Like many lawyers, Lisa spent time at a large law firm learning the trade and working 90+ hour weeks.  She was working in New York City where the legal field is intense and competitive and Lisa was able to move from her firm to an in-house counsel position that seemed to be a better fit. This was 1999 and the Y2K craze was consuming all business sectors including the legal field and Lisa started thinking seriously about finding a different career that honored her passions while still playing to her strengths.

We Plan Lives

A dear friend sent Lisa an email telling her about the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and encouraged her to learn more about this field. The long time friend knew that Lisa was a talented organizer and encouraged her to establish her own business. Lisa’s husband then named it Montanaro, Inc. with the slogan – We Plan Lives. Lisa was known for sharing her wisdom and life planning skills with friends over the years.

Lisa’s friend was not too far off the mark because after researching NAPO and attending an event she discovered her true professional peeps and found that people actually organize for a living. This association was leading the profession for organizers and Lisa’s career world opened up.

Monetizing Your Passion

Lisa’s interest was piqued and she began to really consider how to make a career as a professional organizer. [She attended a panel discussion about lawyers who found their passion in alternative careers and this inspired her to make her move away from the legal profession.] I actually was on this panel a few years ago after leaving the law. I attended a life coaching event with Cheryl Richardson at the 92^nd Street Y that inspired me to make my move away from the legal profession. I may have confused you – sorry.

As one would expect from a natural organizer, Lisa had a plan to execute her new career goals. At the time, she was working as Associate General Counsel at Pace University, her law school alma mater. During an 18 month period, she articulated a plan on paper, paid off her remaining student loans, and banked 25K to start her new business venture. She even shared her plans with her employers at Pace knowing it would take time to conduct a search to find her replacement.

Her superiors at Pace recognized her organizational expertise and encouraged her to work part-time – with benefits while launching her new business. That career boost was delivered on a silver platter and allowed for Lisa to build her business and her brand slowly while still having the security of a steady income and benefits at Pace. She knew she was very fortunate to have such a well cushioned exit strategy.

Recognize Your Calling

Understanding the importance of being credentialed in the industry, Lisa became an inaugural Certified Professional Organizer® through a rigorous and intensive training program through NAPO launched in 2007. This put a stamp of approval on her business and validated her as an expert with additional learned skills that go beyond her natural organizational abilities.

Lisa’s business is called LM Organizing Solutions, LLC (LMOS).  She realized that as a multi passionate entrepreneur, her company is an umbrella organization with many spokes that include professional organizing, business and life coaching, and motivational speaking.

Lisa was able to identify her calling a second time in her life. Her first calling was as a performer. She spent her childhood singing, acting and dancing, and wanted to go professional. While she decided to pursue the law after college, she never gave up performing and turned it into a wonderful hobby that continues to this day. Lisa is also able to tap her performance skills as an engaging motivational speaker.

Equalize Your Work and Life

Her attorney background makes Lisa a sought-after business expert, mediator and trainer for entrepreneurs. She offers business coaching to a variety of clients from solo-preneurs and non-profit organizations, to major corporations and municipalities. Lisa serves as an instructor for New York State’s Entrepreneurial Assistance Program.

As a life coach, Lisa taps her mediation skills and guides clients to achieve results by motivating and encouraging without judgment. According to Lisa:

“During my time of career transition, I realized that I had been organizing people’s lives on an amateur level my whole life, and that my organizing and coaching skills transcended my work as a lawyer, teacher, mediator, writer, speaker, and performer.”

Lisa’s LMOS clients rely on her for leadership, guidance, support, encouragement, and coaching.

“I took a leap of faith and created a business that allows me to meld together many different, but related callings at the same time, while helping people live better lives and run better companies and organizations. The result has been both successful and rewarding.”

Break the Roof off the Cottage

Lisa was well equipped as a lawyer to create a business plan and establish her LLC for the business. She set up her separate business bank account early on, even before she had steady clients and tracked expenses and kept meticulous records for tax purposes.

She pursued a lot of industry research and became a self described organizing geek and read every book on the market to study her competition and distinguish her value-add in the industry. Lisa talked about visiting IKEA and The Container Store to learn about the latest organizing products. From the beginning, she wanted to treat her business as a real venture and pursued trademark and copyrights for her signature themes and strategies.

The messaging of a real business is powerful and Lisa encourages her entrepreneurial clients to adopt this mindset immediately. She recalled a NAPO conference with a famous speaker telling the participants – “If you want to break the roof off your cottage industry – do it. Don’t treat your business as if you are the Avon or Tupperware Lady.” This was a powerful message that helped Lisa legitimize her business in her own mind early on.

Are You Ready?

Lisa’s target market is success minded individuals and busy professionals. Clients must be committed to behavior modification and be ready to work. An example of an organizational project she works on with clients is de-cluttering the paper in their home or office. She helps them sift through mountainous piles of paper and develop a filing system for management. Some papers may be scanned, archived, or shredded but the goal is to develop a system so the client can manage their files (on their own) in the future.

Lisa developed and trademarked her own unique organizing process after years of noticing that disorganized people have difficulty making decisions. These decision making road blocks in turn cause delays and stress which translate into personal and professional frustrations.

She believes a client must decide to be organized and buy into the premise that becoming organized will empower their future. Here is Lisa’s DECIDE™ plan to allow clients to take control of their lives.

Discover what you have and want at home, at work, and in life.

Eliminate what is unnecessary and does not further your goals.

Categorize what remains.

Implement a system designed to match your needs, habits, work & lifestyle.

Dedicate yourself to maintaining your new system and integrating it into your life.

Enjoy the freedom and positive results that being organized brings.

Lisa feels strongly that – “DECIDE™ is an empowering process that leads to change. It will assist you in achieving results at home, at work, and in life in general. While the process guides a person or organization in making decisions that lead to a more organized state, it is itself a decision; a decision to take control.”

The Solutions Expert

In addition to a multi-tiered business model that honors her work values and allows her to play to her strengths, Lisa maintains a blog www.DecideToBeOrganized.com that delivers organizational strategies we can all use. Her blog was recognized by a national publisher and she was asked to write a book about organizing.

The Ultimate Life Organizer: An Interactive Guide to a Simpler, Less Stressful & More Organized Life will be published by Peter Pauper Press in April 2011.

The target audience for the new book is women and Lisa has incorporated 2 pages of journal space at the end of each chapter so readers can map their plans and take notes directly in the book.  She calls the book a best friend to help you get organized and purposefully made it an easy and enjoyable read to demystify organization. It’s a learned skill and Lisa believes anyone can do it if they are taught how.

Rent Her Brain

Lisa shared that often she feels like clients are “renting her brain” during a session and there is a lot of truth in that description. Lisa is the brand of her own business and has built her success by earning the trust of her clients and obtaining referrals.

She is using social media and a fabulous website to market the business and her national public speaking engagements certainly get her noticed out in the field. Lisa knows that working for yourself can be the hardest endeavor since you can only hold yourself accountable. But LMOS is built upon integrity and loyalty to her customers and Lisa has earned her many accolades and positive testimonials.

As for work/life balance – it’s easy to want to do it all, especially for a professional organizer who manages her time so well. Lisa has learned to say no to clients if they are not a good fit or if they don’t work into her schedule. Every good organizer knows that you must schedule time for yourself and your priorities first.

Lisa is thrilled with her career reinvention and even though it’s not her official slogan – she is helping to plan lives and loving every minute of it.

Lisa’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Figure out what you love and what you are good at and do it!
• Focus on skill sets not job titles or industries.
• It’s ok to be multi passionate but pick one to focus on for your reinvention. Add other passions incrementally.
• Dump your brain on paper and create an action plan. Seek the help and wisdom of others to achieve your goals.

Quote:

“What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” ~ Jane Goodall

Resources:

www.LMOrganizingSolutions.com – website

www.DecideToBeOrganized.com – blog

www.Facebook.com/LMOrganizingSolutions

www.Twitter.com/LisaMontanaro

www.LinkedIn.com/in/LisaMontanaro

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 amongst 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 90% 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

Ginger landed her first job performing singing-balloon-a-grams while attending the College of Charleston. After graduation, she struggled to find her own way by dabbling with a few restaurant, real estate, and ad agency jobs. When she finally found her niche, in the movie industry, she was able to use her unique passion for entertaining others to market family-friendly films. But Ginger’s true passion for living wasn’t fully ignited until she published her first children’s book: When Donkeys Fly.

What Will Your Epithet Say?

Looking back at how it all began, Ginger recalls waking up one morning after attending her uncle’s funeral worried that even if she were the very best at her job in the film industry, her epithet would read: Best B Movie Buyer in the Business – and that just wasn’t enough. As a senior “blurbologist” (her own unique term), she wrote the copy on the back of dvd/videos, scouted new producers, and licensed family films to be sold at retail.

After learning of all of the wonderful ways her uncle gave back to the community during his lifetime, Ginger decided then and there that she wanted to make a difference in the world and began indulging her true passion – writing.  She wrote When Donkey’s Fly, left her six figure career in what she called the “… gloom and doom entertainment industry”, and embarked on a mission to lead, and encourage others to lead, an extraordinary life.

When Donkeys Fly is an inspirational book for all ages that encourages people to believe in themselves despite any obstacles. When Donkeys Fly won the Mom’s Choice Award ® for “Most Inspirational/Motivational” new book and this is the message she is on a quest to share with anyone who will listen.

Ginger and her faithful flying donkey travel to schools, churches, colleges, and women’s groups all over the country to read the book, sing a song, and encourage other donkeys to fly.

Flying without a Net

In the spirit of the book, Ginger and a friend started a band called “Cosmo and the Flying Donkeys” to encourage other music lovers to follow their own passions. But how does one walk away from a financially secure job and start a new career as a first-time author or musician and make ends meet?

This new author took advantage of the growing self-publishing movement and borrowed against the equity in her home to finance the book and launch her new career.

This leap of faith was incredibly scary but also invigorating for Ginger who, for the first time, was flying without the proverbial safety net. The ability to shed corporate policy for personal satisfaction was very liberating for Ginger who is now relieved to be able to speak her own truth.

She recalls being on pins and needles in the film industry – much of the time living and working in a stress-based environment. Now, as her own boss, she can spend the afternoon playing with her niece, walking the beach or taking her Dad to the doctor because she is in charge of her own time.

Quality of Life

Even though she can’t count on a regular paycheck every Friday, Ginger believes that her lifestyle has changed for the better. For the first time in years, she can literally taste and enjoy the food she eats and not have to wolf down meals to make the next meeting or deadline.  Ginger has embraced a life of “living in the moment” and appreciates the simple pleasures more than ever.

“I knew that I made the right decision when I had my first massage after leaving the entertainment industry. After a few minutes of massage, my magical masseuse was surprised to find that the “stress knots” she routinely battled in my back were gone. Who knows how many years I have added to my life by choosing to follow my heart instead of my wallet.”

Ginger reports that financially things are going well and although she is not making what she did in the film industry (yet!) she is happy because she is living her values and following her passion and you can’t put a price tag on that.  She encourages others to follow their hearts and that is the premise of her book.

In addition to the book, donkeys are flying through classrooms with the help of Ginger’s techno savvy sister who developed a series of activities and resources for collaborative technology & literacy integration projects. Using Skype and Voicethread, kids can instantly connect with the characters and the events in the story. Students enjoy the rhythm of the text and the captivating illustrations and can even connect with Ginger directly through www.skypeanauthor.com. Ginger is thrilled to be able to find new ways to share the positive message of the book with children all over the world and maintains a blog– Friends of the Flying Donkey – where she shares moving stories of her adventures in the classroom and beyond.

Here is a letter that was forwarded from a First Grade teacher after one of Ginger’s school presentations:

“I think Ms. Hodge did a wonderful job!    One child in my class had struggled drawing a picture of herself yesterday so I asked her to finish it today.  She did a wonderful job and as I bragged on her, she stated, “I just let my donkey fly.”

The Mission

Ginger is on a personal mission to improve self esteem and literacy in schools. For younger students, she reads her book, sings her song and walks kids through the publishing process with a message that will boost self confidence and creativity. For high school students, she adapts the message to focus on career development with practical tips to follow their dreams to the job market.

Ginger’s Flying Donkey team also has plans to further promote literacy by recruiting college and semi-pro athletics to go to schools, read the book and share stories of how their own donkeys learned how to fly.

According to Ginger:

“It has been statistically shown that students whose reading scores are below the national average in 3rd grade rarely ever catch back up, so our goal is to share the positive message of ”When Donkeys Fly” with every 3rd grade student.  And South Carolina is only the beginning…

For students to learn to read, they first have to believe it is possible, right?  Our goal is to take literacy to a higher level by encouraging kids to believe that they can do anything,  including excel at reading despite their own circumstances or previous test rankings.

To date, we have a commitment from The Carolina Gamecocks, interest from The Citadel Bulldogs, The Charleston RiverDogs, The Florence RedWolves, and yes even a few Roller Derby teams… and this is only the beginning!”

Donkey Power

The charming book assures girls and boys everywhere that their dreams can come true. Several scenarios describe how people scoff at the heroine’s hopes to play baseball, to own a big boat, to be President of the United States, etc. by saying “You’ll do that….when donkeys fly.” Then one day she spots a flying donkey and realizes that all things are possible.

The book has an added challenge of hunting for the hidden donkey in the illustration on each page.  And the “Note From the Author” in the back of the book reveals the deeper, more spiritual, message of the hidden donkey with those who wish to find it.

Although When Donkeys Fly is a child-friendly book, it can also be the perfect gift for graduation, birthday, or any holiday for the special people in your circle of friends and family.

After growing up in the direct-to-retail world of the film industry, Ginger’s transferable skills and experience were very applicable when the time came to market her book.  She attends national conferences and speaks to groups from kindergarten classes to national professional organizations.

In fact, When Donkeys Fly was chosen by Executive Women International (EWI) as the book featured at their National Reading Rally. When asked about her finest hour as an author, Ginger recalls the looks on the faces of the students chosen from Louisville, Kentucky to be honored guests of EWI. As they entered the convention center, pages of the book were blown up bigger than life, animated donkeys flew across 30 ft screens, and over 600 executives gave a rousing standing ovation as the music played from a special rendition of “I Believe I Can Fly”.  Anyone could tell, simply from their expressions, that these students from one of the most poverty-stricken schools in the state believed that anything was possible… when donkeys fly.

Everything Happens for a Reason

Ginger doesn’t take full credit for writing the book and believes that the book was simply a gift that was meant to be shared. The day the ideas came to her, Ginger literally pulled her car over to the side of the road and remembers the words coming to her faster than she could write. She wrote the entire book in less than seven minutes, but feels that the ideas for it must have been “baking” in her mind for years.

Once written, Ginger sent an email to all of her friends from college who now have children, to get their reactions to the story.  Soon after the email, her friend C.B. Markham answered and said “I love the story so much I am going to illustrate this book… just for me.” Long story short, Ginger loved her illustrations and the power of seek and you will find was confirmed.

Ginger has plans in the works for her own publishing company, Donkey Fly Press and has two other books in the pipeline: When I Get a Dog and When Pigs Fly. She has taken stock of what is important in her life and made sacrifices to follow her passion. After the initial shock of job separation, she is now at peace with her decision and has made it her mission to help children and adults overcome obstacles, achieve empowerment, embrace their self confidence and follow their own flying donkeys.

Ginger still lives in South Carolina with her faithful Labrador, Sadie and her boat “Mr. Right”.

Ginger’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Set your intentions.
• Follow your passions.
• Savor every moment.
• Don’t let money drive your decisions.
• Strive to be peaceful and productive.
• Help those who help others.
• Remember that everything happens in divine time.

Quotes:

“Take a moral inventory of what success means to you – really think about it!” – Ginger Hodge

“Everyone can sing, you’ve just got to find your song”. – Ginger Hodge

Resources:

When Donkeys Fly www.whendonkeysflybook.com

After earning an undergraduate degree from Cornell with a major in Food Science, the career path lured Joni out into the world-of-work and the thought of medical school soon faded. A renaissance woman, Joni has always blended her aptitude for math and science with a love for the arts and a passion for theatre. Who knew the seeds of her artistic passion would later lead to a career change and the beginning of a new chapter in her professional life.

Good Old Boys

While Joni confesses to not really loving Food Science it did give her opportunities she never envisioned in the professional world. She was recruited from Cornell to work at General Foods, a prime gig for a newly minted undergrad and her laboratory focus was on coconut and chocolate. While some might die for an opportunity to work with chocolate all day, Joni yearned for something more.

She quickly moved from the lab into sales management and was the first woman ever to land a coveted position on the proverbial row of General Foods good old boys in industrial sales. Joni is wicked smart, well spoken, and has a palpable competitive edge that empowered her to be tremendously successful and earn the trust and respect of the male dominated sales force. Energized by sales, she loved to close a deal and began to set company records.

Saleswoman of the Year

Since love and life happen when you least expect them to, Joni took a new job in Cincinnati following a man who at the time seemed like he could be the one. The man did not turn out to be a keeper but Joni took Cincinnati by storm and earned Salesperson of the Year in her new post at Amko Plastics and continued to distinguish herself in the sales profession.

Ever conscious of her need for reinvention and a new beginning, Joni embarked on a personal and professional cleanse and took a new job with Ocean Spray (from chocolate to cranberries!) and went back into the lab for 18 months. But the lab environment just didn’t feed her soul like sales and she ventured forward taking a regional sales position with a division of FMC which manufactured food and pharma ingredient products.

After FMC Joni was recruited to work for RP Scherer which was based in Florida but she negotiated to work from home when not traveling and bought her first home in Wilton, CT. With a significant salary increase and a reputation as a leader in the industry, Joni was sitting pretty in her newly purchased antique home on a full acre lot.

Finding Her Comfort Zone

While home ownership gave her a tremendous sense of pride, cutting an acre of grass and tending to the landscaping was not something she relished. A friend of a friend set her up on a blind date and Chris, a Radiologist entered the picture and her life. Little did Joni know at the time that he would become her husband.

As their relationship grew so did the weeds in Joni’s yard and Chris offered to cut the grass and help out this career woman on the go. At the top of her sales game, Joni wanted more than just a manicured lawn and moved again professionally to Altus Biologics where she earned stock options and witnessed the company stock go public.

While she was rewarded for growing their business, she also grew her personal life and after a year and a half courtship, married Chris who had two young daughters from his first marriage. Joni recalls that at a certain point she just knew Chris was the one and they have been happily married for 13 years.

When Joni became pregnant she went on maternity leave from Altus fully expecting to return to work after the break. But her newborn son, Jack pulled at her motherly heart strings and she tapped her inner Martha Stewart and became super mom and step mom all in one, reinventing once again in a very different role.

Not Exactly the Brady Bunch

While caring for an infant released an inner mom that Joni never knew was part of her, life was complicated with two teenage step daughters who suffered the loss of their mother to an aggressive cancer when Joni was 8 months pregnant with Jack. The emotional struggle for a blended family is difficult enough but the intense grieving for their deceased mother was devastating for Joni’s new step daughters.

Her sales instincts kicked in and Joni was eager to build the relationships and close the new mother deal, as it were. She baked from scratch regularly and put together elaborately themed birthday parties for the girls and became the über mom that every kid on the block envied. This bruised new family not only survived but thrived with Joni as the glue that held them together.

A few years later, Chris McGary became antsy in affluent and stuffy Connecticut and longed for a simpler life that would also allow for his thriving medical career in Radiology. Waiting until the girls graduated from high school, Chris chose Bloomington, IN to relocate his family and make a fresh start. While the Hoosier heartland had charm it was a scary step for east coast Joni and her toddler son to pick up and move to from her native east coast. How would she get her NYC theatre fix on a regular basis and where would she have access to gourmet food staples not to mention leaving dear friends?

Women Writing for a Change

The move happened fast and the McGary’s went west and Joni turned to writing to chronicle her family’s journey to Indiana. Not exactly a pioneer woman’s story but a wonderful therapy to express her emotions and an opportunity to find her voice amidst this massive life change.

Just about the same time that the Julie & Julia blog (which later inspired the movie) came to be, Joni established her blog called Bloomington Girl to vent, marvel, and discover her new path with a growing fan base that followed her regularly.

It first started with her east coast posse who were eager to read about her new world. Then, Bloomington residents started to follow Joni who often helped them appreciate their town from a new vantage point. Joni shared advice, wisdom, photos, and delicious recipes and became known virtually to people who had never met her in person.

Part of her survival strategy was getting back to New York whenever possible to catch up on the latest plays. She also joined a progressive women’s writing group – Women Writing for a Change that gave her support and encouragement for this newfound medium in Bloomington.

The Call of the Theatre

While she hadn’t acted in many years, the theatrical calling still beckoned but this time in the form of playwriting. Joni tried to write a story about her husband’s ex-wife’s death as a cathartic journey since it impacted her entire family so dramatically. The story got too heavy to tell as creative non-fiction, so she attempted to write it as a play.

The new medium was very compelling and Joni took a playwriting class at Indiana University, her new college town home. In 2008, one of her 10 minute plays 100% Distracted was produced by the Bloomington Playwrights Project and the page of the new life chapter officially turned.

Whether you meet Joni in-person, read her work, or talk with her by phone, her energy and passion are palpable. It is no surprise that she delved into the new playwriting genre with enthusiasm and fearlessness. She began to submit her work to national festivals and competitions and soon began to get positive recognition.

No Guts No Glory

With moxie and a goal to improve, her work started to get noticed. Joni was a contributing playwright at the highly competitive 2009 Sewanee Writers Conference and at the 2009 Stony Brook Southampton Playwriting Conference. 100% Distracted was produced again in 2009 as part of the Indianapolis Fringe Festival. Soon she was in the game and started to feel like a real writer working with and learning from professional playwrights.

Her full length play, Over the Moon had staged readings in 2010 at The Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque, NM, The Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis, MN and The Aronoff Center (Cincinnati Playwright’s Initiative New Voices Series) in Cincinnati, OH. She scripted the cabaret-style Musical Review, Practice Makes Perfect: A Diva’s Guide to Life, produced in January 2010 in Bloomington, IN and Dance Lessons for Catherine was selected in a national play contest sponsored by Womensworx at the Vortex and had a four-week run at the Vortex Theatre in Albuquerque, NM in January 2010.Other plays include A Choice to Make, We Interrupt This Program, and The Love Translator (Bloomington Playwrights Project).

It all sounds glamorous but getting a play from the page to the stage is a herculean task with massive re-writes and brutal feedback from producers, directors, and fellow playwrights. One must have very thick skin and a serious love for the craft to survive the constant criticism and Joni says that she is getting more used to that process as time goes on. For the longest time she felt like a closet artist faking her way into the writing world. But now with some national recognition under her belt and the encouragement of industry professionals, Joni is ready to take her writing to a new level.

Hungry to hone her craft, Joni continues to submit her plays to writing workshops and festivals nationally. She wants to tell engaging and relevant stories of the human condition and is ready for the rigor of the theatre profession.

Second Act

An emeritus Board member and grant writer for the Cardinal Stage Company, Bloomington’s professional regional theatre company, Joni has distinguished herself in her community and beyond. Now that her son Jack is almost eleven and enjoying boyhood independence, it’s time for Joni to focus on herself again.

She is nervous about balancing family and the new demands of an emerging playwright but excited for the challenge. As one would expect from a Food Scientist, she is an exquisite cook and takes pride in making nutritionally sound and healthy meals without any processed ingredients for her family. Chris is an avid gardener so the McGary’s have a stash of canned and preserved fruits and vegetables from their summer bounty that last them all winter.

The intrepid nature of Joni has given her an ability to talk a risk and reinvent herself multiple times. This next chapter is indeed exciting and has major career potential. For she is not just a socialite housewife collecting tea pots – this is not a passing fancy, Joni is in it for the long haul. The timeline for becoming a great artist is much less direct than that of her previous careers but she is on a mission. Now or never – the time couldn’t be more right.

I am impressed with Joni’s courage to pursue a new career after a deliberate mom’s leave of absence from the workforce. This forty-something woman is honoring herself while still prioritizing her family and she can teach us all a lesson about playing to your strengths and honoring your passion with a fresh new career reinvention.

Joni’s new play Fat Girl is occupying most of writing time now. She is on a great new journey and ready for the challenge. Be on the lookout for this emerging playwright at regional theatre companies like Steppenwolf someday soon.

Joni’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Don’t be afraid of rejection.
• Always have the ability to laugh at yourself.
• Talk with others who have been successful in your field and learn from them.
• You have to take a leap and sometimes a risk to move forward towards your goals.

Quote: “It’s ok to say – I’m a beginner. I know I have a lot to learn and it’s time to make the leap. I am ready.”  – Joni McGary

Resources:

Women Writing for a Change http://www.womenwritingbloomington.com/

Bloomington Playwrights Project http://newplays.org/cmsms/home

Cardinal Stage Company www.cardinalstage.org

Defining Moment

At a time when most teens are feeling their way into adulthood and grappling with independence and social acceptance, Claire was battling for her life when doctors gave her a 20% chance of survival. She felt powerless and struggled with feelings of how to exist in the world cancer free once it was determined that she would survive. Claire spent the next 10 years of remission feeling numb and lost and masking her emotions by over-achieving in every way possible.

She excelled academically and in the workplace to make up for lost time and focused on setting and achieving goals. Claire shared “Everything looked great on paper.” but in reality she was still searching for her authentic place in life.

Claire began her career as a graphic designer and became a Director of Creative Services for a company at the end of the dot com boom. She led a department of 30 people and although she was successful as a leader, the role took her away from the artistic part of the industry which she loved. The 2001 dot com lay-offs hit and she took the downsizing as an opportunity to open her own boutique graphic design firm.

Find Your Bliss

The new business was moving forward nicely but a defining moment came when Claire’s dog, Sophie died.  An unconditional companion, confidant, and loyal friend – Sophie was always there after a long day to make things more tolerable. The relationship with Sophie was inexplicably comforting and the loss was something so deep that Claire had never experienced grief like that before. She realized that she never allowed herself to grieve during her cancer battle so the passing of Sophie released a flood of emotions.

Claire could not stop looking at Sophie’s collar and held her ID tag for comfort and fond memories. This was before the Paris Hilton bling for dogs era and Claire came up with the idea of creating a keepsake that a person could wear in memory of their beloved pet.

She transferred the death of Sophie into Luxepets, an exclusive collection of luxury keepsakes to cherish and celebrate the memory of a pet’s impact on our lives. Before long, stores were calling to purchase her grief products and also seeking advice for their grieving clients.

Lucky Passenger

While traveling to New York on a business and family trip, Claire was seated next to a passenger with whom she struck up a conversation on the long flight back to California. She explained that she designed keepsakes to celebrate the bond between people and pets and her seat mate was enthralled.

By the end of the journey she had an initial company investor at 10K. A novice with the concept of a business investor, Claire looks back and confesses that she “gave away the farm” but this seed money did allow her take Luxepets to a new level and develop products that are still thriving today. Six months later, she re-negotiated the deal and remains the sole visionary today!

Claire talks about earning her MBA on the street by trial and error. Her advertizing and branding background coupled with her design expertise was the perfect fit for the new company. The products started to become very popular and so did the calls from the store owners who were inundated with grieving customers. And so, a new career calling came – unexpectedly.

It was not uncommon for Claire to get a call from a store owner who needed assistance with a grief stricken pet owner who had broken down to tears in the store. Since Claire was naturally empathetic and experienced so much loss in her own life, she was able to relate to the grieving customers and bring them comfort.

Back to School

The epiphany came when Claire decided to answer this new career calling and delve more formally into grief counseling. She went back to school and earned a Masters in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and became a certified Grief Recovery Specialist. It was through this process that she was able to heal the parts of her that were affected by the cancer.

Like many, Claire came from a stoic family where grief was never discussed and feelings were harbored. Sophie’s death precipitated an awakening of emotions and a wonderful catharsis that empowered Claire to help others deal with grief. She still had her own personal battles to fight since she was told that her cancer treatments would not allow her to become pregnant.

Against all odds, Claire did become pregnant but the loss was not over in her life and she would have to muster the strength to deal with additional loss and emotional heart break. The same week she found out she was pregnant she also received a call that her mother had committed suicide. Through her training and amazing personal journey, Claire developed the confidence and strength to deal with painful grief.

Sweet Surrender

Early on, her newborn daughter began to have seizures and by using the tools to complete relationships with losses in her life, Claire was able to gain the strength to handle her daughter’s health problems. Three years later, she mustered the courage to leave her marriage. Even after serious relationship work – the marriage was not working for her. Knowing that the grief of divorce would be painful, Claire recalls this as another turning point in her life that has made her the woman she is today. The tools she gained in her grief therapy training have made all the difference in how she lives her life and she is on a mission to help others utilize their own personal set of tools to live better, more anxiety free lives.

The happy ending is one that she envisions for all her clients in their respective situations. At 42, Claire is happy and fulfilled and enjoying her vivacious toddler, surrounded by a loving community that is her new family. She loves her career and is in a romantic partnership that she cherishes. In a word – she is thriving.

Claire’s grief therapy practice is based in Los Angeles and she serves clients throughout southern California. She specializes in pet loss, miscarriage, and IVF or chemical pregnancy loss. These are the kinds of grief that are not part of mainstream conversations and Claire is there as a resource to help people work through these very real and painful losses.

Definition of Loss

Loss means something different to each person and Claire’s practice has grown organically based on need. While her connection with Luxepets and Veterinarians connected her to grieving pet owners, she also works with people who have lost their job or faced a major disappointment in life.

Claire shared that in our mainstream American culture, we have a way of explaining away loss with phrases like: “Time will heal.” and “It was God’s will.” But these phrases never address the real heart of the grief and rarely do they bring comfort to those in need. They are practical ways of dealing with grief on a superficial level.

Just for Today

As a certified Grief Recovery Specialist, Claire is not a therapist but her style is like that of a counselor and a coach combined. Her method is to empower people with real life tools that they can utilize with day-to-day coping skills to live with and work through their grief. The goal is to help people find immediate relief from the pain of grief.

Grieving people miss the routine of their loved one or situation. From walking your dog at a certain time of day to getting up and going to work, these routines are embedded in our psyche. Claire focuses on shifting one thing at a time to help a client function better. The process involves establishing new routines that are enjoyable and comforting.

Reset Your Clock

It takes 32 days to make a new habit so Claire is patient and caring with her clients along their journey. She works hard at maintaining both businesses and just finished writing a new book: “28 Days of Grief and Healing—Transforming the Loss of a Beloved Animal Companion” which will be released soon.

Things are going very well now with her Grief Recovery practice, and Luxepets is at a point that it is automated and seemingly runs by itself with little effort. She has also established a partnership with the Morris Animal Foundation as their pet loss go-to person. But establishing two healthy businesses was a great undertaking for Claire. True to her over-achiever DNA, she put her heart and soul into both ventures and also utilized many resources including business coaches, Savor the Success and Ladies Who Launch which she highly recommends.

Her companies are self funded and Claire took out a second mortgage on her LA home to ramp up the businesses after her initial experience with an investor. She likes the control over her own finances and values the autonomy of being her own boss. While the sourcing finding suppliers who can create her new products can sometimes be a challenge, Claire is up for the task since she knows with both businesses she is helping others deal with their grief. Now in a new phase of growth, she is in the process of seeking venture capital to take her business to the next level.

Making peace with her own grief gave Claire the ability to recognize her career calling. She is the happiest she has ever been in her life and ready to help others deal with painful loss. She has a vision map for the future and is truly living the life she wants to lead.

Claire’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Think big as a woman business owner and tap into the resources around you.
• Don’t play down your assets – focus on your strengths.
• Shine in your light!
• Find your calling – it’s worth the journey.

Quote:

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” Gandhi

Resources:

http://www.makepeacewithyourgrief.com/

Luxepets http://www.luxepets.com

Savor the Success www.savorthesuccess.com

Leap of Faith

As the first and only woman salesperson in a small town South Dakota car dealership, Sue distinguished herself in a male driven market with record sales. When all three of her children moved to Texas, Sue and her husband did some serious self reflection and decided to join them to be near their family.  Sue also has siblings in Texas with whom she is close.  She admits it was extremely difficult to walk away from a successful career and travel across the country to a place that was completely new to her, especially when her husband, Don was not due to arrive in Texas until several months later.

But this leap of faith has turned into a wonderful new opportunity that Sue enjoys very much. Her sons always dabbled in fix & flip property ventures but in Texas they established a new business that focuses on remodeling projects. In the tight economy, customers are more apt to remodel existing homes than purchase a new dwelling so business is quite strong.

Family Affair

While working with family can be a challenge in and of itself, Sue had additional trials like adjusting to a new community, acquiring a brand new skill set and the demands of hard physical labor.

Sue’s new job does not keep her behind a computer all day.  She is right in the thick of things, painting, tiling and demolishing work sites to prepare for the remodeling projects. Sue’s youngest son is the contractor and does the day-to-day job bidding and serves as the main remodeler doing the construction work. Her other son has a day job so he lends his expertise by assisting with the marketing and company website and also helps on the job sites when he can.

The challenge with a family business is communicating effectively and regularly.  The Heltzel’s have a nightly phone conference to talk about the projects in process and in the queue. With multiple job sites, it can happen that they don’t see each other in a given day.

On the Job Training

While Sue’s sales and professional relationship building skills certainly come in handy for the new business, learning to set bathroom tile is a completely new challenge. Sue dove right into this new opportunity with a can-do attitude that is infectious. She admits she is addicted to the TV design and remodeling shows and has taken many classes and workshops to learn the basics from reinforcing walls to setting ceramic tile.

Currently, Sue does a lot of the finishing details while her son and husband handle the larger construction but she has had her fair share of demolition work which is very demanding physically. She commented that often a customer will be surprised to see a woman remodeler show up for the job.  But often they appreciate having her female design perspective so having a woman on the team has been an asset to the business.

Room for Growth

While Sue continues to add skills to her remodeling repertoire, building the business is always a concern for the Heltzel family. Sue attends networking meetings and Chamber of Commerce events and is a member of the Better Business Bureau. The company website has been a great way to expand business complete with a blog that offers remodeling wisdom and tips. The Heltzel’s value their community partnerships with organizations including: Texas Trees Foundation, Habitat for Humanity, A Brush with Kindness and Extreme Makeover Home Edition. They are firm believers in giving back to the community and providing assistance to those in need.

Going Green

Putting on the Fix is committed to green remodeling, an all-encompassing approach that emphasizes making a home healthy, comfortable, and efficient. Consideration is given to indoor air quality, energy conservation, resource conservation, reduced material waste, and the use of products that are better for the environment and for people.

The Heltzel’s believe that implementing eco-friendly practices to the remodeling of your home/business will help to preserve our environment for future generations by conserving natural resources and protecting air and water quality. Green building strategies are good for everyone’s pocketbook by reducing maintenance and replacement requirements, reducing utility bills and lowering the cost of home ownership, and increasing property and resale values.

Future Plans

Sue and her family have a vision for their business and a strategic plan to see it grow. They want to employ some additional remodelers to expand the team and offer insurance and benefits to their employees. The plan is for both Heltzel sons to work full-time in the business as well and to grow their clientele and visibility in Dallas Fort Worth and surrounding communities.

The company’s foundation is based on respect, trust, integrity and communication. The Heltzel’s believe communication is essential to the success of a project. They listen to their client needs and work hand-in-hand with them to ensure detailed craftsmanship and full satisfaction.

Sue has taken on a challenging and exciting new career in her 50’s and working with her family has provided an opportunity for each of them to play to their strengths. In a career field where you rarely see women, Sue has once again distinguished herself and found her new career niche.

Quote:

“If it’s worth doing, it’s worth doing right.” Sue Heltzel

Sue’s Advice and Action Steps:

• Being a woman in a male dominated career field can be very rewarding.
• Never stop learning new skills.
• If you have a family business, divvy up the strengths and assign job tasks accordingly so everyone plays to their forte.
• Change can be good – don’t be afraid to take a risk.

Resources

Putting on the Fix www.puttingonthefix.com

Transition Solutionz has a theory. They believe that being in career transition is not a “lesser state of being”.  In fact, they love the term “on sabbatical”. This show is for those that are unemployed, under-employed, self-employed and needing encouragement and those that may still be employed but looking for a change. It is time to reinvent yourself, to toot your own horn and to learn to focus on what you love and how to leave your legacy. Truly, the money will follow. I applaud Transition Solutionz for their empowered approach to career transition!