Career Reinvention with Suzy Welch, Shelby Wolpa and Robin Zander
At Responsive Conference 2025, bestselling author and NYU Stern faculty member Suzy Welch joined Shelby Wolpa for fireside conversation on what it truly means to evolve in your work and life.
As Shelby reflected on her shift from leading people operations in high-growth tech to building a values-driven independent career, Suzy brought sharp insight and deep empathy to the conversation – drawing from decades of experience studying reinvention, leadership, and purpose. Together, they explored how identity, ambition, and clarity come into play during moments of transition, and how to navigate change with intention.
Rooted in the themes of Suzy’s bestselling book "Becoming You" and her popular NYU course, this session offers a clear, practical framework for reimagining success in an age of disruption. Whether you’re in the middle of a pivot, considering your next move, or simply questioning what fulfillment looks like now, this is a conversation about designing a life that fits who you’re becoming, not just who you’ve been.
This is an honest, energizing dialogue that will leave you thinking differently about ambition, identity, and what growth really looks like in this new era of work.
Suzy Welch
Faculty, NYU Stern School of Business
Author, Becoming You, The Welch Way
Suzy Welch is a renowned business thinker, leadership strategist, and the creator of Becoming You, a popular NYU Stern course (and book) that helps individuals reinvent their careers and rediscover their purpose in a fast-changing world. A longtime advocate for clarity, courage, and values-driven decision-making, Suzy’s work has helped millions navigate both personal and professional crossroads.
She’s the author of multiple bestsellers, including Winning (co-authored with her late husband, legendary GE CEO Jack Welch), The Real-Life MBA, 10-10-10: A Life-Transforming Idea, and her latest, Becoming You: The Proven Method for Crafting Your Authentic Life and Career. In addition to her writing and teaching, Suzy has been a journalist, NBC contributor, and board advisor, known for her no-nonsense insight on leadership, transformation, and meaning at work. Her frameworks like the 10-10-10 decision-making method have been adopted by executives, creatives, and career-changers alike.
Shelby Wolpa
Founder, Shelby Wolpa Consulting
Former VP of People Operations at InVision, Instacart, OneMedical and Palantir
Shelby Wolpa has spent 15+ years mastering people operations in high-growth tech companies like Palantir, Instacart, One Medical, and InVision. At InVision, she was the driving force behind their remote work strategies, leading an 800-person workforce spread across 30 countries and 40 U.S. states, all without a single office. Her work has helped redefine how companies approach flexibility, trust, and performance in a distributed world. After four hyper-growth roles, Shelby realized her impact could be even greater outside of a single organization. She had also recently become a mother and began rethinking what success looked like beyond the traditional 9-to-5. That shift led her to design a career around her values, working independently with startups and VCs to scale people-first cultures across industries.
She’s a champion of designing people operations like a product – leveraging user research, prototyping, and feedback loops to build scalable, human-centered systems. From launching global benefits programs to architecting distributed-first talent strategies, her approach is both practical and deeply human.
If you’re navigating change, leading through disruption, or simply rethinking what meaningful work looks like, Shelby’s story will hit home. She offers hard-won insights on how to scale your impact, transition with purpose, and build a career – and company – where people can truly thrive, wherever they are.