Worth A Listen: Surfing Corporate Podcast

Conservative politicians love to wax nostalgically about how small business powers the U.S. economy. In truth, however, less than 45 percent of employees work in small businesses. The majority work for big business or big government.

Working in a corporate setting is wandering into a universe where the rules are different and sometimes inverted.

In the corporate world, political infighting is bloodier than in the current U.S. Congress. Power, ego, and control are the holy trinity of the corporate chalice. Psychopaths, sociopaths, and people afflicted with borderline personality disorder often hold seats of power and prestige.

Worse, employers furiously deny that they care more about profits, the stock price, and EBITDA than their own employees. Corporations are in love with the adage,"Employees are our greatest asset," which they announce even during massive layoffs done to jumpstart the stock price.

Even if there is a code of silence, that doesn't seem to bother The Surfing Corporate podcast. The show "tackles the themes and issues of corporate life with a humorous and relatable point of view."

The podcast's elevator pitch is: "Hosted by Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins, former media executives who have experienced first-hand what really goes on behind fancy corporate doors (and have a slightly evil sense of humor), this podcast aims to entertain as well as provide practical advice to employees who are currently navigating turbulent corporate waters."

The show lives up to its promise. It's engaging, has a sense of humor, describes the incongruities of corporate life, and offers solutions.

The podcast shares true stories of bizarre and embarrassing experiences veteran corporate surfers have been through, and tell you how they came back to the surface after those life-threatening wipeouts.

The podcast even defines its audience: "If you’re a corporate employee who gets stressed, anxious, burned out, depressed, and occasionally feels like you’re losing your mind, this is the place for you."

The podcast's self-described mission statement incorporates the ambience of the show: Serious with a chance of humor. "Our goal is to help you not only navigate the corporate waters, but to surf the hell out of them, and all without throwing fellow employees to the sharks or promising your firstborn to Satan. It CAN be done."

The co-hosts, Aileen A. Merciel and Glenda Pacanins, are ideal for podcast hosting with their prior media experience. They are good together, complement each other well, and are genuinely funny. I enjoyed their on-air chemistry, which sounds like it extends to their personal lives.

Aileen A. Merciel was a Senior Vice President, Marketing & Creative – NBC Universal, Telemundo Enterprise. Merciel is a Venezuelan-American media executive who started out in Sony Pictures Entertainment Networks Latin America Venezuela as an On-Air Promotions Producer. She held corporate positions in Venezuela, Mexico, and the U.S. On the podcast's website, it says: "Coming from a creative background, Aileen was not blessed with a nose for office politics."

On the website, her bio includes these interesting tidbits:

"She was bestowed with the invaluable gift of a slightly evil sense of humor that was critical to her survival. Her unique multicultural insights and her bullsh*t-free lens bring a fresh voice to discuss the challenges of the workplace.

Aileen believes that corporate could benefit tremendously from a rebranding that truly questions its values and goals. She also believes that people who don’t like chocolate shouldn’t be trusted."

Glenda Pacanins was a Senior Vice President, Programming and Content Strategy NBC Universal, Telemundo Enterprises.

After working in corporate for more than 20 years, Glenda Pacanins is a self-described “recovering suit,” although she still can’t stop wearing heels to podcast recordings and PTA meetings.

Unlike Merciel, Glenda somehow managed to surf corporate relatively well.

Again, the podcast's website says: "She is fluent in English, Spanish, and most importantly, corporate bullsh*t.

She has written enough corporate lingo emails, memos, and presentations to last her a few lifetimes, and she lets people think that she has her sh*t together no matter how dire the situation (clearly a by-product of working in corporate for so long)."

The first episode I listened to of the podcast was ironically the March 13, 2024 episode. It's ironic because it's their first show as a podcast part of the Airwave Podcast Network. The show began in September 2021, so for two and a half years, these women bootstrapped an indie podcast that was successful enough to attract the attention of a legitimate podcast network like Airwave.

In addition, the co-hosts announced that they were up for a 2024 Ambie Award as an independent podcast. The Ambies are a series of awards given in the podcast industry. They are awarded by the Podcast Academy in two overall categories: Show Recognition and Talent Recognition.

The co-hosts know their stuff about corporate "clown car" behavior, corporate processes like recognition and employee reviews gone wildly astray, and how to deal with the politics in corporate, which, as I said, can make Congress look like rank amateurs.

My favorite episodes to date include Top 8 Toxic Bosses from October 2021; The Delicate Art Of Corporate Communications from September 2021; Why Humor At Work Should Be Taken Very Seriously from Jun3 2022; Why Work Recognition May Be Better For Employers Than Employees from March 2024, and HR That Says F*ck(And Other Things) February 2023.

Check out Surfing Corporate. It's an excellent podcast on a topic that is not covered enough in audio, and has two superb co-hosts who have been in the corporate foxhole, taking fire from friends and foes alike. What I like most about it is that these two former Senior Vice-Presidents have a robust sense of humor, an eye for the absurd, and the ability to poke fun at themselves

I worked for a lot of Senior Vice-Presidents in my time. I wish they were more like Aileen Merciel and Glenda Pacanins.

Let me paraphrase Dale Carnegie, who once said: "When dealing with corporate people, remember you are not dealing with creatures of logic, but with creatures of emotion."