#32 Erica Sosna: Build the Career You Want—Before Someone Else Designs It for You
In Part 2 of her conversation, Erica Sosna bridges personal resilience and professional wisdom—sharing how The Career Equation helps both individuals and organizations build careers that actually fit. Instead of offering empty advice, Erica gives a practical, human-centered model that empowers people to align their skills, passions, impact, and environment into a sustainable career path. For Gen Xers tired of ad-hoc career advice and vague empowerment slogans, this episode offers a grounded, actionable framework to take back control—whether you’re rebuilding, pivoting, or designing your next decade.>>Turning Recovery Into Renewal“I used the same frameworks I teach—because they work when life gets real.”Erica reflects on how personal recovery deepened her belief that career design must be rooted in human needs, not corporate scripts.>>The Power of Acceptance“Accept it as if you chose it.”She shares the life philosophy that fueled her healing—and how it applies to navigating career setbacks, redundancies, and reinventions.>>Start With the End in Mind“What do you want to experience—not just achieve?”Erica explains how vivid future visioning, tied to emotion not status, creates a powerful magnet for sustainable action and career progress.>>The Career Equation, Demystified“Skills + Passion + Impact ÷ Environment = Career Sweet Spot.”She walks through the four critical elements employers and individuals need to align for lasting engagement, growth, and loyalty.>>Career Conversations That Actually Work“You wouldn’t run 10 accounting systems. Why have 10 ways to talk about careers?”Erica shares why companies like Amazon and Nomura are adopting The Career Equation to bring structure, simplicity, and human connection back into career development.__________________________Connect with us:Linkedin: Vince Chan and Erica Sosna
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#31 Erica Sosna: Walking Again, Working Again—Redesigning Life on New Terms
Erica Sosna was already a respected career strategist, author of The Career Equation, and founder of a successful consultancy. But when a near-fatal accident left her paralyzed in 2022, everything changed. In this first of a two-part series, Erica shares how she rebuilt her life—and her career—on new terms. From learning to walk again to rethinking the purpose of work itself, she offers a blueprint for reinvention that doesn’t rely on hype or hashtags. For Gen Xers who know real change isn’t a pivot—it’s a practice—this episode delivers both grit and guidance.>>The Moment Everything Changed“One minute I was driving. The next, I was under a car, paralyzed from the waist down.”Erica recounts the life-altering accident that fractured 15 bones—and forced her into a physical and emotional rebuild.>>The Career Equation: Born from Personal Experiment“I had to use my own frameworks to get unstuck.”She shares how the same career model she teaches—the Career Equation—became her personal blueprint for choosing how to work, live, and heal after trauma.>>Reinvention Isn’t Always Glamorous“Returning to work was like returning to solid ground.”Erica explains why work—done right—became a pillar of stability, not just a paycheck, during the chaos of recovery.>>Three Days, Full Impact“I rebuilt my business on a three-day workweek.”Balancing parenting, rehabilitation, and entrepreneurship, Erica redesigned her career around what mattered most—without apology.>>Podcasting as Healing, Not Hustle“The podcast wasn’t a brand move. It was a way to reconnect with my purpose.”Launching her show was less about expansion—and more about returning to her original mission: helping others design lives worth living.__________________________Connect with us:Linkedin: Vince Chan and Erica Sosna
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#30 Nina Sossamon-Pogue: Build a Life You’re Proud Of—Not Just a Career You Survive
In Part 2 of her conversation, Nina Sossamon-Pogue moves from storytelling to strategy—offering real-world tools for navigating change, resilience, and reinvention. From building a reverse resume to mapping your own success timeline, she shares frameworks that help Gen Xers (and anyone feeling stuck) turn lived experience into a launchpad. Instead of chasing corporate validation or viral moments, Nina reminds us that real success is slow-built, self-defined, and deeply human. For those designing their next chapter, this episode offers not just hope—but a real blueprint for building forward.>>Your Reverse Resume: What You’ve Survived Matters“It’s not just what you’ve achieved—it’s what you’ve overcome.”Nina introduces the concept of the reverse resume, helping people recognize the hidden strengths built through life’s hardest chapters.>>You Are Not Your LinkedIn Headline“We are so much more than our last job title.”She challenges the conventional resume model, urging listeners to view their lives as full stories—not highlight reels.>>Resilience = Adaptation, Not Just Persistence“Grit keeps you going. Resilience changes you.”Nina explains why true resilience requires positive adaptation, not just stubborn endurance.>>The Successful Timeline: Redefining What Really Counts“A career milestone isn’t the same as a life well-lived.”She shares how mapping your life as a timeline of both triumphs and setbacks can reframe your sense of success.>>The Lego Mindset“We each have a unique set of building blocks. The masterpiece is yours to create.”Using a brilliant Lego analogy, Nina shows how your skills, experiences, and choices can assemble into something no one else can replicate.__________________________Connect with us:Linkedin: Vince Chan and Nina Sossamon-Pogue
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#29 Nina Sossamon-Pogue: Reinventing Before Reinvention Was a Buzzword
Nina Sossamon-Pogue didn’t build a personal brand around change—she built a life out of it. In this first of a two-part series, she shares how elite gymnastics hardwired her resilience, how journalism sharpened her communication instincts, and how a strategic leap into tech proved that reinvention is less about following trends—and more about knowing who you are at the core. For Gen Xers who’ve quietly navigated identity loss, layoffs, industry shifts, and market crashes, Nina’s story is a masterclass in evolving without losing yourself.>>From Falling Down to Rising Up“Gymnastics taught me resilience before I even knew the word.”Nina explains how falling and failing hundreds of times a week built the muscle memory for lifelong adaptability.>>Losing an Identity, Finding a New One“I had to figure out who I was without gymnastics.”She shares the emotional collapse and slow rebuilding that came after losing her first major identity—and how it shaped every future chapter.>>From Laundromats to Live TV“One walk through a TV station—and I knew this was it.”Nina recounts the random campus job that led her from washing football uniforms to anchoring live television for 17 years.>>Laid Off at the Top“Voted favorite news anchor—and still shown the door.”She talks about navigating a devastating layoff that blindsided her mid-career—and the recalibration it forced.>>Jumping to Tech Before Tech Was Cool“I didn’t know what SaaS was—but I knew where the world was going.”Nina shares how she mapped her next career move by combining self-awareness, external advice, and market trends—long before career pivots were branded movements.__________________________Connect with us:Linkedin: Vince Chan and Nina Sossamon-Pogue
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#28 Edward & Tricia: Collaborate to Compete—The Human Advantage
In the second half of their conversation, Edward J. van Luinen, Ed.D. and Tricia Cerrone reveal the system behind their decade-long collaboration—and the framework that became their book, Collaborate to Compete.But this isn’t just theory. It’s a Gen X playbook for how to lead, design, and scale collaboration that actually sticks. Grounded in five core behaviors—generosity, resourcefulness, co-creation, action, and gratitude—and powered by a noble purpose, their method flips the script on outdated workplace thinking. For Gen Xers who’ve quietly led with trust and integrity, this episode validates everything you’ve practiced—and gives you the language to teach it forward.>>Start With Self, Scale With Systems“Collaboration isn’t a team sport—it’s an individual practice.”They explain why collaboration isn’t about tech or tools, but behaviors—and why it must be designed into people first, not platforms.>>Five Behaviors, One Noble Purpose“Generosity. Resourcefulness. Co-creation. Action. Gratitude.”Edward and Tricia walk through the five behavioral anchors of collaboration—and why the ‘how’ must come before the ‘what.’>>Why the Old Workplace Models Are Failing“We’re still running on 1900s bonus structures—and wondering why collaboration breaks down.”They unpack how outdated incentive systems kill trust and team performance—and how leaders can redesign for shared wins.>>The Disney Story That Brought It Home“I watched a father put his arm around his son—and almost cried.”Tricia shares the moment that reminded her why collaboration must be human-centered—because when it’s done right, it doesn’t just produce results. It heals.>>From High Concept to DIY“Take the five behaviors and run a self-check. Which ones are you already living?”They offer tangible steps for leaders, founders, and managers to assess and apply collaborative behaviors today—without waiting for a reorg.__________________________Connect with us:Linkedin: Vince Chan and Edward and Tricia
We’re not the lost generation. We’re the underestimated one.While the internet obsesses over Gen Z and glorifies Boomer dominance, Gen X remains the generation history keeps skipping. This show changes that.Hosted by Vince Chan—Global Top 1.5% podcast producer and host of the U.S. #1 careers podcast Chief Change Officer—Gen X Legends features real Gen Xers: coaches, creators, founders, executives, and reinvention artists who’ve outgrown the old playbook and designed careers worth living.Forget the hype, the hustle-posting, and the midlife glow-up myth. This is the generation that weathered dot-com crashes, financial crises, and digital disruption without performative reinvention—and came out smarter, sharper, and still in motion.We don’t chase virality. We design for longevity.If you’re tired of the noise and hungry for honest, grounded, human wisdom…You’re in the right generation. And now, you’re on the right show.
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