Joanna Coles built one of the most storied careers in media — from editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan to running The Daily Beast. So when she says feminism got it wrong, people listen. In this episode, Joanna challenges assumptions about ambition, motherhood, and what a successful life actually looks like. She reveals why curiosity — not ambition — drove every major career move she made, what she wishes someone had told her at 28, and why the "have it all" conversation has been missing its most important ingredient. Plus: the moment she knew it was time to walk away from Hearst after 12 years, and what reinvention really looks like from the inside.
🔔 Subscribe to The Messy Parts — where real success stories include the parts that didn't go according to plan.

Key Moments:

0:00 - The Boss Perk Nobody Talks About 💼
Joanna drops straight into one of her most practical pieces of advice — why being the boss isn't about power.

1:16 - The Taxi Ambush 🚕
Joanna recounts the audacious moment she drag-raced up Park Avenue and leapt into a CEO's car to ask for a job.

2:34 - "Feminism Got It Wrong" 🔥
Joanna unpacks her viral take — why she believes the feminist movement failed to celebrate motherhood.

5:46 - From Yorkshire to New York 🌍
Joanna traces her journey from growing up in "the Texas of Britain" to becoming the Guardian's New York bureau chief — and why she never went back.

8:15 - Curiosity Over Ambition 💡
Joanna rejects the label of "ambitious" entirely — and makes the case that curiosity is the real engine behind a big career.

13:29 - The End of the Magazine Era 📰
Joanna reflects on the bittersweet experience of leading iconic magazines while watching the industry she loved change forever.

20:38 - Getting Bypassed for the Top Job ⚡
Joanna opens up about being passed over for the CEO role at Hearst, and the very public, very boss way she chose to make her exit on a treadmill desk.

22:43 - The Portfolio Phase 🔄
Joanna and Maryam get real about the messy in-between — board seats, SPACs, and the disorienting freedom of not having one defining job title anymore.

27:12 - Walking Away from Her Marriage 💔
After 28 years and two sons, Joanna reflects candidly on ending her marriage — and why she rejects the word "failure" when it comes to long relationships.

30:13 - AI & The Future of News 🤖
Joanna shares what excites and worries her about AI, how The Daily Beast is using it, and why she's glad it still can't predict the news.

39:40 - Rapid Fire with Joanna ⚡
Alternate careers, the last time she cried, and the one fashion choice she'd erase from history — Joanna closes out with her most unfiltered answers yet.

Send us Fan Mail

Email us: hello@themessypartspodcast.com

To stay up to date with The Messy Parts and get all the behind-the-scenes content, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for listening.

Today we're dropping something a little different into your feed: a conversation from our friends at the Rapid Response podcast. Maryam was a guest on the show recently with host Bob Safian, but in the episode you’re about to hear, Bob sits down with David Ko, the CEO of Calm — the mental health and wellness app with more than 180 million downloads — right as he's announcing he's stepping down. Ko unpacks why he made the call, what the relentless pressure of the C-suite really does to a person, and how to draw the line between the kind of stress that sharpens you and the kind that quietly breaks you down.

Visit the Rapid Response website here: https://www.rapidresponseshow.com/

Send us Fan Mail

Email us: hello@themessypartspodcast.com

To stay up to date with The Messy Parts and get all the behind-the-scenes content, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for listening.

Parul Somani was 31 years old, holding her one-week-old newborn, when her phone rang. It was her breast surgeon. On a Saturday. She knew it wasn't good news. What followed — cancer treatment, chemotherapy, a layoff she never saw coming, and a years-long search for work that actually meant something — would have broken most people. Instead, it rebuilt her. In this episode, Parul tells Maryam about growing up with immigrant parents who kept their struggles private; following the prestige path all the way to MIT, Harvard, and Bain; and what it finally took to stop optimizing her life and start actually living it. This one is raw, real, and deeply human.

Key Moments

00:31 - Two Crises at Once 🏥
At 31, Parul gives birth, her baby lands in the NICU, and a breast cancer diagnosis follows days later.

04:06 - Her Mother's Secret 🤫
Growing up, Parul watched her mom hide a breast cancer diagnosis behind closed curtains and a wig.

06:25 - The Call That Changed Everything 📞
A breast surgeon calls on a Saturday with news that multiple doctors had dismissed for months.

08:42 - When Advocacy Saves a Life 🔬
How Parul's husband's own family history of cancer drove them to push past doctors who said "don't worry."

10:49 - Grounded Hope 🌱
Why blind optimism isn't enough — and the research-backed mindset that helped Parul survive.

14:51 - The Prestige Trap 🎓
MIT, Harvard, Bain — Parul traces the high-achievement path she followed before cancer forced her to question it.

21:24 - When Purpose Finds You 🎯
Parul discovers a genetics startup that feels like her exact life story — and lands squarely in her Ikigai.

23:03 - Blindsided by a Layoff 😳
Parul walks into a meeting with HR and legal — and somehow still doesn't see it coming.

27:43 - After the Cry in the Car 🚗
Practical advice for what to actually do after a layoff, from someone who's been there.

33:23 - The Messy Path to Purpose 📖
Five years of book rejections, a speaking career derailed by COVID, and why "the learning is in the mess."

Send us Fan Mail

Email us: hello@themessypartspodcast.com

To stay up to date with The Messy Parts and get all the behind-the-scenes content, follow us on Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube.

If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a rating and review on Apple or Spotify or where ever you get your podcasts.

Thank you for listening.