Hobbies can super-charge your career. Guest co-host Yvonne Pearson joins CJ to show how museums, concerts and content creation translate into real corporate skills—discipline, delegation and data-driven marketing included.

How can museum hopping, concert stalking, and content creation make you a sharper operator at work? In this episode of Work in Progress, guest co-host Yvonne Pearson (Coffee With Yvonne / Pink Dollhouse Marketing) joins CJ to unpack the hidden career ROI of their favorite “side-quests.” From podcasting workflows that streamline delegation to SZA’s pop-up lip-gloss launch that nails experiential marketing, we draw a straight line between play and professional payoff.

We cover:

• Why hobbies build transferable skills—discipline, project management, creative resilience—and how to talk about them in performance reviews.

• The art-museum cheat code: using gallery walks to spark campaign ideas and inclusive storytelling.

• Concerts as masterclasses in brand experience (feat. Kendrick Lamar & SZA’s vegan beauty drop).

• Leveraging AI tools (ChatGPT, Riverside “magic clips”) to automate busywork and protect creative energy.

• Practical pushback tactics: discovery calls, marketing briefs, and killing misaligned “fun” ideas before they burn budget.

Listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your shows, and hit follow for sharp takes on thriving inside corporate walls.

Flying solo, CJ Jennings-Hope unpacks why carefully-crafted relationships—not oversharing—fast-track your promotions. She introduces the Cup-of-Sugar Rule for knowing when a coworker bond is strong enough to swap favors, then shares a two-topic conversation hack that lets even introverts build strategic visibility without spilling their life story.

Stick around for a special announcement on the new formats coming to Work in Progress—and how they’ll help you thrive at work even faster.

You finally land a meeting to pitch your big idea—and watch faces glaze over faster than a Teams outage. Turns out the idea isn’t the problem; the delivery is.

In this episode of Work in Progress, Courtney Jennings-Hope and co-host Larone Ellison break down corporate storytelling that actually moves the room:

• Hook → Context → Ask: the three-beat formula that keeps busy execs listening.

• “Pre-comms”: drop links and background before the meeting so your pitch can stay crisp.

• Brevity without buzzwords: why shorter sentences = bigger influence.

• Stop winging it: record yourself, trim the fluff, and own the pause when nerves hit.

Listen for the real-world examples (and mishaps) that prove facts alone don’t sell—stories do. When the meeting ends, you’ll know exactly how to frame ideas, set the scene, and close the deal.

Follow the podcast at @workinprogressthepodcast https://www.instagram.com/Workinprogressthepodcast

Follow CJ on Instagram ⁠Here⁠ or LinkedIn ⁠Here⁠

Follow Larone on Instagram ⁠Here⁠