About this podcast
What it really takes to build a career and life you're proud of, told by the people who've actually done it.
The Capability Edge is real career stories from leaders across every industry. The pivots nobody posts about. The failures that turned out to be the whole point. The fetal position moments that are way more common than anyone admits. And the decisions that actually built the career they have now — not the cleaned-up version, the real one.
Hosted by Candice Mitchell, founder and CEO of Talent Collective, USA Today bestselling author of Choose You: For the People Who Refuse to Disappear, and a practitioner with nearly 20 years inside People functions. Solo episodes cover talent strategy, people capability, and meeting this moment, because AI is rewriting the rules and the organizations that bring their people along are the ones that will still be standing.
This is not a highlight reel. This is the hallway conversation, out loud, on purpose.
New episodes every Friday.
Previously published as Development Nerds.
Subscribe: talentcollective.org | Follow Candice on LinkedIn
Episodes
The newest 20 of 127 episodes
- Your network is your net worth: How relationships build better businesses | Jason Frost · 53 min · Episode 163You can work harder, chase the next title, and try to prove everyone wrong. But what happens when working harder isn't enough? Jason Frost, CEO of The Fractional Network and a…
- The career pivots, mental health and lessons that shape us | Mike Orlowski · 55 min · Episode 161What happens when the path you've chosen stops working for you? Mike Orlowski knows a thing or two about starting over. He's worked in recruiting, built his own businesses, moved…
- 5 Reasons People Will Never Go Out of Style in the AI Era · 27 min · Episode 160While everyone zigs toward AI, Candice Mitchell, founder of Talent Collective and USA Today bestselling author of Choose You, is zagging toward people. In this episode of The…
- Stop waiting to be noticed: Build the career you want | JD Dillon · 59 min · Episode 159What happens when being good at your job is not enough? JD Dillon has spent his career working across movie theaters, Walt Disney World, learning and development, technology…
- The Future of Talent Development: 5 Shifts for 2027 · 44 min · Episode 158The future of talent development in 2027: only 19% of teams are seen as a strategic partner, down from 23%, while budgets and demand keep growing. Talent Development has never…
- Hired Then Ghosted: Why Sometimes You Just Have To Keep Going | Jason Lauritsen · 55 min · Episode 157Jason Lauritsen sold copiers out of a minivan in rural Iowa, got sued by his old employer for starting a competing firm, watched his new business partner disappear into addiction…
- Build vs Buy Is the Wrong Question · 16 min · Episode 156Most leadership teams walk into the build versus buy conversation with two camps already formed and zero diagnosis done. In this solo episode, Candice breaks down why that…
- You Don't Have To Fit In To Succeed | Kassy LaBorie · 52 min · Episode 155Kassy LaBorie built her career on technology nobody wanted to touch and colors nobody told her to wear. She was on the training team at WebEx on September 11th, the day the whole…
- 85% of Employers Say Skill Development Is Their Top Priority. So Why Is L&D Still The First To Get Cut? · 41 min · Episode 15485% of employers say upskilling is their number one priority. 71% say they expect to cut their Learning & Development budget when things get tight. I can't make those two numbers…
- What If Your Career Could Bring You Joy? With Jenny Zook · 55 min · Episode 153What if the career path you were taught to follow is not the only way to build a good life? In this episode, I sit down with Jenny Zook, a former middle school teacher turned…
- Hiring an L&D Person? Here's What Those Letters After Their Name Actually Mean · 20 min · Episode 150Need the full breakdown in writing along with the comparison matrix? Get the full comparison and download here. You're staring at a resume with three sets of initials after the…
- What it takes to build a successful business, and is it worth it? With David Jones · 58 min · Episode 149Some careers happen because everything goes according to plan. Most don't. David Jones grew up in a single-parent household, became the first person in his family to go to…
- AI-Proof Companies: Why the Winners Won't Be the Most Automated Runtime · 24 min · Episode 148Everyone is talking about how to AI-proof their career. I think we're asking the wrong question. The question I've been thinking about is this: What makes a company AI-proof?…
- Nolan Hout: The Billable Hour Is Dying · 57 min · Episode 147Nolan Hout has spent 15 years at InfoPro Learning without ever doing the same job twice. In this episode we talk about the culture that made that possible, the shift happening…
- Is the Training Needs Analysis keeping us stuck in Order-Taker land? · 23 min · Episode 146I do not run a training needs analysis. I have not run one in years, and it is one of the most strategic decisions I have ever made about my own work. The traditional training…
- Why L&D Gets Cut First in the AI Era with Dr. Nigel Paine · 1 h 1 min · Episode 145Guest: Nigel Paine, former CLO, organizational learning researcher, author of five books. A room full of executives is working out how AI changes their business. Real…
- How to Work WITH AI Without Becoming Replaceable | The Capability Edge · 13 min · Episode 144Fighting AI is like trying to fist-fight the ocean — you're going to lose. The professionals who stay relevant in an AI world aren't resisting the technology; they've learned to…
- The brutal truth about AI in L&D with Markus Bernhardt · 1 h 1 min · Episode 143Is your AI implementation just busy work? Learn to spot the difference between genuine AI transformation and buying empty tools. Many businesses mistake purchasing software for…
- The business advice women need to hear · 51 min · Episode 141What if success was not about building bigger, but building intentionally? In this episode, Caitlin, founder of Liquid Form Design, talks about building a business that supports…
- The hard truth about building a career you love · 54 min · Episode 139What if career growth had less to do with strategy and more to do with who you become along the way? Let’s hear Candice with Jessica Miller-Merrell, founder of Workology, talk…
