9 to 5ish with theSkimm

Alice Milligan left home at 19 to escape a dysfunctional family life. Her peers went to college right out of high school. Meanwhile, Alice spent ten years getting her college degree while working full-time to support herself. She had no choice but to be resilient, independent, and patient. Decades later, and faced with choosing between a dream job or staying near her husband awaiting a liver transplant, Alice shares how the patience she cultivated as a young woman guided her choice. In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Alice shares:  Her deep cut bagel order (cinnamon raisin fans, rejoice) The strong women in her life who helped her navigate leaving home  Why working in HR in her early career served her well throughout her career How she rationalized her choice of remaining close to her family or taking on her dream job  How Morgan Stanley prioritizes women feeling financially empowered – and how the company’s new marketing initiatives reflect that   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She’s an icon, she’s a legend, and she is the moment. Connie Chung is the trailblazing veteran broadcaster who worked her way up from being a copy-girl at a local news station to anchoring one of the most popular nightly newscasts, CBS Evening News. To get there, she had to make it through the “boys club” of the 70s newsroom. Think: Mad Men, but news. She says it could’ve been worse. But she made it work by being just as confident as they were. In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Connie shares:    The impact of growing up around four strong-willed sisters   How she defied the racist and sexist stereotypes men had of her Her biggest regret of her career and how she reconciles it now  Why getting fired from CBS Evening News proved to be serendipitous A cameo from her husband, Maury Povich. Yes, that Maury Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome back to a new season of 9 to 5ish. We’re kicking things off with Jessica Alba and Lizzy Mathis, two best friends and co-hosts of the show “Honest Renovations” on The Roku Channel. There are plenty of home renovation shows out there. But theirs highlights the importance of mom having their own space to recharge. As moms of three kids each, they learned that the hard way.  In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Jessica and Lizzy share:  Their friendship origin story and why Lizzy lied to Jessica about her age for years How they took the jump from being friends to becoming co-hosts of a show  Why surface-level friendships don’t last in business partnerships  The burnout of filling others’ cups before their own, and how they fixed it  Tips on dealing with the highs and lows of the holiday season  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early in her career, Sharon Price-John literally put pen to paper and wrote what she dubbed her “price values.” AKA: the qualities that guided her in work and life. She reasoned that if she had time to write a grocery list, she could take a second to define what was important to her. Although her price values have inevitably evolved as she got older, Sharon shares that defining her values made the path to achieving her goals a lot clearer. In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Sharon shares:  The brownie points she scored from her kids being a toy company exec Why she follows the age-old advice “love what you do”  What influenced the changes to her “price values” list How she managed to bring Build-A-Bear its three most profitable years ever after COVID The difficulties of succeeding a founder-led business, and how she overcame them Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Through her twenties and thirties, comedian Jenny Slate couldn’t find peace. By all accounts, she was succeeding. She earned a spot on Saturday Night Live, and became recognizable through her on-screen appearances next to actors like Amy Poehler and Nick Kroll. But she still felt stuck in a cycle of self-criticism and a pressure to always be on. Then she became a mom and it all clicked. Listen as Jenny shares why becoming a mom made her feel less desperate to get jobs, please others, and “perform her tricks”.  In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Jenny shares:  Why living in Massachusetts instead of Los Angeles is helpful for her creative work What traits her parents were most concerned about in her upbringing How leaving Saturday Night Live led her to a major learning about success  Why perfection isn’t worth aiming at, and how she unlearned doing that   How the unconditional love she feels for her kid helped heal her own inner child A skimm of her new memoir, “Life Form” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices