Podcast Summary: Totally Booked with Zibby
Episode: Suzy Welch, BECOMING YOU: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career
Release Date: June 4, 2025
Introduction
In this engaging episode of Totally Booked with Zibby, host Zibby Owens welcomes Suzy Welch, a renowned professor of management practice at NYU Stern School of Business and author of BECOMING YOU: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career. The conversation delves deep into Suzy's personal journey, her innovative methodology for aligning personal values with career aspirations, and the profound impact her work has had on thousands of individuals seeking authenticity in their professional and personal lives.
Guest Background
Zibby Owens begins by highlighting Suzy Welch's impressive credentials:
"Susie Welch is a professor of management practice at NYU Stern School of Business and an expert on personal values and their role in forging meaningful careers. She invented the three scientifically validated digital tools used in the becoming you method, the values bridge PI 360 and the career traits Compass, and is the creator of the Welch Bristol Values Inventory."
[03:33] Zibby Owens
Suzy Welch shares a glimpse into her multifaceted career:
"I had a long and happy career in broadcast journalism... I wrote for O, the Oprah Magazine. And pretty happy doing that as I was raising my four children and having a very busy life with my late husband."
[05:02] Susie Welch
The Genesis of BECOMING YOU
Zibby commends Suzy's book, emphasizing its blend of memoir and practical tools:
"You share the joys and sorrows, your most intimate moments of loss and resilience and motherhood and career and everything. And I feel like not only at the end have I read a great memoir, but then you give all these tools for me to have a better life myself."
[04:07] Zibby Owens
Suzy explains her motivation to write authentically:
"I just let it all... I don't wanna write a boring how to book. I wanna tell the true story of how I came to these ideas."
[04:33] Susie Welch
Developing the Becoming You Methodology
Suzy provides a detailed backstory of how her personal experiences led to the creation of her methodology:
"When my husband got very sick... I ended up being on some boards and doing some stuff like that. But then in 2020, my husband passed away... I was wandering around in the woods of upstate New York with all my children gone and my dogs..."
[05:02] Susie Welch
She recounts the pivotal moment that reignited her professional journey:
"Very fortunately, the great Hoda Kotbi called me up and said, I think it's time for you to come back on TV... But something in me had really changed. But I didn't know what I should do with my life, only that I wanted to do something with my life."
[05:02] Susie Welch
Zibby asks about the inception of the methodology:
"Can you tell everybody a little bit of the backstory, how you decided to teach a class, how you came up with this method, how just all of it came together?"
[04:54] Zibby Owens
Suzy elaborates on the experimental nature of teaching her method at NYU:
"We always were very experimental at NYU. We're very entrepreneurial. Come and try it... the course was needed and it became very well received."
[05:02] Susie Welch
She touches upon the book's development, initially resisting the idea until encouraged by her children:
"I was urged by my children to write the book. And so here it is."
[10:15] Susie Welch
Understanding the BECOMING YOU Methodology
Zibby summarizes the book's core premise:
"Your purpose lies at the intersection of your values, your deeply held beliefs and desires, your aptitude, which is what you're uniquely good at, and your economically viable interests."
[10:32] Zibby Owens
Suzy breaks down the methodology further:
- Values Bridge: Identifying deeply held personal values.
- Aptitudes: Recognizing unique cognitive strengths and personality traits.
- Interests: Understanding what one is passionate about and its economic viability.
She emphasizes the complexity of uncovering one's true values amidst societal and familial influences:
"This is really hard stuff to know because society is screaming and your parents are screaming in your ear what your values should be."
[10:46] Susie Welch
Suzy introduces her Welch Bristol Values Inventory, a tool she developed to help individuals:
"It tells you what your values are, ranked 1 to 15, and it tells you the variance on every single one of them."
[14:08] Susie Welch
Personal Stories and Impact
Zibby highlights examples from the book where individuals transformed their careers by aligning with their true values:
"You have one man who comes into your class and is an investment banker and by the end of it, he is a fashion designer."
[19:09] Zibby Owens
Suzy shares success stories and the emotional journey participants undergo:
"I've seen the reaction is everything from exhilaration to fear to wanting to postpone it for a while. But I've never had anybody go through it and say the process did not get me to something."
[19:56] Susie Welch
She recounts a poignant moment when an MBA student credits her methodology for a significant career shift:
"He said, you totally changed my life. I was going to go into X industry doing something, and now I'm chief of staff at a tech company."
[19:33] Zibby Owens
Aligning Life with Personal Values
Zibby probes into what listeners can do if they find their lives out of alignment after taking the quizzes:
"So what if you take these quizzes and you're like, okay, my life is totally out of alignment in this way... Now what do I do?"
[19:42] Zibby Owens
Suzy advises on embracing the discovery and taking actionable steps:
"Sometimes students say to me, okay, I got it. I know what my purpose is. What's the first step? And I say, that's what the career office is for."
[19:56] Susie Welch
She also addresses the societal pressure to conform to leadership roles, emphasizing that leadership isn't for everyone:
"Society and culture and organizations tend to put us on a conveyor belt towards this thing, leadership. And it's not for everybody."
[22:00] Susie Welch
Suzy introduces the Career Traits Compass, another tool to assess personality traits and their alignment with various work environments:
"It assesses you on four bundles of personality traits... whether that's your place or not."
[22:00] Susie Welch
Personal Reflections and Current Alignment
Zibby inquires about Suzy's personal alignment with her values:
"So where are you today on the alignment yourself with your values and the life you're living?"
[30:09] Zibby Owens
Suzy confidently responds:
"I'd have to say I'm pretty aligned... sometimes, I'll catch myself making a decision out of expedience or out of expectations... I know my values, and I'm gonna walk the talk."
[30:15] Susie Welch
Handling Adversity and Personal Loss
Zibby touches upon a more vulnerable topic discussed in the book:
"In the book, you talk about a more public moment of your career where you lost your job based on falling in love with somebody who was separated but not divorced... How did you rebound from the backlash?"
[25:08] Zibby Owens
Suzy narrates the challenging experience of losing her job due to a personal relationship, the emotional turmoil it caused, and the subsequent support that helped her rebound:
"I was devastated... but life did go on. We pretty quickly afterwards got married, and then we became quite boring."
[25:38] Susie Welch
She reflects on the impact of this experience and her resilience:
"It was a terrible injury... but we ended up writing books together and having a wonderful life together until it got very imminent."
[25:46] Susie Welch
Cultivating Meaningful Relationships
Zibby explores Suzy's views on sustaining a fulfilling marriage:
"How can everybody find that type of joy? Is it something that can be taught or is it just chemistry?"
[28:20] Zibby Owens
Suzy attributes her successful marriage to shared values rather than mere chemistry:
"Jack and I had the exact same values... It made for a very happy marriage... we just loved each other and respected each other."
[28:20] Susie Welch
She contrasts this with her previous unsuccessful marriage, highlighting the importance of aligned values:
"We found that joy... for life partner, what worked was this very strong overlap in values."
[28:20] Susie Welch
Conclusion
In this heartfelt and insightful episode, Suzy Welch shares her journey of personal loss, professional reinvention, and the creation of a methodology that empowers individuals to live authentically aligned with their core values. Through her tools—the Values Bridge and Career Traits Compass—Suzy provides a roadmap for listeners to discover their true purpose, navigate career transitions, and cultivate meaningful relationships.
Key Takeaways:
- Self-Awareness is Crucial: Understanding one's values, aptitudes, and interests is foundational to crafting an authentic life and career.
- Methodological Tools Help: Structured assessments like the Values Bridge and Career Traits Compass can illuminate the path to personal and professional alignment.
- Shared Values in Relationships: Strong, shared values contribute significantly to fulfilling and lasting personal relationships.
- Resilience Through Adversity: Personal setbacks can lead to profound personal growth and new beginnings when approached with self-awareness and support.
Notable Quotes:
"There’s nothing simple or hack like about them, and there’s nothing simple or hack life about life. And so I just poured it out."
[04:33] Susie Welch
"There is no good or bad about it, there’s just you and you are you."
[22:00] Susie Welch
"I know my values, and I'm gonna walk the talk."
[30:15] Susie Welch
For listeners seeking to embark on a journey of self-discovery and authentic living, Suzy Welch's BECOMING YOU offers both inspiration and practical tools to transform aspirations into reality.
Connect with Suzy Welch:
- Books and Resources: Visit SuzyWelch.com for more information on BECOMING YOU and other resources.
- Social Media: Follow Suzy on Twitter and LinkedIn for updates and insights.
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