3,2,1 iRelaunch

We’ve compiled the best advice from recent podcasts, we hope you enjoy hearing from our amazing guests, some with incredible relaunch stories of their own, some to share guidance, all inspirational: Jennifer Andrews, equity & diversity lead at Guardian Life; Elizabeth Andrew, TEDx speaker and global leader & motivator; Ofer Sharone, Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on research regarding career transitions, unemployment, and aspirations; Felicia Williams on her relaunch at Vanguard and consequent advancement; Heather Bannon, returned to Discover Financial Services after leaving for a break, and her advancement; Rowena Zahn pivoted into life sciences after a...

Today, we welcome Evan J. Kopelson. Evan began his career as an in-house business affairs attorney for Capitol Records, followed by 20 years in the entertainment industry and creative pursuits, including songwriting. A song he wrote for Vanessa Williams called 'Where Do We Go From Here," hit three billboard charts and and won a BMI Pop award. Given that the songwriting industry can be fickle, unpredictable and unstable, even for a top songwriter, Evan was not able to replicate his earlier songwriting success and he took a career break. When Evan relaunched his career, he relaunched first as a volunteer and...

In the run up to the iRelaunch October Virtual Return to Work Conference, we are revisiting this special edition on resume advice, from our iRelaunch recommended resume expert, Heidi Ravis. Heidi has over 30 years experience working with relaunchers in a wide range of industries and situations. She's a relauncher herself and has a first-hand understanding of relauncher résumé challenges. In this episode, we speak with Heidi about her career journey, get her best resume recommendations, as well as advice on LinkedIn profiles and using AI. Listening to this episode is a must if you’re struggling with framing your resu...

Today, we ask you to join us in revisiting the previously aired excerpt, The Black Relauncher’s Perspective Panel, a webinar hosted recently by Mocha Moms, Inc. + 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 r...

Elia O'Rourke, a native of Mexico, found her career path after moving to New York City, where she met her husband during an exchange program. Elia took an eight year career break to raise her three daughters. During this time, she learned English by watching TV, and went through the process to validate her Bachelor's degree in accounting earned at a university in Mexico through World Education Services. In October 2021, Elia returned to work through Lockheed Martin's Chapter Next program where she worked for a year and a half as an associate proposal analyst. From there, she was recruited by...

Ashley Miller spent the first 19 years of her career working in the NBA and WNBA organizations. After a two-year career break, Ashley pivoted her career by joining Goldman Sachs in private wealth management via Goldman’s Returnship program. She later became Chief of Staff for Diversity Recruiting and leader of the Returnship program. From there, Ashley moved to Yum! Brands, parent of Pizza Hut Global, where she leads equity, inclusion, and belonging. She spearheads initiatives that champion inclusiveness and foster cultures of belonging around the world. We speak with Ashley about her career break, relaunch, and career progression, including examining he...

Rowena Zahn took a 15 year child care career break during which time she completed a dual degree master's program in Food Science (MS) and Business (MBA). Having left a pharmaceutical sales career before her career break, Rowena's relaunch ultimately led to her career in account management in global life sciences. Her key accounts include global pharmaceutical companies in the biopharmaceutical industry and laboratories, from drug discovery and development, to production platforms. We speak with Rowena about her strategy of using full degree programs to relaunch her career after a lengthy break. A proud career relauncher and champion of the benefits...

In 2006, Heather left her role as a Senior Programmer Systems Analyst at Discover Financial Services to begin a five year childcare career break. She ultimately relaunched her career by returning to Discover, where she has been promoted six times over the 13 years since she has been back. Heather is currently the Senior Director of Information Technology at Discover. She is a big supporter of relaunchers, which she has posted about on LinkedIn, including her enthusiasm for our Normalizing Career Breaks mission. We will also find out how Heather graduated with a fine arts degree and was able to transition to...

Felicia Williams spent over 20 years as a director in accounting, finance, and audit at a major US railroad before electing to take a career break. In 2022, she relaunched her career and made a significant career pivot when she joined the Return to Work program at Vanguard. Hear how Felicia determined that a side interest should become the focus of her relaunch, and learn about the training she received through Vanguard’s Return to Work program in order to attain the licenses needed to provide investment and advisory services to Vanguard clients. We also speak with Felicia about her career progression si...

What's the one step you cannot skip in order to successfully relaunch your career? Carroll Welch, Career, Executive & Leadership Coach, and one of our longest-serving iRelaunch coaching partners reveals the answer in this multi-faceted conversation. Note: The iRelaunch BootCamp referred to in this episode has been replaced by the iRelaunch RoadMap, the comprehensive, step-by-step guide for returning to a rewarding career, available on the iRelaunch website.

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...

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...

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...

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...

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 LinkedI...

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 Wo...

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...

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...

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 prof...

Today we welcome Heidi Ravis, our iRelaunch recommended resume expert. Heidi has over 30 years experience working with relaunchers in a wide range of industries and situations. She's a relauncher herself and has a first-hand understanding of relauncher résumé challenges. In this episode, we speak with Heidi about her career journey, and get her best resume recommendations. Listening to this episode is a must if you’re struggling with framing your resume for career reentry programs and traditional positions.

Ying Chen Axt spent six years as an Infrastructure project finance consultant before taking a nine year career break. While on career break, working around her child’s schedule, she studied for and passed the three rigorous and notoriously difficult Chartered Financial Analyst exams to gain the highly regarded CFA credential. “It turned out the experience of studying for the CFA was instrumental: it not only helped me sharpen my technical skills, but also built my confidence and networks in the process.” Using the knowledge gained from studying for the CFA, and leveraging her interests in infrastructure project finance and public...

Christine Fay is the Human Resources Manager at Grenova, a biotechnology start-up focused on waste reduction solutions. A human resources professional with extensive experience in human capital consulting across a variety of sectors, from Fortune 500 companies to federal government agencies, Christine relaunched her HR career after a seven-year career break. Christine serves as the Director of Learning Events and on the Board of Directors of the Richmond, Virginia chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). Our conversation with Christine focuses on specific networking strategies she used to successfully relaunch her career and the role of professional associations in...

Author, Speaker, Educator and Coach Steven Campbell joins Carol to discuss the power of the brain and how destructive negative self-talk can be, especially during a prolonged job search. Steven points out “your brain believes everything that you tell it” and having a more positive discussion with your brain can change your life. He will also discuss how his personal experience changing a negative narrative into a positive one led to the work he’s doing today. This is a rebroadcast of a previously aired episode.

Priya Venkatesan works as a Business Systems Analyst at University of California, Davis. She relaunched into her position with UC Davis after a 16 year career break. Her relaunch involved many job applications, interviews and rejections before she ultimately found success. She became a certified Scrum Master during her career break, and since she's been back at work, she has achieved her Lean Six Sigma white, yellow, and green belts. Priya calls attending the iRelaunch Return to Work conference while she was relaunching, “life-changing”. In the ultimate full circle, she returned to the iRelaunch Return to Work Conference in 2022 to speak abou...

Jill Johnson is the co-founder and CEO of the Institute for Entrepreneurial Leadership (IFEL), based in Newark, New Jersey. IFEL is an independent nonprofit organization that supports economic development through entrepreneurship. IFEL recently acquired Pipeline Angels, founded by Natalia Oberti Noguera, who is a member of the iRelaunch Advisory Board. As a 30 year champion for black businesses, Jill is a pioneering voice for inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystems and access to capital. She's the driving force behind the Black Angels initiative to drive diversity and inclusion within the investor ecosystem. In 2022, Jill was named one of Crane's New York Business Whole Health...

Today we welcome Wendy Sachs, a seasoned communications executive and creative storyteller. Wendy has spent more than two decades in media as a journalist, Capitol Hill Press secretary, Emmy Award-winning TV producer, Forbes columnist, author, film director, and digital editor in chief. Additionally, Wendy is a frequent keynote speaker giving talks about growing confidence, embracing failure, engineering serendipity and taking risks. In today's episode, we speak with Wendy and her career pivots and the career breaks that she's taken along the way.

Today we welcome Jennifer Chin Schnabl, who relaunched her finance career four years ago. Jennifer is currently a Vice President in the Capital Markets group at State Street Global Advisors, where she is responsible for managing and developing relationships and strategic initiatives with top tier investment banks and liquidity providers. In today’s episode, we speak with Jennifer about her return to work journey, and her unusual decision to plan for her career break by attending an iRelaunch return to work conference at the start of her break.

Chip Conley, co-founder of MEA (Modern Elder Academy), started his professional career disrupting the hospitality industry twice, first, as the founder of Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the second largest operator of boutique hotels in the world, and then as Airbnb's head of Global Hospitality and Strategy leading a worldwide revolution in travel. Chip co-founded MEA in January, 2018. Dedicated to reframing the concept of aging, MEA supports students to navigate midlife with a renewed sense of purpose and possibility. Chip's upcoming book, Learning to Love Midlife, 12 Reasons Why Life Gets Better With Age, is about rebranding midlife to help people understand...

Samantha Orlando is Senior Systems Engineer at Lockheed Martin. Samantha, who has a bachelor's degree in ocean engineering from Florida Atlantic University started her career in 2003 as a systems engineer at Lockheed Martin, where she built underwater vehicles. A decade later, Samantha resigned for medical reasons. In March, 2021, Samantha resumed her engineering career by returning to Lockheed Martin through their career reentry program, Chapter Next. We don't often have the opportunity to speak with a relauncher whose career break was for health reasons and who relaunched a technical career at their pre-career break employer. Listen in as Samantha shares how...

Keita Young is an attorney who is currently Head of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at FanDuel. After practicing employment law earlier in her career, Keita took an 11-year career break from the legal profession. During that time she was an entrepreneur - owning a children’s specialty boutique and eventually relaunched her legal career through JPMorgan Chase’s ReEntry Program. She was selected for the inaugural 2014 Legal ReEntry cohort and over the next 8 and 1/2 years, Keita rose in seniority in the legal department, moved to Human Resources to program manage a global diversity strategy and eventually rejoined the legal department to serv...

Katie Perry is the Chief Executive of the Daphne Jackson Trust, which under her leadership has become the UK’s leading organization dedicated to helping returners relaunch their research careers. Katie is a physicist with a background in science communication. She holds a doctorate degree in Physics from the University of Surrey, where she worked with the Trust's namesake and the first female physics professor in the UK, Professor Daphne Jackson. In 2022, Katie was awarded an honorary degree by the University of Surrey in recognition of her unwaveringly commitment to securing the legacy of the Daphne Jackson Trust’s vision. Sinc...

Tcheula Lienou, a Senior Controls Hardware Engineer with Trane Technologies took a ten-year career break to raise her three children before relaunching her career in 2019. Tcheula participated in the inaugural cohort of Ingersoll Rand’s ReLaunch career reentry program, which is now run by Trane Technologies following a 2020 corporate restructuring. Her focus is in new product development, life cycle engineering, quality and supply chain. We will speak with Tcheula about her career path, career break and her career progression since participating in the ReLaunch program.

Carmen Park is a technical leader with experience in the automotive, electronics, telecom, semiconductor, defense, and medical device industries. She is a senior manager at Johnson & Johnson and is pursuing a master’s degree in data analytics at Penn State University. Carmen returned to a technical role after an 8-year career break. Listen in as she describes the key role her husband had in supporting her before and during her relaunch, and how her involvement in the Society of Women Engineers had a positive impact on her relaunch. Carmen's picture was featured on posters all over the Society of Women En...

Today we welcome Jana Toner, Senior Vice President with American Corporate Partners, which is dedicated to assisting US veterans and active-duty military spouses in finding rewarding careers. Based in Washington DC, Jana has over 20 years’ experience in the private and public sectors, including working in two White House administrations. She took an eight-year career break to care for her children. In this episode, we speak with Jana about what steps she did during her relaunch to keep her “toe in” and relaunch back into a public service role in government.

Susan Golden is the director of DCIX at the Stanford Distinguished Careers Institute (DCI), and a lecturer and adjunct professor at Stanford University. She leads the DCIX Longevity Innovation Special Interest Group focused on creating innovations and new business opportunities for longevity and healthy aging, and she serves as a lead mentor to the Techstars Future of Longevity Accelerator. Susan is also the author of Stage Not Age, How to Understand and Serve People Over 60, which focuses on the business opportunities and strategies to support longevity and healthy aging using life stage instead of a person's age. Susan co-developed a...

Amy Miller is a PR and communications expert who wrote to us a few months ago after relaunching her career following an eight year career break and a three year effort to relaunch. Despite doing all of the recommended steps to find a new job, she only got a couple of phone interviews and got to the point where she became so demoralized that she had to stop because she was becoming depressed. Things changed when Amy took a break from her job search, updated her skills, and made the decision to go into business for herself -- a decision...

Alisha Fernandez Miranda is the author of My What If Year. Detailing her year of unpaid internships, the book follows Alisha on her quest to figure out what might have happened if her life had taken a different path. Alisha is also the host of Quit Your Day Job, a new podcast that takes listeners behind the scenes of her guests' dream jobs. Alisha is a Cuban-American, born and raised in Miami who has spent her adult life in New York and London. She is currently based in Scotland. Alisha is a graduate of Harvard University and the London School...

Today we are airing the audio version of our previously released video interview with Corey and LaBrena Settles, both military veterans who later relaunched their careers within a five year period; Corey after a 2 year career break for eldercare reasons and LaBrena after a 17-year career break focused primarily on childcare. We discuss how Corey and LaBrena coordinated the timing of their relaunches, what kinds of conversations they had leading up to their double relaunch, how it actually played out in real time and the ways Corey and LaBrena supported each other before, during and after their career breaks. We...

"She could make anyone laugh and I wanted her to be paid for it. 'Mom, have you ever thought about being a stand-up comedian?' As she began dreaming of a comedy career, the reality of her current life as a stay-at-home mom sank in. She began to cry and told me it was too late for her. I could not bear to watch her struggle between ambition and doubt," wrote Zoya Garg, Zarna's daughter. Zarna Garg, an Indian immigrant, started her career as a lawyer and then spent 16 years as a stay-at-home mom. It was her kids who ultimately...