Adulting101 Masterclass: Career, Money and Life Skills School Failed To Teach

A great answer to "tell me about yourself" can't save you if you already lost the interview in the lobby. On this episode of Adulting101 Masterclass, host Heather Redisch breaks down the unwritten rules of job interviews and how to make a good first impression. Many of these expectations are never formally explained, yet they can shape how a candidate is perceived long before the interview really gets underway.
 
Drawing on more than 25 years of recruiting experience, Heather shares what hiring managers and recruiters notice before, during, and after an interview. She explains how to research a company before an interview beyond a quick scroll through the website, why the message on your voicemail could quietly cost you a callback, and why the way you treat the receptionist can carry more weight than your answers.
 
Once you are in the room, that same attention to detail carries into your body language. Mirroring your interviewer's posture can shift the energy in the room, and a limp handshake tells someone about your confidence before you say a word. Heather also talks about the questions candidates can use to evaluate the company in return. Asking about onboarding, feedback, and how a company actually lives its core values can reveal a lot about what working there may feel like. She closes with her take on the thank-you note after a job interview, including why a thoughtful follow-up can matter and why a generic AI-written note may not be worth sending.
 
This episode is full of interview tips for recent college graduates and anyone relearning the unwritten rules of job interviews for a new job market. If you have an interview coming up, this is a useful reminder that the small details can matter just as much as the answers you prepare.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Why the unwritten rules of job interviews exist
02:22 Generational gaps in workplace communication norms
04:42 How to research a company before an interview
09:23 Your voicemail and email response habits matter
11:45 Arriving early and reading the room correctly
16:11 Why reception and elevator etiquette get evaluated
18:59 How to make a good first impression fast
23:22 Interview body language tips and mirroring the room
25:42 Smart questions that reveal a company's real culture
30:28 Thank you note after job interview and biggest mistakes
 
Connect with Heather Redisch:
Visit the Adulting101 Masterclass website
Follow Adulting101 on Instagram
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

You can't budget your way to financial independence if you're too scared to ask for a raise or send a DM.
 
Host Heather Redisch sits down with Ella Katz, content creator and founder of Taller Toddlers, to talk about how to become financially independent in your 20s after leaving a stable job at ABC News.
 
Ella reflects on the year she spent working with Heather and the money habits she built along the way, including the ritual she built just to check her bank account without panic. She gets honest about financial independence from parents, the guilt that came with early support, and how she is learning to spend on her own terms instead of copying what she grew up watching.
 
Ella also opens up about quitting her job to freelance before the income caught up. She talks about learning how to negotiate a higher salary even when her hands were shaking, and about practicing networking without fear of rejection well enough to land guests like a Dancing with the Stars pro.
 
Press play to hear how to become financially independent in your 20s from a former Adulting101 student who is still figuring it out.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Meet Ella Katz Of Taller Toddlers
02:11 Leaving ABC News For Something More
08:21 Rethinking The Word Influencer Online
12:49 What Taller Toddlers Is All About
16:43 Biggest Surprises Of Your Twenties
20:56 Building Confidence To Network Without Fear
26:36 Talking Openly About Money And Guilt
33:59 Building A Weekly Money Ritual
37:56 Freelancing, Boundaries, And Avoiding Burnout
43:57 Rapid Fire Questions With Ella
Connect with Ella Katz:
Follow Taller Toddlers on Instagram
Subscribe to Taller Toddlers on YouTube
Follow Taller Toddlers on Tiktok
 
Connect with Heather Redisch:
Visit the Adulting101 Masterclass website
Follow Adulting101 on Instagram
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Nobody hands you a manual for life after college. One day you have a schedule, a campus, and your best friends down the hall. The next day you are expected to build a career, a routine, and a whole new identity on your own. This episode gives you the playbook.
 
On Adulting101 Masterclass, host Heather Redisch sits down with content creator Love Always Annika. Known as the online big sister to nearly a quarter million followers, Annika is two years into her own post-grad transition and landed her job offer. She secured a job offer in October of her senior year, months before most of her classmates even started applying. She shares the networking moves that helped her get an early start.
 
Annika breaks down the red blazer trick recruiters never forgot, the one motto she gives every student she coaches on job hunting, and the surprising reason a structured workweek made her feel calmer than college ever did. She also gets honest about maintaining friendships after college when your closest friends scatter across the country, and why she spent five months resetting before her first day of work.
 
If adjusting to adulthood after college feels overwhelming, this conversation offers practical advice from someone a few steps ahead. Her guidance applies whether you graduated last month or still feel stuck two years later. Press play and start building a life after college that you love.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Meet Annika, the Online Big Sister for Life After College
01:18 What Graduation Day Feels Like
04:25 Long-Distance Friendships and Intentional Post-Grad Relationships
07:00 Why a 9 to 5 Routine Feels Better Than College
11:30 Taking Five Months Off Before Your First Job
13:18 Why Campus Recruiting Beats Online Applications
15:00 The Job Search Formula That Lands Interviews
19:56 How to Stand Out at Career Fairs and Networking Calls
25:22 Why Your Twenties Are Harder Than Anyone Admits
27:50 Setting Goals You Control and Ignoring Social Media Pressure
30:06 Stop Overthinking and Trust Simple Mental Health Resets
33:45 Building a Personal Brand While Working Full Time
 
Connect with Love Always Annika:
Follow Love Always Annika on Instagram
Follow Love Always Annika on TikTok
 
Connect with Heather Redisch:
Visit the Adulting101 Masterclass website
Follow Adulting101 Masterclass on Instagram
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

You know that feeling of watching everyone around you hit their milestones while you're still figuring out how to make rent? That's a quarter-life crisis after college, and it's exactly what Heather Redisch walks through in the first episode of Adulting101 Masterclass. She opens up about her first job in New York, a boss who taught her more about resilience than patience, and the moment she realized her closest friends were getting promoted and falling in love while she felt stuck at the starting line.
 
Heather also gets into the life skills school doesn't teach, from reading a paycheck to negotiating a raise to spotting a red flag boss before it's too late. She traces her path from a psych major with no plan to a recruiter navigating the aftermath of September 11 in Manhattan, and eventually to building her own coaching practice around one idea. Adulthood should come with a guide.
 
Along the way, Heather explains how reading The Anxious Generation shaped her thinking on why Gen Z lacks confidence in interviews, and how growing up on smartphones changed the way an entire generation learned to communicate. If you're working on how to build confidence in your 20s or just adjusting to adulthood after graduation, this one hits close to home.
 
Press play and hear how Heather Redisch turned her own quarter-life crisis after college into the blueprint for Adulting101 Masterclass, the show helping young adults feel a little less alone in figuring it all out.
 
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Welcome to Adulting101 Masterclass
02:05 Choosing New York over grad school
06:53 Landing a job in four days
09:15 A $32,000 salary and a brutal boss
13:56 Leaving that job to start over
18:27 September 11th and the move to Chicago
23:11 Coaching grads through a confidence gap
27:31 The Anxious Generation and the smartphone effect
32:11 Feeling stuck at the starting line
34:33 Building the business in one weekend
Connect with Heather Redisch:
Visit the Adulting101 Masterclass Website
Follow Adulting101 Masterclass on Instagram
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm

Adulting101 Masterclass is the life skills podcast for young adults navigating the real world — and for the parents who want to see them succeed in life and managers who want to help them thrive in business.
Because the real world doesn’t come with a manual.
But this show does.
Hosted by Heather Redisch, talent development expert and founder of Adulting101 Masterclass, This podcast delivers practical, no-nonsense tools for the life skills school failed  to teach—but the real world expects you to know.
From navigating the job search and building your career to managing money, understanding the unwritten rules of the workplace, building self confidence, communicating clearly, and handling the everyday logistics of real life, Adulting101 is a no-judgement resource to learn the basics from your peers, experts and mentors.
Whether you are a recent graduate, a parent trying to support your young adult, or a leader managing younger generations for the first time, Adulting101 helps bridge the gap between what school taught and what real life demands.
Each episode delivers real, actionable strategies you can use right away.
No theory.No fluff.Just the stuff that actually matters when you’re figuring out how to become a functioning adult.
 
Adulting101 covers:
Communication and confidence—setting boundaries, speaking up for yourself, and navigating hard conversations
Career and workplace skills—professionalism, networking, asking for a raise, reading the room
Financial basics—budgeting, credit, taxes, student loans, and saving for real life
Life logistics—insurance, renting an apartment, healthcare, and all the things nobody taught you
What parents can do (and stop doing) to raise capable, confident adults
What managers need to understand about the newest generation entering the workforce
You belong here!