3,2,1 iRelaunch

When Carol asks for Selena Rezvani’s best advice on how to “be a fierce self-advocate” as Selena says, and how to reach out to people to help in a job search without coming across as opportunistic, Selena explains this is all about demonstrating executive presence! Selena is a popular Leadership Speaker and Inclusion Consultant as well as a LinkedIn Learning Instructor. Her book “Pushback” addresses how self-advocacy is critical for professional success. Selena hosts a weekly show on LinkedIn Live, an invite-only platform, all about ways to elevate women at work. Tune in for a dynamic conversation.

Combining the "Best Piece of Advice" from 13 episodes of "3, 2, 1, iRelaunch," you'll hear from guests including Randi Childs who returned as a creative; seasoned recruiter Donnie Watson on relaunching; Corporate Council for TheRealReal, Liz Logie; Theresa Harris who relaunched in the arts; Chris Rudnicki on maintaining mental health during your relaunch, and many more. Be sure to listen to the full podcast content from each of these special guests in previous episodes.

Lisa Fain is the CEO at the Center for Mentoring Excellence. She speaks with Carol all about mentoring and the role mentoring and being mentored can have in a relaunch, and once back to work. They discuss the “growth mindset” and the idea of “becoming” vs the “fixed mindset," why you don’t have to “have all the answers” to be an effective mentor, and how the best mentoring relationships are enabling instead of dependent. Fun fact: Lisa Fain’s mother, Lois Zachary, the founder of the Center for Mentoring Excellence is a relauncher! When Lisa was in middle school, her mother went back to school for a PhD and founded the Center subsequently.

Center for Mentoring Excellence

Kendell Brown, Founder of Ascension Careers, first transitioned her career from finance to brand management after she got her MBA. Later, after her career break, she transitioned her career again when she took a role in career services at a major university. Finally, she used all of her accumulated skills to develop a career and executive coaching business alongside her university work, and then on her own. Listen as Kendell tells us how she convinced the university that she would be an excellent candidate for a role for which she had no prior experience. As the resume expert for the iRelaunch coaching team, she explains why she recommends being “accurate but not proportionate” when recounting work history on a resume. At the close of the conversation and as we witness the rise of the pivotal Black Lives Matter movement, Kendell comments on her relaunch experience as a Black woman and mother.

Dorothy DeWitt, Director of the Division of Market Oversight at the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, grew up on a Texas farm and later graduated from University of Texas at Austin and Harvard Law School. She successfully relaunched her career in 2014 in a much more junior role than the one she left before her career break, and after a job search that was prolonged by the 2008 recession. Dorothy’s career soared after her relaunch. She candidly discusses what led to her current senior role and dispenses excellent advice for all relaunchers along the way.

Kara Goldin, Founder and CEO of Hint, talks to Carol about how she left a powerful career to be home with her kids, and got the idea for Hint when looking for a healthy, good-tasting alternative to diet drinks. They discuss Kara’s early career at Time magazine, CNN and AOL, being an entrepreneur within a company versus on your own, risk profiles and naysayers. Kara has been named to Forbes “40 Women to Watch Over 40” and Fortune’s “Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs.” Kara’s book Undaunted will be released in October 2020.

Read more about Kara here: 7 Questions with Kara Goldin

EP 140: Best Advice for Relaunchers Special Memorial Day Compilation Episode by iRelaunch

Cynthia Stewart, Director of System Engineering at Science and Engineering Services, LLC, talks with Carol about her engineering start at NASA, her 17-year career break raising her four children, and how her attendance at a job fair led her back into the engineering world with no up-skilling. Cynthia shares how a temporary job as the Children’s Director at her church gave her the communications skills to re-enter the workforce. She discusses how she relaunched as a Systems Engineer, a different type of engineering than what she did before her career break, and how it was the perfect fit for her when she relaunched.

More on Cynthia’s career path and relaunch can be found in this article written last year.

Ginny Brzezinski is a former Capitol Hill press secretary, writer, speaker, iRelaunch Advisory Board member and co-author, with her sister-in-law, Morning Joe co-host Mika Brzezinski, of the recently released Comeback Careers. Ginny talks with Carol about her own career break, relaunching in real estate which gave her some flexibility while raising her children, and now co-authoring Comeback Careers. Ginny explains the value of relaunching later in life and how the resilience and maturity you bring to the table makes you “stronger, wiser, better.”

Carol speaks with Liz O’Donnell, Founder of Working Daughter, a community of women (and men) balancing their careers and caregiving of an elderly parent or loved one. Liz has firsthand experience holding down a busy career, raising a family and then taking on a caregiving role out of the blue with both of her parents. Liz and Carol discuss the importance of “showing up” at work now, in order to gain trust and equity with your co-workers for the future when you may need some flexibility; the tough conversations that every family should have before there is a health crisis; and if you are on career break and then your circumstances change, how to position your caregiving time to your advantage.