Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. I'm the founder of Lead Above Noise, a firm helping

leaders end the tug of war between driving results and driving employee engagement.

We do leader activation boot camps, leading through change programs, pulse checks, keynotes, and more.

Just let us know what you need. So today's episode is a conversation I got to have with Erica

Ayer's Badon, former CEO of Barstool Sports, and author of the new book, Nobody Cares About Your Career,

Why Failure is Good, The Great Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths. And Hard Truths was kind of

the theme of this one. Erica pulls no punches.

In this conversation, she talks about some of her own big fails, how she licked her wounds and

came out stronger. We covered how work is actually a paid apprenticeship when you're thoughtful

in what you strive to learn from it. And we discuss understanding the real essence of what your company does

and how to find your way to contribute to that outcome.

And so much more.

This conversation is for anyone who has ever wondered if they're in the right place professionally

and if there's something more to be found at work and how to find it. I hope you enjoy this conversation.

So, Erica Ayers-Bidon, author of Nobody Cares About Your Career, Why Failure Is Good, The Great

Ones Play Hurt, and Other Hard Truths. Congratulations on your new book, so super exciting.

Thank you. I am delighted to have you with me on the Modern Mentor podcast today. I've been looking forward to this conversation.

Thank you. We too. Awesome. So before we get into it, I've got a bunch of questions about your book and I can't wait to bring this to the world of listeners. But I would love to get just maybe a two-minute

backstory on a little bit about your experience back in the day as the CEO of Barstool Sports.

And maybe a couple headlines around what about that experience made you want to write this book?

Yeah. I mean, for anyone who follows Barstool Sports, you know, it's a entertainment, sports,

comedy, increasingly lifestyle brand. It was based in Boston. It was founded by a gentleman

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