130. Invisible at Work? Your Personal Brand Is the Problem
Release Date: 03/09/2026
136. Most Candidates Waste the First 5 Minutes of Their Interview — Here's What to Do Instead
Secrets of the Career Game
Hiring managers decide who they want within the first five minutes of an interview. If your answer to "tell me about yourself" sounds like everyone else's, you are already behind. In this episode, I break down how to lead with your personal brand, handle small talk strategically, and explain your experience in a way hiring managers actually remember — so you stop losing offers to people with the same qualifications. In this episode: personal branding in interviews · how to answer tell me about yourself · interview communication strategy · how to talk about your accomplishments confidently...
info_outline
135. You're Qualified But Still Getting Overlooked — Here's Why with Nicholette Hemingway
Secrets of the Career Game
You're qualified. So why does it feel like no one notices? The problem usually isn't your experience. It's how you talk about it. In this episode, I sit down with career coach, Amazon best-selling author, and self-proclaimed "interview ologist" Nicolette Hemingway to unpack one of the most costly — and completely fixable — mistakes professionals make: assuming their work speaks for itself. Spoiler: it doesn't. And that belief alone could be what's standing between you and the job, promotion, or recognition you've already earned. Nicolette brings over 25 years of experience across every...
info_outline
134. How to Plan a Job Search Before You Burn Out and Make the Wrong Move
Secrets of the Career Game
Too many people wait until work becomes unbearable before they start looking, and that is how smart professionals end up making desperate career moves. I have seen it happen over and over again. A toxic boss, a role that stopped fitting, a project that drains you, and suddenly you are trying to escape fast instead of thinking clearly. A strong job search starts long before you hit that breaking point. I walk through how to define what actually matters to you, how to build your personal brand, how to identify target roles and target companies, and how to use networking and internal mobility to...
info_outline
133. You’re Not Bad at Interviews, You’re Preparing the Wrong Way with Irina Posan
Secrets of the Career Game
Qualified professionals are getting rejected for jobs they should absolutely be landing. That’s why I wanted to chat with fellow career coach Irina Posan. We’ve both seen too many smart, ambitious professionals treat interviews like a memory test instead of a strategy exercise. Irina knows this world well as a former HR director and the host of the Career Cravings podcast. In our conversation, we get into why overpreparing can actually hurt your interview performance, how candidates lose clarity under pressure, and what it really takes to stand out in a crowded job market. We also talk...
info_outline
132 Stop Applying to Everything | The Job Search Strategy That Actually Gets Interviews
Secrets of the Career Game
Applying to more jobs is not the answer if your search has no strategy behind it. Too many smart professionals spend weeks applying, tweaking, and refreshing their LinkedIn profiles, yet still feel nothing is moving. In this episode, I talk about why a scattered job search creates more frustration, not better results, and what to focus on instead if you want to land the right role. I walk through the three parts of your search you can actually control: how many jobs you apply to, how tailored your resume is, and how intentional your networking outreach is. I also share why I want you to stop...
info_outline
131. Everyone Looks Rich Online: The Spending Reset You Need | Lucy from The Lucy Space
Secrets of the Career Game
Everyone looks rich online. New houses, European summers, luxury cars, and somehow no one ever mentions what it costs or whether it is intentionally helping you build the life you actually want. We work 40 hours a week, so of course we want to treat ourselves to nice dinners and beautiful trips. The difference is not whether we spend, but how we approach those decisions so we can build generational wealth and still create a rich life. I had a conversation with financial expert Lucy from The Lucy Space about what intentional spending actually looks like. Directing your money instead of letting...
info_outline
130. Invisible at Work? Your Personal Brand Is the Problem
Secrets of the Career Game
Your personal brand is going to be the single most important investment that you make this year. Not your resume, not another certification, not even your performance review. Your personal brand is essentially your professional reputation personified. It shapes what senior leaders, peers, and stakeholders say about you when you are not in the room, and those conversations directly influence your opportunities long before you ever see them. I see high performers get stuck all the time because they assume hard work speaks for itself. It doesn’t, at least not entirely. Performance absolutely...
info_outline
129. Don’t Make a Career Pivot Until You Answer These 5 Questions with Michelle Schaefer
Secrets of the Career Game
Making a career pivot without clarity is how smart professionals end up in the wrong job twice. Before you make a career change, you need a clear destination. That’s exactly why I wanted to interview Michelle Schaefer, bestselling author of Cultivating Career Growth, to talk about what actually creates a successful career transition. We walk through the five questions that create real career direction. We talk about the work that energizes you versus the work that drains you. We unpack what transferable skills really are, what real company culture actually looks like, and the non-negotiables...
info_outline
128. How to Communicate So Senior Leaders Actually Listen
Secrets of the Career Game
You’ve probably left a meeting thinking, I said all the right things… so why did nothing move? I’ve been there. I once had an executive tell me that talking to me felt like drinking from a fire hydrant. I was giving context. I was giving data. I was giving analysis. What I wasn’t giving was clarity on what I needed. In senior rooms, information is not influence. Alignment is. In this episode of Secrets of the Career Game, I talk about the simple shift that changed how I run meetings, pitch strategy, and communicate with leaders. The difference between dumping information and telling a...
info_outline
127. Why Your Team Waits for You: The Hidden Cost of Solving Every Problem with Leah Marone
Secrets of the Career Game
If your team can’t move without you, you don’t have leadership; you have dependence. Kendall Berg sits down with Leah Marone to unpack the Support, Don’t Solve leadership model. This is the shift that stops constant interruption. It also builds real ownership. Leah explains why leaders often jump in too quickly, how this creates a dependency loop, and what to do instead. You will hear the first move that changes everything: validation first. Then questions. Then space. This episode is for the manager who is always on call. It is also for the high performer who wants to advance without...
info_outlineYour personal brand is going to be the single most important investment that you make this year. Not your resume, not another certification, not even your performance review. Your personal brand is essentially your professional reputation personified. It shapes what senior leaders, peers, and stakeholders say about you when you are not in the room, and those conversations directly influence your opportunities long before you ever see them.
I see high performers get stuck all the time because they assume hard work speaks for itself. It doesn’t, at least not entirely. Performance absolutely matters, but your reputation shapes how people interpret that performance and whether they believe you can operate at the next level.
In this episode, we discuss:
• What is a personal brand at work, and why does it matter for promotion
• How does personal brand influence performance reviews and nine-box ratings
• Why do high performers get overlooked for leadership roles
• How do you identify and communicate your unique value at work
• How long does it take to rebrand yourself inside a company