Your Next Success

Caroline Sangal, PhD, SHRM-CP
  • 5.0 (11)
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Have you ever looked at your life or career and quietly wondered, “Is this it?” That question isn’t a crisis — it’s a signal. An invitation. A beginning. Your Next Success Podcast with Dr. Caroline Sangal is for students, job seekers, and professionals navigating career transitions, unexpected detours, and the search for authentic success. Here, we normalize questioning your path — because discovering what you truly want begins with letting go of who you thought you had to be. You’ll hear: Honest conversations about layoffs, pivots, burnout, and reinventionGuest interviews with real people navigating career and life turning pointsInsights and frameworks to help you align your work with your purposeWhether you’re just starting out, reimagining what’s next, or simply asking deeper questions — this is your space to pause, reflect, and rebuild from a place of clarity. Stop chasing someone else’s version of success.Start building the career — and life — you were made for. Tune in and begin Your Next Success.

  1. 4d ago

    Stan Phelps: The Dream Job Wasn't the End

    Send us Fan Mail What happens when you reach the career milestone you were certain would settle everything, then find a bigger question waiting at the top? Stan Phelps built a career at the top of sports marketing, running tennis promotions for Adidas and managing the New York Yankees relationship from an office inside Yankee Stadium. Each time he reached the role he had aimed for, the view asked more of him than the title had promised. Following his curiosity, Stan gave himself one year to write about every part of his field, searching for the single idea to go a mile deep on. That year became his first book, and grew into twenty. He left the stability of corporate work behind, moved his family to the Triangle, and built the work and the life he wanted on his own terms. In this conversation with Dr. Caroline Sangal, Stan shares the full arc, and what changed when he stopped chasing the next thing and started asking what he truly wanted to build. You will hear: How reaching the top of a field can surface the very question you were trying to outrunThe moment one word on a conference badge shifted how people saw himWhy going a mile deep on one idea builds more than spreading wide across manyThe year of writing that became his first book and grew into twentyHow Stan defines authentic success now, and where he puts his energy todayFind Stan's latest book, Speak Different, and his work at stanphelps.com. Ready to build a career that fuels the life you want? Explore what's possible at nextsuccesscareers.com. Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  2. Aug 25

    Patrick Kamba: Quiet Ambition

    Send us Fan Mail You can reach every career goal you set and still catch yourself wondering what it was all for. Patrick Kamba knows that question well. He built the kind of career that looks complete from the outside, leading global programs in pharma, becoming a director, writing a book. And somewhere along the way he started paying attention to a smaller, more honest measure of success: whether he was actually around for the people he loved. Patrick and Caroline walk through his whole path, from a kid who chose engineering while his family pictured a doctor, to a leader who learned to want less noise and more life. If your work looks right on paper and something quieter has started tugging at you, this one will land. What comes up after you hit the title you chased for yearsWhy Patrick started measuring success by his weeknightsHow the relationships he built over ten years carried him through a career shockWhat quiet ambition means, and how to chase big goals without performing themSuccess as freedom, with people to share it withPatrick Kamba wrote Quiet Ambition. Find him at patrickkamba.com. Ready for a career that fuels your life? Start at nextsuccesscareers.com. Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  3. Aug 11

    She Wrote the Book on Leadership for Scientists: Jen Heemstra on Bad Bosses, Career Setbacks, and Leading with Kindness (Part 2)

    Send us Fan Mail Nobody trains you to lead. Jen Heemstra found that out the hard way, then wrote the book on it. She became a chemist by accident. Almost went to law school. Took an industry job that quietly convinced her she was mediocre. And then came the moment most academics dread: the tenure vote where half the room votes no. Here's the twist. That's the moment she found her purpose. In this episode you'll hear: How a night job in a stockroom turned into an entire careerWhat a toxic job does to your confidence, and how she got hers backThe tenure vote that should have ended her, and the leader who changed everything in one afternoonThe one question from her husband that finally got the book writtenHow she defines success now, and why kindness is the whole pointChapters:  00:00 The plan, and a mother's advice  03:30 Changing majors and a year of exploring  07:00 Becoming a chemist by accident  23:00 The industry job  30:00 How a bad job shook her confidence  39:00 The tenure vote  41:00 The afternoon that pointed her to leadership  48:00 Writing the book  52:30 How she defines success Jen's book, Labwork to Leadership: A Concise Guide to Thriving in the Science Job You Were Not Trained For: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674258630 Build a career that fuels the life you want: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  4. Aug 4

    Achievement Was Her Drug: Dr. Jen Heemstra on High Achievers, Self-Worth, and Finding What Really Drives You (Part 1)

    Send us Fan Mail If you're a high achiever, this one's for you. Dr. Jen Heemstra figured out early that achievement was the one thing she could control. So she controlled it. Grades, awards, being the person who had it all together. She literally calls it her drug, and here's the part that gets you: it worked. It built the kind of career most people chase their whole lives. Then she got to the top, and the drug stopped working. That's where part one begins. In this episode you'll hear: Why achievement became the thing she reached for, and what it was really coveringThe wake-up call that made her question everything she'd builtHow being told she was "bad at science" at fourteen backfired in the best wayThe box of rocks that showed her what actually drives herWhat changes the day you stop performing your life and start choosing itChapters: 00:00 Intro 03:00 The home she grew up in 05:00 Why achievement became her anchor 11:00 The worst day, and the wake-up call 13:00 Deciding to show up as herself 29:00 When we start questioning our lives 35:00 "You're bad at science" 38:00 The box of rocks 42:00 The lab she runs now 49:00 Gratitude, and the people who carried her Jen's book, Labwork to Leadership: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674258630 Build a career that fuels the life you want: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  5. Jul 28

    From Nice to Kind | Deidre Beacham

    Send us Fan Mail From Nice to Kind | Deidre Beacham on Nice Girl Syndrome, People Pleasing, and Radical Self-Ownership Nice girl syndrome is one of the most invisible programs a woman can run, and Deidre Beacham ran it for decades before a single conversation finally made her see it. By her 50s she had lived through more than most people face in a lifetime. And still, standing in front of her stepfather when he told her she was not being nice, she felt herself shrink. Everything she had built, everything she had survived, and that one word still had power over her. That moment became the beginning of everything she now teaches. You will hear: The difference between being nice and being kind and why it changes everythingHow nice girl training runs like a program you never agreed to installWhat she discovered about herself that decades of therapy had never uncoveredHow she moved from needing outside validation to protecting herself from withinWhat a lifetime of seeking approval actually costs and how to stop paying itWhat authentic success looks and feels like when you finally stop performingConnect with Deidre and take the Nice Girl Index at deidrebeacham.com Work with Caroline: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  6. Jul 21

    Find Yourself | Alex Dumas

    Send us Fan Mail Find Yourself | Alex Dumas on Identity, Belonging, and Coming Back to Who You Are Finding yourself after years of performing, surviving, and building from the outside in is the real work underneath every career story, and Alex Dumas traces his own path back with rare honesty. He grew up feeling out of step, performing for the laugh to keep people at arm's length, carrying a verdict about himself he made at age six. Then someone saw him, really saw him, and he wanted, for the first time, to be worth seeing. What followed was love, loss, and a slow becoming that eventually led him back to himself. You will hear: What it costs to carry a verdict about yourself that you made before you knew any betterHow love became the catalyst that started his real becomingHow he moved through the hardest season of his life and kept going anywayThe moment something buried inside him came roaring backWhat authentic success actually looks and feels like on the other sideConnect with Alex and access his gift for listeners at talk.ac/alexdumas?code=PODCAST Work with Caroline: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  7. Jul 14

    Michele Novack: Who Are You Without the Title?

    Send us Fan Mail Who Are You Without the Title? | Michele Novack Career reinvention after corporate is rarely just about finding the next job. Michele Novack invested 30 years in banking and finance building her identity from the outside in, and eventually had to rebuild it from the inside out. Her arc moves from a Yonkers childhood marked by early trauma, through single motherhood and night school, to VP roles at Bank of America and Capital One, to founding CardinalsByte, her cybersecurity risk management firm for small businesses, entirely from the ground up. You will hear: How a career becomes an identity, and what happens when that identity is goneThe mirror practice Michele returns to when she needs to reconnect with herselfHow forgiveness, including forgiving herself, became the foundation of her reinventionWhy she built her firm entirely through referrals and real relationshipsWhat small businesses actually need to know about cybersecurity complianceWhat authentic success looks like when a three-year-old grandson is part of the pictureConnect with Michele: Free cybersecurity assessment at cardinalsbytes.com/contact-us Work with Caroline: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

  8. Jul 7

    Cameron Magee: Backstage, On Purpose

    Send us Fan Mail How to Build an Event Production Career From Curiosity and Calling, With Cameron Magee Building an event production career from scratch looks a lot like Cameron Magee's story: a curious kid, a mentor who pulled up a chair, and 20 years of showing up and giving more than he took. In this conversation, the founder and CEO of avad3 shares how a small-town Arkansas boy with no entrepreneurial family background launched a company from his dorm room and grew it into a national production firm trusted by Walmart and the White House. More than the growth story, this is a conversation about identity, service, and what it takes to build a place where people actually want to stay. You will hear: How a mentor at a church sound booth gave Cameron three years of patient instruction and changed the entire arc of his lifeThe vending machine principle: give $1.10 back for every dollar someone gives you, and they will send three friendsHow he launched avad3 in college, nearly skipped college entirely, and graduated with the company logo on his capThe question at 25 that redirected everything: not "is this it" but "what could this become for others"Why avad3 collects next time notes from every crew member after every event, and how 1,400 moments of honest feedback a year drive their cultureWhat a mentor told him about having a vibrant personal life that changed how he leads and how he livesConnect with Cameron: Visit avad3.com to learn more about the team and how they serve event planners nationwide. Connect with Caroline: nextsuccesscareers.com Support the show Subscribe to Your Next Success so you never miss an episode.  Watch full video episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@NextSuccessMethod/ Learn more about Next Success www.nextsuccesscareers.com

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About

Have you ever looked at your life or career and quietly wondered, “Is this it?” That question isn’t a crisis — it’s a signal. An invitation. A beginning. Your Next Success Podcast with Dr. Caroline Sangal is for students, job seekers, and professionals navigating career transitions, unexpected detours, and the search for authentic success. Here, we normalize questioning your path — because discovering what you truly want begins with letting go of who you thought you had to be. You’ll hear: Honest conversations about layoffs, pivots, burnout, and reinventionGuest interviews with real people navigating career and life turning pointsInsights and frameworks to help you align your work with your purposeWhether you’re just starting out, reimagining what’s next, or simply asking deeper questions — this is your space to pause, reflect, and rebuild from a place of clarity. Stop chasing someone else’s version of success.Start building the career — and life — you were made for. Tune in and begin Your Next Success.

Information

  • Creator
    Caroline Sangal, PhD, SHRM-CP
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    84
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Your Next Success, Next Success, LLC. All rights reserved.
  • Show Website
    Your Next Success