Taylor's Version, Pt 2: Fearless Focus

In this episode of On Brand: Taylor’s Version, we’re joined by Emily Campion — Henry B. Tippie Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Emily’s research explores how organizations hire and develop talent. But today, she’s here to talk about something decidedly more human: Taylor Swift’s relentless work ethic, authentic leadership, grit in the face of setbacks, and her ability to balance it all with self-care.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why Taylor Swift is the ultimate case study in relentless work ethic and focus
• How authenticity fuels leadership and builds trust with fans — and employees
• What Taylor’s grit teaches us about resilience, reinvention, and leading through setbacks
• The role of self-care in sustaining high performance over the long haul
• Why leaders need to balance hustle with humanity

Episode Chapters

(00:00) Intro

(02:15) “Taylor Inc.” and the ultimate one-person company

(04:40) Emily Campion on studying work ethic and leadership through Taylor Swift

(08:30) Taylor’s relentless productivity and lessons for business leaders

(14:05) Authenticity as strategy vs. sincerity

(19:20) Grit, comebacks, and leading through setbacks

(25:45) Boundaries, rituals, and Taylor’s approach to self-care

(32:10) Leadership lessons leaders can apply today

(38:15) Emily’s Taylor smile: Stay Stay Stay on ukulele

About Emily Campion

Emily Campion is a Henry B. Tippie Fellow and Associate Professor at the University of Iowa’s Tippie College of Business. Her research focuses on staffing procedures, the use of machine learning and natural language processing to improve these systems, and ways to mitigate employment discrimination. Her work has been published in leading academic journals, and she currently serves on the editorial boards of Journal of Applied Psychology and Personnel Psychology, where she recently co-edited a special issue on machine learning in selection.

What Taylor Era Has Made Emily Smile Recently?

For Emily, the Taylor song that’s made her smile recently is “Stay Stay Stay” from Red (Taylor’s Version). She first loved it while learning the ukulele, and even though she jokes she won’t be a famous ukuleleist, the song’s plucky energy and Taylor’s laugh at the end never fail to make her beam.

Resources & Links

• Connect with Emily on LinkedIn.
• Check out Emily’s University of Iowa faculty page.

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