Naeemah Elias: Why does this Harvard grad she call herself a chameleon? episode artwork

EPISODE · Mar 11, 2026 · 49 MIN

Naeemah Elias: Why does this Harvard grad she call herself a chameleon?

from This Kaleidoscope Career Podcast · host This Kaleidoscope Career Podcast

In this episode of This Kaleidoscope Career:Naeemah Elias went from a Harvard scholarship to life on stage to State Street and beyond. Host Helen Jonsen introduces Naeemah Elias, a former actor and Harvard graduate who became the second Black woman managing director at State Street before founding Elias Presence Ventures.  Naeemah is the first puppeteer to be a guest on This Kaleidoscope Career. It was one more piece of colored glass in the brilliant images she would create along the way.In describing herself as a chameleon, she gives us an honest look at career and life including three children, interstate moves, bankruptcy, divorce, life as an actor, and a dozen years climbing the ranks at State Street in Boston. There she advanced from executive assistant to leadership in business continuity, information security, governance, compliance, risk, acquisitions, and built a 2020 internal talent marketplace. She recounts the madness of the pandemic as asingle parent and workaholic, and how that led to burnout. It also led to her stepping off the ladder and into her own. Naeemah makes her home in Boston and is a member of Innovation Women speakers. 00:00Transferable Skills Mindset00:28Show Premise and Host Intro01:20Meet Naeemah Elias03:00Childhood & Theater Life06:58Post 9/11 Reset 08:53Pregnancy Sparks Corporate Shift13:24Boston & State Street years20:33Leaving to Start Her Business21:35Burnout in the Pandemic Years28:45The Gap: a Summer Reset32:07Building the Business34:47Pricing Your Expertise38:38Landing a TEDx Talk43:59Advice for others45:57Giving Back and Where to Find Her Find Naeemah's TEDx talk here https://lnkd.in/d7SEkz3ULinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/naeemahelias/Elias Presence Ventures. https://www.linkedin.com/company/elias-presence/Recommended Reading:Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo https://www.carminegallo.com/talk-like-ted/PassionProject: South Shore Children’s Chorus (Boston)https://www.sscchorus.org/ About This Kaleidoscope CareerHosted by Helen Jonsen, journalist, strategic advisor, author, and speaker. Learn more at https://www.helenjonsen.com/ Like the colored glass in a kaleidoscope that tumble to create new and brilliant images,TKC celebrates the remarkable women who twist and turn their skills, talents, passions, and experiences to create new and brilliant iterations of their careers.The Kaleidoscope Career is a production of helen jonsen media llc. #thiskaleidoscopecareer#StrongWomenLead#leadership#careers ——  TKCpod is edited on Descript. Learn more here https://descript.cello.so/u00D6MnPTT0 AffiliateDisclosure: This contentcontains affiliate links. helen jonsen media, llc will receive a smallcommission at no cost to you.

In this episode of This Kaleidoscope Career:Naeemah Elias went from a Harvard scholarship to life on stage to State Street and beyond. Host Helen Jonsen introduces Naeemah Elias, a former actor and Harvard graduate who became the second Black woman managing director at State Street before founding Elias Presence Ventures.  Naeemah is the first puppeteer to be a guest on This Kaleidoscope Career. It was one more piece of colored glass in the brilliant images she would create along the way.In describing herself as a chameleon, she gives us an honest look at career and life including three children, interstate moves, bankruptcy, divorce, life as an actor, and a dozen years climbing the ranks at State Street in Boston. There she advanced from executive assistant to leadership in business continuity, information security, governance, compliance, risk, acquisitions, and built a 2020 internal talent marketplace. She recounts the madness of the pandemic as asingle parent and workaholic, and how that led to burnout. It also led to her stepping off the ladder and into her own. Naeemah makes her home in Boston and is a member of Innovation Women speakers. 00:00Transferable Skills Mindset00:28Show Premise and Host Intro01:20Meet Naeemah Elias03:00Childhood & Theater Life06:58Post 9/11 Reset 08:53Pregnancy Sparks Corporate Shift13:24Boston & State Street years20:33Leaving to Start Her Business21:35Burnout in the Pandemic Years28:45The Gap: a Summer Reset32:07Building the Business34:47Pricing Your Expertise38:38Landing a TEDx Talk43:59Advice for others45:57Giving Back and Where to Find Her Find Naeemah's TEDx talk here https://lnkd.in/d7SEkz3ULinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/naeemahelias/Elias Presence Ventures. https://www.linkedin.com/company/elias-presence/Recommended Reading:Talk Like Ted by Carmine Gallo https://www.carminegallo.com/talk-like-ted/PassionProject: South Shore Children’s Chorus (Boston)https://www.sscchorus.org/ About This Kaleidoscope CareerHosted by Helen Jonsen, journalist, strategic advisor, author, and speaker. Learn more at https://www.helenjonsen.com/ Like the colored glass in a kaleidoscope that tumble to create new and brilliant images,TKC celebrates the remarkable women who twist and turn their skills, talents, passions, and experiences to create new and brilliant iterations of their careers.The Kaleidoscope Career is a production of helen jonsen media llc. #thiskaleidoscopecareer#StrongWomenLead#leadership#careers ——  TKCpod is edited on Descript. Learn more here https://descript.cello.so/u00D6MnPTT0 AffiliateDisclosure: This contentcontains affiliate links. helen jonsen media, llc will receive a smallcommission at no cost to you.

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This episode was published on March 11, 2026.

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In this episode of This Kaleidoscope Career:Naeemah Elias went from a Harvard scholarship to life on stage to State Street and beyond. Host Helen Jonsen introduces Naeemah Elias, a former actor and Harvard graduate who became the second Black woman...

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