Dear Lisa,
We’ve known each other for many years, and it’s been great seeing your business grow and you moving into new directions. Thank you for sharing your journey with our readers.
Could you please tell us about your background prior to starting Careers Advance?
I had dreams of becoming an art director in the advertising world, which were derailed when my family moved to Florida in my senior high school year. After two years of community college, I returned to NY with 36 credits and landed my first office position with Seiko Hattori Corp. When that company decided to relocate to NJ, I took an entry level position at a money market brokerage firm (way off my career path, but an opportunity to earn a progressive salary and put myself back through college). I advanced to broker liaison while attending Baruch College at night. Two weeks after I graduated with a BBA in Marketing, I was fired. Yes, fired. I took an internship at a local parenting newspaper and jump started my marketing career (at a 60% pay cut). After one year I was offered a Marketing Assistant position with Golden Books Children Entertainment and progressed to Art Director. Unfortunately, the company went into a bankruptcy and I jumped ship before the pending buyout. My next job search led to a squeeze play between the well known, multi-billion dollar Phillip Morris, and a small, woman-owned educational marketing firm. I chose the latter for personal and professional decisions and managed their Colgate account. Eight months later, I resigned due to pursue freelance writing.
This journey of eight different positions, five different companies, four different organizational types and five unique job search campaigns (and lots of mistakes) prepared me well for the next road in my life, Careers Advance.
How did you spot the opportunity to start your business?
While temping at a law firm in between jobs, I submitted my resume to Resume.com for a free resume critique. They tried to sell me their services and I replied “I really just wanted your tips, I write resumes” (which I had on and off throughout my previous careers for friends, family, classmates and coworkers). They recognized my skills and asked me to work as a freelance writer. Then they asked me to provide interview coaching to a client. After that amazingly rewarding session, I instantly searched for a Career Planning Certificate program and found one with NYU. I launched Careers Advance overnight and have since expanded the practice to meet the needs of a national, multi-cultural client base of all ages and walks of life. What a rush!
Could you tell us about Careers Advance and the services it provides?
Careers Advance puts job seekers in the drivers’ seat. We are a full-stop career coaching firm with five service divisions. We offer top-notch resume/letter writing services that significantly improve our clients’ confidence and marketability (we strive to hear you say “Dam, I’m good. I’d hire me.”). For those interested, we offer one-on-one consulting and group workshops that help transform frustrated job seeking campaigns into exciting career journeys. We educate on career planning techniques, offering both time-tested and progressive multi-channel job searching strategies for applying, networking, interviewing and negotiating. We also guide individuals in effective workplace communications, leadership development and career change management.
To help our youth gain an edge on the current and upcoming competition, we transformed our professional coaching program into a revolutionary career-readiness curriculum, Mission: I’m PossibleTM, for high school and college students. To serve the corporate arena and our community, we developed our Speaking Platforms division that offers dynamic workshops, seminars and other style engagements designed to inspire and educate. Careers Advance can not solve every problem or guarantee jobs. We develop solutions for areas within our expertise, we connect individuals to resources outside of our expertise and we guarantee satisfaction. Whether we answer one nagging question or fulfill our clients’ needs through our many services, we aim to be your career buddy for life!
The theme of this month’s issue of WomenandBiz.com is “Reinvent yourself or your business”. How have you reinvented yourself and your business?
Given that I had several dreams from the age of 16, I guess I was destined for constant reinvention. I always kept my eyes and ears open for new project and networking opportunities that would help lead me in that direction. I remained flexible and developed various transferrable skills along the way in order to keep myself employable through any economy.
In every job search campaign, I recreated my resume to fit each position, something I strongly advise today. There is no ‘one-size-fits all’ resume. You must reinvent yourself on paper to target yourself to employer/client needs.
As far as my business, I listened and responded to the needs of each client that came my way—which happened while shopping, going to concerts, parties and the beach and traveling (business is everywhere!).
My skills in writing, speaking, mentoring and training, which I used throughout my past careers, are what make up my separate divisional services today. The Our History page of the About Us section on www.careersadvance.org reveals this exciting reinvention process (well, it was for me! 😉 ).
Congratulations on winning the 1st place in the semi-finals of the Toastmasters World Champion Speaker Contest, that’s a HUGE ACCOMPLISHMENT! Could you share the highlights of your experience?
Nothing short of amazing! Progressing from Club and Area to Division and District contests and preparing for the Semi-Finals was exhilarating. It forced me to hone in on my speaking craft, perfect my speech and meet time constraints. 30,000 contestants competed internationally and led to the 81 Semi-Finalists. To win 1st place and advance to the Finals is indescribable. I was treated like a celebrity for the next two days as I went through the halls of the hotel. Competing against 8 male contestants in the Finals two days later was truly humbling. It was wonderful to meet such passionate people and hear talented speakers. The best part was delivering my Mission: I’m PossibleTM speech to an audience of over 2,000 and having many come up to me afterwards sharing that I changed their life. There is no bigger trophy than that!
I’ve had a chance to attend and laugh at a couple of your stand-up comedy shows, how did you get into it and how has the experience been like?
During a training weekend at Monster’s Making It Count (my first public speaking gig), I was asked to partake in the talent show with some comedy. I figured, no one would boo me off stage so why not. I got lots of laughs and some crickets (a.k.a. silence). I did it a few more times at annual trainings and got the bug to do it in a real comedy club. I called several in Manhattan, signed up for one, and they put me on a list which led me to Gotham Comedy Club. I won’t be pursuing comedy as a career (it requires time and development as all other careers), but once in a while for fun. It’s where I can make fun of me, my traveling and dating pursuits. Laughter gets me through it all.
What are your plans for the future?
I have been fortunate to achieve the many career dreams I set for myself and launch a business, which I never even imagined. The one mission in life that didn’t come to fruition is marriage. That was a goal I thought would just happen along the way. I learned (20 years later) that finding a man is like finding a job and it requires strategic effort. In the last few years I applied my job searching skills to the man searching task and decided to get past my aversion for technology and diversify my channels—I went to the worldwide web. Just recently, I met the man of my dreams online.
So, my future plans are to maintain my business (I will always be here for past, present and future clients) while focusing on this new and exciting phase of my life. I’ve educated on it for years, but I am now experiencing real ‘work-life balance’. It truly is the best way to live!!
What advice would you give an aspiring entrepreneur?
Here are four tips:
#1 Do it better than me. When I began freelancing, my plans were to translate this writing position into a side job to help during marriage and parenthood, which didn’t happen in the time I expected. So I let the business just materialize. I tripped over my own success. I didn’t create a 3-5 year business plan and budget. I didn’t forecast sales or set up proper bookkeeping, client tracking and other related database systems. I suggest entrepreneurs do all that, and more. If I had truly planned my business (like I planned my careers) I would be 10 times more profitable today.
#2 Just like with career pursuits, choose a business that you will be good at and will love to do. This may take some investigation, research, schooling and test driving and it IS worth the time. Let’s face it, sometimes we don’t want to go to work—me too. But when I get there, I am excited. Why? Because I absolutely love what I do and I am great at it. I’m not bragging, I am just expressing my confidence. I recognize my capabilities—those I have worked hard at developing—and use them in my daily work. Your expertise and positive disposition will mean all the difference in satisfying clients—and your profit goals.
#3 Reach out for help. As a female who has lived in and worked in male-dominated environments, I am too eager to do everything on my own. That is not the best strategy. I have a therapist, I talk with friends and family and I invest in professional advise when needed to get my business to the next level. Don’t be too shy or to proud to ask for and invest in help.
Last but not least…
#4 Have fun! If you take your business too seriously, you’ll miss out on enjoying the success. If it’s not brain surgery, it’s not brain surgery. Get over your mistakes (put a change plan into action quickly), laugh often (especially at yourself), exercise and get away from the computer once in a while. Social networks are great for business, but nothing can substitute personal relationships. I’m hosting game night at my house this Friday and Monday I’m having a barbeque with my nieces and nephew (and new man in my life). What are you doing this weekend? Don’t just plan work and business—plan fun!!
To contact Lisa Panarello, please call her at 718-605-2290 or send her an email at lisa@careersadvance.org. For more information, please visit www.careersadvance.org.