1D AGO

From drama therapist to medical missionary to voice futurist | My Career Journey

Guest Mellini Monique has done it all. Starting from age 12, she worked as a camp counselor and in car washes and pizza shops, and then went to marketing research, drama therapist at an inpatient psychiatric facility, medical missionary, and founder of multiple companies. We don’t cover this in the episode, but she’s even worked as a clown! Currently, Mellini is a pitch coach for South by Southwest (SXSW), runs her own vocal coaching consultancy, organizes luxury wellness retreats, and has her own popcorn company called Herby PoP. She's also a mother of 6 children that all have their own businesses! In the episode, Mellini talks about what she did in her different careers, how she navigates the messy middle, how she learned about business from her grandmother, networking, work-life balance, turning passion into a business, what it’s like being a founder, and much more. She also gives valuable advice about aligning your vocal image with your visual image, how to gain the confidence to change what you're worth, and shares a helpful rebranding exercise. ------ Highlights from the episode include: 0:00 - Intro 2:29 - Mellini’s career journey 5:08 - Braces 5:47 - What it was like working as a medical missionary 8:50 - Family life 9:48 - Drama therapy 11:48 - Turning passion for voice into a business 16:36 - Watching pitch competitions and pitching to SXSW 20:08 - Communicating value 21:05 - Navigating career changes and identity 28:04 - Learning how to start a business 31:18 - Work life balance with a large family 34:44 - What it’s like being a founder 37:09 - Challenges of going through a rebrand 39:38 - How to advocate for and charge what you’re worth 48:00 - Networking approach and advice 54:27 - Navigating the messy middle ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

1h 2m

FEB 4

A day in the lives of an AI content/conversation designer and consultant | My Career Journey

In the last part of the intro series, hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their day-to-day lives in their new careers. Emily is a senior AI content and conversation designer and Allegra is a senior consultant in transformation, focused on workforce modernization. They give an overview of what they do, explain what a typical day looks like, share details about the skills they use, talk about how they approach learning and professional development, feedback, and promotions, and more. ------ Highlights from the episode include: 1:07 - Quickfire round of questions 3:47 - Overview of what Allegra does as a consultant 6:49 - Overview of what Emily does as a content and conversation designer 9:42 - What a typical day as a consultant is like for Allegra 12:39 - What a typical day as a content and conversation designer is like for Emily 15:01 - Difference between working at a smaller company vs. a big company 15:35 - Weekend work now vs. at our previous jobs 17:01 - How we set our schedules 18:43 - How often we travel 20:49 - How we use skills from music and other jobs 23:01 - Skills we use the most 27:00 - Learning and professional development 29:34 - Feedback 31:58 - Promotions 34:57 - Things we like and don’t like about our jobs and the industry ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

42 min

JAN 21

From Naval officer to product manager and founder of Veteran Timeline | My Career Journey

Service and helping people is at the core of everything guest Nick Co does. After serving as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer in the U.S. Navy, he transitioned into tech, working as a product manager and founding Veteran Timeline to help make the military transition into civilian life easier for others. He also served as Virginia State Leader for Veterans for All Voters, leading a team that successfully implemented ranked choice voting in Charlottesville, VA. In the episode, Nick talks about his experience growing up in the Philippines, moving to Seattle, and the importance of service, family, and impact. He also talks about the challenges he faced when transitioning from the military, which is what inspired him to found Veteran Timeline. He also shares helpful tips about how to maximize informational interviews and the importance of learning the language of whatever field you’re going into. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Introduction 1:43 - Nick’s career journey 4:02- Inspiration and decision to join the military 7:59 - Nick describes his time in the Naval Academy and Navy 11:37 - Importance of service, family, and impact 15:02 - Involvement in local politics 19:04 - Transferable skills 22:47 - Informational interviews 26:31 - Veteran Timeline 35:10 - Challenges of building something from scratch 40:01 - Vision for Veteran Timeline 42:11 - Solving problems 44:38 - Malleability and making an impact 46:30 - Call to action and closing ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

48 min

JAN 7

Deep dive: Interview prep | My Career Journey

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk interview prep. They share what they research, how to tell their background stories, questions they always prepare for, what questions they like to ask, and much more. ------- Highlights include: 0:00 - Introducing the Deep Dive segment 1:33 - Did you know - Interview prep facts 4:26 - How soon to start preparing for an interview 6:31 - Preparation process 8:52 - Updating as you go 10:40 - Research we do about the interviewers 12:10 - Research we do on the company 15:44 - Where we apply the research in the interview process 18:11 - Mindset preparation for interviews 20:31 - Interview questions to always be prepared for 22:27 - How we tell our stories about our backgrounds 24:40 - What questions we ask interviewers 28:42 - Following up after an interview 29:42 - Advice and closing ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

32 min

12/17/2025

Part 2: Making the switch | My Career Journey

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their experiences switching careers and how they did it. They discuss the decision to do bootcamp programs, how they prepared for interviews, what their interview processes were like, how they approached salary ranges and negotiation, resumes, LinkedIn, and more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 - Intro 2:01 - Career research 4:51 - What we wanted out of new careers 7:06 - Talking to people about switching careers 8:37 - What our bootcamp programs were like and how we chose them 15:00 - How we found our jobs 20:04 - Interview prep 24:47 - Building resumes for our new careers 27:20 - Salary ranges and negotiation 32:37 - What the interview process was like 35:18 - How we knew a job was a good fit 37:24 - How long the interview process took 39:21 - Interview mindset 41:17 - What best set us up for success 44:09 - Advice and closing ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

49 min

12/03/2025

From musician to professor to financial analyst to consultant | My Career Journey

From pianist and composer to tenured music theory professor to financial analyst at CU Boulder to higher education consulting, guest Teddy Niedermaier takes us through his different careers, why he decided to leave a tenured university teaching position and get an MBA at the age of 35, and how he navigated multiple career transitions. Teddy also shares insights on storytelling, interview do's and don'ts, networking, and more. ------ Highlights from this episode include: 0:00 Intro 0:27: Episode introduction 2:33: Teddy’s Introduction and career journey 4:18: How to know it’s time for a change 8:20: Getting into composition 9:41: Keeping your identity through career switching 12:12: Making the decision to get an MBA 14:17: Leveraging the MBA during the job search 16:35: Storytelling 25:29: Interviewing 29:43: Day-to-day of consulting 35:32: Surprising similarities between internal and client-facing roles 36:49: Rockstars vs. superstars 38:55: Advice for people making the switch 43:04-48:30: Networking ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

49 min

11/05/2025

From arts admin to private equity to AI strategy and marketing operations | My Career Journey

From viola performance to arts administration to working at a private equity investment firm to global AI strategy and marketing operations at Motorola, guest Claire Potter-Schneider talks about her varied career path and how she navigates career transitions. She also shares insights and perspectives on topics such as asking for help, promotions, translating your story and skills into value, networking, mentorship, interviews, building relationships, and more. ------ Highlights from the episode include: 0:26 - Episode intro 3:35 - Claire’s career journey 7:40 - Going into arts admin 8:22 -Transitioning to investor relations 9:46 - Culture shock of changing industries 12:00 - Learning for a completely new career shift (investor relations) 12:51 - Asking for help 14:19 - Promotions 17:21 - AI experience and learning 18:41 - Identify opportunities to provide value 19:24 - Translating your story and skills into value 21:07 - Transferable skills from music 23:59 - How anthropology helps with work 25:26 - Signs it’s time to leave a job/company 26:56 - Mentorship and building relationships 28:18 - Building relationships 29:29 - Interview prep, tips, red flags, and more 38:21 - Last thoughts and closing ------ 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

41 min

10/15/2025

Part 1: Before the switch | My Career Journey

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari talk about their lives as musicians before making the decision to switch careers. They dive into how they chose their instruments, musical training, what they did as freelancers, pros and cons about the music industry, and how they knew it was time to make a change. ---------- To listen to Emily's music, check out: Emily's YouTube channelTo listen to Allegra's music, check out her: Duo with classical guitarist Jack CimoPerformance of a new work by Minneapolis composer Steve HeitzegPerformance as Adjunct Faculty---------- Chapters 0:00 - Introduction and career backgrounds 3:20 - When we started playing music and how we chose our instruments 5:19 - Emily explains what it was like attending the Juilliard Pre-College program 7:06 - Allegra explains what it was like going to youth orchestra in Atlanta 8:07 - Applying to undergrad programs 11:26 - Our paths after undergrad 15:28 - What we did as freelancers 21:07 - Pros of the music industry 24:42 - Favorite gigs 26:21 - Cons of the music industry 34:29 - How we approached our sense of identity as musicians and when making the switch 40:31 - The decision to make the switch 46:02 - How we felt when we committed to making the switch 48:27 - Thing we’d do differently as musicians 54:36 - What we’ll talk about in the next episode and closing ---------- 🎙️My Career Journey is a podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Hosted by Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari. ------ 🎧 Listen on all major podcast platforms 📺 Subscribe on YouTube 📸 Follow on Instagram

56 min

SEASON 1 TRAILER

My Career Journey Teaser | With Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari

Hosts Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari introduce My Career Journey, a new podcast that highlights different career journeys, tackles tough topics, and shares actionable tips and insights. Emily and Allegra share a little about themselves, why they’re starting this podcast, and what to expect. For more content, follow @MyCareerJourneyPod on YouTube and Instagram.

3 min

My Career Journey

Episodes

From drama therapist to medical missionary to voice futurist | My Career Journey

A day in the lives of an AI content/conversation designer and consultant | My Career Journey

From Naval officer to product manager and founder of Veteran Timeline | My Career Journey

Deep dive: Interview prep | My Career Journey

Part 2: Making the switch | My Career Journey

From musician to professor to financial analyst to consultant | My Career Journey

From arts admin to private equity to AI strategy and marketing operations | My Career Journey

Part 1: Before the switch | My Career Journey

My Career Journey Teaser | With Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari

Trailer

My Career Journey Teaser | With Emily Banzhaf and Allegra Montanari

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