Tess Vigil has had her role reduced or eliminated four times, and she will tell you none of it was failure. It was clarity. From a Los Angeles dress company to culturally responsive education to AI enablement in healthcare, her career is a case study in letting go of what looks impressive to chase what actually feels purposeful.
In this episode of The Stronger Podcast, Mike Montoya sits down with Tess, who leads change management and organizational effectiveness in patient education at DaVita, to talk about why a career is less a ladder than a rock wall, and what it takes to keep making moves around the obstacles.
Tess grew up a faculty kid at a Denver prep school, studied social psychology at Columbia in Carol Dweck's classroom two years before Mindset was published, and built her whole approach to coaching on the power of "yet." She traces the pivots that followed: teaching middle school English with Teach For America, running a locally produced clothing line she now calls her favorite failure, coaching young teachers, culturally responsive work at Denver Public Schools, national talent consulting, and finally a leap into healthcare tech.
Mike and Tess get into why direct feedback is a muscle most workplaces never train, why a conflict-free relationship is probably not a deep one, and why the healthcare system leaves the same families under-resourced that the education system does. They also talk about coaching, mentorship, and building a whole team of support rather than leaning on one person to be everything.
Tune in to hear why Tess believes that letting go of something that isn't making you thrive isn't failure, it's the clearest thing you can do.
Chapters:
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01:19 Meet Tess Vigil: faculty kid, educator, and serial career pivoter
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02:19 Growing up at the school her parents taught at, and an early lesson in wealth
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05:35 Studying with Carol Dweck at Columbia, two years before Mindset
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07:59 Growth mindset is not grit, and the quiet power of "yet"
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09:11 Direct feedback is a muscle most workplaces never train
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18:05 My favorite failure: the dress company and what letting go taught her
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24:01 From culturally responsive education to four roles reduced or eliminated
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25:59 The pivot to DaVita and the equity gaps hiding inside healthcare
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35:59 Everybody needs a coach, and why your partner should not be one
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44:21 A life well led: fulfilled and purposeful over what looks good on LinkedIn
Links:
Stay strong.
Episode 38