Overcoming Underemployment

Five things I hope will be scrutinized and re-thought: remote/flexible work, the 40 hour work week, wages, our live to work mentality, and boundaries.

We can overcome fear, impostor syndrome, and catastrophizing by acknowledging our privilege, leaning into our values, and questioning social influence.

The process of trying to figure out how to safely return to the office is layered, and while each employer has different things to consider, one glaring issue I see is trust.

On this episode I break down what MLMs are, give you some examples, explain why they affect women more than men, and why they're problematic.

How employers shortchange parents when they don't provide adequate paid parental leave, and why leave is important for women, parents, children, and families.

On this episode I talk about the significance of the PRO Act, which would be a very monumental win for workers everywhere, and I explain three work-related terms that get thrown around a lot that are not very well understood: right to work, at will, and exempt vs. non-exempt.

On this episode I talk about the history of the minimum wage, discuss alternatives to the minimum wage (like Universal Basic Income and Guaranteed Minimum Income), and break down common myths about raising the minimum wage.

Power is not like a pie. On this episode, I explain how power is usually allocated in the workplace, how it affects workers, and talk through some examples of how imbalanced power is currently playing out at employers like Kroger and Amazon.

"A common myth is that all people really have a wide range of choices when it comes to making a living." -Joanne Ciulla, author of The Working Life On this episode I talk about what makes this quote true and discuss 8 things to remember when you’re job searching: get clear on what you need, want, and do not want; utilize and build your network; ask for help; spread the word; remember that you are also interviewing them; stay organized; stay consistent; and take care of yourself.

On this episode I explain what a k-shaped recovery is, how it’s affecting Americans, and once again call for widespread change in every corner of the country.

From passive aggression to pay transparency, what I want for us in 2021 is to evaluate what we believe about work and how we can shift it moving forward.

The pandemic has exposed serious cracks, and let’s face it, crevices, when it comes to work. On this episode I discuss nine things 2020 taught us about work in America. 

On this episode I dig into Can’t Even: How Millennials Became the Burnout Generation by Anne Helen Petersen. Overall, a solid read.

Now that we have a President-elect in Joe Biden, I dig into what he's proposed on labor and unionization, the minimum wage, and student loan debt; three issues that have the power to drastically shape the future of work in the United States.

In this episode I talk about side hustles, the minimum wage, and why humans deserve a living wage. Wanting people to be able to exist without struggling and stressing is not a radical proposition. Pay people. Let them live.

Voting in any election is important but voting at the polls isn't the only way we vote. I discuss how voting is connected to work and how you can use your money to vote more ethically and with intention.

I talk about why making work a core part of your identity is dangerous, the effects of this, who it benefits, and how you can shift your sense of self away from being centered around work. Work can be a part of who you are, but it should not define you.

On this episode I talk about why work-life balance is an absolutely ridiculous ideology we can stop working toward whenever. I also introduce a new segment called "Don't Read This Book," and my first un-recommendation is the 1937 book Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill.

The global pandemic has changed a lot for people, and I am no exception. As I watched the unemployment numbers grow and the senate fail to pass legislation that would help Americans struggling to get by, I knew I had to start this podcast back up with a new direction. In this bite sized episode, I talk about what I've been doing since December 2018, my perspective and vision for this podcast, and how I'm feeling.

This is episode 13 of Overcoming Underemployment, and this episode is advice on how to keep going when you feel like giving up. In your underemployment, there will come a time (and quite possibly many times) when you feel like giving up. Things are sucking, nothing is working and you’re ready to throw in the towel. This episode is for those crappy days where all you want to do is crawl into bed with 45 different snacks and Netflix until you can’t Netflix anymore. And no, the answer isn’t to keep on keeping on and rub some dirt in it. The answer is to accept, rest, and reflect.