Push Pull Podcast

Varun Rajan
  • 5.0 (2)
  • CAREERS

Interviewing successful professionals about what drove their career transitions

  1. Giving Yourself Permission: Jillian Reilly on trusting your gut and foregoing regret (pt 1)

    6H AGO

    Giving Yourself Permission: Jillian Reilly on trusting your gut and foregoing regret (pt 1)

    Earlier this year, I interviewed Jillian Reilly, author of "The Ten Permissions: Redefining the Rules of Adulting for the 21st Century," about why people change (or don’t). And how “permission” and agency shape behavior more than resources, training, or workshops. She recounts leaving a prescribed path and law school plans to go to South Africa during the of apartheid, followed by two decades in international aid across Africa. During that time, she led an HIV/AIDS program in Zimbabwe, where she saw how cultural and safety constraints make “novel choices” dangerous. She describes disillusionment with the kind of change driven by funding incentives, moving into consulting, and later prioritizing motherhood despite career trade-offs. We explore the ideas of permission, conviction over certainty, experimentation, avoiding regret through intentional choice, and building “permission-rich” environments in villages and boardrooms alike. 00:00 Why Permission Matters 00:17 Meet Jillian Reilly 01:59 Ten Permissions Explained 04:53 Leaving the Midwest Script 08:11 Aid Work Lessons 10:03 Zimbabwe and Permission 13:32 Agency and Modern Careers 17:46 Moving to South Africa 22:33 Conviction Over Certainty 24:02 Feel Your Way Forward 27:05 Transition to Consulting 27:28 Aid Work Disillusionment 29:39 Spending Versus Impact 31:52 Leaving the Dream Job 36:09 Consulting as Truth Teller 36:55 Permission and Change 41:12 Motherhood and Tradeoffs 46:33 No Regrets Framework 50:57 Returning Through Experiments 53:22 Frontiers and Explorers Way 55:50 Closing Reflections and Tease

    58 min
  2. On Trust: How dishonesty derails the Job Search and the Industry at large

    6D AGO

    On Trust: How dishonesty derails the Job Search and the Industry at large

    The Trust Tax: Reframing Your Story and AI Layoff Narratives Today I unpack a LinkedIn post about declining trust in ourselves and each other, showing how it appears in job searches and in how companies explain AI-driven change. Drawing on Stephen M.R. Covey’s The Speed of Trust, I argue trust is has a tangible impact across our careers and the broader economy. I share a coaching conversation I had with an ops professional moving toward data analysis who calls his interview narrative “spin,” and reframed it as honest conviction and initiative rather than performance, linking this to Covey’s first “wave” of trust: self-trust as the foundation for relationship and organizational trust. I also critique companies spinning layoffs as AI-driven when they often reflect pandemic overhiring, warning that spin breeds cynicism and slows real adoption. 00:00 The Big Idea 00:55 Trust as Economic Force 01:50 Coaching Story Spin vs Reframe 04:49 Self Trust Comes First 05:40 Layoffs and the AI Narrative 07:29 Low Trust Tax at Work 08:36 Five Waves of Trust 10:31 Culture Leaks to Customers 11:49 Conviction Over Certainty 12:37 Closing and How to Reach Me

    13 min
  3. Empathy at Scale: James Warren on the benefits of emotional archeology (pt 2)

    APR 22

    Empathy at Scale: James Warren on the benefits of emotional archeology (pt 2)

    Empathy at Scale: James Warren on Building SEEQ, Trust, and the Emotional Data Behind Work This week, we continue our conversation with James Warren, who left a successful corporate career and built Share More Stories (SMS) alongside an investor/partner through a decade-long, sometimes exhausting dual-company arrangement that required relinquishing control, building trust, and personal growth. James explains SMS’s evolution from storytelling workshops into SEEQ, a productized platform that captures employee and customer stories and analyzes emotions to reveal the “why” behind metrics like NPS and engagement scores. After launching in late 2022, the company faced market re-education in 2023, gained momentum in 2024, and is now scaling with added generative-AI capabilities such as SEEQ GPT for rapid, high-context analysis. He describes how leaders must model healthy vulnerability, and shares a case where employee and customer trust curves mirrored, linking employee experience to customer experience. The host closes by reflecting on SEEQ as infrastructure for measuring an organization’s emotional layer. 00:00 Part Two Setup 01:40 Arranged Marriage Partnership 02:56 Letting Go Of Control 06:25 Two Businesses One Gearshift 07:43 Startup Hiring Build Mode 08:53 Going Full Time SMS 10:03 Being Early In Market 11:05 SMS Origins And Pivots 12:45 Workshops To Tech Breakthrough 15:06 First Big Pitch And API Demo 18:49 Launching SEEQ And Reeducation 23:29 Empathy At Scale Value 26:08 What Stories Reveal At Work 29:11 Psychological Safety Signals 30:05 Facilitating Live Storytelling 30:49 The Magic Moment 32:39 Leaders Embrace Vulnerability 35:18 Asking Better Questions 37:03 Selling Employee Experience Value 40:41 Trust Links EX and CX 45:01 Emotional Archeology 47:06 SEEQ GPT Breakthrough 53:56 Advice For Feeling Stuck 57:26 Trust Reflection Outro

    1 hr
  4. The Road to the Right Work: James Warren on storytelling and entrepreneurship (pt 1)

    APR 15

    The Road to the Right Work: James Warren on storytelling and entrepreneurship (pt 1)

    We kick off Season 2 of the Push-Pull Podcast, we widen the lens from career transitions to how people build durable careers amid rapid change. In this episode, I interview James Warren, founder and CEO of Share More Stories, who is a storyteller committed to helping organizations understand their employees’ and customers’ experiences. James recounts early storytelling and entrepreneurial interests, studying at Princeton before transferring to Columbia for creative writing, and learning persistence through rigorous workshops. After marrying young, he entered corporate roles at MetLife and then Altria, where self-advocacy and mentorship fueled moves from communications to brand/marketing to sales, revealing shifting generational expectations about “job hopping.” He eventually left Altria with a package to pursue entrepreneurship, describing a difficult first year, early failed ventures and a failed crowdfunding campaign, and a pivotal partnership that provided the material and experiential resources to build Share More Stories. 00:00 Season Two Mission 00:50 Building Durable Careers 02:24 Meet James Warren 04:19 James Today Snapshot 05:14 Early Storytelling Roots 07:41 Writing Path to Columbia 09:59 Pressure Intuition Pivots 15:07 First Corporate Breaks 18:48 Altria Growth and Moves 23:52 Jump to Brand and Sales 29:53 Sales Role Reality Check 31:50 Resentment In The Field 32:26 Work With Lunch Lesson 33:42 Reorgs And Returning HQ 35:40 Choosing To Leave Corporate 37:19 First Year Entrepreneur Reality 39:36 Origins Of Share More Stories 45:32 Crowdfunding Failure Wakeup 47:31 Mentors And Finding Ken 51:48 Partner Deal And New Runway 53:10 Host Reflection And Wrap

    56 min

  5. SEASON 2 TRAILER

    Empower Yourself: Announcing Season 2

    Announcing Season 2 of the Push Pull Podcast. In the world of rapidly evolving AI tools, and the expectations and market disruptions that come with them, ignore the losers trying to scare you. Find what matters to you and be the champion of your own story.

    5 min

  6. 08/27/2025

    Season One Reflections and Reset

    The past few weeks I soft-launched a hiatus, and today I'm making it official. Keep your eyes peeled for Season 2 of the Push Pull Podcast!

    4 min

  7. 07/23/2025

    Near Misses and New Paths (Throwback Highlight Reel)

    Today we revisit a couple of “near misses” — where a combination of solid preparation and luck led my guests to thrive or pivot quickly in the face of turmoil in their organizations. Omar Dinar discusses joining Lehman at the onset of the financial crisis, and the impact of the bank's bankruptcy on his career. Being in the real estate division allowed him participation in the acquisition negotiations by Barclays where he excelled for a solid portion of his career. We then revisit our discussion with Annalyn Cruz, at the point where she had years of advising university students under her belt. At a crossroads, she made the tough call to take a pay cut to go into Learning and Development when she had the option to move to a Director-level role. This choice didn’t save her from impending layoffs, but future-proofed her resume to work in corporate spaces. 00:00 Introduction to the MBA Journey 00:25 Landing the Dream Job at Lehman Brothers 02:04 The Financial Crisis Unfolds 02:57 Experiencing Lehman's Collapse 08:07 Transition to Barclays 08:32 A New Path: Semester at Sea 09:49 Pivot to Learning and Development 12:04 Challenges and Growth in L&D 18:03 Final Reflections and Career Transition

    20 min

  8. 07/16/2025

    Navigating Treacherous Startup Environments and Prioritizing Burnout Recovery (Throwback Highlight Reel)

    Navigating the Ups and Downs: From Consulting to Startups and Facing Burnout Today I revist discussions where my guests faced significant adversity in their work lives.  Shalini Chander talks about pivoting to the startup world — and while she gained valuable industry knowledge, the experience was marred by financial instability and unethical practices by the company's founder. This difficult stint was followed by a brief period at another startup focused on diabetes care, where funding issues led to job instability. Ultimately, the she found stability at Abbott, successfully pivoting to Product Management for the rest of her career.  Marshall Robins was a tech Account Executive. In his last couple of companies in this role, he encountered high-pressure environments driven by venture capital expectations and an economic downturn. He understood the importance of taking a step back from his career and getting meaningful rest when he was driven to burnout. 00:00 Shalini Leaving Consulting and Joining a Startup 00:57 Red Flags and Financial Instability 03:29 Lessons Learned and Moving On 05:57 Transition to Diabetes Startup 08:35 Marshall’s Burnout and Career Reflections

    15 min
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About

Interviewing successful professionals about what drove their career transitions

Information

  • Creator
    Varun Rajan
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    27
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Push Pull Podcast
  • Show Website
    Push Pull Podcast