First impressions are made instantly whether in-person or by phone. Make sure your voice mail message is clear and articulate and sounds like the consummate professional you want others to believe you are – especially if you are applying for jobs. Nothing turns off a recruiting employer more than an inarticulate message that is barely intelligible. Listen to your message to make sure you can understand yourself and spend the time on multiple recording tries if you must, to get it just right. Speak slowly and channel your inner TV News Announcer.

Likewise, when you actually answer your phone at work or your personal cell, consider how important your greeting is to the listener. If you are at your workplace be sure to announce where that is as well as your name so the caller can identify you quickly. Adding a pleasant “How can I help you?” can be an excellent touch if you are in a service profession and dealing with clients.

Just answering “hello” is not enough and puts the responsibility on the caller to do dig for information. For example – when I am at work at the law school I answer my phone: “Office of Career & Professional Development, this is Caroline – how can I help you?”  It may look like a mouth full in print but it doesn’t take that long to articulate and my callers are put at ease immediately knowing that even if they dialed the wrong number, I am there to help.

Here are some essential phone etiquette tips to help you make a positive professional impression:

• Make sure you speak clearly as you answer the phone and identify yourself.
• Use the caller’s name in your conversation.
• Practice good listening skills.
• Before placing a caller on hold, ask their permission first and thank them.
• Always use a pleasant, congenial and friendly tone.
• Never interrupt the person while he/she is talking to you.
• Don’t multi task while on the phone – they can hear you typing while you check email!
• Do not answer the phone if you are eating or chewing gum. Sounds obvious but do I have stories to tell about this!
• When hanging up the phone, make sure the caller or person called hangs up first.
• Smile when you answer your calls. Even though the caller can’t see it, they’ll hear the smile in your voice.
• Use a “telephone voice” in which you control your volume and speed. Speak clearly.

Lastly, check your voice mail messages at home, at work, and on your cell to make sure that they are current and professional sounding. We live in a phone-centric world so it’s important to practice proper communication with this medium.

To an outsider, Pam’s career looked like a major success story but those in her inner circle knew she was not happy. Three hours a day in a car commuting was tiresome and Pam felt she was missing out on quality of life. Her 81 year old father needed more attention and Pam worried about his glaucoma. He was forgetting to take his prescription eye drops several times a day and was close to losing his vision.

Pam developed a text messaging system to remind her father to put in his eye drops. It was a great solution for Pam’s father to manage his medications and maintain his independence. After realizing that other families could benefit from this type of service, Pam assembled a software development team to create RememberItNow!  

A Feisty Little Start-Up

Matthew Holt founder of Health 2.0 and The Health Care Blog calls RememberItNow! a “feisty little start-up” which focuses on medication management. Holt also praises Pam for being an “engaging CEO” and distinguishing her company with creative online marketing materials like Prezi, presentation software. 

Pam’s use of progressive online marketing tools like YouTube videos and Prezi presentations, help prospective users understand the benefits of RememberItNow! Regardless of age, patients often get lost in the complexity of the healthcare system and RememberItNow! simplifies this because it is all designed from the patient’s perspective. With RememberItNow! users can set and send SMS or email medication reminders, maintain a personal health record, and create an interactive personal health team. Available online and on a mobile phone, the service is eHealth made easy. RememberItNow! also:

• Improves medication compliance. Text or email reminders help patients take the right medication, at the right time, in the right dose. This improves patient health and reduces health care costs.
• Connects patients, family, caregivers, and health care providers. Patients create a private care community that enables care coordination, long-distance care giving, and peace-of-mind.
•  Simplifies health care management. Easy to use eHealth tools include a health journal, health charts and reports, website bookmarks, medical history and contact management.

The New Era of E-Health

At present, 32 million patients in the US are taking three or more medications. RememberItNow! aims to help some of the 65 million Americans who are serving as care providers for other family members. The service requires a mobile phone or handheld device and is easy to use. The simple to use, patient-centric eHealth service is available online. There is no software to download, or upgrades to manage. Customers can test-drive for a 30 day trial with no obligation and with month-to-month service there are no lengthy contracts.

Pam’s team will help you remember to take your medications, create a care community, get organized, provide long-distance care, and much more. She believes you should spend more time doing the things you enjoy, and less time worrying about taking medications, remembering appointments, tracking prescriptions, reordering supplies and scheduling care.

“Most web applications assume users are way more Internet savvy than they are, or want to be,” points out Pam. “Managing medications is complex enough. We’ve focused on building our software to work the way people do. It takes less than five minutes to get started with RememberItNow, and online or phone support is available for those that need help.”

The Alpha Daughter

The new company was a labor of love from the beginning since Pam’s Dad was the inspiration. But she also used this opportunity to launch a new career and reinvent her life. She tapped into her nest egg to finance the launch using her own money from her retirement fund and home equity.

Her priorities changed as she started the business so she could focus 100% on this new endeavor. To save money, she did not take vacations and hunkered down passing up social engagements in order to focus on the business. Starting her own company was a 24/7 responsibility.

As an internet marketing consultant, Pam had been working for several years with a core team of people to build corporate websites. An effective website is the work of a team of people. One person will do the strategy. A graphic designer creates the look and feel. A writer creates the content. An engineer makes the forms work, builds a content engine, creates flash elements, and often builds mini applications. The production manager puts all the pieces together and builds the site.

The process was the same to build RememberItNow!, it just took longer. Since Pam assembled a team of former colleagues who all worked together before, things went pretty well. Because of this attention to detail at the beginning, the final application was exactly what she wanted.

The Value-Add

Pam knows that she is more at-risk with this business than at any other time in her professional career. But she also shared that she is at peace and really believes in the project and has complete confidence that the business will soar.

Right now she doesn’t have any investors and she has bootstrapped the company with her own money. When the time comes to raise funds, Pam will look for investors that share her same values. She wrote her core values within the first three months of starting RememberItNow!. They are designed to guide the company in the future in who she hires and partners with.

Here is a breakdown of Pam’s core values for RememberItNow!

• Be understanding and responsive to our customer’s challenges.
• Deliver value by doing more with fewer resources.
• Build open and honest relationships.
• Create quality and take pride in our work.
• Make things easier, and be easy to work with.  
• Bring passion and a positive attitude to all we do.
• Embrace creativity, innovation, and change.

The Power of a Niche Market

Even though money is her number one worry these days, Pam stays positive and has picked great people for her team. There are no naysayers in the company. Enthusiasm is contagious, and she only accepts optimism. It’s an exciting time to be in business as the Internet reshapes how Pam’s company builds, markets and delivers software. Pam feels fortunate to be able to participate in the Health 2.0 revolution. And she is thrilled to empower patients to reach their own health goals.

One of the things Pam learned is that she underestimated the opportunity for eHealth services. It’s not a small niche. Twenty-seven percent of the people in the United States take five or more medications a week, and almost every one of these people finds it a challenge to manage their health care. Nearly 50% of the time medications are not taken as they were prescribed.

In addition, this market is rapidly expanding as 77 million baby boomers enter their senior years. Pam has realized that the value of RememberItNow! isn’t just medication reminders, it’s so much more. It’s a way for employers to control healthcare costs. For long-term care facilities to manage resident records. For patients to take control of their health. And for healthcare providers to provide better care. It’s eHealth made easy.

An Elephant in the Room

In the case of RememberItNow! the only elephant in the room is the company mascot. The elephant is a symbol for memory and Pam’s goal is to empower patients with self confidence and independence and ultimately better health.

As a corporate software executive Pam had a long history of building start-up companies, but this one is different. Inspired by her ageing father, RememberItNow! was created with Pam’s core values in place from the beginning. The next step may involve partners, investors or even a buyer, but one thing Pam knows for sure is that she is confident she is doing the right thing.

Pam’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Remove all negativity in your life.
• Cherish every day.
• Pick great people to be on your team.
• Taking a risk is a long term investment in your quality of life.
• Tap into all of your skills and think about what you do well. You may surprise yourself.

Quote:

“I feel validated and want to make this business work by myself. I have found my career identity and I couldn’t be happier!” Pam Swingley

Resources:

RememberItNow! www.rememberitnow.com

RememberItNow! video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJXYaT9KseA

Prezi – RememberItNow! http://prezi.com/irjw0cqiv1cu/introducing-rememberitnow/

A fabulous book, and a must have resource for all working women is – Women Don’t Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide by Linda Babcock and Sara Laschever. The book is an eye opener and a call to action for all women in the workforce. It provides how-to steps to execute your next ask and will empower you with the confidence to make this a regular practice in your professional career.

Babcock and Laschever discuss how when asked to pick metaphors for the process of negotiating, men picked “winning a ballgame” and a “wrestling match,” while women picked “going to the dentist.” They share that women are more pessimistic about how much is available when they do negotiate and so they typically ask for, and get less when they do negotiate—on average, 30 % less than men. Sadly, most adult women say they don’t negotiate at all.

The art of negotiating permeates the female consumer culture as well as the job world. According to Babcock and Laschever, women will pay as much as $1,353 to avoid negotiating the price of a car, which may help explain why 63 percent of Saturn car buyers are women. So why don’t women negotiate? Studies indicate that women have lower expectations and lack the knowledge of their worth in the workplace. Some women reported that they were so happy to be offered the job they wouldn’t dream of negotiating.

Ok ladies, it’s time to get with the program and own your worth. Another study indicated that women who consistently negotiate their salary increases earn at least $1 million more during their career lives than women who don’t.  By not negotiating a first salary, an individual stands to lose more than $500,000 by age 60. Now some of my clients have asked me “Can I still negotiate during these difficult economic times?” My answer is a definitive yes. You owe it to yourself to ask and the Harvard Business Review reports that the recession has not stopped men in the world-of-work from asking for a raise.

While I understand that the fear of asking can seem crippling, I urge you to assert your own needs and desires in your career and your life. Women Don’t Ask will show you how to reframe your interactions and more accurately evaluate the opportunities. By teaching you how to ask for what you want in a way that feels comfortable and authentic as well preserving your long term professional relationships.

Let’s face it, negotiating not only plays a role in our work lives but in our personal relationships and parenting abilities. Life is complex and the structures of organizations are changing rapidly so your ability to negotiate is no longer a luxury but a necessity. Babcock and Laschever draw on research in psychology, sociology, economics, and organizational behavior as well as dozens of interviews with men and women from all walks of life.  Women Don’t Ask is the first book to identify the dramatic difference between men and women in their propensity to negotiate for what they want. It tells women how to ask, and why they should.  

Get the book for yourself and buy an additional copy to pay-it-forward to another woman colleague who needs this tremendous resource. You won’t get a raise if you don’t ask so learn how to negotiate because you are worth it!

If you want action, you need a plan! Goal setting is the best way to turn resolutions into results. It’s time to define your objectives in practical and measurable terms so you can hold yourself accountable and get the results you really want.

First, you need to identify what you want and then you need to develop a road map to get there. Research tells us that when we set measurable goals, we are more likely to achieve them.

The SMART system is a very useful strategy for goal setting. Define your goals to meet the following criteria:

S – Specific

M – Measurable

A – Achievable

R – Realistic

T – Timely

In order to be specific, achievable and realistic, your goals need to be concrete, concise, and attainable. Instead of saying – “I want a new job this year.” You need to specify “I want a higher paying job with more challenges in the marketing industry that allows me to play to my strengths.” Now you are ready to work towards getting something very precise and this focus will help in your job search process.

You must frame your goals in such a way that you can measure your progress. For example, plan to keep a log of the informational interviews you have conducted, network contacts that you have developed, and job applications that you have made in your field. If you can measure it then you can reflect on the progress you have made and ramp it up accordingly if you have not yet achieved the end goal.

Give yourself a reasonable time frame to achieve your goal. It’s unrealistic to suggest that you will land your perfect job in a week. So, break it down into smaller baby steps and focus on adding 5 new network contacts within a month, attending 2 professional development events in the next few weeks, and participating in a job shadow experience before the end of the summer, for example. It’s gratifying to accomplish short term as well as long term goals so break things up into smaller and more easily attainable goals along the way towards your ultimate goal.

Keep notes, a journal, a spreadsheet, or some sort of tracking system to hold yourself accountable so you can track your progress and reward yourself for all of your accomplishments along the way. Check in with yourself regularly or tap into your resource team and ask someone in your circle of trust (a coach, a friend or colleague, etc.) to be your accountability master if you believe that you won’t be strict enough yourself. Having someone check in with you might just be the nudge you need to move forward.

So get out there and set some SMART goals!

I recently read an article by Jamie where she discussed how to unearth and nurture an employee’s strengths. Often the job performance reviews focus on weakness without highlighting strengths. She notes how a spotlight on weakness may result in a self fulfilling prophecy, where you build a poor image of an employee and she performs “down to her potential” which breeds mediocrity from someone with star potential.

Jamie and I are kindred spirits on the strengths quest mission. I am committed to helping individuals understand that they are not broken and if they focus on their strengths instead of their weaknesses they will thrive in careers that speak to their passions and provide true satisfaction.

Here are some action steps Jamie details that apply to both the boss and the employee. If you are an enlightened boss you will use these strategies to uncover the strengths of your team members. If you are a frustrated employee, you can deftly suggest these tactics to your boss.

Make time for positive recognition. Take the time to express genuine positive feedback on jobs well done. Be specific and share examples and watch your colleagues walk taller and embrace their inner confidence. According to Jamie, the benefit is two-fold: the employee knows what behaviors are most valued, and you help shift your thinking from “can’t do” to “there is potential here.”

Identify ways to apply existing strengths in new ways. What qualities has your staff member demonstrated and how can you utilize these to fulfill needs in your organization? Don’t be limited by the job title. Your receptionist may be an ideal project manager, so throw traditional responsibility norms out the window, according to Jamie.

Ask your employee what she likes to do. Imagine that – someone asking what you like to do! To avoid the all too common phenomenon of the Peter Principle where every employee rises to his level of incompetence, tap into what your staff member really likes to do. Find out what she believes is her most valuable contribution to the organization and unleash her to do what she believes she does best.

Turn a weakness on its head. Jamie suggests that instead of chastising an employee for her weakness, look to the exact opposite of that task to unearth a possible strength. It’s certainly worth discussing with your colleague and chances are if she is not a good closer, it may be because she is a fine idea generator.

Test-drive a new role. You may have hired an employee for a specific role but in time you realize that she would be utilizing more of her strengths in a difference function for the organization. Consider what Jamie calls a mini internship program, where employees shadow co-workers to learn more about the roles and needs of the company. This test drive could spark new ideas for the boss and the employee and a role-shift could be the best and most expedient way to use existing talent in a new way to meet company goals and develop satisfied employees.

Cheers to Jamie for illustrating very specific ways to uncover our strengths at work!

Jo was successful in the sciences and in the British system under Margaret Thatcher; she was paid to attend university (free tuition plus a stipend) and earned a BSc (Hons), a degree with honors in Psychology. While Jo was stimulated intellectually, she yearned for a more creative outlet. So she left England and headed to New York City to reinvent herself and test-drive a new world.

Millinery Mania

For two years she explored her artistic side, working a total of 17 different jobs from modeling to jewelry making and restaurant work. She taught herself how to cook and sew and she discovered a passion for making hats. Her millinery creations took off and Jo hit the big time when her hats were picked up by the exclusive three Bs department stores in New York City: Barney’s, Bergdorf Goodman and Henri Bendel, and soon after, 70 stores worldwide.

While the hat business was successful for a good while, Jo’s artistic wanderlust led her to try additional opportunities, styling props and creating environments for photographers. In her bones she knew that she did not enjoy working for other people in a corporate or structured environment. She longed to be her own boss and match her creative talents with her scientific skill set. Friends asked her to consider designing a bar for them back in London and that was the beginning of Jo Laurie Interior Design.

Values of a Dual Citizen

Jo enjoys the best of her American and English worlds as a dual citizen and her design firm is home based in the USA to capitalize on the significance of New York City on the global stage. She shared with me her frustration about the American system of a typical two-week vacation allotment for most employees in an organization and thus, she really values being in control of her own time as her own boss.

This globe-trotter doesn’t live to work but works to live. She subscribes to the continental work philosophy of enjoying six-plus weeks of vacation annually. This is the norm in Europe, Australia and Canada but it saddens Jo that most American companies offer only a paltry two-week vacation period. There has been significant research that indicates European executives are more industrious per hour, as they are more rested mentally and physically. This translates into better productivity on the job. Jo is in touch with what she values and has made priorities in her life accordingly to live these principles.

The Reality of Being Your Own Boss

Jo has come a long way from her millinery days and established a multi-discipline design company, with projects ranging from corporate and hospitality to high-end residential. Located in downtown Manhattan, she has been operating internationally for over 15 years, and has developed an extensive portfolio of award-winning projects.  As an interior designer, she has developed an understanding of the specialized needs of her clients worldwide by creating visually stimulating surroundings that produce unique, flexible, and functional environments.

But success does not come easily and even though Jo prioritizes multiple-week vacations each year, she works around the clock to keep her business thriving. Ninety-five percent of her business comes from referrals and satisfied customers. Her website is a powerful marketing tool and offers a delicious taste of the types of interiors Jo has created.

Her personal Board of Directors includes an old friend who has a very successful architecture firm who helps Jo navigate the business side of interior design.  This mentorship has helped Jo identify and market her special sauce in the design arena. Another friend developed her website, brand, and identity.  Her team is rounded out by an accountant, a marketing specialist, and another friend who has achieved great success in the financial industry. Jo has assembled a great resource team.

Dollars and Sense

While Jo is flexing her artistic muscles, she must always be concerned about the nuts and bolts of the business. Like many creative individuals, her first passion is the creative process, which in itself was not initiated by the desire to make money. With the help of some good mentors, Jo has seen a steady increase in clients as the businesses continue to grow – even in the recession. Cultivating new business is a constant need, so she also adheres to a realistic budget and a business framework that keeps her in the black.

The recession has hit the design industry as a whole, and for Jo, it has made cultivating new business more important than ever. She is always prepared to take a risk and try new things to make her business viable. Inspired by her grandmother, who always told Jo to go for it, she believes that taking a risk forces you to go to the next level. According to Jo, “You must continue to take risks to build your business and your dream. When you fail, you pick yourself up and start again because that’s what it’s all about.”

The Belle of the Bar

While Jo has achieved international recognition for her pub and bar interior designs from Sydney to London and beyond, she remains grounded in what is important to her. Personal life situations have helped Jo put it all in perspective, keep her focus on what is important in life, and to truly live what she values.

Jo continues to travel internationally to build her clientele and her inspiration for new designs. This straight-talking modern Englishwoman, whose formal education is steeped in the empirical sciences, has found a way to blend form, function, and art to build a business that meets her values and her passion. I have every confidence that Jo will continue to grow her career in different directions because blended within her inner scientist is the true temperament of an artist.

Jo’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Unorthodox is good – don’t be afraid to be different.
• Get other people to do what you can’t so you can concentrate on what you love and what you do well.
• Develop a resource team of experts to rely on when you need assistance. It’s a worthy investment.

Quote: “Your generation of women should do because you can!” – Jo’s Grandmother

Resources:

Jo Laurie Design www.jolauriedesign.com

LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/jolauriedesign

Upworld www.upworld.com/jolauriedesign

1. Reduce Waiting Time. If your doctor or hairdresser always runs late – plan ahead. Make good use of this waiting time and get some work done, pay a bill or two or enjoy a quiet moment to catch up on a book you want to read. Be prepared so you are not stuck with only outdated magazines in a waiting room.

2. Limit Your TV Watching. Record your favorite shows and skip the commercials. Plan to watch your favorite shows but avoid mindless TV lounging and use that time to pursue more worthwhile endeavors.

3. Say No to Yourself. If you are not excited about attending a social function, then don’t go – stay home and relax. It’s also ok to change your mind if you would rather spend some time in your garden on a sunny Saturday instead of grocery shopping.

4. Cut Down on Cleaning. Clean a little bit along the way each day instead of a mega cleaning day each week that could take hours. Spray down the shower after each use with a cleanser; change filters in your heating/cooling units to reduce dust and wipe down the kitchen counter after each use.

5. Batch Tasks. When you can, bundle administrative tasks together to be more efficient with your time. Open all our bills in one sitting; place to be filed materials in special place and do this once a week. Pick a regular day or time and handle these tasks all at once.

6. Don’t Put Things Down Just for Now. Temporary places too often become permanent places. Put it away now so you don’t have larger piles to deal with later.

7. Reduce Your Time at the Store. Make a list and stick to it. If you shop online take advantage of free gift wrapping services or gift with purchase options. Put away a stash of hostess gifts you can easily get to when invited out so you don’t have to make a special trip.

8. Hire It Out. If the kid down the street will mow your lawn for $20 and it saves you the time and hassle – go for it! Consider hiring out what you don’t want to do (and can afford) so it will give you more time to do what you want.

9. Change Your Pace. Be strategic about when you shop or do errands. Saturday morning is always crowded. Consider going to the grocery after work. You may be tired but you will shop faster and you will get to sleep later on Saturday with the extra time you earned by going on a weeknight.

10. Focus on Simple Pleasures. When your work day is done, focus on what makes you happy. It doesn’t have to be expensive to be rewarding. A bubble bath or a glass of wine can be satisfying ways to unwind at home. Special occasion extravagances are very nice, but focusing on simple pleasures will give you more for less, more often!

It’s all about finding time to have a life that you can enjoy. So I hope Laura’s tips will help you on your way.

Start by going through your favorite magazines, online sources, and newspapers and clip/print articles, photos and images that please you. Think broadly and collect clips that reflect where you want to vacation, changes you want to see in your life, and perhaps even images that illustrate who you want to become.

But before you start cutting up your favorite magazines, take some time to sit quietly and set your intention. Ask yourself what you really want and give yourself permission to dream big and use your imagination. The vision board is a creative process so you have to be willing to check your ego at the door let your mind explore.

Take the time to find images that really speak to you and don’t forget to include words or phrases that strike your fancy. As you go through your pile of images, eliminate those that no longer speak to you. Begin to organize your clips into theme piles that you identify. Some examples are: health, career, and relationships but you can create a vision board with any intention you want.

Paste your images on a piece of poster board or card stock and arrange them so they tell your desired story. I often paste a photo of myself in the center to really help me see myself in the vision. You should hang your vision board in a place where you will see it every day so you can reaffirm your goals.

There are many different types of vision boards and each can help you reach a unique goal.

The I Know Exactly What I Want vision board helps you set down very clear pictures of what you desire. Perhaps you want to start a new business, or move to a new home. This vision board will help you manifest a very specific thing.

If you are not as clear about what you want but know you are looking for change, assemble an Opening and Allowing vision board. The images of what you like might seem random at first but with reflection, you will begin to see why these graphics called out to you.  This process is more about learning who you are than setting specific goals and it might just teach you a little bit about yourself and your passions.

The Theme vision board has clear parameters and intentions such as working towards a promotion on the job or a special event on your calendar. Your theme could also be eating in a healthier way or quitting smoking and starting an exercise regimen, for example.

These vision board ideas came from Christine Kane who has written a terrific book The Complete Guide to Vision Boards that will give you some step-by-step instructions and creative ideas to get you started. The vision board is a powerful tool that helps you identify a dream and gives you the inspiration to work towards that satisfying goal. You now have a practical tool to help you discover your passion.

While Jacqueline relished her new role as a mother, the pangs of career guilt began to set in for this professor-turned-mom who craved intellectual stimulation and challenge. Struggling with the proverbial question of “What do I want to be when I grow up?” Jacqueline took the advice of a dear relative who shared that raising a child is a special time in a mother’s life, and a very short one at that. She cautioned Jacqueline to enjoy this time with her daughter and to be confident that the work would always be there when she was ready to go back. Little did Jacqueline know that her future career would be to mobilize a grass roots movement rehabilitating neighborhood schools in her Chicago community and across the nation.

Mother Knows Best

Jacqueline took this wisdom to heart and started to believe that her skills would not go away and that her role as a mom was very important. In addition to her training as a professor, Jacqueline is also a fine artist, a painter who specializes in ketubahs, distinctive Jewish marriage agreements which have become a significant form of Jewish ceremonial art. Painting was something she continued to enjoy while pursuing the full-time career of being a mother.

From the time her daughter was an infant, Jacqueline’s husband Andrew agreed to pursue the research about where she would attend school. However, Chicago parents, like parents across the country, face the same sobering reality: given the scarcity of spots, it’s extremely difficult to get your child into an expensive private school. Entry into a respected public magnet school isn’t any better. In fact, Jacqueline points out, it’s statistically easier to get your high school kid into Harvard than to get your kindergartener into a selective enrollment magnet school. In Chicago, most middle class parents believe that their non-selective neighborhood public school is not a viable option.

Most parents assemble portfolios with glossy brochures and consultant recommendations to figure out where to send their kids to kindergarten and beyond.  Andrew passed the baton to Jacqueline and the school research became her responsibility. Finding a suitable school for her daughter, Maya (and son Zack, who was on the way) was a top priority.

The Power of the Roscoe Park Eight

Struck with the possibility of moving out of Boystown, her fabulous Chicago neighborhood known for its architectural charm, rich culture, diversity and tolerance, Jacqueline convinced her friend Nicole to come with her to check out Nettelhorst, her neighborhood’s underutilized and struggling public elementary school. After a 3-hour tour of the 110 year-old building, the new principal, Susan Kurland, asked what it would take for them to enroll their children. Stunned by her candor, they returned the next day armed with an extensive wish list. Susan read their list and said “Well, let’s get started, girls! It’s going to be a busy year…”

And so the journey from the park to the school began. Jacqueline and Nicole recruited six more park friends to join the cause. The women called themselves the Roscoe Park Eight, and met once a week in a Boystown diner, to plan how to fix Nettelhorst so their kids could walk to school.

Eight Women in a Diner

This meeting of the minds may have started humbly in a diner but never underestimate the power of mothers on a mission. The talent pool in the mommy brigade was deep, ranging from lawyers and advertizing executives to artists and bankers. They decided to call their group, The Nettelhorst Parents’ Co-op, with the motto “We do more during nap-time then most people do all day!”

The Roscoe Park Eight set an ambitious goal: the Parents’ Co-op had just nine months to reinvigorate Nettelhorst. These women were scrappy, creative and spirited, and as Jacqueline admits, too naïve and green to know how difficult this endeavor really was.

Running on infectious energy, each park mom captained a Co-op team: infrastructure, public relations, marketing, special events, fundraising and curricula. Each woman was assigned a task that best met her skill set and experience, and each team had to succeed concurrently. The team captains then set out to recruit as many families as they could to join their fledgling cause.

Mommy Moxie

How could the Co-op refurbish a school with a budget of nothing? The moms began cold calling people to solicit services, supplies and volunteers with skills and an interest in the project. In the beginning, fundraising efforts were futile since nobody wanted to contribute to a failing city school. The development team was disbanded and efforts were re-focused on getting the necessary goods and services donated for the cause.

In a matter of months, the community donated over half a million dollars in goods and services, contributed inch-by-inch and a gallon of paint at a time. The beauty of this project was that anything you had to offer for the cause was perfect. If you had a gallon of neon yellow paint, great! Nothing was turned down and nothing was wasted. The community joined in, and now, there isn’t an inch of the school that hasn’t been touched by a neighborhood artist. The whole school is an inspiration!

The community buy-in was extraordinary and people started calling from distant parts of the city to contribute to the reinvention of Nettelhorst. The Roscoe Park Eight truly harnessed the goodness of a neighborhood. The story has been featured on Oprah & Friends, NPR, CNN, 60 Minutes, Education Weekly, and in the local Chicago media.

Sustaining the Cause

Eight years into the project of fixing Nettelhorst, Jacqueline wrote a book about her experience:  How to Walk to School: Blueprint for a Neighborhood School Renaissance (Foreword by Arne Duncan and Afterword by Rahm Emanuel). The book chronicles the highs and lows of motivated neighborhood parents galvanizing and then organizing an entire community to take a leap of faith to transform a challenged urban school. They successfully turned Nettelhorst into one of Chicago’s best schools, virtually overnight. Jacqueline proved that that the fate of public education is not beyond our control. In the book, she provides an accessible and honest blueprint for reclaiming the great public schools our children deserve.

The original eight moms wanted to create a sustainable school that could thrive into the future, and now, Nettelhorst is one of the most desirable schools in Chicago. Enrollment has doubled; test scores have tripled; and parent involvement is off the charts.

The original fundraising committee may have been unsuccessful at first, but now that the school is thriving, development efforts are a well-oiled machine. For example, parents forged a deep, mutually beneficial partnership with Stanley Cup winning Chicago Blackhawks. With a $210,000 donation, the Blackhawks built a state of the art fitness center in the school and an outdoor hockey field. Players, coaches and team managers frequent the school teaching kids about sportsmanship, discipline, and maintaining healthy lifestyles.

Thanks to the work of driven parents, the school now has the financial wherewithal to maintain the building, and to provide innovative programming to enhance an already solid curriculum.

Labor of Love

While the moms contributed sweat equity to this cause eight years ago, and did all of the work pro bono, Jacqueline is still on a mission to continue with the renaissance of neighborhood schools nationwide. She is obsessed with sparking the national grass roots movement since the majority of America’s neighborhood schools are in sad shape. According to Jacqueline “If everyone just fixed their own neighborhood school, we could see real, systemic change across the country.”

Jacqueline has led workshops for the Community Schools Initiative, Northside Parents Network, and Chicago Public Schools on how public schools and reformers can stimulate communities to improve public education. She has consulted with schools and neighborhood groups on issues of strategy and organizational development. Her goal is to insert this idea into the national dialogue about education.

The story is inspiring on so many levels, but in addition to reinventing a school that was literally falling apart at the seams, Jacqueline reinvented herself in the process and established a brand new career. Harnessing her transferable skills from the academic and artistic arena, this mom has a passion for changing neighborhood schools across the country so kids can walk to school in their own communities.

Take Back the Schools

The next step for Jacqueline is to generate a steady income as a change agent consultant for neighborhood school reform. As the story of Nettelhorst spreads, she’s gaining momentum on a national level. If you have an interest in reforming your neighborhood school, be sure to contact Jacqueline. How to Walk to School provides a blueprint that any community can duplicate– with a little elbow grease and a lot of passion.

While doing a good deed that would enable her own children to walk to school, Jacqueline unearthed an accidental career that has inspired her to continue this work in other communities. Her success proves that good things do happen, often when you least expect them.

Jacqueline’s Action Steps for Reforming Your Neighborhood School:

1. Form a group of core parents.
2. Find a Principal you can work with.
3. Find a pro-bono lawyer.
4. Get the school spruced up.
5. Start a public relations program.
6. Enroll your own kids in the school.
7. Get the community involved in the school.
8. Settle in for three or more years of open houses and fundraisers, volunteering at the school, and meetings out the wazoo.
9. Acknowledge you’re not going to get any breaks.

Resources:

How to Walk to School the Book & Blog http://howtowalktoschool.com/

Nettelhorst School Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPZr6BYJSGc

I have experienced both kinds of bosses and found it far more rewarding and challenging to work for the manager who pushed me to my limits and gave me assignments that helped me stretch my skill set and develop new competencies when I was learning the ropes. Of course, this took a lot of trust on the part of that boss but I was up for the challenge and proved my worth by going above and beyond. In the end, my boss was also rewarded for the progress of my efforts on the team and we were both happy. Would that all work environments were that functional.

I have also worked with less willing or able managers who felt a junior team member was more of a bother than an asset. These kinds of bosses can be classic micro managers and rarely trust the rookies with tasks to let them earn their wings. My suggestion to these kinds of bosses – let your staff fumble and then hold them accountable! If you give them responsibility, it makes them feel connected and validated at work. Team member buy-in is priceless and can motivate almost anyone if they believe their work is making a difference.

Most people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad bosses. So if your boss just doesn’t get it and there is no hope of a change in mindset, you need to stealthily devise your exit strategy. Don’t ever leave a job unless you have another to go to, especially in this economy. But if your boss is not a good manager and there is no system in your organization that will help change that, then you deserve to be in an environment where you can grow as a professional and develop your career.

Even in the most blissful job environment, you should be thinking about your 5 year plan and where you see your career going in the future.  A great boss will help you on your way but alas, not all of them are so enlightened. Years ago, I was fortunate to have such a boss who was always thinking about how we, the junior staffers could make our next move up because he knew we were all in entry level positions. He helped us make the most out of the current positions but talked openly about our next career moves so we were proactive in building our future.

If your boss is not helpful in assessing your strengths and identifying your weaknesses, seek outside assistance from a personal Board of Directors that you assemble outside of work. In reality, we don’t always have the support system in-house that we need but this should not stop you from reaching out to other professionals in the field for mentorship and advice. And, it just might help you get to the next mile marker on your personal career journey.

So if you are not being nurtured in your current work environment, seek it out from other sources and be thinking about next steps that could lead to a more positive and opportunity filled work place.