He started at McDonald’s. Then a local pizza shop. Turned down the chance to run his dad’s company… and followed the path that actually felt right.

In this episode, we sit down with a Twin Cities private chef and caterer to break down what his career has actually looked like—from fast food shifts to running high-end private dinners with his wife. We talk about the adrenaline of kitchen life, the leap into catering, what separates a home cook from a professional chef, and the reality of building something from scratch (including long hours, multiple jobs, and not a lot of free time).

If you’ve ever felt like your starting point defines your future, this is proof it doesn’t.

What does a forensic accountant actually do all day and how do you even end up in a job like that?

In this episode, I sit down with Melissa, a forensic accountant who walks us through her real path into the field, what her day-to-day work actually looks like, and the differences between working in the public versus private sector. We talk about following curiosity over comfort, why persistence matters more than having a perfectly mapped career plan, and what it’s really like to walk away from a job that pays well in order to build something that pays off even more in the long run.

If you’re someone who’s good at a lot of things, questioning whether you’re on the “right” path, or trying to figure out how people land in careers you’ve never heard of until now, this conversation is for you.

What does it actually look like to build a life in sports if you’re not the one on the field?

In this episode, I sit down with Derek Sharrer, President of the St. Paul Saints, to talk about his decades-long career in minor league baseball. We get into what the work really is, how careers in sports actually start, what keeps people in the industry long-term, and the unglamorous realities no one tells you upfront.

This conversation is less about highlight reels and more about: • career longevity • leadership behind the scenes • loving the work, not just the brand • building a meaningful career one season at a time

If you’re curious about careers in sports, operations, leadership, or just how people build lives doing work they care about, this one’s worth your time.