The Messy Parts
by with Maryam Banikarim
Latest episode
Gen Z Can’t Name One Company They Want to Work For. Here’s Why. |…
Gen Z Can’t Name One Company They Want to Work For. Here’s Why. |…
About this podcast
New career advice and messy stories, every Monday.
Whether you’re at the top, or striving to get there—you may have noticed the one thing people rarely talk about: how hard it is to achieve success. The Messy Parts is the answer—a podcast where you’ll hear about the twists, turns and pivots that shape extraordinary careers. The real messy parts along the way. Host Maryam Banikarim has been through it, so she gets it. Maryam has been a transformative leader across media, hospitality and tech. Her powerhouse resume features more than 20 years in the C-Suite at companies like Hyatt, NBC, and Nextdoor—and she has a vast, influential network to match. On The Messy Parts, she brings you unparalleled access to that network. Deeply honest, vulnerable conversations with Maryam—who is never afraid to ask the questions on everyone's mind. Join us as we get real, unfiltered, and messy.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 71 episodes
- Gen Z Can’t Name One Company They Want to Work For. Here’s Why. | Emi Nietfeld (Part 2) · 32 min · Episode 66When Emi Nietfeld landed her dream engineering job at Google after Harvard, she thought she’d found her forever family. Then she reported sexual harassment, and the company…
- “The Psych Ward Was the Best Place I'd Ever Been”: Emi Nietfeld on Hoarding, Harvard & Rewriting Her Story (Part 1) · 24 min · Episode 65“The psych ward was the best place I’ve ever been.” Not because it was good, but because home was worse. Emi Nietfeld grew up in Minneapolis in a house so full of her mother’s…
- How Eliza Reid Went From Laid Off to First Lady of Iceland · 37 min · Episode 64One night in 2016, Eliza Reid was cooking dinner for her four young kids when a stranger called the family landline and asked if her husband would consider running for president…
- "This Job Is Beneath Me" — How Being the Secretary for a Billionaire Launched a Global Career · 37 min · Episode 63Vote for The Messy Parts! We're nominated for Signal Awards in TWO categories. You can easily vote for us by clicking on the links below. Thank you! Individual Episode…
- Rosebud Baker on Chasing Her Dreams: “It Gets Worse With More Success" · 41 min · Episode 62"If your goal is to feel completed by success, it's gonna get worse and worse the more successful you get." Comedian and former SNL writer Rosebud Baker joins Maryam for a…
- Jake Barton Designed the 9/11 Memorial. One Photo Still Makes Him Cry. · 43 min · Episode 61Jake Barton worked on the 9/11 Memorial Museum for 8 years. One photo still makes him cry: a young firefighter in the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, headed toward the towers, in what…
- Aged Out, Broke, Homeless at 50: How Ron King Became “Donkey King” · 38 min · Episode 60He ran Southern Living and top Time Inc. titles with no college degree — then got fired, and calls it a gift. What followed was darker: broke, aged out of media at 50, and…
- “The Value of Your Values" — Why Jeff Jones Quit Uber & Left Millions on the Table · 40 min · Episode 59Jeff Jones spent his career as one of the most respected CMOs in America — Coca-Cola, Gap, Target — before making the leap to run Uber's global ride-sharing business under…
- Mindy Grossman Worked for Oprah, Barry Diller & Phil Knight — and Says She's Never Been 100% Qualified · 40 min · Episode 58Fired at 24. Turned down her dream job at Nike, then took it anyway. Walked into HSN as the eighth CEO in ten years. Mindy Grossman built one of the least likely careers in…
- Sex, Xanax & Naked Beaches: 20 Legends Drop the PR Filter · 10 min · Episode 57Behind every legendary career is an unfiltered human truth. In this special compilation, 20 of our most notable guests—including Mickey Drexler, Samantha Bee, Blake Mycoskie…
- The Points Guy Couldn't Get His Own Credit Card: Then He Made $28 Million at 28 Years Old (Replay) · 40 minBrian Kelly (aka The Points Guy) has been obsessed with credit card and frequent flyer points since childhood. At age 12, his dad challenged him to book a family vacation using…
- The Truth About Burnout No One Wants to Hear | Laura Mayer · 36 min · Episode 56"I don't believe in burnout." That's Laura Mayer, podcast industry veteran and author of Tryhard, explaining why she's never really taken a break: not after a complicated…
- Samantha Bee: Your Dream Job Will Suck. Do It Anyway. · 38 min · Episode 55"Even your dream job sucks." That's not cynicism — it's the most useful career advice Samantha Bee has. On this episode of The Messy Parts, she tells Maryam what 12 years at “The…
- No Plan, No Fear, No Quitting: Julie Gaines on Running NYC’s Coolest Store & Giving MS the Finger · 42 min · Episode 54She dug through filthy sub-basements in the Bowery looking for discarded restaurant ware — and built one of New York's most beloved stores. Julie Gaines, co-founder of Fishs…
- She Got Cut From Pro Basketball in Sweden. Now Megan Griffith Runs Columbia's Best Team Ever. · 41 min · Episode 53"They cut me from that team." That's how Columbia women's basketball head coach Megan Griffith opens this episode of The Messy Parts — and it's just the beginning of her story…
- Why Selling TOMS Destroyed Blake Mycoskie’s Mental Health (And What Saved Him) · 38 minWhat really happens after a founder sells their company? Blake Mycoskie built one of the most recognized brands in the world at TOMS — and hit rock bottom the moment he walked…
- NYT Writer Susan Dominus: "I Couldn't Risk It" · 43 min · Episode 52She's a staff writer at The New York Times Magazine, a Yale lecturer, and one of the most celebrated journalists working today. So why does Susan Dominus still feel like she's…
- Gary Vee: Forgiveness, Fear, and the $540 Million Mistake (Replay) · 49 minIn this re-release of one of our favorite episodes, Gary Vaynerchuk opens up to Maryam about fear, self-esteem, forgiveness, AI, leadership, and what he believes is a growing…
- "My Parents Would Have Rather I Been a Prostitute.” How Ayesha Nurdjaja Became a Celebrity Chef & Built NYC’s Hottest Restaurants · 50 min · Episode 51What happens when you walk away from the career everyone expected you to have? Chef Ayesha Nurdjaja was on a path toward law school, working at a prestigious law firm and doing…
- She Kept Hearing "No." At 60, Sari Botton Finally Found Her Audience. · 37 min · Episode 50"No just means not right now." That's the philosophy that kept writer and Oldster founder Sari Botton going through decades of rejection before building one of Substack's most…
