9 to 5ish with theSkimm Podcast

Dawn Staley helped Team USA’s women’s basketball team win gold at the ‘96 Olympics. It was the highlight of her career. Yet she fell into a depression that was so bad, she didn’t even want to look at a basketball. Nothing prepared her to process reaching such a milestone. She was left asking herself: now what? With a resumé is full of career-highs (hi, 3x national champ), Dawn says the real reward isn’t the trophy – it’s all the work it took to get there. Dawn gets into it all in her new memoir, "Uncommon Favor."



In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Dawn also shares: 

 

How many shoes she has in her collection (sneakerheads beware)



Why she aspired to play in the NBA – instead of the WNBA – growing up 



How the taboo nature of mental health stopped her from asking for help post-Olympics



Why she was insulted when approached for a coaching job 



The one thing she wants to see change for women athletes this year



PS: Dawn’s memoir is out now.

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Melanie Masarin once pitched Glossier’s founder to do a pop-up at a former fried chicken shop. Her response? “I don’t get it, but I trust you.” It was a career-defining moment for her. Because getting approval from the founder meant she couldn’t afford to mess it up. Listen as Melanie shares why being given major responsibilities in her mid-twenties shaped her career. Plus, how it prepared her to start Ghia, the non-alcoholic apéritif that’s now a millennial bar-cart staple. 

In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Melanie also shares: 

Her food-centered core memories growing up in the French Riviera 



The money-shock she experienced attending Brown University 



The once-in-a-lifetime chance she had to design the Glossier flagship store



Her journey shifting from founder-to-CEO mode, and the difficulties that come with it



How pivoting Ghia’s launch strategy actually paid off 





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Alice Waters never cared about making money. After more than 50 years in business, she still doesn’t. She opened her restaurant, Chez Panisse, with money that friends and family lent her. They had no expectations of ever seeing it again. It’s no surprise, given she’s sparked a slow food revolution where consuming food slowly and resisting the industrial food system is the name of the game. Some call her the “mother of the farm-to-table movement”. Alice says: it’s just the way things ought to be. 



In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Alice shares: 

The visit to a certain European country that changed the trajectory of her life 



How disrupting the traditional hierarchy of kitchens kept Chez Panisse alive



Why she doesn’t care about money – and when she maybe should’ve 



The last thing her mom said to her, and how having supportive parents shaped her career





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Karissa Bodnar once got advice from a peer – she needed real friends, not just “deal” friends. It wasn’t a dig. Entrepreneurship is lonely. And if Karissa was going to make it as a founder, she’d need friends who cared about her and not the number of zeros in her bank account. Karissa sits down with us to share how she found those kinds of friends, the time she got ghosted out of a big investment, and what she really thinks about those beauty influencer trips. 

In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Karissa also shares: 

 

Why she affectionately refers to herself a “dirt road diva” 



How growing up in a small Washington town shaped her entrepreneurship



How the passing of her friend, Kristy, inspired her to start Thrive Causemetics 



The lesson she learned from being ghosted by a potential investor 





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Kristen Kish didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming the first woman of color to win Top Chef—or of one day hosting the show. She grew up in the Midwest as a Korean adoptee and those wins hadn’t crossed her radar. But with a little luck—and a lot of support—she got there. Listen as Kristen shares how one mentor changed everything by challenging her to think beyond day-to-day dinner service and chase a career she never thought was possible. In this episode of 9 to 5ish, Kristen shares: 

Who’s cooking she loves the most (chefs, they’re just like us)

The one woman who helped Kristen unlock her potential 

What changed when she went from being a relatively broke chef to winning Top Chef

How she confronted her ego when writing her memoir, Accidentally On Purpose



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