F'ing Up

Hunter Smith has experienced rocket ship success, both in the world of music and craft beer. Most recently, he built a brewing company and hospitality group that soared, until COVID hit. He found himself holding the pieces of a wildly successful venture that suffered the effects of something unexpected. 

About Hunter Smith

Hunter Smith is the founder and former President of Champion Brewing Company and Champion Hospitality ...

Arielle Kilroy is a successful CEO, spending time growing her career at companies like Sierra Club, Mozilla and Small Improvements. Though she has achieved the ultimate title, she didn’t have an easy road getting there. She encountered many bumps which taught her hard lessons, shaking her belief system at times.

About Arielle Kilroy

Arielle Kilroy is a co-founder and CEO at Dado, an Employee Experience Management startup. P...

Scott Landers grew up on a farm in Texas, forced to grow up quickly and tend to the needs of the farm. Some days that meant driving the tractor and some days that meant ditching the broken down tractor to walk 40 acres back home. This early education prepared Scott for hard work with grit and determination, but it didn’t come without its challenges as there was a learning curve when it came to working with others as opposed to alwa...

Kit Campoy has a successful career in retail, working for well known brands such as Anthropologie, Lucky Brand Jeans, Old Navy, and Tilly’s. She worked her guts out in each of her roles - dedicated to the core. With that level of dedication came a realization that working hard and long doesn’t always pay off. There were some tough realities she had to face in her journey.

About Kit Campoy

Kit Campoy spent 24 years...

Rita Cidre’s resume is impressive, her career trending up and to the right. She steadily worked her way toward the top however, once there, she had an identity crisis. She found it hard to find the joy in herself and her every day work. Everything she wanted was in her lap yet she struggled to feel successful and satisfied. Listen to Rita’s F’ing Up story to hear the full details!

About Rita Cidre

Rita Cidre is a ...

Carly DeFilippo has spent her career supporting companies through copywriting, marketing and brand strategy. Though she was fortunate enough to work for household names, Carly spent periods in her career where she felt stuck, not doing what she truly enjoyed, in unsupportive cultures.

About Carly DeFilippo

Carly DeFilippo is the co-founder of Cognoscenti Creative, a Denver-based branding and creative studio. Her career has spann...

Liam Darmody is the kind of employee you want on your team. He’s driven, passionate, and has an appetite to learn. Despite this, Liam has experienced some unexpected twists and turns in his career journey that will take you by surprise. Listeners will be relieved to hear just how normal he is and how he, too, has experienced trials and tribulations in the workplace.

About Liam Darmody

After nearly two decades scaling operat...

Rebekah Bastian's resume is impressive. She worked for companies like Microsoft and Zillow and authored a book, Blaze Your Own Trail, which led to her starting her own company, OwnTrail. Despite positive traction with OwnTrail, Rebekah was met with a challenging feat of raising capital in order to continue to grow OwnTrail. Ultimately, the raise was unsuccessful and she turned to finding a company to acquire OwnTrail, which me...

Alex Poon immigrated to the US during a pivotal time in his life, just in time for 8th grade. He encountered numerous challenges such as not knowing English, navigating cultural norms, and looking around and not seeing examples of himself. Alex pushed himself to work hard and overcome obstacles, but found himself struggling with the desire to always want more and finding it hard to be satiated. 

About Alex Poon

Alex Poon is a th...

Tessa Wolf spent the first several years of her career unhappy in her work. She had the drive to make something special of her career yet, she couldn’t seem to land somewhere in a role that matched her. Desperate to find her footing, she found herself in startups and felt seen for the first time in her career. She gave everything to her work and ultimately risked her health by not understanding the importance of healthy boundaries....

About Wen Hsu

As an immigrant woman who spent 15+ years in the engineering leadership role in the tech industry, Wen Hsu knows intimately the challenge that immigrant women experience. She lost herself in the quest of climbing the corporate ladder, felt the need to show up in a certain way to gain the recognition she deserved, exhausted from the constant need to prove herself. As she continued advancing in her career, she felt a par...

Toni Dada witnessed the benefits of a career in consulting and immediately knew that’s what she would want to pursue. Toni worked tirelessly to combat “new girl” experiences and health challenges and rose to start her own successful growth and innovation studio. 

About Toni Dada

Toni Dada, is the founder of Enterscale, a growth and innovation studio that supports founders with strategy and growth execution.  

Toni is a data ...

Katy McFee is the Founder and CEO of Insights to Action Coaching & Consulting. She spends time helping women become executives and thrive as senior leaders. Katy, in her own journey, struggled to get to the top tier of leadership. It seemed no matter how successful and results driven she was, that top layer was constantly just out of reach. Katy shares honestly about her experience and how she overcame the hurdles, ultimately b...

Sarah Haggard is Founder and CEO at Tribute. Though she has a track record of success, it’s been layered with personal complications along the way including assisting a parental figure through substance abuse struggles. Sarah took on the role of adult at a young age which she later discovered stunted her in many ways when it came to actually growing up and then having to navigate the workforce.

About Sarah Haggard

Sarah is ...

This recording is a trailer for the second season of the F'ing Up Podcast. The host, Deanne Rhynard, shares what to expect from the show this season. 

Episodes will be released on Wednesdays every other week beginning on September 20, 2023.

The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed are the speakers’ own and do not represent the

views, thoughts, and opinions of the companies or individuals referenced du...

Season 1, Episode 11 with Chris Efthymiou was originally released on June 7, 2023.



Chris Efthymiou is a successful business leader founding companies and rising up the way through insurance and tech. Despite the success, he fought uphill to find confidence in his career. Being introverted, nervous to speak in front of others and suffering from self-titled, RAPS (right arm perspiration syndrome) gave him plenty to...

Season 1, Episode 10 with Sarah Moses was originally released on May 24, 2023.



Sarah Moses rose to success quickly. She is in her dream job, at a dream company, working in partnership with an amazing CEO. However, Sarah nearly threw the opportunity in the garbage can when she first declined the opportunity. Listen to learn more about Sarah’s journey.


About Sarah Moses:

Sarah Moses is the C...

Season 1, Episode 9 with Christy Johnson was originally released on May 10, 2023.


Christy Johnson is an award winning educator and deeply experienced strategist, owning and operating her own firm. One interaction with her and you are immediately impressed by both her intellect and immense kindness. She is impossible not to like, her care for others speeps out and it’s no wonder she’s so accomplished. All that said, sh...

Season 1, Episode 8 with Everette Fortner was originally released on April 26, 2023.


Everette Fortner is a leader in the career management field, spending a bulk of his career at the University of Virginia both on the main and Darden campus. Prior to his career in the Education Sector he spent a great deal of his career in Consumer Packaged Goods, having a lot of fun including increasing Oreo brand presence in Asia an...