WORK Conversations: The HR Problems No One Wants to Admit

Today we are talking endurance.We breakdown the quote: “The trick in any field, from finance to careers to relationships is being able to survive the short-run problems. So you can stick around long enough to enjoy the long-term growth.” from Same as Ever by Morgan Housel’s.Housel basically says the real trick is surviving the short-term problems long enough to benefit from the long-term ones. Which sounds obvious until you are in the middle of the short-term problems and losing your mind.In case you were wondering, the short-term problems never go away. They just change shape. Different job. Same stuff. New title. Same annoyances. Different company. Same human behavior.Endurance does not get nearly enough credit at work. Talent gets praised. Intelligence gets rewarded. Big ideas get airtime. But most careers are built by the people who can stay steady when things get boring, messy, repetitive, or just plain annoying.We talk about what endurance actually looks like in real life. Not grit as a poster on the wall, but the ability to compartmentalize, keep perspective, and not spiral every time something goes sideways. Showing up with energy even when you do not feel inspired. Doing the work in front of you instead of obsessing over everything else.We also get into effort. The stuff that takes no talent. Being prepared. Paying attention. Staying focused. Not quitting early just because something got hard or uncomfortable.If work feels heavy right now, if you are tired of the short-term problems and wondering when it gets easier, this one is a reminder that staying power matters.This is WORK. Underlined. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

Meet Ariana Ferwerda. She’s the founder of Halfdays. She’s looked at women’s ski apparel, thought it sucked and decided to do something about it. Ariana saw a real gap in the market. Women’s ski gear that was either technical and ugly or cute and useless. She talks about trusting her instinct on opportunity, what it was like to raise money ‘early’ in her career, building a brand and an inventory heavy business in a highly competitive category without pretending she had it all figured out.We also talk about gatekeeping in the outdoor industry - what it’s like to break in and break thru. We also get into why women have been asked to choose between function and identity for so long. If you have ever looked at a product and thought someone should fix this, or wondered how frustration turns into a real business, this one is worth your time.This is WORK. Conversations.Watch full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of WORK Net Net, Erika breaks down why worry feels productive but rarely helps. From the illusion of control to the mental toll of trying to plan for outcomes you cannot predict, this conversation looks at anxiety as an affliction, not a strategy. If you have been spiraling, overthinking, or lying awake trying to solve problems that have not happened yet, this episode is about learning how to trust yourself more and conserve your energy for what actually matters. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of Unsolicited Advice, we talk about what actually makes teams work. How clarity beats charisma. Why initiative matters more than experience. Why most partnerships fail long before the deal is signed. And why avoiding hard conversations always costs more than having them early.If you’ve ever felt stuck, frustrated, or exhausted by the way work actually functions day to day, this one will feel familiar. And hopefully useful.This is WORK. Unsolicited Advice. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

Meet Katrina Gazarian. She’s an HR professional who decided the best way to talk about work right now was through satire, whiskey, and a YouTube show called Drunk at Work.Here’s what I liked about this conversation and why you should listen:Katrina has seen the same problems play out across every kind of company:Bad communication.Poor leadership.Control disguised as process.HR taking the heat for decisions they did not make.She talks honestly about what people get right and wrong about HR, why so many workers are angry right now, and why humor has become such a release valve for how work actually feels.We also get into Gen Z, letting go of control, focusing on the quality of your work instead of the chaos around you, and why most people would be better off worrying less and executing better.If work has been making you tired, cynical, or angry lately, this one will feel familiar. And maybe even a little relieving.As my friend Gayle would always say - Laugh or run.This is WORK. Conversations. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

I got a text the other night from my friend Erin letting me know that the year of the horse is in fact coming but it’s ok to not be ready yet because we are still in the mysterious hang-time between the lessons of 2025 and the light of 2026.Whew.I’m ready not ready for the fire horse of 2026. Still have some stuff to get organized and work thru.I was talking to my GPT agent this weekend and we were having a conversation on how AI is going to change things for humans. Obviously, we should consider the source, but my GPT was pretty firm that the things that make humans, human is what’s going to offer the greatest protection and antidote to everything AI:The ability to feel, the mess, the vices, the insistence on fixating on the past and the ability to imagine freely into the future. Being creative. Making the same mistakes more than once.This, in a nutshell is what makes work awesome (and terrible).In this episode we look back at 2025 at WORK. Launching Work Like A Girl, evolving to Substack, and a lot of conversations and ideas about failure, resilience, opportunity, creativity, perseverence, and a hope for new and better work - and a new and better you at work.If you’ve been listening along this year, this one closes the loop.This is Work. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode of WORK: Unsolicited Advice, Erika talks through what it really looks like to come out of the worst month of your career still standing. Not with hype or false optimism, but with practical clarity about failure, ownership, restraint, and the underrated skill of rebounding. If something went sideways for you, if you are questioning what comes next, or if you are trying to figure out how to land on your feet without burning everything down, this conversation is for you. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

This topic comes to us complements of Abby Wambach and a handful of former US National Team players. Net/Net let your kid live, fail, grow, struggle, learn, connect and play in peace. They’ll be better for it.This is Work Net/Net. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

Kerri Rosenthal is an artist, a businesswoman, a mom, not someone giving up her ambition (is that what we’re supposed to be doing at work these days?), someone who’s going for it.I watched her this past Saturday stocking pots. I was stacking bedding.I like a woman who doesn’t quit, who doesn’t quite fit in and who has a drive to make something. Kerri is one of those people.Listen to what she has to say.This is WORK What She Said.Watch the full episode on YouTube. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe

This headline somehow feels both shocking and completely unsurprising.The McKinsey and Lean In Women in the Workplace study is out, and the takeaway is bleak. Fewer companies care about advancing women. Even fewer care about advancing women of color. And somehow, we are now talking about an “ambition gap” like women just collectively woke up and decided to want less.Let’s be clear. Women are still paid less. Still underrepresented in the rooms that matter. Still doing most of the work at home. Still being asked to show up like nothing else changed after Covid, after MeToo, after the great return to office squeeze.On this episode of Net Net, we talk about why this moment at work feels so brittle. Why job security feels fake. Why trust in the promise of work is eroding. And why more women are quietly asking themselves what all this effort is actually for.This is not about one group winning and another losing. That zero-sum framing is part of the problem. The real work is opening the aperture. More voices. More paths. More people being given a real shot, and actually being supported when they take it.If you work with people, lead people, or care about what work is turning into right now, this one is worth your time.This is WORK Net/Net. Get full access to WORK at erikaayersbadan.substack.com/subscribe