bonus airing of How To! and look forward to welcoming him back later this month.

A lot of people are between jobs right now. In the past, “go network” would have been Jessi’s first advice on how to change that. But there is no “let’s grab coffee” right now. And even if you can meet in person, the help is often less immediate and tangible. So many companies are just not hiring. So...how do we network now? Entrepreneur and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman joins Jessi to help her and the Hello Monday audience make sense of virtual networking. He offers tangible, actionable tips for how we can all be better at it, right now. 

It's a holiday Monday in the United States, so this week on Hello Monday we're featuring a favorite conversation from last fall. Host Jessi Hempel sits down with Roxane Gay - the author of NYT bestsellers Bad Feminist and Hunger - for a conversation that touches on persistence in the face of rejection, discipline when honing a craft, and the power of being mentored, mentoring others, and creating opportunities to pass the mic

More than two months into working from home, we've settled into some new routines. But the uncertainty of "what now, what next?" can feel intolerable. To learn how we can all build up some resilience, Hello Monday host Jessi Hempel welcomes psychotherapist and author Lori Gottlieb to the show. Lori is the bestselling author of Maybe You Should Talk to Someone, a frank and entertaining account of her life as therapist and patient. It's now being developed into a new TV show. Lori's also an expert on emotional resilience. She and Jessi dialogue on the importance of boosting our "psychological immune systems" to weather the uncertainty in the era of COVID-19, and discuss why it's important to be able to both cry and laugh in times like these.

Guy Raz got his start as a reporter and host on NPR. Then he left news to become one of podcasting’s earliest megastars with The TED Radio Hour. He launched one of the most popular podcasts in existence, How I Built This. It’s about to become a book. He has a kids’ show called Wow in the World. And he has a new show on Luminary, Wisdom from the Top. Guy is an expert interviewer, and in this episode, he sits down with Hello Monday host Jessi Hempel to share how much he’s learned by coaxing founders to share the risks that didn’t pan out.

FOMO Sapiens host Patrick McGinnis joins Hello Monday's host, Jessi Hempel, for a conversation on how to spend less time on small decisions that don't really matter. McGinnis is familiar with FOMO and FOBO - He was in business school when he coined both terms. He's gotten very good at spotting Fear of Missing Out, and Fear of a Better Option - even in the midst of a pandemic. He's also very, very good at helping people get through decision fatigue with practical hacks and advice - so good, he's written a new book about it. It's called Fear of Missing Out: Practical Decision Making in a World of Overwhelming Choice. You can catch the other half of their conversation on Patrick's podcast, Fomosapiens.

This bonus episode of Hello Monday is a coda to our look at the lost art of 2020. We hear about three incidences of performing arts moving from physical landscapes to digital ones, and learn about what gets lost - and found - in the transition. Featuring playwright Ren Dara Santiago, artistic director Rob Neill, dancer Anke Veens, and composer/musician Wim te Groen.

Today we're bringing you the podcast version of our very first Hello Monday LIVE, featuring Jessi in conversation with investor and author Arlan Hamilton. Hamilton shares her journey from homelessness to head of her own VC firm, Backstage Capital. She answers listener questions on how to overcome underestimation, and she and Jessi both speak on the importance of the leadership group Out in Tech to their journeys in the tech world.

In this, the second of our two part series on the lost art of 2020, we look at what's being created that didn't - and maybe even, couldn't - exist in the time before physical distancing practices made gathering for art and music impossible. Jessi speaks to producer Kabir Sehgal about his Quarantine Concert Series. These nightly online living room concerts are paying gigs - critical for homebound professional musicians. We also hear from Laura Benanti, the star of our 4/16 bonus episode, on how her tweet offering to be an audience of one for students with canceled musicals went viral, and what comes next.

On today's bonus episode of Hello Monday, Jessi visits with Broadway and TV star Laura Benanti. This spring, as schools everywhere closed, school musicals got cut off. Lots of teens who’d been practicing for their big moment onstage suddenly lost the chance to perform. Benanti knew how hard they'd worked, and remembered how much her own school shows had meant to her. So she offered to become an audience of one via a Twitter video. She invited students to share videos of themselves singing. She expected a handful of people would take her up on it. Then word spread.

On March 9, Jessi attended the launch for Glennon Doyle’s new book, Untamed. It was a magical night, full of promise and potential. It was also the last time in 2020 that Jessi would gather in a room of people. Two days later, Glennon canceled the tour. Now, she chats with Jessi about what that decision meant for her career and for her community, and kicks off our look at where art goes, when the current pandemic means it can't go out as planned.

As writer and director of last year’s standout film The Farewell, Lulu Wang was set to have a banner year. Her film cleaned up at the awards, winning accolades at The Globes, Critics Choice Awards, and the Independent Spirit Awards among others. Jessi was set to interview her for the show at SXSW in March. Then there was no SXSW. Now Lulu has thrown herself into collecting personal protection equipment for first responders. She talks with Jessi about what changes about her work—and what doesn’t—during quarantine.

Like most people we know, actor LeVar Burton is quarantined at home right now. The former Reading Rainbow host is trying to make sense of it all. And for him, a huge part of that journey is figuring out how he can show up for others. He's determined to keep sharing his storytelling gifts and his wisdom with the world, even when he can't leave his house. In this episode, he and Jessi talk about what that's like, and they wrestle with being present in the moment during a time of crisis.

It's been a rough week. So Jessi got on a call with Nancy Lublin, the CEO of Crisis Text Line. Nancy shared how coronavirus is changing what people need to talk about - and who's reaching out. She also gave insights into how people are being helped through this very difficult time - and how they're helping one another - via text. Need to reach a trained counselor? Text 741741. Interested in becoming a trained Crisis Text Line volunteer? Click here.

Attorney and activist Ally Coll left her post at prominent law firm Boies Schiller after learning of the firm's partnership with Black Cube in its defense of now-convicted sex offender Harvey Weinstein. She founded the Purple Campaign - an organization devoted to making workplaces more inclusive and harassment-free. Two years in, she'll share what's working and what's still to be done. We also check in with listener Jeff Berman, who's part of a coalition with World Central Kitchen, working at scale to feed front line medical workers in Los Angeles in their fight against COVID-19.

Actor, musician, and philanthropist Kevin Bacon talks to Jessi about leveraging the power of our interconnectedness to encourage each other to stay home during this critical time, using his SixDegrees.Org's new initiative, #IStayHomeFor.

This week on Hello Monday, Jessi sits down with Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Stanford professors and the authors of Designing Your Work Life. This lively conversation investigates the power each of us has to make small/work life changes with big impact - even when we can't necessarily change our circumstances. We also hear from listener Min Yang, who shares her story of living through the lengthy SARS lockdown in China 17 years ago.

This is a strange new reality. We're being encouraged to keep our physical distance from one another, as it's the only way we can help "flatten the curve." It's clear that we're all in this together, but as we're keeping our distance, how do we feel connected? A big part of the answer lies in sharing our stories. This week, we're checking in with four listeners around the world - including our friend Kate Burson, in Milan, Italy - to see how they're doing and how the response to COVID-19 is affecting their work and their lives.

Elise Loehnen, goop’s Chief Content Officer, is OK with you disagreeing with her. She's honed this veritable superpower through a career built on challenging the status quo - something that generates discussions both on- and off-line. Elise doesn't find likability to be a valuable metric in her determination of her own self worth - and she doesn't think you should, either. Join Jessi and Elise for a lively conversation on the value of asking bigger questions and cultivating a deeper sense of self.

As Coronavirus cuts into our lives in unexpected ways, host Jessi Hempel talks to Milan resident—and Hello Monday listener—Kate Burson about the strange anxiety and surreal quiet of living under quarantine.

Steven Levy is a legendary tech journalist who wrote the book on hackers. Literally. It’s called HACKERS. Now, he’s out with a new book, written after three years of conversations with Mark Zuckerberg, called Facebook: The Inside Story. Steven joins Jessi to share his unique insights into hacker culture's evolution, its ongoing effect on business and society, and its future.

Ten years ago, Robbi and Matthew ditched the corporate grind and moved into a barn where they made art. They didn't chase success, but it found them. Now, they're planning to travel the country with their four kids – in a school bus. The wife-and-husband team sit down with Jessi to dig into what makes their partnership work and why living the life they dreamed was worth the sacrifices they've made to live it.

This week, Hello Monday hops in the way-back machine to revisit one of our very first episodes. Best-selling author Elizabeth Gilbert (EAT PRAY LOVE, BIG MAGIC, CITY OF GIRLS) shares her perspective on the nature of work and challenges Jessi on the idea that people should have careers.

Judd Apatow has known since childhood that he wanted his career to be in comedy. How he worked to become a force in the industry – and what that journey taught him – forms the core of this in-depth interview, which became the pilot episode of LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth’s podcast, “This is Working.” Judd has solid advice about the importance of good mentoring, how (and how not) to make yourself indispensable to the room you’re in, and why sometimes you’re better off ignoring feedback and trusting your work. 

After Wonder Woman made more than $800 million dollars at the box office, director Patty Jenkins fought hard to be paid equitably to direct the sequel. When she prevailed, she became the highest-earning female director in Hollywood. In this episode, featuring an interview with “This is Working” host and LinkedIn Editor in Chief Daniel Roth, Patty shares her career path, her artistic vision, and her personal mission – to ask for more, in order to help women who will be negotiating after her. 

The economy is shifting dramatically. Technology, automation, and rising inequality are restructuring companies and reconstituting our notion of jobs. Over several decades of covering the impact of these forces, financial journalist Adam Davidson has met some people who seem to have figured out how to harness these forces to power successful careers. These are people who've turned their own skills into careers that allow them to cover their bills and live well. People who are making it. In this episode, we unpack what he's learned about how to do this.

This week, Troy Carter proves that being the underdog is a career superpower. Troy has always bet on underdogs, in his music career where he managed Lady Gaga and in his investing career, where he bet early on companies like Uber and Warby Parker. He recognized these traits because he's an underdog himself. He'll share the story of how he made it from West Philly to Los Angeles, and what it taught him about how to take risks.

Ben Horowitz is a venture capitalist based in Silicon Valley. Part of his work is identifying and investing in new companies, and that means he's gotten very good at picking winners. In this episode, Ben talks with Jessi about how much a company's culture can affect its success, how to shift an existing culture, and what the word "culture" even means.

It's 2019, and you can make a living in the world of e-sports. You don't have to be a professional video gamer, though – there will be a rise in new jobs such as physical therapists, lawyers, agents, writers, artists, and more. This episode, Jessi peels back the curtain on this underworld of nerd culture, explores what e-gaming is, and what jobs we can expect due to the rise of this new industry. Featuring Andy Dinh of Team SoloMid, as well as research from LinkedIn data scientist Brian Xu.

Satya Nadella embodies a growth mindset – a philosophy that prioritizes the willingness to learn over the gift of being naturally brilliant. In this episode, the Microsoft CEO shares with Jessi why he's centered his career around curiosity, where he thinks Microsoft is going in the future, and what he thinks about the role of the modern corporation.

Lisa Congdon didn't start her career as a visual artist until she was 39 years old. This episode, hear Jessi interview the illustrator and author about what it's like to be a late bloomer in your career, plus tips on how to get started in a creative field.

Social scientist Arthur Brooks says that many successful careers start with generating new ideas, and then end with teaching with them. “You start off as an inventor, and you finish up as an instructor,” the Harvard Kennedy School professor says. This episode, hear Arthur’s research about how your strengths change as you age, and how knowing all this can help you plan your career moves more effectively. 

Jessica Powell ran communications for Google, making her one of the most powerful voices in the PR industry – until she quit. This episode, hear a conversation about what it’s like to leave a job when you’re not sure what’s next. Plus, hear Jessica’s tips on how to decide a job is no longer working for you. 

Many of our guests share something in common: they have morning routines. So what's going on during these first hours of the day, and how do we get the most out of them? This episode, writer Dan Pink joins us, and he tells us about the three different kinds of people: the larks, better known as morning people, the night owls, and the third birds. Plus, hear his advice on how to manage your time more efficiently.

Leah Busque Solivan founded TaskRabbit, the online marketplace where people get help with small jobs like cleaning, or building furniture. She built it into a multi-million-dollar business, and then in 2017, Ikea bought it. This episode, hear Jessi's conversation with Leah as they talk about what it's like to build a company from the ground up and then walk away from it.

Actor Laura Linney has played roles in everything from Ozark to The Truman Show, and she’s learned a thing or two about handling the critics. This episode, hear Laura talk with Jessi about what makes good criticism, how she approaches her creative process, and the advice she has for people wanting to get into the entertainment industry.

This episode, Jessi gets out of the office and heads downtown to eat at a 99-year-old Chinese restaurant. Hear her conversation with Wilson Tang of Nom Wah Tea Parlor, as the two talk about what it’s like to inherit a family business, how Wilson added his own modern touch, and how he grew a small family restaurant into a global brand.

In the decades leading up to her breakout book Bad Feminist, Roxane Gay wrote every day, not knowing if anyone was ever going to read her work. It wasn’t until she was 40 years old that she had her first taste of commercial success. This episode, hear Roxane and Jessi discuss how the writer persevered through all those years of rejection, how she teaches writing to her students, and what it’s like to write the deeply personal memoirs that Roxane has become known for.

Jerry Colonna was called “the Prince of New York” by New York Magazine for his success as a venture capitalist. Then his life came to a hard stop when he fell into depression and realized that his work wasn’t all it was chocked up to be. He turned his life around when he started coaching CEOs, and found out that what those business leaders needed, he could give. Now hear the executive coach’s thoughts on how to mindfully bring emotions to work, and why tapping into pain points can improve leadership

Hello Monday is back for Season 2, and Jessi kicks off with a conversation with actor and podcaster Anna Faris. Anna's best known for her roles in the Scary Movie series and The House bunny, but starting a podcast changed things. She said, "I wanted a platform where I could feel like I was myself, that wasn't controlled by anybody else."