Sam DeMase - Author of Power Mood | The Career Coach With 800K Followers Says Hard Work Won't Save You

➡️ Join 321,000 people who read my free weekly newsletter: https://newsletter.scottdclary.com ➡️ Like The Podcast? Leave A Rating: https://ratethispodcast.com/successstory Sam DeMase is a career coach at ZipRecruiter and the author of *Power Mood*, whose direct, incisive approach to career advice has built her a following of more than 800,000 people. At ZipRecruiter, she draws on rich, real-time labor market insight to help professionals navigate an evolving job market with clarity and confidence. Her work challenges one of the most deeply ingrained beliefs in professional life: that hard work alone is enough to guarantee success. In this episode, Sam unpacks why effort by itself so often fails to translate into advancement, what truly drives visibility and career growth in today's workplace, and how to cultivate the confidence and strategic thinking needed to take ownership of your career trajectory. ➡️ Show Links https://www.instagram.com/apowermood/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/samdemase/ https://www.apowermood.com ➡️ Podcast Sponsors Hubspot - https://hubspot.com/ Huel - https://huel.com/scott (Code: scott) NetSuite - https://netsuite.com/scottclary/ Framer - https://framer.com/design (Code: SuccessStory) LinkedIn Ads - https://linkedin.com/scottclary Cohesity - https://www.cohesity.com/datacloud Whatnot - https://www.whatnot.com/ Monarch - https://www.monarch.com/ (Code: success) Cash App - https://cash.app/ (Code: cashapp10) MyFitnessPal - https://podcasts.myfitnesspal.com (Code: SCOTT) Plaud - https://plaud.ai/success (Code: success) Odoo - https://www.odoo.com ➡️ Talking Points 00:00 – Intro 04:12 – Why So Many People Hate Their Jobs 07:02 – The Career Ladder Is Dead 12:35 – Why Hiring Feels Broken 14:28 – How to Get Promoted 18:07 – Find an Advocate at Work 22:39 – Apply for Reach Jobs 24:17 – The Worst Career Advice 25:17 – When Your Company Undervalues You 28:38 – Sponsor Break 31:54 – Should You Stay, Quit, or Freelance? 34:03 – Is Quiet Quitting Ever Okay? 37:40 – When Companies “Catfish” You 39:42 – Why Everyone Should Try Entrepreneurship 40:50 – Turn a Bad Job Into an Opportunity 45:18 – Why You Don’t Know Your Strengths 49:10 – Passion vs. What You’re Good At 52:06 – How AI Is Changing Work 53:31 – Sponsor Break 56:48 – How to Land an AI-Era Job 59:22 – The Human Skills AI Can’t Replace 1:03:37 – The Future of Remote Work 1:06:25 – Build a Values-First Career 1:10:31 – How to Use AI in Job Applications 1:15:13 – Hiring in the New Job Market 1:19:24 – Is Job Hopping Worth It? 1:21:04 – Sam’s Best Career Advice