PODCAST · society
Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention
by Savan Kong | Job Loss Recovery and Career Stories
What happens to your identity when your job disappears? Life Between Titles is the podcast for anyone navigating career transition, job loss recovery, and the hard work of career reinvention — told through honest, human stories.Whether you are between jobs, titles, or directions, Life Between Titles reminds you that the in-between is not the end. It is where transformation begins. Hosted by Savan Kong, a former federal employee and product executive who has lived through layoff, reinvention, and the question of who you are when your title is gone.
Episodes
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25 Years at CIA and NGA. Then 13 Surgeries and a Cat Named Keith.
Liz Sherman was at her desk at CIA when the second plane hit. Her husband was inside the White House Situation Room. She couldn't get a line through. She spent 25 years in American intelligence — imagery analyst at CIA, program mission manager at ODNI, and a career at the National...
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Kathleen Hicks: Leading the Pentagon as the First Woman in the Room
Kathleen Hicks became the first Senate-confirmed woman to serve as Deputy Secretary of Defense, the highest-ranking woman in the department's history. She left the role in January 2025, her third time leaving government, after three decades building a career she never approached as a burden to...
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She Started as CIO of Maryland 8 Months Pregnant. Here's What She Built.
Katie Savage took the CIO job for the state of Maryland eight months pregnant. She came from Defense Digital Service, where she learned that the most important thing any technology organization can do is build in-house expertise rather than outsource its thinking to vendors. In Maryland, she…
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Kelli Martin on Book Editing, Publishing's Diversity Gap, and Finding Your Calling at 22
Kelli Martin found the job listing in a red binder inside her college's career office. It was for a publicity assistant at Simon & Schuster. She didn't get that job. A month later they called her about a different one, and she said yes before she'd even thought it through. Thirty years later…
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Leslie Barber: 28 Years, One Book, and the F*ck Yes Philosophy
Leslie Barber calls herself a multipotentialite: a babysitter, snake handler, organic farmer, race director, HOA president, and triathlon coach, all in one lifetime. Her new book, Unemployable!, took twenty-eight years to write, not because she worked on it slowly, but because it took that long…
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Why Applying to Jobs Is Failing You in 2026
Happy New Year and welcome to 2026.If you are starting this year between roles, questioning your job search, or wondering why doing everything right still is not working, this video is for you.In this episode of Life Between Titles, I break down the real cost of being unemployed, not just...
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The Pattern Behind Every Successful Career Change
I tried recording a polished version of this update four or five times.It was terrible.So here’s the real one.Since launching in October, Life Between Titles has grown into something bigger than I expected. We’ve published over 25 conversations with people navigating career pivots, identity…
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Alan Levy | Founder of Blog Talk Radio. On Building Platforms Before the World Was Ready.
Alan Levy was a CPA who became the CFO of a telecom company in his early thirties, helped raise its first hundred million dollars, scaled it from 30 people to 1,300, and sold it right before the dot-com bubble burst. A few years later, spending hours online reading about his father's cancer...
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Dr. Aaron Dossey | PhD Scientist & Insect Protein Pioneer. On bugs as food, defunded science, and building a company no one would invest in.
Dr. Aaron Dossey spent 14 years running a company that was ahead of its time. He was the first in the Western Hemisphere doing insect protein research for human consumption. He had DARPA funding. He had patents. He had products. What he didn't have was investors who believed the market was ready…
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Brett Cohen | Forbes Group VP. On Going Viral Before Going Viral Was a Thing.
Brett Cohen started an internet radio show at 15 from his childhood bedroom in Long Island, calling in on his mom's landline because that's how Blog Talk Radio hosts did it in 2005. Nobody at school knew. By the time he was booking Paris Hilton, Kim Kardashian, and Jimmy Fallon, he was still…
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Anthony Dyer | Retired Combat Veteran, 14 Deployments. On rock bottom, writing through it, and scars as a roadmap.
Here's the Spotify description: He joined the Air Force for a paycheck. No direction, a chip on his shoulder, and no real plan beyond getting out of a small mountain town in western North Carolina. What happened over the next 20 years — 14 deployments, a gunship over Afghanistan, a torn pec...
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Hon. John Sherman on Leading with Kindness, 9/11, and a Life of Consequence
Here's the full Spotify package. SPOTIFY EPISODE TITLE Hon. John Sherman on Leading with Kindness, 9/11, and a Life of Consequence SPOTIFY DESCRIPTION I've known John Sherman for years. He gave me ten minutes when he didn't have to. That turned into one of the most consequential relationships of…
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Gladdys Uribe on Immigration Law, ICE Raids, & Building a Practice on Your Own Terms
ICE raids. Deportations. A system moving faster than families can react. Immigration attorney Gladdys Uribe sees it all in real time — and she decided at 16 she'd be the one standing between her community and the worst of it. The daughter of Mexican immigrants, trained under one of LA's top...
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Ann Dunkin on Reinvention, Grit, and Breaking Into Rooms That Weren't Built for You
Here's the Spotify title and description: TITLE:Ann Dunkin on Reinvention, Grit, and Breaking Into Rooms That Weren't Built for You DESCRIPTION: Ann Dunkin has been in rooms most people never get into. Former CIO of the Department of Energy spanning three presidential administrations, HP veteran…
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Danielle Frank on Career Pivots, Breaking Off an Engagement, and Writing A Wine Lover's Guide to Parenting #wineindustry #author
Career transition, reinvention, and second chances don't always look the way you expect. Danielle Frank calls herself a veteran of pivots: New York to LA in her late twenties, a toxic PR firm she quit in three months without another job lined up, twenty-two years in the wine and spirits industry...
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Jerry Glavy | Retired Marine General, 39 Years. On flying the President, commanding cyber warfare, and what you miss when the mission ends.
Jerry Glavy flew Marine One. He carried multiple presidents into Buckingham Palace, military bases, and cities across the world. Then he pivoted into cyber and space operations and retired as a Lieutenant General. Now he's in the in-between. This is a Work Unscripted conversation about what a...
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Dr. Jordan Swanson on Pediatric Surgery, Building Faces, and a Career Most People Can't Imagine
Dr. Jordan Swanson holds the Linton A. Whitaker Endowed Chair in Pediatric Plastic and Craniofacial Surgery at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia — one of the top-ranked children's hospitals in the country. He reconstructs the faces of children born without ears, children whose skulls do not…
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Nate Sexton on Going Pro, Sexton Firebird, & Building a Legacy #discgolf #jomezpro
Nate Sexton is a professional disc golf legend, Innova athlete, and one of the top three ambassadors in the history of the sport. In this disc golf career deep dive, Nate breaks down exactly how a career in professional disc golf actually works, what it costs, and what it takes to stay relevant...
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LAID OFF: A Year After the Pentagon. The Story I've Been Afraid to Tell.
Unemployed for a year after leaving the Pentagon. This is my raw story. I spent nearly a decade inside the Department of Defense across three administrations, holding a title nobody had ever held before, doing work I genuinely believed in. When I left, I thought I'd be fine. Everybody told me I'd...
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Dave Mazzeo on Building a Career Between the Stage and the Classrooms of O'Dea High School
What happens when the guy hyping up 70,000 fans at Husky Stadium is the same guy quietly mentoring high school boys in downtown Seattle? That's Dave Mazzeo and his story is one you won't forget. Dave is the Alumni Director at O'Dea High School and one of Seattle's most sought-after independent…
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Andy Alvarado On Leaving Booking.com to Building a One-Man Empire
Andy breaks down how he walked away from a dream job at Booking.com, moved his family to a town of 1,200 people in Oregon, and built a six-figure content creation business with nothing but a phone and a refusal to be perfect. ———————————————————— ABOUT ANDY Andy is a stay-at-home dad, UGC content...
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You’ve Been Thinking About Prison Food (And Prisoners) All Wrong
Career transition, reinvention, and second chances don’t always look the way you expect. Aaron Brooks spent 30 years in government service — 6 on Navy submarines, 20 in federal corrections — teaching people how to cook, lead, and rebuild.In this first episode of Work Unscripted, Aaron breaks down...
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I Talked to 22 People After They Lost Their Jobs. Here's What No One Tells You.
Job loss, layoff, career transition, unemployment — after 20 raw conversations with real people, host Savan Kong discovered that bouncing back has nothing to do with your resume and everything to do with your identity. What he heard completely changed how he thinks about job loss, reinvention…
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Danielle Luhmann on Career Transition From Law to Therapy After an ADHD Diagnosis
Career reinvention, burnout, identity, and the courage to pivot — this episode has all of it. Danielle Luhmann's story is one of the most quietly fearless in Season 1 of Life Between Titles. She went from corporate attorney to licensed therapist, Ironman finisher, ultra-marathon runner, and…
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Matt Kelly on Rebuilding Identity After Career Loss and Starting Over
Matt Kelly hit a point where he had to admit something out loud, he was in his own way. After a decade in high pressure enterprise sales, constant flights, thousand dollar dinners, whiskey until 3 a.m., and living the persona the job demanded, the bill showed up in his body and his mind. He was…
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Tim Salazar on Career Reinvention, UX Design, and Creative Grit
What happens when immigrant parents want stability, but you want to create? Tim Salazar, a first generation Filipino American, joins Life Between Titles to talk about growing up between Northern California, Eastern Washington, and Seattle, chasing film and writing dreams in Los Angeles, and doing...
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Vance Cooper on Finding Your Leadership Vision
In this episode of Life Between Titles, I sit down with my friend Vance, a Philadelphia based healthcare leader with 15 years of experience, plus a PhD in corporate leadership. We talk about why Philly shapes leaders differently, how environment influences who you become, and what it looks like…
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Andrew Merchant on Identity, Career Reinvention After Military Service, and Being a Stay-at-home Dad
What happens when the path you were taught to follow no longer fits the life you are living? In this episode, Savan sits down with Andrew Merchant for a deeply honest conversation about identity, depression, fatherhood, and choosing family over prestige. Andrew shares what it was like growing up…
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The Job Search Process is Broken
Starting 2026 unemployed and wondering what you are doing wrong? Hundreds of applications. Resume rewrites. LinkedIn Premium. Interview coaching. And still nothing moves? This is not about working harder. It is about understanding why the job market changed and how to change your strategy with…
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Jen Tran on Career Transition to UX Design in Her Mid-30s With No Safety Net
"She looked left, looked right, and realized most people in that room would not make the switch. Out of about 20 classmates, only three successfully transitioned." Jen Tran bet on herself in her mid-thirties with doubt, limited support, and the pressure of who you think you are supposed to be at...
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Tré Wright on Career Reinvention After Netflix and the Return to Purpose
"Feedback is a muscle. And most people never train it."After 15 years at Netflix — from DVD operations to launching their first post-production team to becoming an HR Business Partner — Tré Wright left to build something that had been part of everything he'd done all along: coaching people to see...
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Jason Briefel on Job Searching After Years Advocating for Federal Senior Leaders
In this episode of Life Between Titles, Savan talks with Jason Briefel about the unseen world of federal leadership, policy, and workforce reform. Jason shares a decade of experience representing senior executives across government, describing how agencies struggle to invest in their own leaders,...
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A Thanksgiving of Lessons, Gratitude, and Growth
In this Thanksgiving reflection, I look back on the first two months of Life Between Titles and the guests who shaped it. I share the lessons they taught me about leadership, reinvention, identity, creativity, fatherhood, and the courage it takes to walk into uncertainty. Each guest left me with...
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Cheryl Dillon on Career Transition: What Two Decades of Coaching Taught Her About Change
In this episode of Life Between Titles, Cheryl Dillon shares a perspective shaped by years of guiding people through major life transitions. She explains why the hardest moments in life often become the catalysts for reinvention and how challenge, discomfort, and uncertainty can reveal the next...
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Pamela Davis on Reinvention After Raising Two Kids Alone and Going Back to College at 50
In this episode, I sit down with Pamela Davis, a seasoned professional whose journey reflects a lifetime of resilience, responsibility, and renewal. Pamela raised two daughters on her own, guided them through private school, worked long hours to keep them supported, and later stepped into another...
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Ringo Nishioka on Job Loss Recovery After 30 Years in HR
In this first episode of Office Hours, host Savan Kong talks with longtime HR leader Ringo Nishioka about what really happens behind the scenes when layoffs, promotions, and performance reviews unfold. Ringo shares decades of experience from inside the world of human resources, explaining how...
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Showing Up Imperfectly: Health Update and What’s Next for Life Between Titles
In this solo episode, Savan Kong opens up about a recent health scare that forced him to slow down and reflect on what it really means to show up authentically, even when life doesn’t look perfect. After experiencing a seizure earlier in the week, he shares how the moment reshaped his…
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Vanny Whitchelo on Building a New Identity After a Career Pivot
What does it mean to move beyond survival and start creating something that didn’t exist before? In this powerful episode, Savan sits down with Vanny Whitchelo, host of Khmer Voices and co-founder of the Cambodian Cultural Center of Vancouver, for a deeply personal conversation about courage,...
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Vanessa Okoro on Career Transition From Consulting to Federal Service
What if success isn’t about how far you go, but how deeply you listen to yourself along the way? In this episode of Life Between Titles, Savan sits down with Vanessa Okoro, a first-generation Nigerian-American who spent over a decade climbing the ranks of management consulting at firms like Ernst…
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Amazon Layoffs. Government RIFs. Nobody’s Job is Safe — So What Comes Next?
Amazon is cutting tens of thousands of jobs. Federal agencies are facing RIFs and shutdown chaos. Two very different worlds — but both are reshaping what work, purpose, and identity mean in America. I’ve lived in both. I worked at Amazon and served in the Department of Defense. In this episode, I...
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Reet German on Career Reinvention After Selling Everything and Traveling 23 Countries
What would happen if you sold everything, left your job, and traveled the world for a year? In this episode, Reet German shares how one bold decision transformed her life, her marriage, and her relationship with her mother—whom she reconnected with after more than twenty years apart. Born in…
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October Reflections: Finding Grace and Identity in Life Between Titles
This month marks one of the most meaningful periods since starting Life Between Titles. When I began this project a month ago, I never imagined I would already have recorded ten interviews filled with so much honesty, emotion, and connection. What started as simple conversations about job…
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Anne Gore on Identity After USAID Was Dismantled Overnight
What holds us together when the fabric of our life begins to come undone? In this episode of Life Between Titles, host Savan Kong talks with Anne Gore, a veteran, educator, and single mother who has spent her life piecing together meaning through change. Anne begins with a reflection that lingers...
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Katie Spector on Career Reinvention After a Decade in Veteran Services
What happens when purpose is born from pain? In this powerful episode of Life Between Titles, I sit down with Katie Spector, an actress, improviser, yoga instructor, and storyteller. We open with the story of her father, a veteran who lived with Gulf War Syndrome, and how that experience shaped…
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Mike Lee on Job Loss Recovery After Losing His Title and His Marriage
In this deeply moving episode of Life Between Titles, host Savan Kong reconnects with his high school friend Michael Lee for a raw and reflective conversation about identity, fatherhood, and finding peace through life’s storms. From growing up as one of the few Chinese American kids in Wichita,...
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Phil Reiman on Finding Purpose After a Career in Federal Law
In this episode of Life Between Titles, host Savan Kong sits down with Phil Reiman, former Department of Defense attorney and lifelong builder of systems, teams, and ideas. Phil shares his journey from architecture to law, revealing how a deep curiosity about how things work led him to one of the...
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Sarah Johnson on Career Transition After a Tech Layoff at 40
What happens when achievement no longer feels like alignment? In this episode of Life Between Titles, host Savan Kong sits down with Dr. Sarah Johnson, who went from designing marketing campaigns at a fast-growing Seattle startup that went from startup to IPO—to walking away and pursuing a...
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Wes Averkamp on Identity After the Military: A Veteran's Transition Story
What happens when the mission ends, but life keeps going? In this episode of Life Between Titles, host Savan Kong sits down with First Sergeant (Ret.) Wesley Averkamp, a U.S. Army veteran who served multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan. Wes opens up about his journey from small-town Iowa…
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Howie Cohen on Career Reinvention After Leaving Federal Service
Career transition, unemployment, job loss, and identity — Howie Cohen calls himself the Robin Hood of Jobs. He's a strategist, CX advisor, and someone who has spent years helping people find work for free, because helping is simply what he does. This is the very first guest episode of Life…
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I Spent 20 Years Earning Titles. Losing Them Taught Me Everything.
I'm 46. I spent 20 years earning titles across government and technology as a GM, CXO, and UX director. The morning I had none of them, I did not recognize myself. This is the first episode of Life Between Titles, a podcast about the space after one chapter ends and before the next one begins…
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
What happens to your identity when your job disappears? Life Between Titles is the podcast for anyone navigating career transition, job loss recovery, and the hard work of career reinvention — told through honest, human stories.Whether you are between jobs, titles, or directions, Life Between Titles reminds you that the in-between is not the end. It is where transformation begins. Hosted by Savan Kong, a former federal employee and product executive who has lived through layoff, reinvention, and the question of who you are when your title is gone.
HOSTED BY
Savan Kong | Job Loss Recovery and Career Stories
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How many episodes does Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention have?
Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention currently has 50 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention about?
What happens to your identity when your job disappears? Life Between Titles is the podcast for anyone navigating career transition, job loss recovery, and the hard work of career reinvention — told through honest, human stories.Whether you are between jobs, titles, or directions, Life Between...
How often does Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention release new episodes?
Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention has 50 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
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You can listen to Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention?
Life Between Titles: Career Transitions and Reinvention is created and hosted by Savan Kong | Job Loss Recovery and Career Stories.
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