In April 2023, the WORKP2P team launched the “BEATS WORKING” podcast. The show is the brainchild of Seattle-area entrepreneur Dan Rogers, who is on a mission to redeem work – the word, the place, and the way. In some circles, work has become a dirty word, but we believe work can be the most honorable act in the universe.
With more than 30 episodes and six months under our belts, we thought now would be a good time to check in with the team to see how things are going. What have we learned about the process? What have our guests taught us about how to redeem work? Which guests have had the most significant impact on us? We’re sharing, but we also want to hear from you – who’s been your favorite guest so far? You can email host Mark Wright with that, show suggestions, and any feedback at mark@beatsworking.show.
The one certainty at this point is that we all are on a journey of discovery, and like life itself, you never really arrive. You keep learning, growing, and hopefully getting better.
Resources from the episode:
- Learn more about BEATS WORKING and our mission to redeem work here.
- Get to know our Sidekicks and find ways to connect with them here.
- Send your feedback and suggestions to host Mark Wright at mark@beatsworking.show.
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Transcript
The following transcript is not certified. Although the transcription is largely accurate, in some cases it is incomplete or inaccurate due to inaudible passages or transcription errors. The information contained within this document is for general information purposes only.
Speakers: Alysse Bryson, Libby Sundgren, Elan Olsen, and Mark Wright
MARK WRIGHT 00:01
This is the BEATS WORKING show. We’re on a mission to redeem work – the word, the place, and the way. I’m your host, Mark Wright. Join us at winning the game of work. Welcome to Sidekick Sessions. In April of this year, the company I work for, WORKP2P, launched the BEATS WORKING podcast. The show is the brainchild of Seattle area entrepreneur, Dan Rogers, who is on a mission to redeem work – the word, the place, and the way. So, with more than 30 episodes and 6 months under our belts, we thought it would be a good time to check in with the team to see how things are going. What have we learned? What have our guests taught us about how to redeem work? The team also talks about guests who’ve had a big impact on all of us. We’d like to know who’s been your favorite guest so far. You can email me with that., show suggestions, or any other feedback at mark@BEATSWORKING.show. I’ll tell you the one certain thing at this point is we all agree – we are simply on a really interesting journey of discovery and like life itself, you never really arrive. You just keep learning growing and hopefully getting better. All right. Let’s talk with the Sidekicks. So, how long have we been doing this?
ALYSSE BRYSON 01:28
Making jokes? We’ve been making jokes for a while, Mark.
MARK WRIGHT 01:31
And don’t, don’t everyone speak at once. No, I’m serious. How long have we been doing this?
ALYSSE BRYSON 01:36
We launched the podcast at the beginning of April 2023.
MARK WRIGHT 01:41
Okay. May, June, July, August, September, October. We’re almost to the six-month mark.
ALYSSE BRYSON 01:45
Not just good looking, ladies and gentlemen, he can also do math. I just want, for those of you listening, I want you to know that he just did it with his fingers.
MARK WRIGHT 01:56
I was, uh, never very good at math, but that’s okay. And it’s so good to see everybody. Um, had a little time off back with the gang, the BEATS WORKING podcast production team at WORKP2P. So good to see you all. Today’s episode of the Sidekick Sessions is all about kind of where we are as an organization, where we are as a podcast, what we’ve learned over the past six-ish months, and, uh, yeah, this is going to be super fun. So why don’t we just jump right in team? Why don’t you introduce yourself? Starting with my good friend, Alysse.
ALYSSE BRYSON 02:31
Well, thank you, Mark. My name is Alysse Bryson and, uh, I help develop community in the WORKP2P, the land of WORKP2P. And I just love what we’ve built around the BEATS WORKING podcast. And I love the Sidekick Sessions. I think it’s a super fun time for us to come together as a team and talk about you know, a variety of different top topics. Uh, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve certainly enjoyed listening to them back. Libby, over to you.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 03:00
I am Libby Sundgren, content development manager. T-crosser, I-dotter, all of those things.
ELAN OLSEN 03:09
Hi, I’m Elan Olsen. Um, I am the creative sidekick, so all of the BEATS WORKING social media things you see, I have created.
MARK WRIGHT 03:22
Well, this is gonna be so fun today, you guys, because we’ve been at this for a little while, and when this was just an idea of, uh, our boss, Dan Rogers, entrepreneur Dan Rogers, it was really kind of daunting that we were going to take this idea of Dan’s, of he wants to redeem work, to make work better for everyone. So, he creates this podcast called BEATS WORKING, winning the game of work. So, when we started, it was like, oh my gosh, where do, where do we begin? But I feel like we’re in a really good rhythm now and we’ve had, you know, 30 episodes in amazing guests. Um, we’ve learned a ton from those 30 guests, uh, but I’d love to hear from each of you. We’re, gosh, I can’t even talk.
ALYSSE BRYSON 04:06
Uh, are you getting choked up already, Mark? I like it when you cry on the podcast. Are you going to cry today?
MARK WRIGHT 04:14
No, but, uh, yeah, I’m having a little bit of jet, jet lag. I just returned. I’ve never been outside North America and I just got back from an amazing trip to Europe, um, and I’m a little bit jet lagged, so I apologize for that. So, I mean, I’ve been asking the question that I come up. I’ve come up to people for the last 10 days and sort of going “Speckens English?” And if they say, you know, a little bit, then I’m in luck. Um, I am way off track now. Let me just back way up. So, I think this has been such a cool experiment that our boss, Dan Rogers, entrepreneur, Dan Rogers, has an, uh, he’s on a mission to redeem work. And so he starts this podcast called BEATS WORKING, winning the game of work. And all of us had been working really hard on this for, for months now. And I feel like we’re in a, we’re in a rhythm now and we’ve learned a lot. And, uh, we’re just starting to scratch the surface of this idea that work actually can be honorable for everybody. Um, I’d love to hear from any of you about just kind of your perceptions of where we are in the process and what you’ve maybe learned over the past, uh, several months. Who wants to go first?
ALYSSE BRYSON 05:27
I’ll jump in and go. This is Alysse. I, you know, the best way to start something is just start, right? I love that. Yes, of course, there was some thinking and some planning that happened, but we also just went for it. Um, which does mean we’ve learned a lot of things along the way, to be clear. Uh, but the fact that we, we just went for it and, uh, started with nothing and now, you know, we are well down the path of a content calendar and processes and figuring out social media, and I think we’ve all completely fallen in love with AI, and I honestly don’t know how we navigated the world before AI, like, did the world happen before 2023? I’m not sure. Um, but I, and I love the variety of the guests you’ve had on Mark, um, and listening to how each one of them is redeeming work in their own way. Um, there’s a lot of gold to be mined in these hills at BEATS WORKING.
MARK WRIGHT 06:32
Yeah, I love it. Elan, what about you? What have you learned over the past several months?
ELAN OLSEN 06:36
Well, I think in terms of the team, I have the least amount of time on the clock for podcasts in general. So, I’d say I’ve done the most amount of learning. Um, but it’s been an exciting process to be a part of too, because I am a consumer of podcasts. Of course, I’m listening to both faith-based and then true crime. If you haven’t heard before, I am a millennial, so very on brand. So, it’s been fun to be on the backside of that process and again, there’s a lot of learning, a lot of programs. I, too, am a lover of AI, and it’s been such a space for me to be creative in. I love being able to develop imagery around this. It makes me feel like I’m taking part of the idea and bringing it to life in a tangible way. Um through those visuals, and then of course being part of the Sidekick Sessions. A new experience for me being on the mic, so I appreciate the opportunity.
MARK WRIGHT 07:38
It’s hard to put Elan in a box because she’s right. So she goes, she spans the spectrum from faith based to true crime. And I love that. I love that about Elan. She’s absolutely honest and super talented. And it’s so great to have you on the team. Libby, what about you in terms of what you’ve learned? You bet.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 07:58
Yeah, I think it’s just been, you know, a wild and wooly adventure and, um, we are truly, you know, as Alysse said, there is some planning that went into it, but we are also learning as we go. And, um, you know, I don’t know that it would work as well if we didn’t have the group of people that we do. I think we all work really well together and we, you know, highlight each other’s strengths and pitch in when we need to support somebody in some way. Um, and it’s just been, I think that’s you know, in addition to hearing some really cool stories, it’s, it’s been cool developing our own story too.
MARK WRIGHT 08:44
And I feel like this team is really an amazing team in that everyone has some unique abilities and there’s no, there’s no two of us who are any, anywhere close to being alike. And I love the fact that there’s such a diverse diversity of, of talent. But I also feel like I’ve never been on a team where, um, everyone has everybody else’s back. I feel like nobody is, is out for themselves here and that everybody on this team really cares. And, and, and it’s really apparent that everybody has, has the other person’s back. I think what the thing that’s been the biggest, and I think Alysse can speak to this because she and I probably have the most interactions in terms of, you know, how am I performing? What are the podcasts coming off like? And I remember early on that Alysse kept saying, just, “Hey, just relax. Be yourself,” because coming from broadcasting, there’s, there’s a level of formality in broadcasting that, I mean, think about, I remember when I was anchoring the news and my kids were younger and one of my, one of my sons said, how come you wear a suit and tie when you, when you’re on the news? And I was like. Wow, that’s a good question. Um, I don’t have a good answer for that, but it speaks to the level of, of there’s a formality, there’s a formalness, a formality of, uh, you know, in, when it comes to the broadcasting. And what I feel like is that this form of communication in podcasting, uh, you know, before we hit record, I think Alysse alluded to the fact that I’ve cried on the podcast. I’m okay with that. But I feel like the guardrails have gone a little bit wider, um, emotionally. And I feel like, I feel like I’ve grown in four months now. Um, I’ve grown in my ability to just let you know, let myself go further on both sides, you know, of, of the spectrum when it comes to interviewing people and just really getting, getting to the core of who these people are. Um, let’s, let’s take a step back and I’d love to, one thing that I think is important. in the idea of redeeming work is to, and we’ve done this with a number of guests, you guys, haven’t we? We’ve, we’ve figured out what are our own perceptions of work? Like, where did we learn our beliefs about what work is? And I think it’s a generational thing. You know, we go back to guests like Ana Liotta that, you know, our generational code kind of lets us know what we should think about in terms of, you know, what is work. But I’d love to go back with each of you and talk about where you learned your work. You know, ethic, your, you know, how you, how you view work. Um, so Elan, tell me about some of maybe your first real job, could be even as a kid, some of the lessons that really imprinted on you, what, what work is and what it can be.
ELAN OLSEN 11:36
Yeah. That’s a great question. Um, I, my first real job, I, you know, where I had to do a clock in and clock out and pay taxes on it, um, was at Starbucks. Um, here in the Seattle area and what a training ground for work ethic being a barista is um, and especially I feel like at this time and place in work, you know, baristas aren’t very high up on that food chain, but the amount of expertise and function and ability and just quickness that you have to execute, um, in order to keep your job, uh, it’s just, it’s an incredible place to really learn what working physically hard means. Um, in terms of just how I view work for myself and for career, um, I feel like I’ve got to give it to, um, my grandpa and my mom, um, my grandpa, boomer, um, going back to Ana Liotta, so very military influenced leadership styles, but in a way that the vibe was more uh, you’re going to need somebody else to provide for you over my dead body, so you’re going to work hard. And I really appreciate that about him. Um, you know, through any flaws that he has, like a he really instilled in me that I needed to learn how to use the tools I needed to learn, um, how to advocate for myself in a workplace, even if he wasn’t exhibiting that in his leadership roles in his workplace at the time, and then my mom, super independent, um, right out of college, started working at Boeing here in Seattle with a great job, bought, you know, her first house at 21 years old with an infant. So, I mean, there’s nobody that works harder than Leta Gratrix. She is a rock star. So, it’s always been an expectation in my family that I need to work hard enough to provide for myself and that’s such a blessing, um, as a young woman entering the workforce, uh, having that perspective to thank you for that question.
MARK WRIGHT 14:08
Wow. That’s, that’s really, really interesting. And every time you go into a Starbucks, you can just see that there is not one person on that staff that’s just kind of kicking back. It’s like everybody has their job and everybody is doing it at a really fast pace and oh by the way ask the customer how their day’s going, that’s uh, wow, that’s That’s cool. That’s really cool. Um, Libby, what about you? What, uh, I mean, we’ve talked a little bit, I think in the generational communications episode about you, you sort of work like a baby boomer, even though you’re younger than a baby boomer, but where, where did it all start for you?
LIBBY SUNDGREN 14:45
Yes, I am a little bit younger. Um, but I do kind of fall into that class. Um, my, so my parents are both in healthcare. I grew up in a real small town in Oregon. Um, both parents were nurses. My dad was also a hospital administrator and, you know, they both um, you know, just really loved what they did. So from a very young age, I think it was just ingrained in me that I should love what I’m doing. Um, you know, my mom was a hospice nurse, and so she was you know, you know, that, that’s a, that’s a tough job emotionally, a very tough job and she, you know, the relationships that she formed with her patients and their families, um, you know, was just pretty incredible to see and really made me want to have that kind of emotional connection to my job. Um, and then my dad was just, you know, so busy, like worked, worked all day at some point, you know, he took a second job giving shots to little people in the nursing home and had lots of funny stories from that. But, um, you know, there is just nothing that he wouldn’t have done to, to give us anything that he could. And I think to, you know, parents who worked, um, was, you know, hard as a kid sometimes when you want your parents to be around or why, why does so and so get to go home from school and I don’t, um, but it really taught me a lot about having a very strong work ethic. Um, and our, my cousins have a watermelon farm, um, in Hermiston, Oregon. And so that was my first job, um, on and off the payroll, um, you know, over and under the table. Um, but you know, God bless those farmers. There is never a slow time. They are always working. And you know, when you see people working from seven to seven every day for three, four or five months. Um, and then continuing to work, um, a typical 40-hour work week and other months. Um, you know, that’s just, that’s just the way it was. So that was just the work ethic, um, that was really taught to me just through intentional demonstration. Um, and yeah, that’s, that’s where I get it as farmers, you know, about farmers.
MARK WRIGHT 17:37
Yeah. My uncles used to drive down. We grew, you know, vegetables on the farm when I was a kid, but my uncles would truck in the fruit. So we, they had a truck and my uncle Ed would go down, take the truck down to Hermiston and load it up with watermelons, come back up and amazing watermelons. Libby what you said about, what you said about it being emotionally connected to your job, and that was something you saw your mother really do, um, I think that’s such a key. And it just makes me think that so many of the jobs in our society, we have an inverse relationship between the pay we give them and the value that we get. And when you think about what, and I’ve had several opportunities. Uh, unfortunately or fortunately to experience the, the love and care of, of hospice, uh, workers. And, oh my God, those people are, are angels. Like, like literally, and they deserve to make $300,000 a year. They don’t, they make usually right around minimum wage, but that, that emotional connection, I love that you picked on, picked, picked up on that when you were a kid and saw that there’s real value in that, right?
LIBBY SUNDGREN 18:50
Yeah. Yeah. It was just, you know, a really beautiful lesson and, you know, taught us taught me a lot of other things too about, um, you know, just the value of relationships and, um, you know, just being there for people, no matter, you know, what kind of presence you’re, you have just, um, supporting people, but, you know, she, I most certainly don’t think that either of them were paid enough for the work that they did. Um, you know, when my dad passed away 15 years ago, 16 years ago, they, um had to split his job between multiple people because he did so much stuff and he just loved it and, you know, took it on. But, um, yeah, I think they just. I’m so, so grateful that, that I had them to teach me what, you know, how to work, but also what you can get out of work for yourself too.
MARK WRIGHT 19:55
That’s so well said. Thank you. Alysse, what about you? What, what sticks in your mind when you, when it comes to just really who showed you the way when you first started understanding what work is and how the whole thing happens?
ALYSSE BRYSON 20:09
Definitely my parents. My mom was a middle school teacher. Uh, my dad actually was a teacher as well that then transitioned into accounting. Um, but they, when they met, they were both teachers. But my whole memory of my dad, he was an accountant at a, um, orthopedic office. And, uh, so my very first job I guess this would be under the table, uh, not a, uh, was once a month. I would go with my dad to his office and I would, uh, they would print out their monthly statements and there was probably, I don’t know, a couple thousand, over a thousand, and it would, um, and I would, they would come out of the machine and I would have to, they were perforated, I’d have to tear them apart and then I would have to fold them and stuff them in the envelopes and then I’d have to run them through the stamp machine. And so, you know, my first time doing it, it took like two days and like 16 hours, but by the time I was like six months into it, I could do it in three to four hours if I was really focused. And so, it became a game to me. Uh, but I, you know, both my parents worked a lot. Um, so my sister and I were definitely latchkey kids. Although, uh, my mom taught at a private Christian school where her and I, my sister and I both went. And so we, we were usually after school, my, you know, playing around the school, uh, while my mom was you know, finishing up, whatever. Very rarely were we home alone. We were usually just roaming the school alone. Sometimes we could go home, but my parents were both really, really hard workers, both boomers. Um, so I just saw that work ethic as you work hard to provide for your family. Um, and as a young, you know, I became a young single mom at the age of 20. And so that was ingrained in me that I just have to work hard to provide for my family. So, I think that is definitely where my relationship with work came. But I also saw, um, especially, well with both of them, but I got to see my mom working more than my dad. Uh, simply because I was at school, and I could physically see her. In fact, she was my teacher, uh, for two years, which wasn’t awesome. I have to admit, because she like knew when I had homework, and I couldn’t call her mom in class, I couldn’t get any favoritism, uh, but you know, I really saw how she poured her heart into service work without an expectation of anything in return. Um, and, that I think has, um, definitely contributed to how I show up in the world today.
MARK WRIGHT 22:57
Yeah, you’ve done a lot of things, you know, like starting the Sober Curator and you’ve done a lot of nonprofit work. And, you know, your mother to this day is making how many quilts a year to give away?
ALYSSE BRYSON 23:08
She makes a lot of blankets for, it’s an organization called Linus and they, uh, their garage, they store so much fabric and batting and, and she has a quilt group of ladies that come every week and they all work on these blankets that can be given to kids that, you know, just need their own blanket.
MARK WRIGHT 23:29
Yeah, that’s so cool.
ALYSSE BRYSON 23:30
So, service work is, was ingrained in me from a very early age with both of them. Um and, and, you know, looking back, they were like, maybe we should have spent more time at home with you because I got a little rowdy in high school, right? I got a little rowdy, uh, but, um, but I, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And my first real job that wasn’t the statement folding job with my dad, I worked at a truck stop burger bar in Centralia. Shout out to Bill and Bea’s. They’re still open. If you guys are finding your way on the i5 between Seattle and Portland, you can stop off in Centralia. And if you don’t go to the Country Cousin and listen to the, the rooster that crows when you walk in that building, you can go a little another block or two down and Bill and Bea’s truck stop. I, you know, I could close as we were preparing for this episode today, I closed my eyes, and I could remember my very first interview. His name was Ron Reichert. Um, he has since passed, uh, but he owned this Bill and Bea’s drive through truck stop. It maybe had four tables and a counter inside with two picnic tables outside. And then was mainly literally for truck drivers stopping by. And I started as a dishwasher and milkshake maker and the fountain girl, right? And then I moved my way, uh up into waitressing and then at which I mainly stayed as a waitress, but at some point, I decided it would be cool to become a line cook and then a cook-cook. Um, uh, but mainly they just wanted me out talking to people. That’s, I’m better off talking than I am cooking. Let’s be clear. It’s actually really funny that my first job was like involved cooking because if you know me at all, like I don’t, I barely cook now. I have a kitchen. It came with the place, right?
MARK WRIGHT 25:28
We’ll have to ask your son. Oh, I love that. I love that. But what, you know, so, so you’re all grown up now. What, what gives you the most joy when it comes to work?
ALYSSE BRYSON 25:31
Wait, I’m still stuck on the fact we’re all grown up now. Are we, are we sure about that?
MARK WRIGHT 25:35
Well, I, I’ve never felt grown up and I probably don’t think I ever will, but.
ALYSSE BRYSON 25:41
For me, you know, at some point I, I’ve always, I, I have the gift of gab. And so, most of my career has been in sales. I have this natural ability to listen to what people need and help them figure out, um, how to achieve that. And, and it worked well when it married up with what I was selling. And, but, but at a certain point, um, when I was at a magazine, I went from being an account executive and finally moved out of sales and all that went with that and move more into management and, and I’ve been in management ever since. And I think what I really love is mentoring other people and man, not so much the management of other people, but the being a part of helping them reach their growth and aspirations as it relates to their profession and their skill set and finding their true calling of work because I love what I do, maybe not all the time every single day, but a lot of the times I do, I don’t remember, I don’t remember the last time I had a job that I hated it or didn’t want to show up to, you know, like I love what I do and, and, and I like who I do it with. And I, you know, I can remember Libby and I, um, we had an intern once that came and interned for us at the magazine. And she went on to work at Teen Vogue.
MARK WRIGHT 26:58
And for the record, you and Libby have worked together at several different companies.
ALYSSE BRYSON 27:01
Several places. Yes. I, I love working with Libby. It’s, everyone should want to, everyone should have a Libby in their life. And, uh, but when this gal ended up at Teen Vogue and we got a thank you card in the mail from her that like, uh, you know, that we, we were a part of helping get her there. Oh! Like, I just thought that was that made my year like I, you know, that made my year and Libby, I don’t know if you want to jump in and speak on that, but I just thought it was so cool.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 27:33
Jessica Heinmiller – shout out – how you doing in NYC? I think she’s still there. I think I actually looked her up the other day, but yeah, it has been, that is a really cool part of, of your job and, you know, has been part of my job, but interns and just helping people get to where they want to go. And really, um, you know, Alysse is especially good at this, but really supporting your team, really championing your team. Um, you know, she, I’ve had a couple of bosses who are really excellent at this, and she is one of them, you know. So, thanks, AB.
ALYSSE BRYSON 28:12
Oh, thanks, Libby. Uh, I’ll, I’ll, uh, check’s in the mail. Check’s in the mail.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 28:16
You influenced my work. Thank you.
MARK WRIGHT 28:19
Well, the fact that you’ve been together, working together at several different companies shows that you both respect and value each other. I love that. I think my first recollection of work, I must have been maybe three years old. Um, my dad had a couple of pizza restaurants. Uh, one of them was in White Center. Uh, this is all before I grew up on the farm. So, it was called Pizza Pete. And, uh, one of the first pizza franchises, I think, in the country. And, and so my dad would have us. Come in like on Saturday morning, Sunday morning, and we would put on those little paper, you know, cook hats. And, uh, he would give us a couple of nickels and we would run over and put them in the jukebox and, and, uh, and, you know, dial up some music and then just rip around the restaurant while my dad was getting ready to open the pizza restaurant and he could make pizza like really well from scratch. And that looked like a heck of a lot of fun. Um, but like you Libby, I grew up working on the farm up in Ferndale. My uncles started, uh, Evergreen Station, an organic farm in about 1970. My brothers and I started probably working in third grade, fourth grade, uh, out in the fields in the summer. Um, and I just remember, um, taking a great deal of pride because my uncles just showed us the way they worked uh, to use one of my dad’s terms, they worked like they were killing snakes, like working at a breakneck pace, just weeding super-fast and using the hoe and moving irrigation pipe. We used to, we used to jog with these long aluminum irrigation pipes when we were setting the new set to, to irrigate the crops. And so, we worked our butts off. Um, but at the end of the day, you could look back and you could see that, you know, you did this to the carrot patch, or you did this to the cornfield or whatever. Um, and so I, I think just from a very early age. Um, I learned that work could be really hard, but it could be really satisfying at the same time. And, uh, I have my uncles to, to, uh, to thank for that. And both, both brothers and, and, uh, and I have, we’ve all had amazing careers. And I think a lot of that has to do with, you know, every job that we had after that, we didn’t just sit around. If we had questions, we asked questions, but we jumped in and we rolled up our sleeves and we just did it. And we worked really hard. So, yeah, that’s, that’s kind of, you know, my work history. And, you know, getting into journalism, that never felt like work, Alysse to, to speak to your point that it just felt, it was so much fun to learn and grow and to, to evolve as a journalist and, um, did that for 35 years. So, so that’s kind of where we, where we are today. Um, probably have about 15 minutes left or so. I would love to hear from, from the group here, just maybe, uh, a favorite memory, a favorite guest that we’ve had on the show so far. Um, and I’ll start out. I mean I think every time we have Jeff Kaas on the show, Jeff was, uh, one of the first five episodes of the BEATS WORKING podcast. He has a manufacturing company up here in Mukilteo. And he will tell you first and foremost, he’s in the business of developing people. And the secondary by product is that he makes industrial furniture for planes and for businesses. Does an amazing job at that. But the bottom line is Jeff is committed to growing human beings. And every time I hear Jeff talk, I just hear in his voice the commitment that he has to being a good human being and to make life better for other people, his employees. And I’m super inspired, super inspired by that. And then one of the most recent podcasts that I just loved. Uh, recording and listening back to was with coach Vinny, Vinny Maltz, Vince Maltz, former professional hockey player. And the thing that I got out of this most recent episode. Uh, from Vinny is that, uh, you know, he coaches elite athletes from the time they’re little and gets them ready to, to go pro. And what he has to deal with over and over again are parents who think their kids are going to become professional athletes, but in reality, they may not have what it takes. And what I, what I, the takeaway that I had from that episode that Vinny said, he said, you’re going to become what you were meant to be. You are, you are going to become what you were meant to be. And you can do all the forcing and shoving. And it goes back to something that our boss says all the time, the universe is a pull, which means you need to attract and not push an agenda. But what I learned from Coach Vinny is that if we just relax and every day realize that we are becoming what we were meant to be, if we pay attention, and we commit to the process of learning and growth. And when I look back at all 30 guests that we’ve had on the show to a person, every one of those people are dedicated to developing themselves into better human beings in their own way, in their own specific knowledge. You know, area, but I think that’s really interesting. I think that too often as human beings, we kind of get closed minded and less open to new ideas as we get older. But I think if you look at this group of people who are committed to redeeming work, they, to a person are always keeping an open mind and always saying, hmm, maybe I don’t have all the answers. Hmm, maybe I can learn something from this other person. And that’s what I think has been most rewarding for me as the host of BEATS WORKING for the past four months is that, every single episode, I’m learning, I’m expanding, my horizons are opening up and it’s just a, it’s a beautiful journey, uh, of self-improvement. And I’m so grateful that, that we’re getting paid to do this. Doesn’t feel like work. I’ll tell you that. Um, Elan, what about you? Do you have a favorite guest or idea that really has kind of stuck with you?
ELAN OLSEN 34:06
Yeah, I, I have a top three. Um, we’ve mentioned Ana Liotta already. Um super engaging content. Um, I also love Kristen Grahams, uh, The Science, uh, which is why I also love John Medina’s episode. Um, but I think I actually want to take the epiphany from Libby today because I feel like how work is being redeemed for me right now in this moment is, I mean, while you were sharing where your foundations of work came from, I just noticed that you mentioned the example of loving what you do. And I have an example of that in my life. My dad is a musician. He has never worked a day in his life. My dad has the, he, he doesn’t work despite being very busy and making money doing it. So it was just interesting for me that it was louder, the influence of, you need to work hard to provide, or you need to work hard to save yourself. So, now, working with the influence of you and working in WORKP2P, it’s just such a different environment for work, and I feel like I’m so ashamed I didn’t recognize that influence that I do have in my life around work. And so I think now I’m having a lot of walls getting taken down around my idea of work. I’m learning a lot more about being vulnerable at work, and not in an unprofessional way, but letting my team be a super help for me. And I don’t need to always save myself. And I can. It’s not a problem. It’s not wrong for me to love what I do. Also be able to afford life in Seattle, like that’s, that’s the goal and I, I think that I just realized that I’ve been operating under the assumption still even working in this environment that my job first and foremost has to be paying bills before it’s something that I love. And I, I mean, I could just see it in your face how meaningful that experience was seeing your parents love what they do. I don’t know. That was just great. So, yeah, I think Libby Sundgren is my favorite guest on the BEATS WORKING show.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 36:40
Thanks, Elan. I’m gonna cry again.
ELAN OLSEN 36:45
Don’t cry.
ALYSSE BRYSON 36:46
Can I, can I, I need to jump in. I need to jump in on Elan and have this Libby love fest. But when you, Libby, were talking about how, um, how many people it took to replace your dad. That’s how you show up. When you walk away from something that you’ve managed and put together, it takes a lot of people to replace what you do. So, you, oh I got, oh no.
ELAN OLSEN 37:15
Steam. Steam effect.
MARK WRIGHT 37:20
You can cry. I’ve, I’ve cried so much more.
ALYSSE BRYSON 37:22
This is breakfast for myself.
MARK WRIGHT 37:24
I think you’re on to something though. You absolutely are.
ALYSSE BRYSON 37:26
You, you, you, the legacy of your dad so shows up in you. And I just didn’t see it till you said that because I didn’t get a chance to know your dad. But he’d be, he’d be super proud of how you show up as a woman in the workplace. He really would.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 37:46
Thank you. I hope so. He, yeah, just, you know, I, another thing about my dad was that he, um, you know, even no matter what his role was, he treated everybody as important as the next person. So, he was on a first name basis with the CEO and a first name basis with everybody who was in, um, you know, the people who were, you know, as Howard said, choosing the brooms, you know, he just had a really. He just, I don’t know, had a way with work. He just redeemed work.
MARK WRIGHT 38:33
What I think is interesting though, Libby, is that like what your dad exemplified is, is kind of the, the magic of what it takes to redeem work. And that is when you, when you operate from a place of integrity and respect in the workplace, it colors everything that you do. And, you know, you, the people that I’ve wanted to follow in the workplace are those people that show up with that integrity and that respect. And I’ve always tried to do that. I’ve always engaged the janitors, gotten to know their name, asked about their families, get to know them as human beings. And there’s no downside to that because when you value the humanity of other people in the workplace, that’s what makes work, work, right? I mean you can, you can solve the other stuff. The other stuff’s easy, but until you really start to recognize and value other people It’s hard to work as a team really is. Libby, what about you in terms of guests anything, anything stick out to you in the first?
LIBBY SUNDGREN 39:36
Well, I, Elan and I are, I guess, close, more alike than one might think, even though I think we actually are in the same generation. Um, we have the same generational code technically. Um, but those were also my top three, Kristen, Ana, and John Medina. And I think it was because of those scientific tips and tidbits. I was on a pre-med track in college, even though I majored in PR, I minored in biology. So, I took a lot of science. So, I just found the things they shared really fascinating. Um, but you know, I think what everyone shares, uh, you know, what every guest shared is just real heart and real humanity. And I just, it is very easy in, you know, the age we live in to feel very jaded about work, feel jaded about people running their own companies, feel jaded about people at the top or wherever they are, um, anyone in the corporate ladder. And just the, the realness that they all brought and just real passion about what they’re doing and how to make it better for the people that are working for them and with them is really I think restores a lot of hope in a hope and you know, in the workplace. So,
MARK WRIGHT 41:06
That’s awesome. Alysse, what about you? Any, any key takeaways from favorite guests or ideas? So far.
ALYSSE BRYSON 41:14
Well, I love everybody that’s been mentioned. I’ve really enjoyed listening to the Contributors Corner. Um, which all of the people that are in Contributors Corner, depending on the month, they’ve, they’ve had their own episode at some point and then they’ve come back, and they’ve turned into a contributor and then they’re all spinning off each other. And I, I just think each of those episodes have been it really interesting to listen to this group of people that didn’t know each other come together and start collaborating and having these really meaningful conversations. So that’s been really a joy. Um, so if you haven’t, if you’re listening to this now and you haven’t checked out a Contributors Corner episode, I highly recommend going back and doing that. Um, I also really enjoyed, uh, one of our previous Sidekick Sessions with Kristen Graham talking about the early bird, the night owl, and the third bird, and, and being in our troughs, because you guys, we use “trough” all the time now, like, it shows up as a keyword in our otter AI transcriptions. Um, which again, shout out to AI. We love you deeply. You’re, you’re like the sixth sidekick, which speaking of sidekicks, Tamar Medford, one of our favorite beloved sidekicks, is not with us today as she had to be called away to an appointment. Uh, but I do have a note that her first job was at McDonald’s and she’s still loving it. She loved her job then, she loves it now, um, and she was bummed and missed out today, but there’s your shout out, Tamar. We love you as a sidekick, and uh, your time at McDonald’s is noted.
MARK WRIGHT 42:56
Our show producer, Tamar Medford. That’s, that’s awesome.
LIBBY SUNDGREN 43:00
We also love McDonald’s, so, you know. Yeah. Great friend.
ALYSSE BRYSON 43:05
Which, this episode is not sponsored by McDonald’s, but if you would, if you would like to, no, just kidding.
ELAN OLSEN 43:10
I feel like the critical takeaway from this episode is that I think love is the answer to redeeming work, so we can cancel all our future interviews. We got it down. We figured it out. We’ll wrap that up and take that to the bank.
MARK WRIGHT 43:28
I love it. I mean, that’s, that’s it at, at, at, at its core. It really is. I think what I’d love to just leave with everybody listening is that what the four of us and five, including Tamar have really learned since we started working together on this project. Is that we’ve been confronted with the question, what is work? What are our views on work? Where did we learn our views on work? Are those views valid? Um, what do we want work to be? And I think the cool thing about this discovery process is that we’ve opened ourselves up to learning. When it comes to what work is and what it can be in our lives. And I think it’s just a, it’s an, um, it’s an amazing journey that we’re on because BEATS WORKING means it doesn’t feel like work. And I feel like all of us are living this dream right now. And our goal is to just get everybody out there, bosses, employees, companies, you know, managers, everybody, to realize that work can be amazing, and it doesn’t have to feel like work. Sure, it’s going to be hard at times, but it can also be very satisfying. And I think it goes back to those of, those of us who’ve had children will, will say that having a child is the hardest thing you will ever do in your life. But it’s the most rewarding thing that you will ever have in your life. And I think that that’s, that’s very much like work that it’s, it’s going to be one of the hardest things that you ever do, but it can also be, if you do it right under the right circumstances, one of the most satisfying things in the world, and I feel like that’s where we are. So, here’s to an amazing start and, uh, BEATS WORKING, doesn’t it?
ALYSSE BRYSON 45:12
Beats working!
MARK WRIGHT 45:15
I really appreciate you guys. Thank you. And, uh, here’s, here’s to more fun times ahead here. I’m Mark Wright. Thanks for listening to BEATS WORKING, part of the WORKP2P family. New episodes drop every Monday. And if you’ve enjoyed the conversation, subscribe, rate, and review this podcast. Special thanks to show producer and web editor Tamar Medford. In the coming weeks, you’ll hear from our Contributors Corner and Sidekick Sessions. Join us next week for another episode of BEATS WORKING, where we are winning the game of work.
