Chief Change Officer
#270 Nina Sossamon-Pogue: From Olympic Dreams to Pink Slips—and Back Again — Part Two
Thu, 3 Apr 2025
Nina Sossamon-Pogue knows a thing or two about reinvention. Olympic dreams? Derailed by injury. Journalism career? Cut short with a pink slip. But Nina doesn’t stay down for long. Yesterday in Part One, we tumbled through Nina’s journey—her high-flying wins, faceplants, and the grit that kept her going. Today in Part Two, we unpack the tools she’s created to help others bounce back from life’s inevitable wipeouts. Because let’s face it: real life doesn’t come with a crash mat.Key Highlights of Our Interview:Why the Reverse Resume Matters“When hiring, I ask, ‘What’s something you’ve overcome?’ That’s where the magic is. Those bottom-line moments define the strength you bring to every table.”The Power of Perspective: Achievements and Challenges Together”“Your resume tells one story, but your reverse resume tells the deeper truth: what you’ve overcome. Together, they define not just what you’ve done, but who you are.”“Success vs. a Successful Lifetime: Spot the Difference”“A nice car, a big house, a shiny jet—that’s success. But a successful lifetime? That’s the legacy, the relationships, the impact. The timeline reveals the whole messy, marvelous story.”Life is a Bag of Legos“Imagine dumping out a Ziploc bag full of Legos. Same colors, same shapes, same pieces. Yet, you’d build something entirely different from me. That’s your life—it’s uniquely yours to assemble.”________________________Connect with us:Host: Vince Chan | Guest: Nina Sossamon-Pogue --Chief Change Officer--Change Ambitiously. Outgrow Yourself.Open a World of Expansive Human Intelligencefor Transformation Gurus, Black Sheep,Unsung Visionaries & Bold Hearts.12 Million+ All-Time Downloads.Reaching 80+ Countries Daily.Global Top 3% Podcast.Top 10 US Business.Top 1 US Careers.>>>140,000+ are outgrowing. Act Today.<<<
Chapter 1: Who is Nina Sossamon-Pogue and what is her story of resilience?
Hi, everyone. Welcome to our show, Chief Change Officer. I'm Vince Chen, your ambitious human host. Our show is a modernist humility for change progressives in organizational and human transformation from around the world. These days, we talk a lot about resilience. We can discuss the psychology of it all day long. But who actually walks the walk and talks the talk when it comes to resilience?
Professional athletes. Today, I'm sitting down with Nina Sossaman Pope, a former professional gymnast, who started her journey at about four years old and went on to join the U.S. gymnastic team. In her own words, gymnastics is a perfect example of resilience. You literally fall down and get back up all day every day as you learn new skills.
Chapter 2: How did Nina transition from gymnastics to journalism and beyond?
That mindset became part of Nina's DNA, and it carried her through some incredible twists and turns. From the heartbreak of not making the Olympic team to leaving the sport for good after an injury, she faced one identity crisis after another. But she didn't stop there. Nina built a successful journalism career that spent 17 years only to be let go despite being a beloved news anchor.
And instead of staying down, she jumped into technology, starting from scratch, and reinvented herself yet again. Yesterday, in part one of our conversation, we explored Nina's journey, her training, her tryouts, and her setbacks. Then today in part two, we'll explore the tools Nina has developed over the years to help others rise above their challenges.
Chapter 3: What tools has Nina developed to help others overcome challenges?
Tools like the reverse resume and successful timeline. We are not talking about your typical resume or conventional ideas of success. We are going beyond that. So let's begin this incredible journey with Nina. Absolutely. And I think that's a great point. For anyone listening, the takeaway here is to think outside the box when it comes to your skills and experience.
We often limit ourselves to what we have always done or the industry we know, but those same skills can often apply in ways we wouldn't initially expect. In my own experience, A guest on the show, an executive recruiter, once told me I would meet a great executive recruiter myself. At first, I was surprised. Recruiting wasn't something I've ever considered.
But she pointed out that my ability to support talent, connect with people, and bring the right voices onto the show demonstrated qualities that could be valuable in her industry. So, just like your own story, it's about being creative and open-minded when exploring new directions. Sometimes it takes an outside perspective to see what we are really capable of.
Absolutely. And be creative in your own head as you're thinking what you're good at. But I really encourage people to, you might not have seen that about yourself, but she did. Same thing for me. I didn't see that in myself. Other people said, oh, you could do this. Having conversations with other people that ask them, what do you think I'm good at, is really interesting.
You really will learn a lot about yourself. It's hard when we're in our own head. One, we might not see our skills. Two, something that other people think is really valuable that we could do. For us, it may be second nature. We don't even think of it as a skill. It's just who we are. So really cool to look at it that way. She saw something in you, you might not have seen.
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Chapter 4: What is a reverse resume and how can it aid in personal growth?
I had the same situation when someone saw something in me. So for your listeners, maybe get an outside opinion, figure out what else you might be good at that you don't even see.
So you've moved into technology, built a new version of yourself, and now you're out there as a solo entrepreneur, as an author, as a speaker. It's amazing to see how your career has evolved. As we're talking about transitions and career paths, resumes often come up. Traditionally, resume is seen as an advertisement, a highlight reel of achievements.
But you introduced me to the concept of a reverse resume. Could you walk us through what that is and how it might help those who are considering a change or currently navigating a transition? I think it could be a powerful tool to help open up minds and see new possibilities.
Yeah, so I came up with this concept a few years ago and I think it's super valuable for anybody who's in the middle of a change or who's just looking at what skills they have or what their life looks like. Sometimes we get really frustrated and we think, can I even keep going? What is my next thing? I'm tired and exhausted. I'm anxious, that anxiety and stress from working all the time.
Chapter 5: How can reflecting on past challenges enhance resilience?
And what I have people do is to draw a line across a piece of paper, and then put little dots, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 10 dots across that line. So turn your paper sideways and put 10 dots across that line. So it looks like a timeline. And then I call that your lifetime timeline. And you can go and put all the things that you mentioned, all your achievements on the top there and about the year.
So if that's 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, however old you are, Put the stuff that you've done, your achievements on the top, the things that you would find on your resume, your LinkedIn, wherever you keep your CV.
So you put that across the top and that's, you got this award and you took this, you got this degree and you have the certification, the jobs you've held, all of that, the good stuff you're proud of is on the top. And then I ask people to go down below the line and put down things that you have overcome. And this could be anything. This could be raising a child with a disability.
This could be a death of a loved one. This could be being raised in a poor situation. This could be an accident you overcame or an illness you overcame. Or if you're later in life like me, this could be the divorce or the getting fired or all that other stuff that you have gotten through. The big challenges you face, you put those down below. And then...
And that's your reverse resume, what I call your reverse resume. Those are the things, the down below the line stuff is what makes you who you are. The top stuff is your accolades. That's great. That's what you're doing. Down below is who you're being. So that's your reverse resume shows you all you've overcome and all of those things that you have managed through.
And I always tell people there's hidden gems in there that can tell you who you really are, what you're made of and who you are as a person. And that reverse resume is really important because that tells you what you're made of. And so when I'm hiring someone, sometimes they'll say, what's something you've overcome, something you've challenged that you have managed through.
That piece of who you are is really important. a big part of the strength that you bring to the table. So every time, when you look at it on a line like this, you can see the above the line and the below the line. And if you draw a line from one to the other, it's like this up and down, like an echocardiogram, like it's your heartbeat. And life is all these ups and downs.
And that bottom part is really important to figure out who you are and what you have to offer. That's becoming more resilient. Every time you're back up over that line, that's when you become more resilient.
Yes, this isn't just a single page. It's more like a notebook, something dynamic that we keep updating. It can serve us as a reminder, especially in those moments when we are feeling down, discouraged, or unsure. As entrepreneurs, there's always something happening, some challenge or setback. But when you can look back at your progress, it's a powerful reminder that you've overcome so much.
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