The Creative Career

Today's interview is with Stever Robbins, the voice behind the popular Get it Done Guy podcast and author of the new book Get-It-Done Guy's 9 Steps to Work Less and Do More (Quick #38; Dirty Tips).

Catherine Hudon has worked in everything from music journalism to fashion. She co-founded Shorty Clothing, and she's now working on a new line called Kaahn. Catherine's story proves that it's all about hard work and creating valuable relationships.

"If you're really happy at work, you'll be 180% happier with life overall, have 180% more energy, and be nearly 50% more productive than your least happy colleagues." Jessica Pryce-Jones, author of Happiness at Work: Maximizing Your Psychological Capital for Success, is CEO and founder of the UK-based consultancy iOpener. She has been featured in the BBC series Making Slough Happy and CNNrsquo;s special on happiness at work. She teaches and coaches leaders at London Business School, Chicago Booth School of Business, Saiuml;d Business School in Oxford and Judge Business School in Cambridge. In this interview, Jessica Pryce-Jones discusses some of the major factors around happiness at work, as well as what people can do to start improving their own happiness.

An interview with Sandy Jones-Kaminski, author of I'm at a Networking Event--Now What???: A Guide to Getting the Most Out of Any Networking Event. For more tips, visit Sandy's blog, Bella Domain. A few posts of interest include: - 7 Savvy Networking Tips for 2010 - Networking myths debunked

"Before you go to a foreign country, what do you do? You study the land. You study the heritage. You study the culture. Who are the tribal leaders? What do people wear? What do people do? And I think millennials need to study the workplace they're going into." We've all heard a lot about the "millennial" generation. In this interview with David Stillman, co-author of The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation Is Rocking the Workplace, learn about the main drivers that shape this generation (based on extensive research), and how the workplace is changing. Main drivers generally include: The role of parents Entitlement The search for meaning Great expectations The need for speed Social networking Collaboration Learn more at generations.com.

Elizabeth Wagele, co-author of The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality, discusses the nine personality types based on differing personal motivationsmdash;and how discovering your own personality type can help you find the career that's right for you (or work with others in the career you already have). The nine personality types include: - The Perfectionist: motivated to make improvements - The Helper: motivated to meet other people's needs - The Achiever: motivated to attain a successful image - The Romantic: motivated to express individuality (I've decided that I fall into this camp) - The Observer: motivated to acquire knowledge - The Questioner: motivated to reduce risk - The Adventurer: motivated to explore possibilities - The Asserter: motivated to set clear boundaries - The Peace Seeker: motivated to maintain inner calm Check out The Career Within You: How to Find the Perfect Job for Your Personality to find out which career/personality type you fit into.

Harvey Mackay is certainly a role model for those who are looking to create a successful, creative career for themselves. His business has 600 employees, andnbsp; it does 100 million dollars worth of sales out of Minneapolis, Minnesota. He's a nationally syndicated columnistmdash;his writing appears in 60 newspapers. He's had three number one New York Times best sellers, 10 million books out around the world in 80 countries, and he's been speaking to fortune 1,000 companies once per week for the past 23 years. Not a bad list of accomplishments. Harvey Mackay has all kinds of practical advice for those who are facing the job market in this 15 minute podcast interview. Show Notes - There are 14.8 million Americans out of work; 6.3 million have been looking for jobs for more than seven months, up from one million five years ago - The average college graduate today will have 10-14 different job changes in his/her career by age 38, and 3-5 different career changes (federal bureau of labor statistics) - Ther

By day, Christie Maliyackel works for anbsp; health care consulting firm. By night, she's writing a novel called Lucyland. Listen to Christie's perspective on balancing full time work and creative side projects. This is my first in-person interview in quite some time; pardon the background noise from the coffee shop we were in.

"Self-education is, I firmly believe, the only kind of education there is." - Isaac Asimov Josh Kaufman started The Personal MBA during his senior year in college as he was preparing to enter his career at P#38;G as an Assistant Brand Manager. He realized that many of his peers would be fresh recruits from top 15 MBA programs, and he wanted to make sure he had the knowledge, background and skills that his peers would have. In this case, Kaufman realized that an MBA certificate may not be necessarymdash;he already had the job, so why not just study on his own? He started his studies as a side projectmdash;reading, researching and eventually sharing what he had learned with others. The Personal MBA has now been featured in BusinessWeek, Fast Company, BNET and other popular sites and publications. "If you care about what you're learning about, you'll retain much more, you'll be able to use much more and what you learn is going to be thousands of time more valuable, because you'll actually be able to apply it.

Monica O'Brien blogs at Social Pollination, and she recently wrote a book by the same name. She currently does marketing consulting for small companies. Jun Loayza is thenbsp;cofounder and chief marketing officer or Viraology and president of socialmediamarketing.com. You can find him at junloayza.com. Untemlater started after Jun wrote a blog post called Tell me the truth: Can Gen Y Team Up? The post was a call to action to bring individually successful people together to see what they could do together. Untemplater is now a company with six founders covering topics around six basic areas: Entrepreneurship Career Travel Family Mind Team Listen to the interview to hear more about Untemplater, its mission and the people behind it.

Alexandra Levit is back again to talk about her latest book, New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career. The book features stories from real people who have reinvented their own careers. Find out more about Alexandra Levit at alexandralevit.com, and read more about her new book at newjobnewyou.com. SHOW NOTES There are seven motivators that may lead you to seek a new career: Family Independence Learning Money Passion Setback Talent A few of the questions that we covered: How do I overcome the fear of making a big change? Where do I start? What are the major challenges of shifting to a new career? How should I structure my goals for the new year? What if I fail?

"In many cases, and especially as you get up the ladder in the work world, you really often can't tell an introvert from an extrovert because many introverts who are far along in their careers have developed certain social skills, have developed public speaking skills, and you really can't tell us apart." mdash;Nancy Ancowitz Nancy Ancowitz is a business communications coach and author of Self-Promotion for Introverts: The Quiet Guide to Getting Ahead. Shenbsp;spent twelve years on Wall Street as a marketing head for major financial firms. While there, she took a personality assessment, and she was surprised to learn that she's an introvert. What is an introvert? Introverts aren't loners or antisocial. They simply gain their energy from being alone. Solo activities such as reading, writing, researching and quietly thinking will recharge their energy. What can an introvert do to better prepare for career success? -Rest up and recharge your energy before big meetings -Prepare a few opening lines, question

Marcus Sakey started his career in advertising. Ten years later, after a combination of fateful events, he made the leap into the world of writing novels. He's now an award-winning novelist based out of Chicago, and he's about to release his fourth book, a crime thriller called The Amateurs (which will certainly end up on my book club list). Three of his novels are in development as films. Listen to the audio interview to learn more about Marcus Sakey and his adventures from the world of advertising to the world of writing novels. And while you're at it, check out a few of his favorite novels.

M.J. Ryan, author of AdaptAbility: How to Survive Change You Didn't Ask For, is full of advice for new grads. Life after graduation, as she says, is one of the most challenging times a human being goes through. In this podcast interview, she has shared her thoughts on a few important points. What if I've lost interest in my major, but it's too late to change? Many young people agonize over what major to choose. Take comfort in the fact that this is a decision you're making for now, and the future will unfold in ways that you absolutely cannot predict or know now. We must become life-long learners and recognize that our lives will be continual process of education and growth. What are my thinking talents? These are your persistent ways of thinking that you've been doing your whole lifemdash;although you haven't necessarily been trained in them. To find out more, visit the ptp-partners.com and take an assessment to discover what yours are. A study of two million people shows that when we understand what these

Kathryn Marion has just published a new book filled with advice to help new grads venture into the next chapter of their lives. The book, Grads Take Charge, features advice from recent grads (including yours truly and other bloggers with great advice) on everything from finding the right job to handling money and life at home. The book is available at QwikSmarts.com, and The Creative Career readers can use the coupon code CC25 for 25% off. The Giveaway I have an extra copy of Grads Take Charge to give away to one lucky reader. To win, leave a comment with the phrase Take Charge, and if you want, tell me what you look forward to or fear about life beyond college (you don't have to be a senior to win#8212;this giveaway is available to anyone who can benefit from the advice in this book). I'll randomly select a winner next Monday, May 18.

Marcia Wallis, a 2003 Stanford graduate and 2008 graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law, has an unique mix of experiences. She has played on several U.S. gold medal teams, including the 1999 Pan-American Woman's Soccer Team and the 2001 and 2002 Nordic Cup teams. Before law school, she played professional soccer in the WUSA and golf on the Futures Tour. Oh yeah, and she helped her cousin, gold medal winning beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh, launch an active-wear clothing line called K-Active. If that's not enough, Marcia recently co-authored a book called Girl Talk with law school buddy Jennifer Azadnia to help guide young girls. Recommended Reading - Marcia recommends reading the newspaper to stay in touch with current events. - Spend some time relaxing with a work of fiction (Marcia recommends the Twilight series, which I have yet to read, but I'm starting to feel that I should...)

Roger Weller got into advertising by building his copywriting portfolio through freelance writing at small design shops. He moved to Chicago from the west coast and got a job at an agency called Bozell. From there, he moved to Cramer Krasselt, where he became a creative director. Listen to Roger Weller's beliefs on branding, core marketing skills and the difference between advertising and public relations. The interview runs just under a half an hour, but I think it's one of the most insightful interviews on the marketing and branding world that I've heard. Recommended Book The Deviant's Advantage: How to Use Fringe Ideas to Create Mass Markets Photo Source: Pink Ponk under Creative Commons

When Christine Hutchison was traveling in Bali on her honeymoon, she fell in love with the local individuals and their crafts. She was so inspired by the stories and products that she went on to start an accessory company that would give back to those communities. The company, Five Accessories, now gives five dollars of each handbag sale and 15 percent of all other sales to support causes within the communities where the accessories were created. Read more about the company at fiveaccessories.com. Recommended Book Launch It!: How to Turn Good Ideas Into Great Products That Sell

Jeff Siarto, the new co-author of Head First Web Design (and my boyfriend), shares the best resources for creating or improving your blog, online portfolio or personal website. Listen to the podcast and check out the links below. Start a Basic Blog Although there are many blogging options, we recommend Wordpress.com. It's free to start a blog using yourblogname.wordpress.com. Create a Custom URL To create a custom URL, such as yourblogname.com, you must buy a domain name. These typically run from $10 to $40 per year, although you should generally pay no more than $15 per year for a .com, .net or .org domain. Check out Namecheap or GoDaddy to get started, or look at ICANN's complete list of accredited registrars. You can map the domain name to your Wordpress blog for $10 per year. For more on this, read Domain Registration and Mapping on Wordpress.com We also recommend using a WHOIS Guard-type service to protect your privacy. Namecheap offers a free year with new domain name registrations. Host Your O