HeyJaredThe Next Step: Leaping to Adulthood
This podcast is focused on everything you should learn in school - but you likely didn't. What EXACTLY is a deducible? How does insurance ACTUALLY work? What is the difference between a defined-benefit and defined-contribution plan? What does a good job offer look like?
- Indexed episodes, last 90 days
- 10
- Latest publication
- Sep 10, 2026
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- Earliest in this view
- Jul 9, 2026
Latest episodes
Episode 38: Career Fair Cheat Codes (opens the original)
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On this episode, Nikki interviews Tori Labernik, a 2017 UNI alum, with a communications major and psychology minor. Tori begins by describing her career path from Target as an executive team lead, to admissions recruiting at Cornell College and later Central College. Most recently, she joined Pella the talent acquisition team at Pella Windows and Doors and now focuses on campus recruiting. Tori explains what stands out at career fairs: leadership and involvement, strong communication, curiosity,
Episode 37: Decoding Benefit Packages (opens the original)
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On this episode, Nikki interviews Wartburg College alumni and Senior Area Vice President at Gallagher, Aaron Loan. First, Aaron details his career journey from political science/PR major, to a Washington DC Senate internship, radio sales, to financial services as an advisor where he moved from Cedar Rapids to Milwaukee and finally Philadelphia. He returned to Iowa before the historic 2008 floods and ended up helping to rebuild the family sod farm. Later, he joined Acumen before the team joined G
Episode 36: Got a goal? Go for it! (opens the original)
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On this episode, Nikki interviews University of Northern Iowa Communication and Media alumni, Shelby Reicks ,about charting her own path from a rural Iowa dairy farm to becoming a full-time travel content creator. Shelby describes landing a sports marketing job at Paragon Marketing Group in Chicago working on ESPN’s high school sports account where she discovered her love of travel. She explains how she started on TikTok with a “travel deals” series, posted consistently for months, went viral, a
Episode 35: Should I Go to Grad School? Part 2 of 2 (opens the original)
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On this episode, Nikki continues her conversation with Dr. Kyle Rudick as they chat about the power of a graduate degree during economic downturns. They argue enrollment rises because people re-skill and up-skill to reenter the job market above where they may have left. They cite post-2008 recession unemployment rates by education level (about 30% for high school, 12% for bachelor’s, and 4.5% for master’s), emphasizing master’s holders are more insulated from layoffs. They go further into how ma
Episode 34: Should I Go to Grad School? Part 1 of 2 (opens the original)
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In Episode 34, Nikki welcomes Dr. Kyle Rudick of the University of Northern Iowa. Kyle contrasts undergraduate education as broad “tool gathering” with graduate school as focused development, mentorship, and creating knowledge rather than simply receiving. They discuss personality traits that make for good graduate students: those driven by curiosity and deep interest in their field. Kyle provides advice on the age-old question of whether to pursue the degree immediately or to wait.
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