Episodes
March 11, 2025
From Burnout to Balance: How Tina Tower Built a $2M Business—Without Breaking Herself
This week, I talk with Tina Tower, founder of Her Empire Builder, a membership community helping women start and scale online course businesses. Tina’s journey to success has been anything but straightforward. She launched a ...
March 4, 2025
How Tiny Experiments Lead to Big Breakthroughs with Anne-Laure Le Cunff
This week, I’m bringing back one of our most popular episodes—my conversation with neuroscientist, writer, and Ness Labs founder Anne-Laure Le Cunff. When we first spoke in 2024, she was deep in her PhD, balancing academic ri...
Feb. 25, 2025
What is worth wanting? Bonnie Wan on Trauma, Transformation, and Courage
This week, I talk with Bonnie Wan, a trailblazing strategist who spent 30 years in advertising, eventually becoming a partner and Head of Brand Strategy at Goodby Silverstein & Partners. She earned Ad Age’s Chief Strategy Off...
Feb. 11, 2025
Mom: Ann Brooks on What They Don’t Teach You in Business School
This week, I sit down with someone who’s had an enormous impact on my life—my mom, Ann Brooks. She’s built an exceptional career spanning nearly 40 years in sales, leadership, and entrepreneurship, working for Xerox, Haworth,...
Feb. 4, 2025
How Justin Moore Reinvented His Career After a Crushing Failure
This week, I talk with Justin Moore—founder and CEO of Creator Wizard, longtime YouTuber, and entrepreneur who’s spent more than 15 years navigating the creator economy. But this conversation isn’t just about business. It’s a...
Jan. 28, 2025
The Hardest Decision of My Career: Inside Kieran Snyder’s CEO Journey
This week, I talk with Kieran Snyder, the co-founder and former CEO of Textio, a groundbreaking company at the forefront of the AI revolution. Kieran’s journey is one of resilience, leadership, and innovation. We discuss how ...
Jan. 21, 2025
Inside Pat Flynn’s World: Family, Fishing, Pokémon, and Smart Passive Income
This week, I talk with Pat Flynn, a legend in the creator economy and founder of Smart Passive Income. Pat’s journey began in 2008 when he was laid off as an architect during the recession. Since then, he’s built an online em...
Jan. 14, 2025
How Ankur Nagpal Turned Adversity into a $250M Empire
This week, I talk with Ankur Nagpal, founder of Teachable, Carry, and Vibe Capital. Ankur’s journey is nothing short of inspiring. From immigrating to the U.S. for college to founding a company that grew exponentially and sol...
Dec. 17, 2024
What I’ve Learned About Excellence, Purpose, and Showing Up: AMA with Barrett Brooks
Since the very first episode, Good Work has been about exploring why our work matters and how it helps us become the people and leaders we’re meant to be. Normally, I interview world-class guests, diving deep into their uniqu...
Dec. 10, 2024
The Power of Owning Your Story with Ruthie Ackerman
This week, I talk with Ruthie Ackerman—a talented author, journalist, and writing teacher who has turned her own journey into a blueprint for helping others find their voice. Ruthie’s work has appeared in The New York Times, ...
Nov. 19, 2024
Andy Crissinger: The Art of Asking Better Questions
This week, I talk with Andy Crissinger, a world-class coach and master facilitator who has guided leaders at some of the world’s most renowned startups and companies. Andy’s journey to coaching is remarkable, weaving through ...
Nov. 12, 2024
How 3.7 Million Words Built a Career: Lessons from Patrick McKenzie
This week, I talk with Patrick McKenzie, better known online as “patio11.” Patrick has built an impressive career by sharing his insights publicly, with more than three million words published to date. From his years at Strip...
Nov. 5, 2024
Why Tim Grahl Had To Kill His Old Business to Find Real Success
This week, I talk with Tim Grahl, CEO of Story Grid and author of The Shithead, a novel that’s both thrilling and deeply personal. Tim made a name for himself as a book marketer who landed multiple titles on the New York Time...
Oct. 29, 2024
Why Real Relationships Are the Secret to Growing Your Business with Mo Bunnell
This week, I talk with my friend Mo Bunnell, founder of GrowBIG and the Bunnell Idea Group, which offers one of the most in-depth, relationship-driven trainings on sales and business development. Mo is the author of Give to G...
Oct. 22, 2024
The Hidden Gem of a Naturopath Who Wrote the Manual to Health and Longevity - Dr. Erika Siegel
This week, I talk with Dr. Erika Siegel, a naturopathic doctor with nearly 20 years of experience. I discovered her work through a recommendation from my doctor and was immediately drawn to her two-volume book set, The Nouris...
Oct. 15, 2024
Creating Companies with Purpose: Kevin Lavelle on Innovation, Family, and Leadership
This week, I talk with my friend Kevin Lavelle, founder of Mizzen+Main, a company that revolutionized the dress shirt industry. We talk about how Kevin built Mizzen+Main into a successful brand, and why he ultimately decided ...
Oct. 8, 2024
Brie Wolfson: Building Great Company Culture, Finding Your Creativity, and Carving Your Own Path
This week, I talk with Brie Wolfson, someone whose reputation precedes her. She’s the kind of person people rave about getting to work with. Brie was instrumental in bringing Stripe Press to life, partnering with John Colliso...
Oct. 1, 2024
Creating Change: Nat West on Entrepreneurship, Community, and Public Service
This week, I sit down with Nat West, founder and former CEO of Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, a pioneering craft cider company in Portland, Oregon. Over 12 years, Nat helped shape the city’s thriving cider scene before making the...
Sept. 24, 2024
The Long Game: Clea Kolster's Mission to Solve Climate Change
This week, I talk with Clea Kolster, Head of Science and Partner at Lowercarbon Capital, a venture capital fund dedicated to solving climate change, or, as they put it, un-f***ing the planet. Lowercarbon is one of my favorite...
Sept. 17, 2024
Steph Smith: The Curator of the Internet
This week, I talk with Steph Smith, someone I consider a true curator of the internet. Steph is a writer, podcaster, and currently the host of the A16Z Podcast for the venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. She’s built an ...
Sept. 10, 2024
Path to Green: How Laura Behrens Wu Turned Shippo into a Billion-Dollar Unicorn
This week, I talk with Laura Behrens Wu, co-founder and CEO of Shippo, a company that’s transforming the way e-commerce businesses handle shipping logistics. If you’re not in the e-commerce world, you may not have heard of Sh...
Sept. 3, 2024
Emily McDowell on Reclaiming Creativity, Navigating Burnout, and Finding Balance
In this episode of Good Work with Barrett Brooks, Barrett talks with Emily McDowell about their mutual experiences of burnout, identity loss, and recovery after leaving significant roles. They explore themes of letting go, honoring oneself, navigating ambition, and embodying authentic presence.
Aug. 27, 2024
Crafting a Narrative: Tamara Winter on the Power of Excellence and Storytelling
In this episode of Good Work with Barrett Brooks, Barrett talks with Tamara Winter, Commissioning Editor at Stripe Press, about the essential principles for early career success, the lasting impact of personal integrity and mentorship, and the importance of engaging with diverse ideas and mentors.
Aug. 20, 2024
Beyond Unicorns: Kanyi Maqubela on Identity, Innovation, and the Future of Venture Capital
In this episode of Good Work with Barrett Brooks, Barrett talks with Kanyi Maqubela about the complexities of identity, the need for nuanced dialogue in addressing economic exclusion, and the shifting dynamics in venture capital and tech-driven cultures.