The full archive.

Eight career frameworks from my conversation with Danny McDermed, a biomedical engineer and singer songwriter from Chicago. The thread running through all eight: most career advice optimizes for speed. Danny optimizes for the quality of every rep he takes. Danny has a demanding day job in biomedical engineering and a serious music career. Instead of treating one as the day job and the other as the dream, he uses each to fuel the other. He says balance isn't standing still. It

A guy with a master's in biomedical engineering told me his day job is the exact reason his music career is going to work. That sounds backwards. Most people who chase a creative career are told to quit the day job, burn the boats, commit. Danny McDermott says the opposite. He says the day job is the weapon, and the people who treat it like a cage are the ones who never finish anything. Danny is a singer songwriter from Chicago. Engineer by training, musician by intent. We sa

Ashton Blaise spent her twenties building the career she was supposed to want. Political media. The kind of work that looks impressive on paper, pays reasonably, and gives you something to say at dinner parties. She was good at it. And somewhere along the way she realized she was living someone else's version of success. This conversation, recorded live at Nightmare Weekend in Chicago, is one of the most honest conversations on authentic voice and career identity we have had