Alicia Sable Hunt, known to all as Sable, grew up in the Hamptons in the 1980’s during the height of materialism, big money, and a recreational drug culture that was rampant in this affluent east coast community. She benefitted from the very strong grounding of a religious household and ended up in nursing school, an anomaly in her group of friends, most of whom pursued high profile and high paying corporate careers. Sable attributes her passion for helping people to her mother who instilled strong values in her at a young age.

A Nurse in the Kitchen

Always comfortable in her own skin when working with patients, Sable experienced a variety of settings in the medical field from bedside nursing to intensive care, and outpatient clinics. But, she developed a love for oncology care working with cancer patients. With 15+ years under her belt as an oncology nurse, Sable understood the immense struggle of those fighting cancer and the nutritional challenges they uniquely face. Proper nutrition is paramount during cancer treatment but many patients suffer from loss of appetite and taste preventing them from receiving the nourishment they need. Sable feels strongly that patients should be able to thrive while continuing with their daily lives during cancer treatment and recovery. Championing the cause in 2006, she stepped into her kitchen and began baking up a solution, and Sable’s Foods was born. Read Full Story

I believe it takes a village to develop a career in the professional world and the first step is to surround yourself with people you respect and trust. The next step is to be conscious of how you can pay-it-forward and help others in return. We introduce new relationships into our lives every day whether consciously or not, and having the awareness that you can help others is not only good for the karmic circle of life, it’s just the right thing to do.

Angela Jia Kim, CEO and Founder of Om Aroma & Co. and Co-Founder of Savor the Success has built her business on the Give, Give, Get rule when networking. Nothing is more of a turn off than someone who is in it just for themselves. When you are a genuine networker and operate from a position of authenticity people are more apt to help you. After all, business is all about human interaction so considering how you can help others will increase your personal capital.

Paying it forward is not just applicable to networking.  I have interviewed 100+ women across the country for my career transition book and the majority of them talk about their commitment to giving back. Whether it is volunteering your time and expertise or donating a percentage of targeted proceeds towards a worthy cause, generosity and the spirit of community is being celebrated on a grand scale.

Careers are a life long journey and we’ve all had people that were instrumental in helping us along the way in good times and in bad. Make an effort to be conscious about how you are helping others because what goes around really does come around. It may require some new mindsets, behaviors and strategies, but at the most basic level, all it requires is that you make a choice. By giving back, you just might be a role model for someone else and help make the pay-it-forward behavior the norm for everyone.