3,2,1 iRelaunch

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 enabli...

Elisabeth Galvin is a content editor at Diversity Network, an organization committed to equality, diversity and inclusion and creating a better workplace for all. We met Elisabeth when she invited Carol Fishman Cohen to join her in a fireside chat session at Diversity Network’s Inclusion 2021 virtual conference. Elisabeth has worked as a journalist and author in the US, London, Australia and Hong...

Hear the “Best Piece of Advice” from ten episodes of the 3,2,1 iRelaunch podcast series: Author Laura Zigman explains how to move forward through life’s most challenging time; Learn about angel investing and if it’s right for you with Nicole Cuellar-Lopez; Kathryn Troutman gives guidance on applying for jobs with the federal government; Dr. Ella Washington discusses how to have difficult and meani...

Sarah DeLadurantey supports General Motor’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion as a Talent Strategist for DEI Workforce Design. She is the program manager for Take 2, GM’s career reentry program, and led its recent transformation from a returnship to a direct-hire model. Sarah discusses how the Take 2 program has evolved and provides helpful guidance on how to answer an often-asked pre-scre...

Sydney Finkelstein is the Steven Roth Professor of Management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College. He has published 25 books and 90 articles, including the bestsellers Why Smart Executives Fail and Superbosses: How Exceptional Leaders Master the Flow of Talent. Syd also hosts his own podcast, The Sydcast, to share stories of people in business, sports, entertainment, politics, acad...

Renee Rudczynski is a human resources professional who has worked in HR consulting and led HR teams within a variety of environments, including higher ed, finance, and startups. After a seven-year career break, she recently began an organizational development role. Renee discusses her non-linear job search and how networking helped her land her dream job at a tech startup. She also shares how her...

Eraina Ferguson is a Marketing & Communications Manager who spoke on our Successful Relaunchers Panel at our October 2021 iRelaunch Return to Work Conference. She is a special needs advocate, UX (user experience) designer, journalist, and TEDx curator who took a 10-year career break to stay at home with her four children before returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eraina discusses her e...

Karolyn Diamond-Jones is a registered nurse working in the area of healthcare compliance who took a 15-year career break to raise her four children. She rejoined the full-time workforce in 2017 as a case manager in the home hospice and palliative care field. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Karolyn pivoted and now works for a healthcare company focused on Medicare denials and appeals. Karolyn candidl...

Misbah Sheikh is a Salesforce consultant who spoke on our Successful Relaunchers Panel at our recent virtual iRelaunch Return to Work Conference. She went on career break after the birth of her twins in 2009 – a story in itself. During a career break that was for childcare as well as eldercare, Misbah continued to be an active learner, completing an initial Salesforce certificate program and then...

Mai Ensmann is the Senior Program Planner at Cyber Florida: The Florida Center for Cybersecurity. Previously Mai had worked as a program manager and trainer for international higher education programs and non-profit and humanitarian organizations in the U.S. and across Europe, Africa and Central Asia. Mai took an 11-year career break while raising her children in Belgium, Switzerland and Ghana. Sh...

This is the first episode in our "Relaunchers in Senior Roles" mini-series. Lori Taylor is head of America’s corporate lending and derivatives in Credit Risk at Goldman Sachs. She relaunched her Wall Street career by participating in Goldman’s Returnship program in 2015, which she joined shortly after attending our iRelaunch Return to Work Conference in the Fall of 2014. Lori advanced from her Gol...

Bryn Panee Burkhart is Principal and Founder of Next Evolution Leadership Coaching and Career Management, and currently serves as an Institute Fellow at Simmons University’s Institute for Inclusive Leadership. She previously oversaw Alumni Career Services at the MIT Sloan School of Management and was a speaker at our November 2020 Return to Work Conference. Bryn discusses compensation: how employe...

Lucy Chang Evans is a civil engineer who also worked as a U.S. Secret Service agent before going on career break to build a family. Ten years later, she found herself in the middle of a divorce with three young kids. She first relaunched by returning to her original career as a civil engineer. After nearly six years in that role, Lucy went on career break again last year to focus on the online MBA...

Maria D’Agostino Crawford is the Associate Director of Alumni Relations at Springfield College in Springfield, Massachusetts who took an eight-year career break to care for her two daughters. Maria’s relaunch happened in a series of steps that first involved part time work and then a full time relaunch back at her pre-career break employer in a lower position than when she left. Since then, she ha...

Faye Penn is the Executive Director of women.nyc, which is dedicated to helping New York City women succeed in their careers and businesses through innovative programs and partnerships. She is also an Executive Vice President of Initiatives at the New York City Economic Development Corporation, where she oversees the project startup team. Among her previous roles, Faye was an editor for titles inc...

Nicole Diamond is a rare disease pharmaceutical industry specialist focused on the business side of pharma. She left her successful career at Shire Pharmaceuticals and took a four year career break to care for her children. When former colleagues moved to other companies, they asked Nicole if she would be interested in consulting for them; she has now been consulting for seven years. Nicole discus...

Cynthia Corby was a financial analyst on Wall Street before taking a 17 year career break. She decided to pursue a masters degree in business analytics as a way to relaunch her career. We met Cynthia when she reached out to us to see if she could focus her final project for her degree on data analysis that would be helpful to us. A dedicated relauncher and looking for a way to pay it forward, she...

Today’s episode of “3, 2, 1, iRelaunch” is a re-run of an interview Carol did in 2017 with Cheryl McGee Wallace, who later became Special Advisor and Guest Podcast Host for iRelaunch. Cheryl shares some of the pivotal moments from her relaunch journey, including the approach that she took with regards to informational interviewing and networking, and the three questions that she always asked. She...

Alison Cormack serves on the Palo Alto City Council and chairs its Finance Committee. She has relaunched twice - once at Google where she worked for almost five years and then in politics. During a 10-year career break, as a volunteer, she was behind the approval of a $76 million bond measure to rebuild Palo Alto libraries and was the President of the Palo Alto Library Foundation, which raised $4...

Jenny Brody is a partner at a law firm she co-founded, Brody Kling PLCC, which specializes in providing high quality, affordable legal representation in family law matters in the DC area. Jenny found her passion for this work while she was out on a 15-year career break. Jenny joined forces with two other attorneys on career break, Karen Marcou and Marla Spindel, to form the DC Volunteer Lawyers Pr...

Kimberly Brown is a leadership development expert, accomplished speaker and podcast host whose mission is to empower women and people of color in the workplace. Her personal and professional development company, Manifest Yourself, LLC, helps professionals looking to lead a dynamic career and life. Kimberly discusses the impetus behind writing her recently-released book, Next Move, Best Move: Trans...

In this milestone 200th episode, Carol speaks with Michael Madowitz, an economist for the Center for American Progress whose work includes a focus on labor markets and household budgeting at different life stages. Note: this episode was recorded in June 2021 and commentary is based on that point in time. Michael discusses the full cost of career breaks taken due to the pandemic (it's way more than...

Miriam Berkowitz started her career as a software developer and returned to work as a data analyst after a 20 year career break. To update her technology skills, she enrolled in a 6-month intensive Data Analytics & Visualization bootcamp. She is thriving in her role and has been an active member of our private Facebook group, the iRelaunch Return to Work Forum, where she has shared her valuable in...

Koseli Cummings is a self-taught content strategist and copywriter. She returned to the workforce full-time after seven years of being a stay at home mom by sending “one brave email" to almost every woman she knows. That email turned into a six figure job that altered the course of her career. Now she’s passionate about helping other women get brave and send that one scary email that could change...

Richard Eisenberg is the Managing Editor of Next Avenue, the PBS site for people 50+, and the editor of its Money and Work & Purpose channels. He aims to help people manage their personal finances, find jobs, switch fields, volunteer and find purpose in their lives. He’s also the author of two books focused on helping people to manage their money. Richard discusses career progression trends for th...