3,2,1 iRelaunch

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, J...

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, engi...

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...

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 ref...

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 Ma...

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 t...

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 phys...

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 cyc...

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 suppor...

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...

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...

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. Thing...

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...

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 relaunch...

"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,...

How does a technical professional prepare for relaunching her career in technical roles after career breaks of different lengths and in two countries? What kind of updating is required? How does the job search work? Did it get any easier after each career break? Did the strategies change? A strong proponent for the benefits relaunchers can bring to an organization, and as part of her commitment to...

Avanti Tilak's career transition and relaunch from astrophysics and academia to corporate data science was a triumph after a long, frustrating period of setbacks. Avanti explains how she updated her skills, which freelance roles contributed to her progress, how she dealt with repeated rejection, and what ultimately led to her successful relaunch into the corporate world via IBM's Tech Re-Entry pro...

After her relaunch and subsequent rise to senior executive leadership roles in the distribution and logistics industry, Kerry Carter made the leap to the nonprofit world, taking on the role of CEO of Hope & Comfort. Hope & Comfort provides basic hygiene products to tens of thousands of adults in need in Massachusetts such as deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo. Before her current role, Kerry led a nati...

Hear the “Best Piece of Advice” from select episodes of “3,2,1 iRelaunch,” Samantha Kranyak shares what gave her the confidence to relaunch after divorce and becoming a single parent; Arlene Willis successfully relaunched into the transportation industry; Rabbi Suzanne Offit offers encouragement from her relaunch in the clergy; Krystal Shorts shares how she returned to work through an internship i...

Zibby Owens is an author, podcaster, publisher, CEO, and mother of four. Writing has been her passion since she was a child. During her 11 year career break to take care of her children, she continued writing and ultimately began a podcast called Moms Don’t Have Time to Read Books. The popularity of her podcast subsequently led to the creation of her own publishing and media entity, Zibby Owens Me...

How can relaunchers ensure they are making the best impression while networking, at a professional conference, and even in an interview? Today’s episode is a rebroadcast of an earlier episode with guest, Julie Holunga, executive coach and founder of Chinook Executive Solutions. Julie asserts that relaunchers should be deliberate about the words they use – presenting themselves with confidence and...

Amanda Drake Liu is currently Senior Director, Data Analytics, for ADP. She took a 14-year career break before relaunching as part of MetLife’s Act2 Program in 2014, to which she connected with through iRelaunch’s Return to Work Conference. Amanda got in touch with us last year because she was interested in hiring a relauncher to work for her! We discuss Amanda’s relaunch journey, how the first fe...

Today we welcome Chef Steve Konopelski, a Broadway dancer turned pastry chef who is Chef Instructor with the prestigious Auguste Escoffier Culinary Institute. Steve explains how he successfully navigated his extreme career transition; starting with how he thought of his new career goal in the first place, to how he proceeded to reach that goal step by step. As always, we get into the important det...

Wendy Schlatner’s career started in investment banking and investment relations. She took a 16-year career break and then made a career transition when she relaunched in medical practice management. Her interest in the new field was piqued after spending several summers running the health office at her kids’ sleepaway camp. In this episode, which is part of our “Relaunching in Medicine” mini-serie...

Liz Brown, a lawyer turned business professor, and Amy Impellizzeri, litigator turned novelist, are the co-authors of How to Leave the Law, a guidebook for lawyers considering a career change, that was released September 6, 2022. Listen in as we speak with Liz and Amy about their individual career paths, their new book and the many examples of career pivots it features, plus strategies for career...