Mission | videoBio | Career Industry Work | Roots | Credentials
Mission
Think about how good it feels when you are doing something you love; when time has no meaning; when your mind, body, and the environment around you are in perfect synergy. That feeling, that energy, is what you get when you hit your "sweet spot" - when you are doing something "on brand" - something that is truly, authentically, you.
As a leader, how would you feel if you could work that sweet spot for pay, for career progression, for fun at work, for pure satisfaction, and get your teams to work theirs, too? My passion is helping you identify and use that sweet spot - your personal (and professional) brand - to land faster, earn more, have fun, build great companies, and maybe even change the world!
I've been a career professional since 1989 (and was among the first 20 people to be certified as Reach Personal Branding Strategists globally). From early on I knew that when I wrote resumes infused with my clients' differentiation, passion, and voice, those resumes worked. The power of branding manifested so clearly in my clients' successes that I learned (and continue to learn!) everything I could about personal branding. I incorporated it into my resume writing, career communications, and coaching services; later became a Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist; and watched my clients soar.
A while back I took a fun political quiz that pegged me as a "liberal-leaning libertarian" and that contrarian description seems to fit my "profit with a purpose" vision. My unabashedly idealistic (and practical) mantra? "Changing the world one executive at a time!"?
I LOVE my job. I've found MY sweet spot. I get to help people catapult their careers and achieve their particular dreams. What's better than that?
Work as Career Industry Early Adopter / Innovator / Educator
Trend shadows, ideas, connections, possibilities, (and pragmatic uses for the resulting alchemy) excite me to the point of madness! There is nothing I love more (besides seeing people blossom and succeed) than identifying a trend that's just beginning to peep over the horizon, matching it to client and marketplace need, experimenting with ways to leverage it in new products and/or processes, and then executing on the vision. Once proven, I adore sharing my findings with colleagues via presenting, writing, and coaching, to help move the industry forward and upward in whatever way I can.
Some of the ideas I've pioneered (along with other forward thinking colleagues) have become industry best-practices, including the composition and use of leadership addenda, case studies, networking resumes, branded bios, branded value propositions, creating LinkedIn profiles as a service, and (in the new Twitter Job Search Guide) the 160me Twitter bio, Twit-Fit resumes, 10-tweet cover letters, and the Twitter "Brand to Land Plan."
Board work with the National Resume Writers Association, The Career Management Alliance, and most recently, the Career Thought Leaders Consortium think tank is something I cherish as a way to give back (and selfishly, to brainstorm with smart dedicated people - a passion of mine).
Roots
Much of who I am was shaped by being the daughter of two research librarians (both quiet only children) AND being the eldest of their nine rambunctious children (4 boys, 5 girls, 19 year spread between me and the youngest).
I was reading voraciously for as long as I can remember and can recall being quite annoyed by the "Dick and Jane" books that were our beginning readers in first grade. Having already personally read many of the Louisa May Alcott books, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Mary Poppins, the Winnie the Pooh series, etc, I was bored beyond reason and thought Dick's and Jane's lives were the stupidest stories I'd ever heard (I did like the illustrations, though!).
As kids, we were always annoyed because our mom, Emily, a wonderful story interpreter, would read to us and frequently interrupt herself to explain vocabulary to us. However, it paid off, as we all grew up with a wonderful sense of language.
As a child I was ill quite a bit (with what I now know were chronic childhood migraines) and missed a lot of school. Reading biographies became my escape from boredom and I developed a fascination about people and how they lived their lives, did their jobs, and impacted the world.
As an adult, my love for language, reading, and people's histories coalesced into my career as a resume pro, coach, and brand strategist. A "happy accident," born of the desire to start a business that would allow me to leave my first career (in retail management and HR for Sterns, Macys, and in Macy's buying offices in New York City) and create a career that would allow me to be a working mom, and a stay at home mom. It's worked for 20 years so far, my children have recently left the nest, and I can devote all my efforts to the career work I love.
Rounding out my life is a passion for my husband, children, extended family, and friends as well as music, dancing, travel, theatre, art, camping, hiking, bird watching, and observing the insanity and sometimes brilliance of politics.
Professional credentials
Reach Certified Personal Branding Strategist (CPBS)
Credentialed Career Manager (CCM)
Certified Career Management Coach (CCMC)
Nationally Certified Resume Writer (NCRW)
Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW)
Certified Employment Interview Professional (CEIP)
Job Search and Career Transition Coach (JCTC)
Certified 360 Reach Analyst
Highlights of distinctions and publications
One of the world's first Certified Personal Branding Strategists
Co-author, The Twitter Job Search Guide (JIST, March 2010)
Contributor to 30+ career books
Partner and Career Branding Expert for the Career Thought Leaders Consortium think tank
Contributor to the CareerHub blog (a 2007 /2008 / 2009 top-25 HR blog)
Interviewed / quoted in the Wall Street Journal, Newsday, Fox News, Forbes and others
Conference presenter and keynote speaker
Co-creator of 2007's 'Brand You World Global Telesummit'
6 years' service on the BOD of Career Management Alliance (formerly Career Masters Institute)
Co-founder of the National Resume Writers╒ Association (NRWA)
6 years' service as NRWA Certification Commission member and NRWA newsletter editor
3 years as featured blogger and 'Ask the Coach' expert for Netshare.com
Known in the industry as 'Resident Trendspotter and Chief Innovation Officer'
