Claim Ownership
Work with Erika Ayers Badan
Work with Erika Ayers BadanSubscribed: 2,017Played: 79,207
Subscribe
© Erika Ayers Badan
Description
WORK Podcast offers real, and relatable insights into work, leadership, and culture from someone who’s been there and done that (mistakes included). Through interviews, commentary, and listener questions, Erika provides a funny, unfiltered and unapologetic look at how to be yourself and be successful.
erikaayersbadan.substack.com
erikaayersbadan.substack.com
378 Episodes
Reverse
Meet Ariana Ferwerda. She’s the founder of Halfdays. She’s looked at women’s ski apparel, thought it sucked and decided to do something about it. Ariana saw a real gap in the market. Women’s ski gear that was either technical and ugly or cute and useless. She talks about trusting her instinct on opportunity, what it was like to raise money ‘early’ in her career, building a brand and an inventory heavy business in a highly competitive category without pretending she had it all figured out.We also talk about gatekeeping in the outdoor industry - what it’s like to break in and break thru. We also get into why women have been asked to choose between function and identity for so long. If you have ever looked at a product and thought someone should fix this, or wondered how frustration turns into a real business, this one is worth your time.This is WORK. Conversations.Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode of WORK Net Net, Erika breaks down why worry feels productive but rarely helps. From the illusion of control to the mental toll of trying to plan for outcomes you cannot predict, this conversation looks at anxiety as an affliction, not a strategy. If you have been spiraling, overthinking, or lying awake trying to solve problems that have not happened yet, this episode is about learning how to trust yourself more and conserve your energy for what actually matters. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
On this episode of Unsolicited Advice, we talk about what actually makes teams work. How clarity beats charisma. Why initiative matters more than experience. Why most partnerships fail long before the deal is signed. And why avoiding hard conversations always costs more than having them early.If you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or exhausted by the way work actually functions day to day, this one will feel familiar. And hopefully useful.This is WORK. Unsolicited Advice. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Meet Katrina Gazarian. She’s an HR professional who decided the best way to talk about work right now was through satire, whiskey, and a YouTube show called Drunk at Work.Here’s what I liked about this conversation and why you should listen:Katrina has seen the same problems play out across every kind of company:Bad communication.Poor leadership.Control disguised as process.HR taking the heat for decisions they did not make.She talks honestly about what people get right and wrong about HR, why so many workers are angry right now, and why humor has become such a release valve for how work actually feels.We also get into Gen Z, letting go of control, focusing on the quality of your work instead of the chaos around you, and why most people would be better off worrying less and executing better.If work has been making you tired, cynical, or angry lately, this one will feel familiar. And maybe even a little relieving.As my friend Gayle would always say - Laugh or run.This is WORK. Conversations. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
I got a text the other night from my friend Erin letting me know that the year of the horse is in fact coming but it’s ok to not be ready yet because we are still in the mysterious hang-time between the lessons of 2025 and the light of 2026.Whew.I’m ready not ready for the fire horse of 2026. Still have some stuff to get organized and work thru.I was talking to my GPT agent this weekend and we were having a conversation on how AI is going to change things for humans. Obviously, we should consider the source, but my GPT was pretty firm that the things that make humans, human is what’s going to offer the greatest protection and antidote to everything AI:The ability to feel, the mess, the vices, the insistence on fixating on the past and the ability to imagine freely into the future. Being creative. Making the same mistakes more than once.This, in a nutshell is what makes work awesome (and terrible).In this episode we look back at 2025 at WORK. Launching Work Like A Girl, evolving to Substack, and a lot of conversations and ideas about failure, resilience, opportunity, creativity, perseverence, and a hope for new and better work - and a new and better you at work.If you’ve been listening along this year, this one closes the loop.This is Work. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
In this episode of WORK: Unsolicited Advice, Erika talks through what it really looks like to come out of the worst month of your career still standing. Not with hype or false optimism, but with practical clarity about failure, ownership, restraint, and the underrated skill of rebounding. If something went sideways for you, if you are questioning what comes next, or if you are trying to figure out how to land on your feet without burning everything down, this conversation is for you. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
This topic comes to us complements of Abby Wambach and a handful of former US National Team players. Net/Net let your kid live, fail, grow, struggle, learn, connect and play in peace. They’ll be better for it. This is Work Net/Net. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Kerri Rosenthal is an artist, a businesswoman, a mom, not someone giving up her ambition (is that what we’re supposed to be doing at work these days?), someone who’s going for it. I watched her this past Saturday stocking pots. I was stacking bedding. I like a woman who doesn’t quit, who doesn’t quite fit in and who has a drive to make something. Kerri is one of those people. Listen to what she has to say. This is WORK What She Said. Watch the full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
This headline somehow feels both shocking and completely unsurprising.The McKinsey and Lean In Women in the Workplace study is out, and the takeaway is bleak. Fewer companies care about advancing women. Even fewer care about advancing women of color. And somehow, we are now talking about an “ambition gap” like women just collectively woke up and decided to want less.Let’s be clear. Women are still paid less. Still underrepresented in the rooms that matter. Still doing most of the work at home. Still being asked to show up like nothing else changed after Covid, after MeToo, after the great return to office squeeze.On this episode of Net Net, we talk about why this moment at work feels so brittle. Why job security feels fake. Why trust in the promise of work is eroding. And why more women are quietly asking themselves what all this effort is actually for.This is not about one group winning and another losing. That zero-sum framing is part of the problem. The real work is opening the aperture. More voices. More paths. More people being given a real shot, and actually being supported when they take it.If you work with people, lead people, or care about what work is turning into right now, this one is worth your time.This is WORK Net/Net. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Hi! Ever felt like you’re on a Disney ride through every big-company headache imaginable? Think lawyers, bankers, finance goons, stale conference rooms, staid conversations and the creeping sense that the machine is running you, not the other way around.Big companies exist for good reason. They build real things - consistently. They deliver at scale. But they also can suffocate the people who want to tinker, experiment, break stuff, and dream. The renegades. The builders. The ones who get hives at the prospect of OKRs, KPIs and strategery. On this episode of Unsolicited Advice, we get into what it actually takes to keep creativity alive when the machine takes over. How small groups can save big companies. How to protect the spark from the process. How to build something real without getting crushed by the weight of everyone else’s need for control, accuracy and uniformity. If you’ve ever felt yourself wither in a big org or wondered why your best ideas show up in small rooms, this one is for you.This is WORK: Unsolicited Advice! Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Kathy Ireland has a big business. She parlayed a modeling stint into a pretty massive licensing business. Here’s what I liked about our conversation and why you should give it a listen:It takes a pretty unique person to not want to do something that’s lucrative and flattering. Kathy shares a lot about her time as a model - what she liked, what she felt she lacked, and how and why she decided to move on.Her now business began with a pair of socks.Enjoy!Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Today we’re talking about the Omnicom–IPG merger and what it means for agency jobs, how AI is replacing layers of work inside holding companies, and why middle-layer roles are most at risk in this new ad economy.This is WORK Net/NetWatch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
This is a good listen for anyone needing a push to put themselves out there and to accept imperfect, chaotic and unfamiliar situations as a way to meet people, learn things and enliven yourself.We tackle the quote: “So I recommend that everybody here join all sorts of organizations, no matter how ridiculous, simply to get more people in his or her life.”This is WORK: Underlined Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Please meet Cynthia Pong. She came to me by way of super-connector and personal board director an occasional SVU actor, Sarah Storm. Cynthia Pong packs a lot of punch. A one time public defender turned career coach / founder of Embrace Change. We have a wide-ranging conversation about the disadvantages women, and especially women of color, face in the workplace . We also talk about starting your own business and the elusive topic of helping people answer the question “What Do You Want.”Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Jennifer Fisher came by this week. She has a lot of energy and a spicy, strong, fuck-it-let’s-do-it vibe. Her baubles are also next level.We talked about working for what you want, failing and figuring things out, the importance of salt, toothpicks and being happy being yourself.If you’re looking for a gift for the girl who already has everything - check out our Food52 x Jennifer Fisher toothpick!If you’re looking for beautiful things for home and table - don’t miss our Black Friday / Cyber Monday bonanza - Everything is waiting for you on Schoolhouse and Food52.Watch full episode on YouTube. This is WORK Conversations. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Hi! I’ve been on 3 red eyes in the past week. I can’t quit a red eye no matter how hard I try. The lure of not wasting the day in a plane always trumps the blur, hangover-esque daze of the next two days after a night of no sleep. Sidenote: It’s fall and apparently the changing fall weather causes bumpy sky roads according to the JetBlue guy at 6am today. This is what work is like this week.On this episode of Unsolicited Advice we are talking about geopolitical uncertainty and its bearing on your work. Hello Tariffs. Goodbye Margins.Listen in if you care to understand how stuff that’s high above your pay grade or that seems way far away from you can impact what you have to work with and what your work is going to be like.This is WORK: Unsolicited AdviceWatch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Today we’re talking about group chats and what not to put in them, the problems with meeting culture and what makes A players leave (read: growth).This is WORK Net/Net Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Alright, Mita is back with us on the pod. We’re talking bad bosses, bad employees, bad attitudes and how to break the cycle of feeling bad at work. Here’s the rundown of what we’re talking about today at WORK. * Work friction is rising because roles, priorities, and expectations are unclear.* Layoffs create survivor guilt and overwhelm for the people who stay.* Leaders often skip rewriting roles or resetting priorities after org changes.* Ambiguity grows when bosses avoid conflict or lack clear direction from above.* Weekly priority meetings and repeat back communication cut through confusion.* Managing up is essential. Employees must surface gaps and ask for clarity.* Weak or absentee bosses create space for employees to lead and accelerate.* One on ones matter. Bring value so they never get canceled.* Boundaries break when people step into others’ jobs to avoid their own.* Remote work increases miscommunication without consistent rituals and tools.* Generational tension stems from different eras of job security and loyalty.* Cross generational teams work best when everyone teaches and learns from each other.To learn more about Mita - Get her book “The Devil Emails at Midnight: What Good Leaders Can Learn From Bad Bosses.” This is WORK Conversations. Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Today we are talking about disruption.People hate disrupting themselves. It’s scary, may not work, is a general pain in the ass and is hard.It requires vision, fortitude, foresight, being misunderstood, being on the edge and being ok with it.Su Hawn and Erika talk about the places in my journey where I’ve opted to remodel versus remake (and why it was a mistake), the challenges in re-routing the road and my grandfather being a land surveyor.This is WORK Underlined. Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Alright we are back with the WORK Net/Net. Here’s what we’ve got:Gen Z isn’t into you as their boss, whatever project you have them working on or the free snacks (just kidding they love snacks). Know what else they love? Love. Instead of finding connection on dating apps, Gen Z is looking for love in the office. PSA to the Gen Z crowd: This is not a new phenomenon.Thirteen signs it’s time to quit your job. This one goes out to all the job huggers out there and my favorite former colleague whose computer password was Getajob (for 21 months in a row).Lastly we talk about being emotionally regulated at work compliments of Warren Buffett. Hard to imagine Warren not regulated about anything besides Sees candies and Coca Cola but I digress. This is the WORK Net/Net.Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe
Download from Google Play
Download from App Store
United States
Scooter Braun apologist hmmmm. Seems like the kinda thing he would get himself involved with. “good deed” hahahahahaha
Erika is the boss.