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Business
Jane Bernhard
Join Columbia MBA grad and Texas Immersive Industry Explorer Jane Bernhard as she delves into the career journeys of business leaders and recent graduates in the immersive, technology, media, and gaming industries. We will explore their different values, perspectives, challenges, and advice on career paths. We hope to inspire you to build a career on your terms, and not anyone elses. This podcast is brought to you by Texas Immersive Institute at Moody College of Communication, UT Austin. @janebernhard - @texasimmersive
Total 7 episodes
1
Kasia Borowiec - MediaLink - Artists & Career Pivots - It didn't come without a lot of hard work

Kasia Borowiec - MediaLink - Artists & Career Pivots - It didn't come without a lot of hard work

Kasia Borowiec is a Director at MediaLink - and a great friend. We have always bonded over career pivoting out of performing, since our time at Columbia Business School. In this week’s episode of Your Career, Unscripted - we talk about her journey navigating a career shift from being an opera singer, to getting her MBA, to working as a Director at MediaLink, a boutique media and marketing consultancy.If you’re someone trying to make a change in your career - I recommend checking out this episode for some inspiration and actionable advice.We discuss…The challenges of pivoting out of a career that you have invested your entire self intoThe life changing benefit of daring to try something completely newHow a background in performing can be a secret sauce and superpowerBouncing back from rejection (#artists)Her experiences in opera, business school, Audible, Paramount, and why she landed at MediaLinkWhere she hopes to take this chapter of her careerHer story is a testament to drive, resiliency, and a willingness to take risks. Thanks Kasia for your support and kindness, and for trusting me to share your story.This content is made possible thanks to the Texas Immersive Supporters! Consider making a small donation so we can provide more thought leadership content to our community! https://give.utexas.edu/?menu=OGPTII Subscribe to my Substack to get these interviews to your inbox https://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARDIf you'd like to support, I would appreciate it if you share this with your network and rate our show!
45:2519/11/2024
Shelley Zalis - The Female Quotient: I’m going to be the first in the world

Shelley Zalis - The Female Quotient: I’m going to be the first in the world

Shelley Zalis is the Founder & CEO of The Female Quotient - and I genuinely cannot believe I got to do this interview. I went to their SXSW event earlier this year, with the intention of even briefly chatting with Shelley so that someday, probably years and years down the line when I was hopefully more established, I could interview her. I was definitely too afraid to ask her to be on the show when I first started it - because that felt massively out of reach.I kept watching Shelley’s interviews and was inspired by her boldness. It was that tenacity and drive that pushed me to stop rejecting myself and reach out much earlier than I originally planned. I realized I had nothing to lose by asking - and thanks to the generosity of Shelley and her team - and their mission to lift others up and support different generations - now here we are.Listen to Episode 6 of Your Career, Unscripted to hear about…How Shelley got into trouble because she never fit into a box…but “fitting into a box” was never part of her planHow passionately disagreeing with her negative first review got her demotedHow she decided that if the people she worked with wouldn’t value her, she would value herselfHow despite having “zero confidence” when she started to build her company OTX (Online Testing Exchange), she pushed forward anyways because of her “no regret” policy, and ultimately sold OTX to Ipsos for $80 MillionI recommend checking out this episode to hear one of the most interesting, successful, generous, open, and unique leaders discuss what it feels like to build a career by coloring outside of the lines - and then to help others do the same.And if you’re reading this and happen to be in a moment of self doubt or receiving negative feedback from someone - take a lesson from Shelley, listen to your heart, and go after what you want - regardless of what others tell you you’re capable of.This show is in collaboration with Texas Immersive Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Consider making a small donation today to help us bring more thought leadership content to the community.Follow Texas Immersive! @texasimmersivehttps://www.instagram.com/texasimmersive/https://www.linkedin.com/company/texas-immersivehttps://immersive.moody.utexas.edu/ and subscribe to my Substack https://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARD
42:0505/11/2024
Victor Pineiro: Nobody Knows What They’re Doing

Victor Pineiro: Nobody Knows What They’re Doing

Honored to have interviewed Victor Pineiro, Director of Digital Innovation at HBO | Max for this week’s episode of Your Career, Unscripted.Victor an award-winning digital marketer, author, documentary filmmaker and game designer. Victor’s team has launched emerging tech activations like the House of the Dragon Raise Your Banners AI poster generator experience and DracARys app, alongside brand and series-focused influencer campaigns. Before Max, Victor spent a decade leading YouTube, Skittles and various other brands' social presences.He also wrote, produced and marketed the award-winning metaverse documentary Second Skin, SXSW '08's opening night movie. He followed it up with the documentary that launched Motherboard, Vice’s tech channel. He’s also designed games and toys for Hasbro and is a kidlit and YA author. He wrote Time Villains, a Kirkus & Amazon best book of the year and winner of the International Latino Book Award.Thank you Victor for all of your support and inspiration!In this episode, we dive into:Victor’s unexpected journey from writing & filmmaking to social media marketingHow his early days as an elementary school teacher prepared him for the rest of his careerHow forcing himself to write every day on the train led to his first bookImposter syndrome and why "no one really knows what they’re doing.”And of course, so much incredibly specific and creative career adviceListen to Your Career, Unscripted!Spotify | Apple | YouTubePlease subscribe to my Substack to stay posted on episodes https://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARDand share this post and episode with anyone who you think may find it helpful!I am creating this show as an Industry Explorer in collab with https://www.instagram.com/texasimmersive at the https://www.utexas.edu/  thanks for your support and collaboration!If you like the content, check out TXI’s Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/texasimmersive for more thought leadership on the immersive field!
55:5515/10/2024
Stacey Strickland: Leading with Empathy. What can I do to make you happier?

Stacey Strickland: Leading with Empathy. What can I do to make you happier?

Stacey Strickland is truly one of the most kind, empathetic, authentic, and generous people I have ever met in business. It was an honor to get to interview her for this week’s episode of Your Career, Unscripted.Stacey is a Director, Customer Success Modern Work/Converged Communications | Americas Enterprise at Microsoft. If you want to learn about leading with authenticity and care, viewing bumps in the road as opportunities for growth, the ability to read people as a superpower, the importance of listening to your gut, from someone who is genuinely passionate about mentorship, and understanding the value in asking your team - ‘What can I do to make you happier?’ I recommend listening to this episode!My favorite quote from the episode “You're never going to grow if you don't do things that scare you or challenge you or make you uncomfortable. I encourage being uncomfortable.. If my kids have heard me once, they've heard me a million times say, the worst somebody can tell you is no. If you want something, if ask. If you have a question, ask. Even if you don't know what the question is you wanna ask, say that. Articulate it. I'm really struggling here, and I don't know why, but help me here. And then probably one of the most things is I don't believe, as humans, we were meant to go at things alone at all”Please subscribe to my Substack to stay posted on episodes https://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARDand share this post and episode with anyone who you think may find it helpful!I am creating this show as an Industry Explorer in collab with @texasimmersive at the @utaustintx thanks for your support and collaboration!If you like the content, check out TXI’s Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/texasimmersive for more thought leadership on the immersive field!
45:2401/10/2024
Seth Shapiro: Building a Career Ahead of Disruption

Seth Shapiro: Building a Career Ahead of Disruption

🎙️ I’m very excited to share Episode 3 of Your Career, Unscripted featuring two-time Emmy award winner Seth Shapiro! 📽 Seth is a global leader in media and technology, and he has built an insanely unique and successful career at the heart of disruption.💡 Seth's journey is a masterclass in anticipating industry shifts, taking calculated risks, following your intuition despite what everyone else thinks and says, and embracing change. If you want to learn about these industries from someone who not only lived and worked through decades of dynamic innovation, but also spearheaded it, I recommend checking out the episode.Here's a glimpse of what we covered:- Seth’s strategies in navigating his career in the evolving landscapes of music, television, gaming, tech, and digital media- His experience launching groundbreaking digital products like TiVo and NFL Sunday Ticket- His early advocacy for blockchain in media- Why media companies are struggling right now, and what Seth believes media companies can learn from tech companies- Advice for young people on “falling down the well, landing hard, getting up, and figuring out how to climb out of the well.”Seth is bold, resilient, and innovative. He has worked at and with some of the most prestigious companies in the world. He is both an investor and entrepreneur. I am very much inspired by his dynamic and varied career - and I hope it inspires young people to believe they can do more than one thing - and that with a growth and fail forward mindset - you can engineer changes in not just your own career, but in entire industries.My favorite quote from his episode - In talking about figuring out the early part of his career Seth thought  “where's their room?” and concluded  “The place that there's usually room is the thing that hasn't happened yet.”Thank you Seth for your time and insights. Editing credit: Courtney E Edwards of Transcended VisualsListen to Your Career, Unscripted in all major podcast platforms!-Jane Bernhardhttps://www.instagram.com/janebernhard/https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-bernhard-mba/https://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARD***This content is made possible thanks to the Texas Immersive Patreon members! Consider pledging a small donation so we can continue providing FREE content to our community! https://www.patreon.com/TexasImmersiveFollow Texas Immersivehttps://www.instagram.com/texasimmersive/https://www.linkedin.com/company/texas-immersivehttps://immersive.moody.utexas.edu/
48:2717/09/2024
Julia (Cabral) Flavin: If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get

Julia (Cabral) Flavin: If You Don't Ask, You Don't Get

🤝 Episode 2 of Your Career, Unscripted, is out! I am so thrilled to share this episode with Julia (Cabral) Flavin, Senior Director of Product Marketing at LinkedIn (where she's grown her career for over a decade).📈 Julia started her career in Finance, before pivoting first into the Tech industry, then into the Marketing field. Today, Julia leads a team of marketers that cover well-known & loved consumer products within the LinkedIn app, and launch new ventures for the company like Games & AI-powered Collaborative Articles. In her spare time, Julia teaches spin classes at a local fitness studio — where she loves pairing her love of music and mobility with empowering others to be healthier and happier.👟 To anyone looking for actionable and strategic steps on making a career pivot (whether that is industry or function) and to anyone looking to learn about leadership, positioning yourself optimally for upward mobility within a company, being a reliable and trustworthy team member and aligning yourself with initiatives important to the company in order to grow, this episode is for you.📘 If you’re a young person dealing with uncertainty in the workplace or having a difficult time in your role or transitioning from school into the workplace, I think Julia’s story and advice will help you feel less alone and in good company.🗯 We’re all just figuring it out, and I think Julia’s story is a testament to being proactive, jumping on board of opportunities, actively participating in self reflection, and embracing a well rounded lifestyle filled with professional and personal fulfillment.🙏 Thanks so much for being on the show, Julia - your insights already helped me quite a lot, and I am sure they will help others too!-Jane Bernhardhttps://www.instagram.com/janebernhard/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/jane-bernhard-mbahttps://substack.com/@JANEBERNHARDIf you like this content please support TXI’s Patreon at https://patreon.com/texasimmersive You will find free and exclusive content available on thought leadership on the immersive field.Please share this episode with anyone you think may find it helpful and interesting! Our goal is to give back to young people looking for advice and inspiration in a difficult job market. If this helps you in some way, we'd love to know!New episodes are available twice a month in Texas Immersive's Patreon page, YouTube, and all major podcast channels!Follow Texas Immersive Institute to stay on the loop!https://www.instagram.com/texasimmersive/https://www.linkedin.com/company/texas-immersivehttps://immersive.moody.utexas.edu/
51:0203/09/2024
Shawn Layden - A 32 year Career at  Sony. How hard can it be?

Shawn Layden - A 32 year Career at Sony. How hard can it be?

I could not be more excited to kick off this podcast with Shawn Layden, former Chairman of PlayStation Worldwide Studios for Sony Interactive Entertainment and former CEO of SIE America. I knew I wanted to start this podcast off with a guest who had an incredibly interesting career and someone who was kind, empathetic, and dedicated to giving back to younger generations. Shawn is all of those things and more.🎮 Not only has he been a top Executive at one of the most interesting companies in the world, but he has dedicated much of his time to supporting young girls in gaming, and is a founding board member of the Girls Make Games Scholarship Fund.💭 Have you ever wondered what it feels like to be a CEO? Wondered how a leader balances stress with inspiration, and pressure with responsibility? Listen in as Shawn discusses his incredible career journey, how he learns from failure, his most proud and his most challenging moments, imposter syndrome (everyone has it), what leadership is, and of course so much career advice for young people hoping to make a career in gaming and entertainment, alongside his best tips on negotiation and storytelling.🛣 So many young people coming out of school are afraid of what is to come - and I think this episode will help those people know that that feeling is common and universal - hear it from one of the most successful people in the entertainment industry.📖 Shawn is honest and vulnerable and talks about whether if he could do his career over again, he would probably do parts of it differently.💪 Shawn is a testament to a growth mindset and embracing new challenges. I continue to learn a lot from him, and I hope you will too!🙏 Thank you Shawn for your support and for (again) being so incredibly generous with your time and insights - and for your insanely high level of humility, self awareness, humor, and storytelling ability. I hope this episode reaches as many people as possible and gives hope to anyone feeling lost in their career, or anyone who wants to move into leadership someday.Please share this episode (and post) with anyone you think may find it helpful and interesting!To stay posted on when episodes are out (which will be twice a month on the first and third Tuesday!) please subscribe to my Substack, and follow me on Instagram and LinkedIn and Texas Immersive on Instagram and LinkedIn. And if you like the content, check out TXI’s Patreon at patreon.com/texasimmersive for more thought leadership on the immersive field.
01:06:1019/08/2024