Discover how women over 40 are leading systemic change and tackling audacious goals. In this episode, 42-year-old Kiersten Barnet, Executive Director of the NYC Jobs CEO Council, shares how she's coordinating Fortune 100 CEOs to hire 100,000 low-income New Yorkers—and they're already more than halfway there.

If you've ever wondered "is it too late to take on something impossibly big?" this conversation proves the answer is absolutely not. Kiersten reveals her practical strategies for breaking down overwhelming problems, asking better questions, and building the kind of authentic leadership that creates space for everyone behind you. From her annual "letter from the future" practice to her philosophy of "strategic neglect," she offers a masterclass in midlife ambition that's both grounded in research and beautifully human.

What You'll Learn

Career Change & Midlife Reinvention:

• How to pivot from corporate (15 years at Bloomberg) to mission-driven leadership after 40
• Why women's growth mindset peaks in their 40s and how to leverage it
• How to take on audacious goals without having all the answers first
• Why your "not knowing what you want to be" might actually be your superpower
• Strategic career pivots for women over 40 seeking meaningful work

Perimenopause & Menopause Era Leadership:

• How to lead major initiatives while raising small children in your 40s
• Work-life integration strategies that actually work (not the mythical "balance")
• Why scheduling self-care and date nights matters more than superhuman productivity
• Strategic neglect: giving yourself permission to let go of the "shoulds"
• Managing stress and overwhelm during perimenopause while leading high-stakes projects

Practical Midlife Success Strategies:

• The annual future-letter practice that turns goals into concrete action plans
• "Eat the frog first": why tackling the hardest thing in the morning changes everything
• How to ask the right questions of the right people when facing big problems
• Data collection vs. speculation: making better decisions by knowing your "customer"
• Why problems don't age well and how to build courage through immediate actio
• Breaking down impossible goals into digestible, actionable steps

Women 40+ in Leadership:

• How authenticity (not fitting a mold) makes you memorable and effective
• Why talking about your children and challenges publicly creates systemic change
• The evolution from "women couldn't make it work" to "this is the new norm"
• How to measure success when you're in the second half of your life
• Building courage capital through facing impossible-seeming challenges
• Midlife confidence building for women leaders

Systemic Change & Social Impact:

• How to coordinate massive coalitions (like Fortune 100 CEOs) toward common goals
• Why breaking down big problems into digestible pieces is the only way forward
• The importance of hiring and skilling local talent for economic mobility
• How private sector leadership can drive public sector change
• Why transferable skills from hourly work matter more than ever in the AI era

Key Timestamps

[00:00] Introduction to Kiersten Barnet and the NYC Jobs CEO Council's audacious goal

[02:45] "I don't think I knew any of the jobs I've had existed until basically just before I had them"

[04:15] How priorities shift in your 40s: from straight paths to what's right for right now

[06:00] Measuring success in the second half of life

[07:00] Why growth mindset peaks in your 40s

[08:00] The importance of questions and curiosity in leadership

[10:00] Breaking down systemic change: the 100,000 hiring goal explained

[11:15] The annual future-letter practice that transforms goal-setting

[14:00] "Is this what I want or what I'm supposed to want?"

[15:15] Strategic neglect: the art of not cooking dinner without guilt

[16:15] Why we blame work when stress often comes from elsewhere

[17:00] "Eat the frog first": tackling the hardest thing in the morning

[19:00] "Problems don't age well" - Jamie Dimon's advice on accountability

[20:00] The hardest part of coordinating Fortune 100 CEOs

[22:30] "This is mine to lose": holding yourself accountable without paralysis

[24:00] Knowing your customer: data collection over speculation

[27:15] How to ask for help from people whose time is extremely valuable

[29:00] The Google Career Certificates story: asking the right questions of the right people

[31:00] Why business has to see the value proposition (it's not charity)

[33:15] Living by the calendar: how structure creates work-life integration

[36:00] The kimono approach: wrapping all aspects of yourself into leadership

[37:30] Who inspires Kiersten: Dusty Jenkins

[38:45] Letting go of fitting the mold of what a leader "should" look like

[40:00] Helena Morrissey: CEO with 9 children who taught Kiersten about authentic leadership

[42:30] Why women talking about challenges publicly creates systemic change

[43:15] The secret code calendars: from hiding to openly prioritizing kids

[45:15] How to support the mission: hiring local talent, any size business

[48:00] Why hourly work experience makes candidates MORE competitive, not less

[50:00] Lived experience in the age of AI: leaning into what differentiates you

Guest Bio

Kiersten Barnet is the Executive Director of the NYC Jobs CEO Council, where she leads a coalition of Fortune 100 CEOs from companies including JP Morgan, IBM, Google, and Citigroup who have committed to hiring 100,000 low-income New Yorkers into family-sustaining jobs by 2030. Prior to this role, Kiersten spent 15 years at Bloomberg, where she led gender equality initiatives and helped shape how major companies globally report on social sustainability. She co-founded the US 30% Club, a group of influential CEOs including Warren Buffett and Larry Fink working to advance women in leadership, and sits on several nonprofit and advisory boards.

At 42, Kiersten brings two decades of experience in behavior change, workforce development, and systemic change to her mission of transforming NYC's hiring ecosystem. She is a mother of two and a passionate advocate for authentic, integrated leadership that makes space for the whole person.

Connect with Kiersten:

• LinkedIn
• NYC Jobs CEO Council

Host Bio

Aransas Savas is a veteran Wellbeing and Leadership Coach with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of behavioral research, coaching, and experience strategy. She has partnered with companies like Weight Watchers, Best Buy, Truist, and US Bank to apply behavior change science to customer journeys and has coached thousands of individuals and groups on wellbeing and leadership.

Aransas hosts The Uplifters Podcast, a 2023 Gold Signal Award winner, where she spotlights women over 40 who are doing big, brave things in the world—proving that midlife is when many women truly hit their stride. Based in Brooklyn, she's a 20-time marathoner, mother of two, and founder of LiveUp Daily.

Connect with Aransas:

• Website: theuplifterspodcast.com
• Instagram: @aransas_savas
• LinkedIn: Aransas Savas
• Newsletter: Subscribe at theuplifterspodcast.com
• TikTok: @theuplifterspodcast
• YouTube: @theuplifterspodcast
• Facebook: Aransas Savas

Keywords

#WomenOver40 #MidlifeMindset #CareerChange #PersonalGrowth #WomenEmpowerment #MidlifeLeadership #SystemicChange #WomenInLeadership #SecondActCareers #WorkforceDevelopment #StrategicPlanning #AuthenticLeadership #GrowthMindset #CareerPivot #WomenOver40Success #MidlifeReinvention #LeadershipAfter40 #ExecutiveLeadership #BehaviorChange #SocialImpact #EconomicMobility #NYCJobs #BloombergAlumni #FortuneHundredLeadership #CourageCapital #Perimenopause #Menopause #MenopauseCareerChange #PerimenopauseLeadership

Mentioned in This Episode:

This episode is sponsored by Nutrafol, the #1 dermatologist-recommended hair growth supplement clinically shown to improve hair growth and thickness. For a limited time, Nutrafol is offering our listeners $10 off your first month subscription and free shipping when you go to Nutrafol.com and enter promo code UPLIFTERS.

The Uplifters Podcast is produced by LiveUp Coaching & Consulting LLC. New episodes drop weekly. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen to ensure you never miss a story of courage, transformation, and midlife possibility.

TUP EP 137

As someone who's built my career around [00:00:30] rigorous science, I super love that Nutrafol was the first brand to clinically study hair thinning on menopausal women, which is why I am so proud to have them as a sponsor. Nutrafol takes a whole body approach to [00:00:45] hair health supporting you throughout your life stages.

This week I get to talk to Kiersten Barnett. She's the executive director of the New York Jobs CEO Council. Where she's leading a coalition of. [00:01:30] Fortune hundred CEOs from companies you've heard of, like JP Morgan, IBM, Google Citigroup, who have all committed to hiring 100,000 low income New Yorkers into family sustaining [00:01:45] jobs by 2030.

And yet [00:02:15] Kiersten, with all of this background, you probably didn't come into life with a crystal ball knowing you were gonna do all this. Important work in your life.

Aransas SAvas: Yeah. And I mean, I, I think in some of them you have likely created the category in the conversation around these things.

So just focus on what you'd like to do and moving forward. Yeah.

Kiersten Barnet: Yeah. Actually, [00:03:15] I have a funny story on that. My first job at Bloomberg, I was 22 or 23, and I was interviewing for an assistant role in the president's office, and my final interview was with him. And I remember I read Bloomberg by Bloomberg cover to cover the night before. I prepared so much. [00:03:30] I'm thinking the interview's going well, and at the end, the last question he asked me is.

I asked her what she wanted to be when she grew up and, and she said she hadn't figured it out yet. He said, me neither. So anyway, I think, yeah,

Kiersten Barnet: I think as a 20-year-old, I was so focused on what I thought was a straight [00:04:15] path and I was, I actually think at 20, you know, I'm about to graduate college and I was already thinking, how many years do I need to work till I can go to business school?

Aransas SAvas: What a great answer.

Kiersten Barnet: So that definitely changes over time and, and that's also advice I give to young people.

I have two small children and if I'm gonna leave them every day, I need to feel really good about what I'm leaving them for and good about the example I'm setting. So I think that, you know, things, things change. There were [00:05:30] also periods in my career where growth was the most important and I just wanted to make sure I, I was moving onward and upward at, you know, at a period when often women and others can get, tend to get stalled.

Aransas SAvas: What is right for right now is the question I often ask

Kiersten Barnet: what is right for right now. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.

Kiersten Barnet: I am lucky enough that I feel, for most of my career, I get been excited to get up and go to work every day. And obviously. Everyone has bad days, but that's for the most part how I feel. I feel [00:06:15] like if that changes, then it probably means it's time to move on and, but as long as that's going, then I think that feels successful again, having a family, you redefine what success looks like so much.

And yeah, I think if those things feel right, then like not broken, don't fix it. And when those things start to feel off is usually when it means you. You need to rebalance your, your priorities. I

And so we are, as you said, you talked about growing as in sort of [00:07:15] positional power, right? Like you have titles and influence and the ability to make broader impact, but we're growing in terms of our understanding, our knowledge. Our networks, all of that as we age too. And [00:07:30] so as, as you think about that now, what do you feel like is most important for keeping you in a growth mindset?

Kiersten Barnet: Oh, that's so interesting. Yeah. I think that that. Questions asking is so important both in leadership, but [00:08:00] in being effective at any job.

You need people to poke a lot of different holes. I mean, ultimately that's, that's when innovative things happen. But yeah, I love to feel challenged. I love to learn. Mm-hmm. And so there's a period of your life where that's happening in the classroom. There's a period in my life when I thought that was gonna happen in business school.[00:08:30]

And I also think that's also what I then bring back to my family too. And my home life is, it's all, it's all connected and the things I'm, I'm [00:09:00] learning at work and the things I'm learning at home. Yeah, they all tie together.

Aransas SAvas: I love that answer. And I think about the scale of the problem you're trying to solve right now, which.

Kirsten?

Systemic change is really, really hard and takes a long, long time. What I think [00:10:00] is so special about this organization and the CEOs that founded it and funded it. Is that they set that a hundred thousand hiring target. Those are hiring low income New Yorkers into jobs at their companies. This is not their funding an organization that's hiring for someone else, and [00:10:15] so that was meant to hold them accountable, but it was also meant to hold me and my team accountable because if the things we're doing are working for.

And so I think [00:10:45] in general, when tackling a really daunting. Task or objective, breaking it down into digestible pieces is, in my experience, the only way to, to move forward. And so this is just a really big [00:11:00] example of that. And this is where the, the power of the collective comes in. All of them doing that together is even better, but anyone can apply that, I think, to challenges in their personal or professional life.

And I remember when they asked us to do this, I thought, Ugh, this is like touchy feely and a waste of time, and I have so much work to do. Why? Why am I sitting in this class? And then I remember I was pregnant at the time, and so my letter went [00:11:45] something like I took care of myself during pregnancy. I prepared my team, so I had a really smooth transition to parental leave, and then on parental leave I did X, Y, Z, so that I had a really smooth transition back.

Like it's rare. Someone actually just says to you, what are your priorities? Not your boss's priorities, not, but like what are your priorities and holistically across both your personal and professional life? Not taking one in a vacuum. And then [00:12:30] two, how do you get there? And then you map it out. And then three, so now you can hold yourself accountable along the year to those steps.

Well then put date night on the calendar like every week. And granted it'll get moved [00:13:00] one out of two weeks, but at least it's there. It's so much harder to do this when you're then feeling like they haven't seen each other. Let's do that. And the same with work. You wanna launch a big marketing campaign, that was one of mine for 2024.

We find ourselves just sitting around thinking about things we wanna do and sort of feeling like paralyzed in what the first step is because it's such a big thing when you break it down. I find that is much easier to feel achievable and also to hold yourself accountable [00:13:30] to the things you need to do and the timeline you need to do it on.

[00:14:00] Yeah. And, and for you, what makes it

And so to your point about prioritization, never in the last eight years that I've done this letter, like, has cooking dinner every night come up now, that was a, that's a thing that I often feel like would, would used to feel [00:14:30] bad about. Like I'm not home cooking dinner every night. I'm not home cooking dinner every night.

And we would map it out and we'd put it on the calendar, but I didn't. And so it forces you to be really honest with yourself about what you want, what makes you happy. And again, you can't do that when you're. [00:15:00] Have both, you know, a work and a personal life without taking the two together. Yeah.

Aransas SAvas: I call that the art of strategic neglect.

Kiersten Barnet: my kids are like, oh my God, mom's cooking. And like, yeah, look at that. And it's fine. They're gonna grow up knowing mom does not cook very often. That's okay. They see a lot of other good things.

Yes. When oftentimes they're not even aligned

And so I think being really clear on. What it is that's causing you stress, and then how can you mitigate that so that all aspects of your life are more fluid is important,

Share a little bit more about this, because I feel like the more I talk to trailblazers. People who are the first of their kind in the room that they're in. This has come up over and over again. And so I think there's a [00:17:00] lesson for all of us who are doing hard things.

Kiersten Barnet: Yeah, I'll say I used to be like in college younger, such a procrastinator, I would be the person pulling all-nighters for student paper the night before.

And there's this Eat the Frog saying, which comes from Mark Twain saying, if you eat a, it's something like if you eat a frog at the beginning of every day, it'll be the worst thing that happened to you that day, or nothing worse will happen. But [00:17:45] it essentially means like, do the thing. That you dread doing or that is challenging or that isn't fun, just get it.

And two, otherwise it just looms over your over you all day. And so I think it's a. I find it's a great way to start the day. It also then feels like you've built [00:18:15] some momentum that you just keep your, you can go, oh wow, I checked that off my list. And that's one that I really feel good about checking. And by the way, that also can be personal or professional.

Aransas SAvas: Yeah. Hard problems never solve themselves.

Like nothing gets better. Those tasks don't go away. Things only become more complex. Yeah, [00:19:15] do it now.

Aransas SAvas: I think about them as acute and chronic pain. Yeah,

Kiersten Barnet: that's a great way to think about it.

Aransas SAvas: I would rather manage the acute pain knowing that it might be a little more uncomfortable in the immediate term than suffer with it.

Kiersten Barnet: absolutely.

Aransas SAvas: Yeah. The cumulative

Aransas SAvas: So if we think of this as a challenge of eating the frog first, or managing the trickiest at first, what has been the hardest part of.

Kiersten Barnet: So the hardest part is there's no roadmap like this hasn't. Mm-hmm. To your point earlier, systemic change, at least at the workforce development education systems level in our city, [00:20:15] but in this is not just our city. It really hasn't happened in a very long time, so that's hard.

It's not like we just had to land on one product and get it right [00:20:45] and we're done. So that, that's I think, the hardest part about what this organization does. The easiest, and now I'm say the easiest part about what this organization does is that we have the support of some of the most influential CEOs [00:21:00] leading innovative organizations that are the, I cannot think of a better group to be driving, you know, skilling, to be driving, ensuring our future workforce in New York City is skilled and competitive.

But I think also one of my biggest challenges is how do you leverage them? And that's a big part of my job. Mm-hmm. The thing with CEOs is that are committed to a cause. Like they're there, they're all in and anything, they're leading from the top. If they wanna do it, they can do it. But you, you [00:21:45] have to know the right ask.

But I feel like every day I am aware that this is mine to lose if this group of business leaders. I cannot get it done. If our [00:22:15] organization with the support of them cannot get it done under my leadership, then I'm the wrong leader then. Like that, that that's a problem. We can't blame it on anything. Back to like blaming stress on work, you can't blame it on anything else because you've got all the support you need there to tackle this [00:22:30] really, or challenge.

Kiersten Barnet: I mean, I think it's a little bit like what we talked about earlier. You just have to take [00:23:00] a deep breath and break it down into steps and put one foot in front of the other.

And that means different things in different roles and in different organizations. But what it means to me here is I need to know both my companies and I need to know my end user, [00:23:30] which in is most cases students, either New York City public high school students, CUNY students, or faculty advisors, anyone in that ecosystem.

To answer the question, since you're kind of just guessing at the problem and you're guessing at the answer, and sometimes the answer is just go ask the right person, and that might be a [00:24:15] 20-year-old CUNY student. Go ask them, would this work for you? Would this be helpful? Go ask our companies. Is this something you could help with?

Talking to them, what are you hearing, what are you, what was your experience? And [00:24:45] then talking to our companies at all levels as well. It's not, the CEO is a very different perspective than a entry level recruiter who, you know, can offer a, a incredibly valuable per perspective on where in the pipeline students are falling through, where are they performing?

Aransas SAvas: What I really take from that is that you are collecting data in [00:25:15] order to make these decisions and that that is taking the responsibility off of, I think, where we get paralyzed.

And it's interestingly, [00:25:45] almost word for word. What Melissa Ramos said on this show. And so for those listening, she's the commissioner of the N Yc Doe, so she's also talking to the same students that

It is data collection analysis, whatnot. But earlier on in my career, I felt this pressure to try and fit the mold of what I thought a leader looked like. And I do think you think, oh, it's someone who has all the answers. Mm-hmm. And is all [00:26:15] knowing and just makes decisions and moves quickly. And then you realize that's not at all what it is.

And then [00:26:45] leveraging that data collection process both from your team and you know, from your customer if you'll, but, but not getting stuck in the process. There is such a thing as like analysis paralysis too. And at some point you have to make a call. And that's really the job, a leader. It's like to know when the time is to [00:27:00] make that call.

Okay, we've got enough to make an informed decision and then, you know, pick a path.

What do you think? No. No. Or how can I help? Right. Like, no, you need the [00:27:30] right,

Kiersten Barnet: it has to be the targeted Yes. Questions. Yes.

Totally right. Like, exactly. Uh, yeah. Yeah. To quantify an hour of Jamie Diamond's time. Yeah. It's, let's not do, that's way outside

That's the wrong, wrong question. Yeah. Right. So vague. You have to ask some other peoples some questions to even figure out how you think they can help. [00:28:15] And then I, you know, I think this is where we see you could add a lot of value. Here's an example, we. CUNY came to us a couple summers ago and said, is there something we can do for tech students that didn't get an internship that will still [00:28:30] help boost their resume come fall when they're applying for jobs?

How many students do you think? 'cause Google says, how many licenses do you think you need? Okay, how many students do we think we can get? Anyway, bottom line, you end of place. [00:29:00] We, we signed 5,000 students up for Google Career certificates over, I dunno, a couple of weeks. We then went to our employers and said, Hey, if they finished them in two months, could we give them an incentive that they'll get.

And then you end up with a solution that had some really great outcomes.

Kiersten Barnet: Hundred percent. I mean, look, I grew up at a commercial private sector company, so [00:30:00] coming into the nonprofit world, it was surprising to me how many individuals and nonprofits have the mentality of business has to do this. This doesn't have to do anything. They have to make a profit. They have to pay their employees, they have shareholders they have to report to.

It has to work, and so it has to work for everyone. Job seekers have to get something out. It companies have to get something out of it. In this case talent. So that's a great one. But [00:30:45] also when I took this job, we came in at a time when many of our CEOs were calling for people to be back in the office full or part-time, but moving more and more.

And our mission isn't to drive people to go to work [00:31:15] in office every day, but all of this still comes back to economic mobility and jobs. And so investing in solutions like the ones that we do, it's so much bigger than just the people in the jobs, the buts and the seats. It's the whole ecosystem. And [00:31:30] so again, you have to think about how does the solution benefit that full ecosystem?

Or you're gonna run into an issue of either unsustainability or un scalability, if that's a word.

Does anything scare you as a leader? Still.

But yeah, look, I think back to my point around am I, are we leveraging the council that we have to the extent that we can is [00:32:30] probably always the, that's the same that me asking that question every day is probably what scares me the most. Are we having as big of an impact as we could? Are we leaving impact on the table so it's less around like, yes, we're driving numbers and we're hiring people and I don't [00:32:45] anticipate that we'll, we'll stop, but we're, we're doing great work, but could we be doing more?

Am I not maximizing the, the resources and that I have? Yeah, have that desired impact.

Kiersten Barnet: I think, look, I live by the calendar.

If you'll, it's a, it's a terrible term, but by, and it sounds weird to say schedule it, but be my scheduling in. I think that's what keeps, that's what manages me. [00:34:00] Um, and I think when I find myself feeling untethered is when either I haven't done as good a job of that, or again, obviously there are times in life where work will ramp up.

Aransas SAvas: balance.

Kiersten Barnet: Yeah. Yeah. And I think that, you know, trying to [00:34:45] compartmentalize. Work and personal life, I find impossible. Like it's all so connected and the older I get and the more I grow professionally, it just only only amplifies that.

It was a small amount of time to take away from my newborn child in the scheme of things, but it was huge for me coming back to work. And again, I just knew that about myself. I felt like if I came back and felt disoriented or the reorgs and I didn't know, you know, just staying in the and, and [00:35:30] that enabled me to then spend more time with my child when I got back to work.

It's similar, the same principle on vacation. Like if all of us have had that experience, you go on vacation and then you come back and the first days are.

Aransas SAvas: Yeah. I think it also goes back to what you're saying about taking a more integrated approach. I call it. The kimono, and it really is, it's just like wrapping all [00:36:15] of our lived experience, our expertise, our interest, and our many hats that we wear, especially as women. And allowing ourselves to sort of create a new, unique version of what [00:36:30] leadership looks like as opposed to this archetypal version that we had in our minds, or that we tried to narrow ourselves and squeeze into maybe when we were younger.

But I think that also helps you figure out, right, on a certain day balance could mean like jumping back on work at night. And this is for so many people because I wanted to be at my daughter's music class that day. I, whatever. It's a, I think that that's actually a benefit of today is that those things are [00:37:15] all possible, whereas a generation before that wasn't an option, which I imagine was much harder.

Kiersten Barnet: Well, so if

Aransas SAvas: you have

Kiersten Barnet: not had

Aransas SAvas: her yet,

Kiersten Barnet: you should have my friend Dusty Jenkins. She is the Chief Public Affairs Officer for Spotify.

She's all the things. Uh, she's all the things. Dusty is someone that I really admire. She's someone I go to for work [00:38:15] advice. She's incredibly authentic. When I think of examples, when you asked me that question, all of the women's faces that popped into my mind are women that are very authentic. Again, across all aspects of their life.

Honestly. You started, yeah. So that's, but, [00:39:00] but it's hard to get to that place. It's hard to sort of give yourself that permission. There's a woman named Hena Morrisey. She lives in London. She was, uh, when I met her, CEO of Newton Asset Management, which is arm of the Bank of Mellon. Fund of $85 [00:39:15] billion. She was in her forties, Jo.

But so before, the first time I met her, I remember thinking. Well, there's no way I'm gonna like her. Like [00:39:45] how, what woman is a CEO at 45 on all these most powerful women lists and has nine children. Like, that's just impossible. She must be like, because you don't get everything. Well, no, I only got everything and, and gotta be something wrong.

I was expecting a black suit. And so I think that Helena really is, when I think about when I first started to kind of reconsider if [00:40:30] my preconceived notions of what a leader's supposed to look like were actually accurate, and I realized like this is also why she's memorable. She is. She's, you can be a CEO and also care about fashion.

They were not talking about their children, they were not. Mm-hmm. Talking about challenges. It was very, and, and I think also women didn't have necessarily as much freedom to do so, just give, [00:41:15] given where we were. But so I remember in my mind thinking these women look like they're superhuman. They must not sleep, they don't make mistakes.

And I think now people are much more comfortable. I'm happy saying like, no, there are [00:41:45] times that are really hard. There are times that are challenging. I cry sometimes. I mean like I'm a human being and I thought, you know, pregnancy was really hard. It was a challenge every day. And so I think that that is really a positive sign and [00:42:00] healthy as a society that we're seeing that more because.

I mean, and, and also otherwise we're gonna lose out on good talent that's gonna take themselves out of the game before they even give away. Yeah.

Yes. Right. It's contextual enablers for what's happening in reality [00:42:45] in the experience, not just the outcome.

And they felt, and they felt like they had to do that. [00:43:15] And I remember someone telling me that, that, and saying, did you know so and so and so they do this? What a great idea. Like that's such a great idea. And I said, I dunno. And I love the idea because to be honest, like I'm glad it, it's a way. But it kind of feels like a, like a, a bandaid.

I ask anyone to go anywhere. But, so I thought, given that I'm in this position, that's a gift. I also wanna make sure I'm, I'm. Role modeling. And so I'd say, I just got back from Asia for two weeks. Guess what? I'm going to Elan's music class, you [00:44:00] know, tomorrow morning I'll be in late. I've got a work dinner tonight, so I'm gonna go home early and see the kids and then go out there.

Aransas SAvas: Yeah, yeah. And it really took women at the top being willing to take that risk.

Kiersten Barnet: No. Or they have to ask permission or they, yeah, exactly. And so there's no precedent. No. And they shouldn't have to be, you shouldn't have to be blazing from the bottom in those scenarios when, when there are people that can [00:44:45] do it without putting their jobs at risk.

Kiersten Barnet: wherever you're listening from?

And so I think the more people can be intentional about hiring from their backyard, the better. And that's a good thing because if you're intentional about it. [00:45:45] You'll either hire people or you realize that there's a gap. And if there's a gap, then think about how you can fill that gap with skills. And I think that the more, the beauty of this effort is that we work with the public sector, but we are [00:46:00] funded and led by the private sector and the private sector.

Public sector leadership and funding, and that's ultimately what makes it sustainable. So it's this whole life cycle of things. I'm really happy to [00:46:45] see the private sector recognize it has this opportunity and responsibility to step up to a job that technically is not its job, like that's not in our scope, but recognizes why this is good for everyone.

Aransas SAvas: It sounds like a good moment too to call out one of our former guests who, this one Holly Diamond, she's brilliant. She's got a Robinhood funded startup in New York [00:47:15] City.

Kiersten Barnet: What a great I, I am definitely gonna look. That's very, that is brilliant.

Aransas SAvas: Smart.

And so we work predominantly with, with the public college students at the 25 [00:48:15] CUNY schools in New York City. And every CUNY student I've ever met works at least part-time. Many are working full-time while also gonna school. So that in itself, they have time management responsibility. Those are transferable skills.

Mm. And so it's only gonna keep happening because the more [00:48:45] and more that you know, AI is totally transforming Generat AI is totally transforming the workplace and what jobs look like and the skills that employers value. And those are the things that's not replacing. And those are the things that I think are [00:49:00] hard to bet with a student that's just straight out of college, unless that student can demonstrate them otherwise.

'cause it's not gonna show up on your transcript.

Aransas SAvas: No,

And I will say this past year are are member companies. Had roughly a [00:49:30] thousand CUNY interns and the end of the summer, the CUNY interns were 22% more likely to get full-time offers than their peers. So to me, this is just my own Yeah. Interpretation. It's because of those other skills they, they've [00:49:45] got other skills on top of Yeah.

The same skills everybody else has.

Kiersten Barnet: Yeah. And so it's back to lean into the things that differentiate you. And that could be your job at Starbucks.

For those of you listening, I'll put links to Kirsten's work in the show notes. Please follow [00:50:45] along with her and support this work and this mission. Thanks. Thank you for listening to the Uplifters podcast. If you're getting a boost from these episodes, please [00:51:00] share them with the Uplifters in your life and then.

Music: big love painted water [00:51:30] sunshine with Rosemary Anton dwelling the perplexing, though you find it flexing.

Lift you up.[00:52:00]

Lift you up. Whoa. Lift you up.

lift, you

Um, beautiful. I cried. It's that little thing you did with your voice, right? In the pre-course, right? Uhhuh. Uhhuh. I was like, mommy, quiet [00:52:45] mommy. Stop crying. You're disturbing the peace.