Podcast
To The Top: Inspirational Career Advice
Hosted by Omaid Homayun · EN
We interview authors, entrepreneurs, and thoughts leaders to share their blueprints for success that you can also apply in your own life.
16episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
#127 Travis Rea: Embracing the White Belt Mentality
Feb 301:46:12Tap to summarizeWhat happens when a classically trained chef who cooked at Michelin-starred restaurants decides the future of cooking isn't fire—it's light? Today's guest is Travis Rea, Head of Culinary at Brava, the company that's reimagining home cooking with an oven that uses infrared light instead of traditional heat. But Travis's path to revolutionizing kitchen technology wasn't straightforward. Born and raised in Houston, he grew up watching his mom cook from scratch and fell in love with the transformation of ingredients at just eight years old. That passion led him to ditch a conventional business career for culinary school in San Francisco, where he spent four grueling years cooking at Restaurant Gary Danko—eventually helping the restaurant earn its Michelin star. But after years of vampire hours and relentless pressure, Travis made a bold pivot back to the business world, spending eight years at Williams-Sonoma developing over 800 food products and collaborating with legendary chefs like Thomas Keller. When he first heard about Brava—a startup claiming they could sear a steak in seven minutes using light bulbs—he thought it was "total nonsense." Now, eight years later, Travis has helped build a product that's been used over 13 million times, with a digital library of 9,000+ recipes. This is a story about knowing when to pivot, surrounding yourself with people smarter than you, and why the best career moves often require you to embrace being a beginner all over again. What You'll Learn in This Episode: How failing a class became the wake-up call that changed everything – Why Travis's freshman year failure was "one of the best things that happened" to him and taught him the importance of living up to his own potential The real cost of following your passion – Why Travis walked away from Michelin-starred kitchens after realizing he loved cooking but couldn't sustain the restaurant lifestyle for 30 years How to know when you're ready for a pivot – The signals Travis noticed (and ignored) that revealed he was reading cookbooks while his peers read marketing journals, and what that meant for his career Why working for the best matters more than the biggest paycheck – Travis's philosophy on taking lower-paying jobs at elite organizations early in your career and how it compounds over time The white belt mentality in action – What it's like to be the only "cook" in a house full of physicists and engineers, and why being the least qualified person in the room might be exactly where you need to be Get your free copy of The Career Pivot Playbook: https://www.omaid.me/newsletter
Transcribe →#126 Sahand Dilmaghani: Everything Is Solvable - Building Terra Kaffe Against All Odds
Jan 2801:26:32Tap to summarizeSahand Dilmaghani is the founder and CEO of Terra Kaffe, a design-led coffee company reimagining the home espresso experience. Frustrated by the limitations of pod-based machines and the outdated technology dominating the super-automatic espresso category, Sahand set out to build something better—a beautifully designed, app-connected espresso machine that delivers café-quality coffee at the push of a button. What started with him walking the streets of SoHo with two prototypes and eating one meal a day to conserve cash has grown into a company serving tens of thousands of customers who demanded more from their daily coffee ritual. With a background spanning finance, hardware, and design, and fluency in Chinese that took him from Saturday school as a kid to manufacturing facilities in Shenzhen, Sahand brought a unique perspective to an industry that hadn't innovated in decades. Today, Terra Kaffe's machines—from the flagship TK-02 to the compact Demi—represent what happens when you refuse to accept the status quo and build with relentless attention to detail. In this episode, you'll learn: How Sahand's parents' immigrant journey shaped his "everything is solvable" mentality and entrepreneurial grit The moment he realized the espresso machine industry was ripe for disruption—and why DeLonghi's executives completely missed it Why the best ideas get a 50/50 reaction—half your friends think you're crazy, half think it's brilliant—and why that's exactly where you want to be How to navigate the hundreds of daily decisions that can make or break your business without letting perfect become the enemy of done The critical difference between asking "should I do this?" versus "can I do this?"—and why it defines your entire career trajectory Get your free copy of the Career Pivot Playbook here: https://www.omaid.me/newsletter
Transcribe →#125 Dan Stein: Career Truths Nobody Tells You
Jan 1901:44:59Tap to summarizeDan Stein is a former recruiter at Google, SnapChat, and the VC firm A16Z. His wellness journey was featured in Men's Health and he launched an athletic apparel brand focused on mental health called Pax. Dan has also visited over 30 countries. In this episode we discuss: -The best career advice from a recruiter's perspective -Why money is a renewable resource, advice from his dad that has helped him take more calculated risks -How a cross-country move and a chance encounter with a waitress helped him land a job at Google -Why "being seen" matters more than the perfect resume -Why your manager can make or break your career -The most important life lesson from visiting 31 countries -What he means by 'finding what works for you' around health & fitness and more Get my free Career Pivot Playbook to help navigate your next move: www.omaid.me/newsletter Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/omaidhomayun/
Transcribe →#124 Josh Pankow: Becoming Indispensable
Jan 1201:13:06Tap to summarizeMy guest today is Josh Panko, President of Leaf Trading Cards. Josh's journey in the sports card industry started at age seven when he opened a card shop in his basement. That childhood passion turned into a remarkable career that's taken him from working at card shops as a teenager, to Upper Deck's product development team, to now leading one of the most creative trading card companies in the industry. What I love about Josh's story is how he built his career by working every angle of the business—retail, distribution, manufacturing, customer service. He learned the entire supply chain, which gave him a perspective that few in the industry have. And today, at Leaf, he's creating some of the most innovative products in the space, from on-card autographs of Hollywood legends like Al Pacino and Clint Eastwood, to unique sports card concepts that major licensed manufacturers can't touch. This conversation is packed with wisdom on hard work, taking initiative, building relationships, and staying humble even as you climb the ladder. Whether you're in the trading card world or not, Josh's lessons on career development and leadership are gold. In this episode we discuss: Why working every level of your industry early in your career creates an unfair advantage - and how Josh's experience in retail, distribution, and manufacturing shaped his leadership at Leaf The handwritten letter strategy that landed Josh his dream job at Upper Deck - and why his father's unconventional advice to FedEx overnight it to the CEO actually worked How being kind to everyone (especially people outside your department) can fast-track your career - Josh's finance department friendships got his projects prioritized over senior colleagues Why Josh would rather employees take initiative and make mistakes than wait for permission - and the Shawshank Redemption lesson about not asking to go to the bathroom The "harder you work, the luckier you get" philosophy - and how Josh turned clocking out at 5pm then returning to work unpaid into career-defining opportunities Get my free Career Pivot Playbook to help navigate your next move: www.omaid.me/newsletter Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/omaidhomayun/
Transcribe →#123 Kendall Berg: Secrets of the Career Game
Jan 501:19:15Tap to summarizeKendall Berg is a career strategist and author of Secrets of the Career Game who helps ambitious professionals navigate corporate politics with integrity and transform strong performance into visible, undeniable value. After being told early in her career that "everybody loves having you on their team, but nobody likes working with you," she dedicated herself to learning the unspoken rules of advancement—and was promoted five times in six years. Now, through her coaching practice and her tactical, no-nonsense approach, Kendall teaches thousands of clients across 27 countries how to earn more, advance faster, and feel in control of their career trajectory without burning out or losing themselves in the process. In this episode, you'll discover: Why your boss has NO idea what you're actually doing—and the weekly habit that fixes this blind spot The one person you must talk to during interviews that reveals the REAL company culture (hint: it's not the hiring manager) How asking for help makes people think MORE highly of you—the counterintuitive psychology that changes everything The "influencer list" strategy: Why you're networking with the wrong people and how to identify the 5 who actually control your career Why 82% of jobs are filled before they ever hit the job board—and what to do about it Check out Kendall's website: www.thatcareercoach.net Get my free Career Pivot Playbook to help navigate your next move: www.omaid.me/newsletter Follow me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/omaidhomayun/
Transcribe →#122 Jamie Siminoff: Lessons From Building Ring
Dec 29Tap to summarizeJamie Siminoff is the CEO and founder of Ring, the camera company that transformed home security. While his viral Shark Tank episode didn't yield a deal from the sharks, it launched the video doorbell company. In 2018, Ring sold to Amazon for $1 billion. Jame published a book titled Ding Dong: How Ring Went from Shark Tank Reject to Everyone's Front Door. In this episode we discuss: -the greatest lessons from his failures -the 1 question he'd ask James Dyson in an elevator -why often the most important decisions are the ones we say "no" to -how the best thing that never happened was not getting acquired by ADT -what he learned about the relationship between money and happiness -the best career advice he ever received -the nicest thing anyone has ever done for him and more -- go to www.omaid.me to sign up for the Career Compass newsletter where I share the best career advice from high achievers
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