Everything Counts
A podcast about careers, detours, and the absurdity of work. Host Kristin Gardner talks with guests about the twists, pivots, and tiny choices that shape our lives. With humor, feminism, and honesty, Everything Counts (but nothing is real) reminds us that even when nothing makes sense, everything we do counts.
Episodes
28 episodes
Advice: Figure out how to hack yourself.
In this episode, we’re closing out Season 2 with our signature advice episode, but with a twist. No listener questions this time. Instead, Kristin and Loren reflect on what’s actually been working lately, from rethinking how we structure our ti...
Liz: Lift as you climb.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Liz (she, her), Global Co-Head of Brand Consulting at CAA, to talk about building a career that doesn’t follow a straight line and why that might be the point. From studying sociology and planning to beco...
Nicole: Rethink ambition.
In this episode, Kristin talks with Nicole—a literature PhD, high school teacher, and maker—about what happens when the life you worked toward doesn’t turn out the way you expected.From growing up in a working-class family where work was...
Lauren: Stop waiting to be heard.
In this episode, Kristin talks with Lauren (she/her), founder of Hormonally, a nonprofit focused on hormone health education and access. Lauren shares how her work challenges a common assumption: that education alone leads to better heal...
Megan: Get your shit together.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Megan (she/her), a senior accounting leader whose career has been shaped as much by intuition as it has by strategy. From her degree in fashion merchandising to navigating Big Four accounting and b...
Nichole: Don't fear the unknown.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Nichole (she/her), founder of Success on the Spectrum—the first autism treatment franchise in the U.S.—to talk about building a business that truly changes lives. What began as a personal mission t...
Vera: Why not?
In this episode, Kristin reconnects with Vera (she/her), a public sector professional working in the Dutch national government, to explore a career that took shape slowly and unexpectedly over time. From moving to the U.S. after college ...
Susan: Trust what your body knows.
In this episode, Kristin talks with Susan (she/her) who spent years building a successful career in the legal world before realizing that being good at something is not the same as feeling aligned with it. Together they explore the path ...
Brielle: You can have many lives.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Brielle (she, her), one of the first friends she made after moving to New York City and someone whose career has always been marked by a rare sense of intentionality.Brielle works in corpora...
Josie: Put your foot down.
In this episode, Kristin talks with Josie (she/her), a project engineer in the construction industry who helps manage the building of massive projects like hospitals and data centers. Josie shares how she found her way into construction ...
Zakiya: Don't bury your gifts.
In this episode, Kristin sits down with Zakiya (she/her), Vice President of Philanthropic Partnerships at the Climate and Clean Energy Equity Fund, to talk about leadership, identity, and the through-lines that shape a career.A Be...
Amber: Don't force the fit.
Season 2 kicks off with Amber (she/her), someone who has never stayed in a life that didn’t fit. From Texas Tech to flight attendant, from a post-9/11 pivot to a master’s degree in London, from being “under-qualified” for marketing roles...
Bonus: Try it first, decide later.
In this bonus episode of Everything Counts (but nothing is real), Kristin sits down with her almost 10-year-old niece, Quinn, for an off-script conversation about school, art, animals, ambition, and all the possibilities that ex...
Bonus: A career that left room for life.
In this special bonus episode, Kristin sits down with Nana (Loren’s grandmother) to talk about work, family, and the quiet choices that shape a life. Raised on a farm in rural North Florida, Nana spent decades working part-time as a book...
Celia: People matter most.
People matter most.In the Season 1 finale of Everything Counts (But Nothing Is Real), Kristin sits down with one of her closest friends, Celia (they/them), to reflect on careers, values, and the human relationships...
Sara: Say it, then do it.
Say it, then do it.In this episode, Kristin sits down with Sara (she/her), a longtime friend and education leader whose career has been shaped by ambition, follow-through, and a deep belief in joy as a leadership practice. ...
Advice: A grain of salt and a pair of soft pants.
A grain of salt and a pair of soft pants.In this episode, Kristin and Loren break the fourth wall on career conversations and swap the usual interview format for a casual, candid advice session.From figuring o...
Kenzie: Adaptation is a skill.
Adaptation is a skill.In this episode, Kristin sits down with her sister Kenzie (she/her) for a conversation about nonlinear careers, survival skills, and what it really means to “read the room.”Kenzie’s path, from r...
Heidi: Do all the things, with purpose.
Do all the things, with purpose.In this episode, Kristin sit down with longtime friend and multi-hyphenate creative Heidi (she/her)--marketer, DJ, podcaster, higher-ed storyteller, civic-tech comms pro, and now small-busine...
Dolores: Life changes. So do we.
Life changes. So do we.Dolores returns for part 2 to share what life looks like after the classroom. She talks about how retirement became “the best job she’s ever had,” from early-morning VIPKid lessons with students in Ch...
Dolores: Work changes. So do we.
Work changes. So do we.In Part 1 of this two-episode arc, Kristin sits down with her mom, Dolores (she/her), to explore a life built in classrooms and the way work evolves as people do. Dolores shares how she felt called to...
Mary Ann: It's not that serious.
It's not that serious.In this episode, Kristin talks with Mary Ann (she/her), a former ska-punk zine kid turned corporate law firm website manager, about what it really means to not dream of labor. They trace her p...
Kristin: Nothing is real, but you are!
Nothing is real, but you are!In this special episode, the mic flips as host Kristin becomes the guest. She traces her path from bookstore counters to boardroom tables, unpacking what it means to lead yourself before you lea...