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Career Blast in a Half

Career Blast in a Half

By: Loren Greiff
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A third of our lives is spent working. Our careers, a source of identity and fulfillment, can often turn on us and become consuming. We obsess about how to create impact and feel valued. How can I get back to skipping to work on Mondays? We struggle to feel purposeful and at the same time feel clueless about how to go from where are now to where we want to go. If you crave career simplicity and action you’re in the right place. Career Blast, In a Half is your 30 minutes of weekly simple, powerful and actionable career fuel to keep your success track no matter where you are in your career or what’s to come next.

Copyright 2025 All rights reserved. 294125 Career Success Economics
Episodes
  • The Room Where It Happens: Why Group Coaching Beats Going Solo | Cecilia Aviles

    The Room Where It Happens: Why Group Coaching Beats Going Solo | Cecilia Aviles
    Dec 10 2025
    Most C-suite executives resist group coaching. They think it's beneath them. That they need one-on-one attention. That the cool kids don't do groups. But here's what they're missing: The executives landing fastest aren't going it alone - they're in rooms with other sharp leaders who push them, connect them, and amplify their momentum. Group coaching isn't about splitting attention. It's about multiplying force. The hidden math of going solo One coach. One perspective. One set of connections. Versus: One coach + 10-15 C-suite peers from different industries + guest experts + cross-pollinated networks + collective negotiation intel + real-time market intelligence. That's not diluted support. That's exponential leverage. In this episode: Why the job market playbook from 10 years ago (or even last year) is obsoleteThe real reason networking doesn't work - and what to do insteadHow LinkedIn went from "nice to have" to non-negotiable visibility engineWhy referrals make up less than 10% of applications but 40% of hiresThe hidden talent economy: roles created for people before they're ever postedWhat separates executives who land in 60 days from those still searching at month 9The power of micro-networks (clusters) over massive, generic connectionsHow to build your own digital power circle in 3 stepsWho should NOT be in a group program (and why that matters) A real transformation Before: A 20-year healthcare executive. Over a decade at one company. LinkedIn follower count: under 1,000. No active presence. Outdated job search strategies. No idea how to navigate the new hiring landscape. Then: Joined Portfolio Rocket's group coaching program. Learned to build a voice on LinkedIn. Showed up authentically. Shared vulnerable stories (like iPhone rules for her daughter). Connected with peers across industries - education, design, marketing, advertising. After: 14,000+ LinkedIn followers. A viral post picked up by Angela Duckworth. Global reach. Podcast invitations. A negotiation expert from the cohort coached her through her package. Introductions to Oprah's network within 24 hours. And a career ecosystem that breathes, responds, and remembers. That's not luck. That's the compounding power of being in the room where it happens. Timestamps (0:00) - Intro (1:17) - Why Cece joined group coaching after 10+ years out of the job market (5:00) - The first piece of armor to drop: building a voice on LinkedIn (8:11) - Why job searching today is fundamentally different than even a year ago (10:50) - The hidden job market and roles created before posting (14:30) - Networking is dead. Clustering is alive. (16:40) - Times Square vs. the Sahara Desert: where do you want to be? (19:03) - How to tap into micro-networks and digital power circles (21:28) - The exponential effect: classmates become colleagues, friends, connectors (22:00) - The intangibles: mindset, structure, guardrails, and optimism (25:08) - Who should NOT be in a group program (26:30) - October: 5 people landed. November: still counting. The takeaway Your next role isn't waiting in a job posting. It's being shaped in a conversation you're not part of yet - with people who don't know your name. Unless you're in the room where it happens. Group coaching isn't a compromise. It's a catalyst. Stop going solo. Start going exponential. About Cecilia Aviles Cecilia Aviles (Ceci) is a healthcare executive and nurse leader with over 20 years of experience in healthcare leadership roles - from nurse to manager, director, VP, COO, and CEO - at large health systems and federally qualified health centers. She holds an MBA and is passionate about patient experience, quality care, and developing the next generation of healthcare leaders. Cecilia is a fierce advocate for authenticity, transparency, and lifelong learning. Connect with Cecilia: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ceciliaaviles/ Subscribe to Career Blast in a Half 🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/career-blast-in-a-half/id1670977528 🎵 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3b3kSamj8RbTNNgOg5E5oi?si=a66a3ec936ca4e0c 📺 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpGM7j8croBkkZ4bLqN7DOQ/ About Career Blast in a Half A third of our lives is spent working. Career Blast, In a Half is your 30 minutes of weekly simple, powerful and actionable career fuel to keep your success track no matter where you are in your career or what's to come next. Hosted by Loren Greiff. Work with Loren Join the 30-Day BLAST Program: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/our-programs Connect with Loren: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/ 💬 Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts and let us know what career topics you'd like us to cover!
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    29 mins
  • STOP Networking. Start Clustering | Loren Greiff

    STOP Networking. Start Clustering | Loren Greiff
    Dec 3 2025

    The old idea of “networking” is collecting connections, going wide, showing up everywhere is dead.

    Everyone is visible. Everyone is accessible. And when everyone blends in, no one stands out.

    What the market rewards now isn’t reach. It’s resonance. The tight, intentional circles where trust moves faster than volume and where opportunity spreads long before the job posting ever appears.

    If you’ve been trying to meet more people instead of the right people, you’re playing the wrong game.

    The real problem with traditional networking

    Your network might be huge… but it’s flat. People know you, but they don’t think of you. You’re a name in a feed, not a person in their mental roster.

    Clusters flip that completely.

    Clusters are purposely small, high-trust groups where your story doesn’t need a 15-minute explanation. People understand you, advocate for you, and amplify you ... organically.

    In this episode:

    • Why traditional networking is losing power in the digital age • The rise of micro-communities and why they outperform a huge network • What sociologists discovered decades ago about “weak ties” and why it matters more today • The difference between visibility and resonance (and why resonance wins) • The hidden math: why referrals drive almost 40% of hires with less than 10% of the volume • A step-by-step process to build your own cluster from scratch • Why generosity is your strongest currency in a curated network

    A real before/after transformation

    Before: An executive with thousands of connections but no traction. Their visibility was high, but their resonance was low. No one truly understood their value.

    Then: They shifted focus from audience size to relationship depth — identifying 8–10 people who shared goals, challenged their thinking, and naturally advocated for them.

    After: Their “network” became a power circle. Referrals increased, opportunities accelerated, and they moved from pushing their story out to having opportunities pulled toward them.

    That’s the compounding force of a cluster: Small, intentional, and exponentially more effective than a wide but disconnected network.

    Timestamps

    (0:00) – The truth about job security (0:56) – Why most executives stay too long (1:20) – The myth that “visibility is enough” (2:00) – The death of the generic network (3:05) – What a cluster actually is (4:06) – “Weak ties” and how opportunity really spreads (5:16) – Why the 30-Day Blast exists (6:13) – How micro-communities create built-in trust (7:07) – How to identify your future cluster (8:02) – The referral math that changes everything (9:07) – Final takeaways: Small is big

    The takeaway

    Stop collecting contacts. Start collecting believers.

    Your next opportunity won’t come from a crowded feed — it’ll come from a curated circle that sees your potential long before the rest of the world catches on.

    Small is big. Clusters beat networks. Build the group that amplifies you next.

    Connect with Loren

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/

    Subscribe to Career Blast in a Half

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/career-blast-in-a-half/id1670977528 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3b3kSamj8RbTNNgOg5E5oi YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpGM7j8croBkkZ4bLqN7DOQ/

    About Career Blast in a Half

    A third of your life is spent working. Career Blast in a Half is your weekly 30-minute hit of simple, powerful, and practical career acceleration — built for executives over 40 who want smarter moves, faster wins, and work that finally feels aligned.

    Work with Loren

    Join the 30-Day BLAST Program: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/our-programs
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    10 mins
  • The Career Ladder Is Dead. What Actually Gets You Hired Now | Raina Gandhi

    The Career Ladder Is Dead. What Actually Gets You Hired Now | Raina Gandhi
    Nov 26 2025

    Forget the old playbook. The linear career ladder — degree, loyalty, promotions, retirement — is gone for good.

    Today’s market doesn’t reward tenure, job titles, or waiting your turn. It rewards adaptability, strategic width, and leaders who can go deep without staying narrow.

    If you’re still measuring success by promotions instead of progress, you’re playing a game that no longer exists.

    The real cost of staying ladder-minded

    Three years. That’s the average tenure of a C-Suite leader today. The skills that got you hired five years ago? Already trending obsolete. And in a market moving this fast, the only real job security is the kind you build yourself — through range and relevance.

    In this episode:

    • Why the old equation “progress = promotion” is keeping leaders stuck • The rise of the T-Shaped leader — and why depth alone is now a liability • How adaptability replaced tenure as the top hiring metric • The difference between strategic width and being a generalist • Why projects, not positions, drive credibility in a skills-based market • How to communicate your value on LinkedIn in seconds — the new résumé reality

    A real before/after transformation

    Before: A seasoned executive with deep expertise and a standout vertical — but no visible width. Their experience ran deep, but it looked narrow from the outside.

    Then: They reframed their story around strategic width, showcasing cross-functional experience, adjacent skills, and project-based wins.

    After: They moved from being overlooked as “too specialized” to being the standout candidate who could bridge data, strategy, tech, and communication. Their search accelerated — and so did their offers.

    That’s the power of becoming T-Shaped: not more skills, but the right adjacent ones.

    Timestamps

    (0:00) – Intro (1:13) – Why skills-based hiring is a different market entirely (3:37) – What killed the traditional career ladder (5:20) – Ladder vs. lattice: why upward-only thinking no longer works (8:09) – Depth + breadth: the new definition of progress (10:02) – What a T-Shaped leader actually looks like (14:01) – Strategic width vs. generalist thinking (19:18) – How to show your T-Shape on LinkedIn (21:52) – Projects that signal adaptability (26:41) – The 3-question audit for staying relevant (28:48) – How to strengthen and deepen your T-Shape

    The takeaway

    The market doesn’t reward ladder climbers anymore. It rewards leaders who stay sharp, multidimensional, and adaptable.

    The ladder is dead. The lattice won. Build the shape that gets you hired next.

    Connect with Today's Guest, Raina Gandhi

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rainagandhi/

    Website: https://www.rainagandhi.com/

    Subscribe to Career Blast in a Half

    Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ph/podcast/career-blast-in-a-half/id1670977528?i=1000735380994

    Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3b3kSamj8RbTNNgOg5E5oi?si=6d74e695780f4780

    YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpGM7j8croBkkZ4bLqN7DOQ/

    About Career Blast in a Half

    A third of our lives is spent working. Career Blast, In a Half is your 30 minutes of weekly simple, powerful and actionable career fuel to keep your success track no matter where you are in your career or what's to come next. Hosted by career strategist Loren Greiff.

    Work with Loren

    Join the 30-Day BLAST Program: https://www.portfoliorocket.com/our-programs

    Connect with Loren:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorengreiff/

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/portfoliorocket/

    Leave us a review on Spotify or Apple Podcasts and let us know what career topics you'd like us to cover!
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    30 mins
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