The Portfolio Career Lab

Navigating Healthcare Costs As a Self-Employed Freelance or Fractional Worker

This last and final part of this US midterm episode series is about a topic that impacts all of us as portfolio careerists: healthcare. My guest today is Brad White. Brad is a former teacher and school founder who now runs a fractional consulting company that serves the education sector called Updraft. Brad recently came home from a family trip to a letter from his insurer, Blue Cross, Blue Shield letting him know that his premium was going from fourteen hundred dollars a month to two thousand He shares how he and his family are weighing the benefits of two W-2 job offers that came through in the last couple of weeks, versus keeping the doors open on the fractional business that he's run now for four years. We also talk about raising kids with two self-employed parents and how he and his wife make big financial decisions together. Connect with Brad: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brad-white-58320669/ Updraft Education: https://www.updrafteducation.com/ Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, cultural, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. Our mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz. Audio engineering by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season’s narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with Siona Peterous.

Hope Is a Discipline: When Politics Become Part of Your Portfolio Career

I personally HATE the phrase "keep politics out of work". Work is inherently political, and yet we're constantly being told to keep our political beliefs separate from our professional lives. Which raises a really interesting question that I've personally been wrestling with leading up to the midterm elections. What does it actually look like to use your portfolio career to stand up for the issues you believe in? I certainly haven't completely figured that out for myself yet, but I wanted to talk to people who have. In this second episode of the series pertaining to the election here in the US. In this episode, I sit down recently with Miami-based HR director Natalee Rivero, founder and board member of Cubanos Pa'lante, for a heartfelt conversation about the federal racial gerrymandering lawsuit her organization brought against the state of Florida with the help of the ACLU. We also get into the personal side of this story, navigating a cancer diagnosis and job loss in her family while fighting for a democracy, in which, as she puts it, "the books aren't being cooked" when it comes to voting. Connect with Natalee: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nataleerivero/ Cubanos Pa'lante: https://cubanospalante.com/ Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, cultural, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. Our mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz. Audio engineering by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season’s narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with Siona Peterous.

How Rural Pennsylvanians Are Uniting to Fight Back Against Data Center Development

In this episode, I sit down with Heidi Hackemer, a brand strategist living in rural Pennsylvania. We discuss how opposition to a proposed data center in Wayne County is bringing neighbors together across political divides to regulate the data center's construction. Connect with Heidi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidihackemer/ Heidi's Data Center video: https://lnkd.in/p/gCB7UJUS Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, cultural, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. Our mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz. Audio engineering by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season’s narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with Siona Peterous.

AI Is Coming to Rural Pennsylvania. How Local Residents Are Uniting to Fight Back Against Data Center Development.

In this episode, I sit down with Heidi Hackemer, a brand strategist living in rural Pennsylvania. We discuss how opposition to a proposed data center in Wayne County is bringing neighbors together across political divides as they work to develop a county ordinance regulating its construction. Connect with Heidi: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heidihackemer/ Heidi's Data Center video: https://lnkd.in/p/gCB7UJUS Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, cultural, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. Our mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz. Audio engineering by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season’s narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with Siona Peterous.

Trusting Your Taste Over the Algorithm

What if building a successful business online has less to do with cracking the algorithm and more to do with trusting your own taste? In this episode, I sit down with Heather Barnett, a commercially savvy and hilarious, B2B copywriter based in the UK. We discuss Heather's unorthodox strategy for creating content for Linkedin and Tiktok and how that creates pathways to speaking and freelance copywriting gigs. Connect with Heather: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heatherebarnett/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@heatherbarnettb2b The Cauliflower Brain Video: https://lnkd.in/p/gTg4r_pE Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, culture, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. It's mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz and sponsored by Manual Override. Audio engineer by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season's narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with Siona Peterous.

Escaping the Corporate Ladder for the Creator Treadmill

When I first started building a portfolio career, it was kind of a fringe thing to do. That’s no longer the case. There’s a whole economy now of online businesses and courses glorifying leaving your 9-to-5 job. In the premiere of the 4th season of https://www.instagram.com/rukiyaross/ Rukiya’s Viral The internet is a slot machine video Her website: https://rukiyaross.com/ Rukiya's Risk Snapshot Calculator: https://cantcatchabreak.rukiyaross.com/ Support my work: The Portfolio Career Lab is an an independently produced podcast, newsletter, and community exploring the economic, culture, and social forces causing professionals to leave traditional salaried work. It's mission is to help creatives, artists, freelancers, and solopreneurs find the courage, inspiration, connection, and support they need to grow their portfolio careers. If you enjoyed this interview, there are a handful of ways to support the platform. Follow me on Substack: https://theportfoliocareerlab.substack.com/ Buy Polyworker on Amazon: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz Pay my team: https://buymeacoffee.com/theportfoliocareerlab This episode of “The Portfolio Career Lab” was written and produced by Brie Abramowicz and sponsored by Manual Override. Audio engineer by Darko Savija. Video editing and newsletter production by Brie Abramowicz. Graphics co-produced by Heidi Stanley and Brie Abramowicz. This season's narrative strategy by Brie Abramowicz in collaboration with the esteemed Siona Peterous. Subscribe today at Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Podbean.

Polyworker BTS: Why Writing a Book Can Clarify Your Ideas and Grow Your Business

This episode is a pre-recorded webinar hosted by my friends from Hello Generalist. I share a bit about the thesis of the book as well as get into some of the big ideas from the book that now power my coaching business. If you’ve been thinking about writing a book or are considering starting a newsletter, this is a great starting point for turning those big ideas rattling around in your brain into a body of work.

Polyworker BTS: A Replay of a Convo with Anna Mackenzie about Why Portfolio Careers Are the Future

This is a revisit of a very conversation I had with the lovely Anna Mackenzie this time last year wherein we explorde how portfolio careers have moved from niche to mainstream, accelerated by AI and changing attitudes toward work. It was a catalyst of a conversation that sent me on my trajectory to writing my book Polyworker which is why I've included it in this BTS series. Give a listen to Anna and I's discussion about designing multiple income streams, balancing your newfound creative freedom with discipline, and the value of community and mentorship. This episode is jam packed with practical topics including building a fractional practice, getting going with your Substack and content strategy, managing your first product launch, and both of our predictions for how work and public policy would adapt in 2026. You'll get loads of insights on building meaningful, flexible careers that combine creativity, stability, and personal fulfillment. If you enjoyed this conversation, buy my book Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org to kickstart your very own portfolio career: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

• Transcript
• Chapters

Polyworker BTS: Are We Living in Technofeudal Times?

In this week's episode of the pod I have brand strategist Mark Rukman on to talk about this concept of technofeudalism which I poke fun at in my book (albeit indirectly). The laptop class is having a moment right now in terms of it's digital discourse. Economic anxiety has shifted from "my boss is the worst" to "late stage capitalism sucks". So I brought Mark Rukman on to help me figure out if we're actually living through the collapse of capitalism or just a few bad years economically speaking. We get into why capitalism has always had a gravitational pull toward feudalism when wealth concentration goes unchecked, why American knowledge workers are feeling particularly disillusioned, and what history might tell us about how to interpret this situation. If you like systems thinking and lessons in history, you'll enjoy this episode a lot. Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Polyworker BTS: Why Polyworking and Polyamory Have More in Common Than You Think

In this week's episode of the pod I have MJ Halberstadt back on again to talk about a comparison I make in the book between portfolio careers and polyamory. We also dig into this idea of automatic thinking and a key concept from the later chapters of the book: the professional polycule! Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Polyworker BTS: Managing the Feast or Famine Income Cycle as a Solopreneur

In this episode of the pod I chat with Ceres Chua, founder of The Money Mindset Lab about the feast-or-famine cycles that are a hallmark of running a small business, and how to build a financial system and money mindset that bolsters you when your business cash flows inevitably get lumpy. If you're early in your polyworking journey, partway in and financially anxious AF, or on the fence about jumping ship to the land of independent work and wondering how the financial mechanics actually work, this episode is a brass tacks listen. Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Polyworker BTS: WTF is a polyworker??

What's the difference between a polyworker and a portfolio careerist? And why does it matter? In this episode, I break down why I titled the book Polyworker and what it takes to build a career around your values while still operating inside capitalism. If you've ever felt like you were "doing the thing" but still had bad weeks because your business development pipeline was nonexistent or your cash got tight, this is a great episode to give you a little perspective. Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Polyworker BTS: Producing Corporate Fleabag and Planet Work

This is episode one of a little mini season of the show. (A whole mini season! I know. Bear with me.) It's going to be chock full of behind-the-scenes stuff re: my debut book Polyworker! This particular episode gives you a closer look at the two companion films for the book — Corporate Fleabag and Planet Work . I sit down for a chat with SAG actress and the leading lady in both shorts Ally Condrath. Together, Ally and I field questions from fans about how the whole project came together: from first finding each other to building and then executing on the creative vision for each short. If you loved listening to this episode and want to grab a copy of Polyworker right now, it's now available for purchase on both Amazon or Bookshop!

Skill Gathering in a Post AI World

In this episode, I chat with Bhavna Devani about the generational reckoning happening in the culture of work and why so many of us feel like we’re navigating economic precarity and career chaos alone, when it’s actually a collective, systemic shift. We talk about the skills this moment now demands—continuous skill gathering, communications and marketing as core economic competencies, and the practice of ruthless prioritization as you build a portfolio of work. Bhavna also shares reflections on “Mad Men working in a TikTok world,” the widening cost-of-living-to-earnings ratio (especially for parents), and why the future can’t just be “13 income streams.” We close with a shared product lens re: portfolio careers: MVP-driven experimentation, signals of fit, and what “person–market fit” looks like when YOU are the product. Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Disrupting the Status Bro

In this episode, I chat with Meg Scheding of Strategic Pivotery, a Slack-based community for women (not so quietly!) stepping away from confines of tech hustle culture and the idea that work defines our worth. We chat about the intense loneliness that tends to creep up when you step away from full-time work, how she built a community as a means of solving that problem, and who Meg believes needs to read Polyworker (hint, hint: it's not just millennials!). Buy Polyworker on Amazon or Bookshop.org: https://linktr.ee/BrieAbramowicz

Saying Goodbye to Your Corporate Self

In this episode, I chat with Julie Fedele about the state of the corporate world and my upcoming book Polyworker. We explore the identity work that comes with starting over, and then wade into a harder question: if the social contract is broken, who is actually responsible for fixing it?

Did My Predictions for 2025 Come True?

In this episode, I run back through my big portfolio-career predictions for 2025 and then I cast a little spell for 2026. You know, set the vibes, summon the universe, see what sticks. It’s reflective, kinda witchy… very on brand.

Inertia Disguised as Achievement

In this episode of the pod, I sit down with executive coach Ashley Rudolph to explore the quiet crisis playing out inside modern careers: mid-career high achievers waking up in lives they never consciously chose. We dig into Ashley’s concept of utopia syndrome—when our ambition slips into autopilot—and how “inertia disguised as achievement” keeps people chasing roles they don’t actually want. We break apart binaries—girlboss vs. no boss, corporate is dead, personal brand is dead, etc—that we believe flatten our choices at the exact moment work is becoming more multidimensional, and we reframe portfolio careers as a means of identity vs income diversification.

Getting in Front of the Camera

In this episode, I sit down with my former clients Sarah and Brendon Hamlin, the husband-and-wife team behind Hamlin Creative, to talk about what it really takes to evolve an established business in the digital age. After more than a decade of running their video production company, they decided to push beyond referrals and their reputation to experiment with growing their reputation on a new channel—LinkedIn. We explore what it’s been like translating years of behind-the-scenes expertise into a public voice, learning to engage their ideal audience through authentic storytelling. Sarah and Brendon share how they’ve navigated imposter syndrome, opened up to vulnerability, and turned transparency into a growth strategy. We also talk about the power of their partnership—how their complementary strengths fuel both creativity and trust—and how building a business together has deepened not just their storytelling, but their marriage.

AI Ate Our Jobs (And Our Sense of Purpose)

In this episode, I sit down with Geoffrey Colon to talk about how professionals can move through the stages of grief after job loss and channel that uncertainty into creativity and new beginnings. We dig into how the world of work is shifting toward smaller, more independent ecosystems—and the need for new support systems and policies to match. We also explore the erosion of loyalty in corporate culture, the ripple effects of layoffs on both employees and customers, and why short-term thinking is eroding long-term resilience. Geoffrey warns of a “slow erosion” inside companies that undervalue builders and overvalue managers—a pattern that feels eerily familiar in the age of AI. We wrap with a hopeful look at the next era of the creator economy: one grounded in depth, direct connection, and creative sovereignty.