3,2,1 iRelaunch

Mary Catherine Malley is Director, Assistant General Counsel for Juniper Networks. Her route to this huge role for a global, NYSE listed, multi-billion company following an 11 year career break is the topic of our conversation. A surprising conversation with a neighbor jumpstarted her relaunch, and ended up in a returnship-like role for his company. Mary Catherine details the key role networking played in her relaunch, and how attending our iRelaunch Return to Work Conference twice and the iRelaunch Roadmap helped guide her relaunch. This episode is part of our "Relaunching in Senior Roles" mini-series and is a rebroadcast of a previously aired episode.

Today we welcome Ofer Sharone, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst whose research focuses on career transitions, unemployment, and aspirations. His new book, The Stigma Trap: College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed shows how the stigma of unemployment renders all workers, including those who are highly experienced and hold advanced degrees from elite universities, precarious and vulnerable to being trapped in long-term unemployment. Recognized as a leading expert on unemployment, Ofer has been invited to the White House and the U.S. Department of Labor to participate in policy discussions on addressing unemployment. We discuss long term unemployment as it pertains to relaunchers and get his advice on how make progress in the face of it.

We are pleased to present you with a special broadcast of a previously recorded interview where Carol Fishman Cohen, host of the 3,2,1 iRelaunch podcast, CEO & Co-founder of iRelaunch, sits on the opposite side of the podcast mic and answers questions regarding her relaunch and more on the "Disrupt Yourself Podcast" with Whitney Johnson. We hope you enjoy this insightful and inspirational conversation, and get a peak into aspects of Carol's relaunch story and her journey in founding iRelaunch.

Elizabeth Andrew is a top-producing technology sales executive, startup advisor, and TEDx speaker who has established herself as a leader, motivator, and role model. Elizabeth achieved career success by breaking down barriers in the San Francisco technology space at nearly 50 years old and after a 17-year career break, with no technology experience.

Elizabeth has been a three-time VP of sales working for companies including Hello Sign, Dropbox, Puma, and Netomi. She is now the co-founder and CEO at Sales Compete. We discuss in detail the steps Elizabeth took to resume her sales career and will also hear about her recent entrepreneurial venture.

Earlier, Elizabeth was featured as an iRelaunch Relauncher of the Month.

Janet Peterson is Diversity Lead at iRelaunch, and like many on the iRelaunch team, Janet is a relauncher. Prior to her five-year career break, Janet held leadership roles in sales, marketing, and training and advocacy at Johnson & Johnson, and at Xerox Corporation. She served as board member for the American Diabetes Association and was a liaison for the National Urban League, NAACP and La Raza. Janet currently serves her community through Mocha Moms, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., and Women's Ministries. Janet discusses the initiatives, events, and programming that have made the biggest impact in diversifying the iRelaunch pool. Employers, relaunchers and others interested in impactful diversity measures - this episode is for you.

Today's episode is a rebroadcast of an earlier podcast full of tips on how to bring your best self to the table. 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.

Jennifer Andrews is an equity and inclusion expert who relaunched her career in 2015 as part of Credit Suisse's Real Returns program in their second cohort. After eight and a half years at Credit Suisse, Jennifer took on a new role leading the equity and inclusion efforts globally at Guardian Life, where she is today. We speak with Jennifer about her job search and experience relaunching through a returnship, how a volunteer position with her children’s school inspired her to pursue a career in DEI, as well as her career progression since her relaunch. Jennifer attended the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference in 2014 and will discuss the critical role of the Conference in her relaunch.

Looking back at the many stories we've aired over the last year, we wanted to share the best bits of advice from our incredible list of guests. Today, the great advice continues as we hear from Keita Young of FanDuel and her exciting story of reaching a senior level after her relaunch; Samantha Orlando of Lockheed Martin and her relaunch after a life-threatening illness; Chip Conley, founder of Modern Elder Academy; Jennifer Chin Schnabl of State Street Advisors; Wendy Sachs, author and talented multi-media communications executive; Jill Johnson, co-founder of IFEL discusses DEI and access to capital; Priya Venketesan, Business Systems Analyst at University of California, Davis; Christine Fay, HR Manager at Grenova; Ying Chen Axt in public finance investment banking; and our resident resume expert, Heidi Ravis. We hope you enjoy the second episode in our 2-part best advice compilation of 2023 series.

Looking back at the many stories we've aired over the last year, we wanted to share the best bits of advice from our incredible list of guests. Today, we'll hear from Kerry Carter, who relaunched and had a long career at Staples before becoming CEO of non-profit Hope & Comfort; Avanti Tilak, astrophysicist turned data scientist; Shweta Sharma, who relaunched in tech after three career breaks; star comedian Zarna Garg, and her journey onto the stage; Alisha Fernandez Miranda, author of "My What If Year"; Susan Golden, author of "Stage Not Age, How to Understand and Serve People Over 60"; Jana Toner, whose relaunch was at the White House (!) and who has continued her career in public service; Carmen Park, a relaunched engineer who is now a senior engineering manager at Collins ; Tcheula Lienou, relaunched electrical engineer with Trane; and Katie Perry, chief executive of the Daphne Jackson Trust. We hope you enjoy listening to Part 1 of our 2-part best advice compilation of 2023.

Today, we are pleased to share an excerpt from The Black Relauncher’s Perspective Panel, a webinar hosted recently by Mocha Moms + iRelaunch. This panel highlights the professional return to work stories of four Black relaunchers, Catherine Duffy, Country Leader of Bermuda, AIG; Kuae Kelch, National President of Mocha Moms Inc.; LaBrena Settles, SVP, Program Manager, Bank of America; and Tiana Sousa, Contract Manager, Iron Bow Technologies; hosted by iRelaunch’s Diversity Lead, Janet Peterson (who is also a relauncher!)

At iRelaunch, we recognize that relaunching can be a difficult undertaking, and that the intersectionality of relaunching as a Black professional presents unique and additional challenges. Please join us as we amplify the voices of Black relaunchers in this frank and revealing conversation.