In this episode of Transform Your Workplace, bestselling author Moe Carrick shares her insights on how purpose and belonging are essential to thriving workplaces. Drawing on her 30+ years of experience, Moe discusses how leaders can foster trust, connection, and a sense of community while empowering employees to bring their best selves to work. With practical strategies and real-world examples, she shows how cultivating a culture of care and courage leads to success for teams and organizations alike. Tune in to discover how to create a workplace where everyone wins.
GUEST AT A GLANCE
Moe Carrick, bestselling author and founder of Moementum, Inc., is dedicated to helping people thrive at work and driving organizational success. With over 30 years of expertise in leadership, inclusion, strategy, and culture, Moe leverages her mastery in organizational development and certifications to foster trust, empathy, and impactful partnerships.
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AN EYE-OPENING OPPORTUNITY
Moe Carrick shared how her first job at Four Seas Ice Cream on Cape Cod shaped her work ethic and sense of belonging. As a self-described “dork, kind of a geek” in high school, she didn’t feel like she fit in until her guidance counselor, Dick Warren, invited her to work at his iconic summer-only ice cream store. “It gave me this community of people,” Moe recalled, describing the hard work, camaraderie, and pride she felt in being part of a beloved local institution. “It wasn’t just about the money — there was something more, being part of something that mattered.”
Over seven summers, Moe grew into new responsibilities, even becoming a young supervisor. She reflected on the joy of creating memorable moments for customers: “We weren’t changing the world, but seeing smiles on people’s faces or families having special experiences made it meaningful.” Decades later, visiting the store and seeing her old staff photos reminded her of how that job gave her a sense of purpose and pride that still resonates.
PODCAST EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
It Really Matters
“I feel so grounded in the fact that when we’re thriving at work, everybody wins. Our companies win, our families win, our communities win, our nation wins, and our world wins. It has me very grounded today around like, yes, yes, it matters how we’re doing at work.”
The Employer’s Role in Belonging
“What I’m noticing is that our need for belonging — our desire to connect with other human beings — has always been primary. We know that our need for human connection is as important to us as food, water, shelter, safety, and security, as Maslow specified in his hierarchy, but we have minimized the extent to which role work fills that role. And yet […] I’ve spent more time there than I do anywhere else, so it makes sense that I’m actually getting a lot of my belonging and my identity needs by the work that I do. So then I think it becomes challenging for the employer to figure out, ‘Well, how do we do that? How are employees discerning where they want to be? What purpose do they find in that work? And then what is it that’s on us to do to try to cultivate the feelings of belonging?’”
The Squeaky Wheel
“What I see happen in organizations is that the work itself drifts us away from why we’re doing the work and what it means to be doing the work together, which is really purpose and belonging because other things are like in our face. You know, we’ve got to make a profit. We’ve got to have a good product. We’ve got to serve our mission. So I don’t know that it’s necessarily that leaders are choosing to ignore belongingness and purpose. I think that they just sometimes miss because other things take over.”
The Equation for Belonging
“We sometimes have this equation we use at Momentum that goes like this: self-care plus team care equals a healthy cohesive community. And what we’re talking about here really is that team care side of the conversation, which is what is it that we’re going to do to take care of us? Self-care is very much the part that we as employees and leaders do, which is how I take care of me, which matters, too. We need to be grounded and well in order to take care of us.”
Courage, Curiosity, and Connection
“For me, it’s all about courage and curiosity. Those are the behavior skill sets that I need to pull from. And there’s no guarantee that when I do that, I will be safe. […] I might have a fear. Most of us do. I have a fear that I’m incompetent, and so I’m trying to hide that because I want everybody to think I am competent, and in most cases, I am competent. […] But the reality is I still made a mistake. What is true and real is that I am imperfect. […] I’ve got to be willing to own my part, which might include saying, ‘Hey, I messed up, and I wanted you to know first. I have a repair plan, but what is true is I or my team missed this.’”
The Power of Showing Up
“Something I’m thinking about a lot these days is to really remind myself that showing up is the thing. Showing up is the thing, and so just keep showing up. I would say to your listeners, with whatever you’ve got, however you are, bring it because I think the world really needs it. Your workplaces need it.”
LEARN MORE
Connect with Moe Carrick and access some of her free resources at her website, Moementum, Inc.