On The Job

For those of us fortunate enough to be able to work from home during the pandemic, our new normal finds us juggling the pressures of work, family and health in ways we hadn't previously experienced. Imagine being responsible for 45 elderly folks spread across three bucolic residential homes during all of this? And not just accounting for them, but catering to their every need, honoring their extremely specific food requests, staging an elaborate Easter party and tending to their life and death medical needs in the face of an especially threatening virus.For Josh Winn, it's not just a labor of love, it's a compassionate calling. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Catering - and food service in general - is a challenging work in the best of times. And now, with public-facing events still mostly shut down, Heather Bublick and her business partner/chef/husband D'Andre Carter have found new ways to bring their gourmet comfort food to the masses via "Soul & Smoke." They're serving their delicious fare to school kids in need, unemployed hospital workers, nursing homes and "the populations that need us most" in their native Chicago. You can make donations to them directly through Venmo (@feastandimbibe) or Zelle (team@feastandimbibe.com). Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Just about 200,000 of the estimated 3.5 million truckers on the road today are women - and that number represents a 65% increase over the last decade. Today we catch up with one of them, Ingrid Brown, a 5'2" 50-something grandma who's been driving a rig for over four decades. Calling from the cab of her truck, Ingrid, whose role has been deemed "essential" throughout the Covid-19 crisis, gives us insight into what keeps her happily rolling across the country as she surpasses the 4 million mile mark, looking forward to spending time with her family while simultaneously dreaming about her next journey. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

For Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs), the coronavirus is only the latest chapter in a vocation that requires constant vigilance. Meet Kyle Robillard, an EMT/Fireman/Sports Doctor, who tells us how multi-tasking tends to be a way of life for emergency responders, even as the stakes become more personal. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wind turbines have changed the way our country operates and are only becoming more popular – creating highly skilled jobs along the way. In this episode, we talk to skilled technician Jim Slicer as he maintains turbines in Vermont. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Teachers and school administrators have been navigating the new normal and attempting to continue doing what they've always done: enrich the knowledge and lives of students everywhere. In this episode, elementary school teacher Gail Campopiano shares the ways in which her approach to her role has changed, and the deeper connections that make teaching such a rewarding, if at times difficult, profession. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can you do your job better, advance in your career and unlock your potential? Listen along as Dr. Julie Gurner, Executive Performance Coach, shares how to identify and understand behaviors that allow people to level up in their careers and everyday lives. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Tom Harrison, a former park ranger turned cartographer, as he patiently navigates the world around him and turns his adventures into high-quality maps. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can a job become more than a job? Sometimes a job becomes an identity and a legacy through all the people your job touches. How you live on through the people you know and had an effect on. This is the story of an elephant trainer and activist, Jim Laurita, who died a few years ago. Jim was adored by the community and started an organization called “Hope for Elephants” to help rehab hurt elephants and educate the community. When he died mysteriously, the community was devastated. This story is told through Jim’s family, friends and fellow trainers - an extraordinary person doing an extraordinary job, and the legacy he left behind.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can a job lead to a life-changing relationship? In this episode, listen to several short stories of couples falling in love - on the job. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How many jobs are there where you need to know and trust the person next to you, because there might be a time where your fate is in their hands and vice-versa? Meet Anna Nadler - a 27 year old civil engineer, and firefighter, from Massachusetts. Small in stature and sweet as can be, Anna got addicted to smoke-eating a few years back and is now one of the best firefighters on the force. By day Anna runs construction and engineering crews building bridges and roads. At night she is on call as a firefighter. Anna is a shining example of a young woman getting involved in a job that gives back to her community. She is also an example of a woman excelling in what is a traditionally macho work environment. She has many stories of life-threatening situations on the job, showing heroism in the face of them that only made her want to do it more. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Avery Thompson is a funny, heartfelt and eccentric filmmaker and radio producer who has done almost every job under the sun. Like many 20 year-olds, he had big plans of what he was going to do with his life – he was determined to be the next Orson Welles. Unable to find someone to fund his creative endeavors and a portfolio of nothing more than a few zany student films, Avery took a summer job with a landscaping company in the Hamptons, determined he would meet the right people to eventually help him land his dream job in film. Surely Jerry Seinfeld would need a new walkway! Or Robert Deniro would need his roses cut! As the weeks went on, toiling away under the hot sun, Avery received the worst project he could think of – paint a fence in between overgrown holly bushes. But then a hilarious and chance run-in with Steven Spielberg helped set Avery on the path to what he was destined to do. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy informati

Linda McKinney is an Italian woman in McDowell, West Virginia who runs the Five Loaves & Two Fishes food bank with her husband. In a down-and-out coal town, she is single-handedly responsible for feeding 150 families each week. An interesting and eccentric character, Linda McKinney is a wonderful example of the goodness of humanity against all odds. Linda does her job with humility and without a need for thanks – because she does it for the people she knows and cares about. Where you come from and what’s happening around you drives you to do the job you need to do. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jim Ellis is a master of a dying art. Meet this 80 year old blacksmith from Cape Cod who is committed to making sure one trade isn’t lost to time. What happens to an occupation like blacksmithing if the next generation doesn’t learn the skills needed to see it survive? What happens to these occupations when the ones who do them move on? Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it take to be a young farmer in a digital age? This is the story of two young brothers rising in the maple syrup industry in Vermont. Hear how important the Stewart brothers’ highly loyal and supportive community is to surviving and running a small agrarian business in 2019. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Meet Yelitsa - a next-level, twenty-something entrepreneur who started her own company, Healthy Roots Dolls, to teach young black girls about natural hair. Listen to the emotional ride of starting your own company when you decide to put yourself out there, kick open doors, make connections and plant seeds. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Merrily Grashin's career began in New York City, doodling images and writing clever puns about the world that surrounded her while waitressing and bartending. Encouraged by the people she met along the way, she used her natural skill as an artist to launch her own greeting card and print business. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Enrique Santos loves his job as the popular host of 2 nationally syndicated radio shows. But his path to radio was not a traditional one. Listen to why Enrique devotes his career to remaining open to the opportunities often sitting right in front of him. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Owning one’s own company is a dream for many. Listen to the incredible story of how a temporary position through the Express Employment Professionals in Hickory, North Carolina, set one man on the path toward ownership and the C-suite. We’ll meet this remarkable individual and learn what it takes to rise to the top. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Liz Nichols had a checklist - she wanted to work outdoors, and make good money to support her family. After a few false starts, she found just the right fit as a concrete mason. Even though she was often the only woman on the job, she learned to navigate that new world with grace and will pass along to her son, the lessons that hard work and perseverance are rewarded. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.