Looking Forward Our Way

Job searching is a complicated effort. It is nearly a full-time job even in this market! Our guests are experts and their non-profit agencies know how to support job applicants through to job attainment.

By the end of this episode, you'll understand the value of nonprofits in supporting your job search and how to find those resources.

Our guests are Jami Phillips, an Employment Consultant for New Directions Career Center, and Malka Bendor, a Career Consultant and Workshop Facilitator for Jewish Family Services, both located in Columbus, OH.

Job searching is a difficult process, and often job seekers do not have the resources or information needed for a successful job search.

Nonprofit organizations exist to help the community; many are successfully supporting job seekers in Central Ohio, saving time and money.

We talk about the changes in the job searching process over the past few years.

What has kept clients from gaining employment? How have their needs changed?

Plus, which populations are most at stake?

And finally, Jamie and Malka look into the future and talk about what we should expect in the next 3-5 years in the job search process.

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Malka Bendor is a Career Consultant and Workshop Facilitator at Jewish Family Services in Columbus Ohio. Malka brings over 10 years of experience in assisting Job Seekers to reach economic self-sufficiency by providing Job Search Strategy skills and tools. In her capacity as a Career Consultant Malka has worked with multiple generations and ensured their journey would be filled with emotional and professional support. She is very proud of the JFS Job Search Community which meets Virtually for continuous growth opportunities and meaningful networking.

By the end of this upcoming episode, you'll understand the value of nonprofits in supporting your job search and how to find those resources.

Our guests are Jami Phillips, an Employment Consultant for New Directions Career Center, and Malka Bendor, a Workshop Facilitator for Jewish Family Services, both located in Columbus, OH.

In your podcast player 8/29/22.

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2023 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Housing has become a critical issue for all residents in Ohio, and the nation. Especially for older adults and the price of homes or rent.

Older populations face numerous housing challenges, including those related to affordability, physical accessibility, and access to medical and other services inside and outside the home.

In 2019, from the most recent figures from The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies, the number of older adult households paying more than a third of their income for housing reached an all-time high of 10.2 million.

We had the opportunity to hear a panel of four experts on housing issues during a recent webinar. The program, Ohio Leaders of Encore and Age Friendly Initiatives, featured:

• Noreen Willhelm, Del Mar Encore Fellows Initiative at The Dayton Foundation
• John Zimmerman, Vice President of the Miami Valley Fair Housing Center, Inc.
• Francis Krumholtz, Volunteer and Engagement Coordinator of the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging
• Leigh Sempeles, Del Mar Encore Fellow with the Miami Valley Regional Planning Commission's Institute for Livable and Equitable Communities

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Sharon Hamersly joins for another of many podcasts, helping us guide you on how to be a great job candidate! Sharon is the “Resume Coach” and “The LinkedIn Coach” and owner of “Keys To Performance”.

What we cover in this episode includes...

Information for you, the job seeker, on how to “age-proof” a job search, and understand what these issues are and why it is important.

Help you review the materials used for a job search to ensure you do not “age” yourself in your resume, cover letter, and more.

Provide you information about age-proofing your social media and other issues in job searching

Plus, we talk about lots of resources that are available locally and in your city.

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

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Two TVCP events you will not want to miss!

Watch the TVCP event page for details and registration https://business.chamberpartnership.org/events

Be Your Best Self Expo will be held on August 30th (Grand Event Center)

Tri-Village Taste is scheduled for September 19th (Grant Event Center)

Back with us on this episode is David Polakowski, President/CEO, TriVillage Chamber Partnership.

The Tri-Village Chamber Partnership is a great opportunity to network with business leaders throughout Central Ohio, all are welcome! Watch the TVCP events page for details https://business.chamberpartnership.org/events

If you are outside of the Tri-Village and/or Central Ohio area, here are some ideas on where to network:

Check your nearest Chamber of Commerce (see links below to find local chambers) for their networking opportunities –you may not have to be a member to attend, although there could be a fee.

Think about volunteering with a local organization of professionals. Here in Central Ohio, we have 2 groups to check:

Columbus Gives Back https://columbusgivesback.org/ or BESA https://www.besa.org/

Check local nonprofits that provide networking events. In Central Ohio you may want to check

Networking Professionals of Columbus https://www.networkingprofessionalsofcolumbus.com/

Columbus Young Professionals Group https://www.cypclub.com/

EVOLE Women’s Networking https://www.evolvewomensnetwork.com

Check online event groups like MeetUp www.meetup.com

Google is a great resource to find your local organizations!

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Two TVCP events you will not want to miss!

Watch the TVCP event page for details and registration https://business.chamberpartnership.org/events

Be Your Best Self Expo will be held on August 30th (Grand Event Center)

Tri-Village Taste is scheduled for September 19th (Grant Event Center)

Our guest is David Polakowski, President/CEO, Tri-Village Chamber Partnership. The full episode will be in your podcast player Monday, July 18, 2022.

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2023 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

Debt doesn’t simply disappear when someone dies. If you’re concerned that your parents’ debt might outlive them, consider talking to an estate planning attorney like Larae Schraeder from Schraeder Law, LLC, our guest on this episode.

She's a listener favorite, so we had to bring her back!

After we saw an article on a website called “Nerdwallet” about the responsibilities adult children may face if their parent dies with financial debt. We immediately thought of our guest, Larae Schraeder, as the expert we needed to address the subject.

Get ready for another fact-filled episode, including...

Life transitions – how to be prepared ahead of time

• Having the “conversation” with parents on death issues before they are unable to do so
• How to explain the complexity of wills, etc.  Difference between wills/trusts/estates
• Documents: healthcare power of attorney, power of attorney, estate documentation, financial accounts

How to stay on top of parents’ needs

• Make sure they are not creating unnecessary debt
• Make sure they are paying bills, keeping track of paperwork, paying taxes, etc.
• How to ensure that the decision-makers (e.g., executor) will have the best interest in the parent/older adult in mind as they discuss issues with them.  And how to ensure other family members are in agreement/understanding and kept in the loop
• Mediation options when family members disagree or the older individual is at risk

When are children responsible for the parental debt?

• Are there different types of debt – some must be paid, others not?
• Does the estate change because of the debt (e.g., reducing the estate)
• What is paid first?  (e.g., federal taxes, Medicaid, etc.)
• How are homes/dwellings dealt with?  Cars, property, etc.?
• Does the size of the estate change the outcome?

Resources available both locally and to a wider audience

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson 

Debt doesn’t simply disappear when someone dies.

Coming up on our next episode, we bring back listener favorite Larae Schraeder from Schraeder Law, LLC to talk about this, and much more about estate planning.

This full episode will be in your podcast player on July 4, 2022. Here's preview of what we will be covering.

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle270Media Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2023 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson

There is so much to unpack in this episode as we focus on technology.

Our first questions will hone in on how we ensure that our family/friends/colleagues who are not as adept at technology can use it and maintain a safe computing environment.

Age isn’t always the issue; often it may be access to technology or the resources to use it wisely. And we plan to add another issue to this discussion, given the global issues we are facing. That is cyberattacks – it’s not “if” they will occur, but “when”….and are we prepared?

Back with us is Nice Guy Technology. Mason, Andy and Alex.

You are going to hear about...

• Information on the importance of being prepared for technology disasters and the consequences of not having systems in place
• How do we ensure that older tech users are also prepared?  How can they learn tech-safe computing?  
• Are there “tricks” that work in teaching that are not tech-savvy?   What challenges do they normally have?  
• What can older tech-savvy colleagues provide younger techno-wizards?
• The issues of cyberattacks in today’s global upheaval
• Information/resources regarding these technology issues

We would love to hear from you.

Give us your feedback, or suggest a topic, by leaving us a voice message.

Email us at [email protected].

Find us on Bluesky and Facebook.

Please review our podcast on Google!

And of course, everything can be found on our website, Looking Forward Our Way.

Recorded in Studio C at 511 Studios. A production of Circle 270 Media® Podcast Consultants.

Copyright 2026 Carol Ventresca and Brett Johnson