Mentors in business & management careers

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Permalink Reply by Kathy Forster on February 12, 2009 at 6:29pm

I'm happy to offer information to students considering a career in Human Resources.

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Caplice on February 13, 2009 at 4:45pm

I'm happy to help with careers in business, banking or finance.

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Permalink Reply by Nancy Blackmer on February 13, 2009 at 10:33pm

I will provide information for students interested in municipal government.

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Permalink Reply by Robert Blakely on February 16, 2009 at 11:49am

I am glad to mentor anyone in public relations, fundraising, or educational leadership. These are great fields with wonderful opportunities for advancement, even moreso in today's economy. Probably will have to mentor by phone or email, as I'm in Birmingham AL and only get back to Massachusetts once or twice a year....

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Permalink Reply by Robin Marie Ward on February 23, 2009 at 11:19am

I was hanging around the Pioneer Valley attempting to find a "marketing department job. Having been about 50% self employed over the years, I decided I needed to return to my former business. GCC was part of a rehabilitation plan, so I knew I couldn't work the same way as before. My elder child suggested I move to Pacifica, California, and join him in construction there. I was picked up by my associate, to who I contracted as a Project Manager in San Francisco. Using only the referral pillar of Abraham marketing, when I established my business "Robin Ward Constructor," General Building Contractor CA #856370, I was called by three former clients of my associate to continue working on their projects.

I started with $2000 and tools. By the end of 2007 I was in the $400,000 range. Bear Stearns: and I was alerted the end was near. At the beginning of 2008, I had plans for two remodels in the $200,000 plus range I was preparing bids. Knowing we were going to have a difficult year, I began direct marketing and tombstone ads. It worked somewhat. The first owner prospect lost his job; he was a JD of some sort. Then the architect who owned the second project pulled off. From February 2007, it was like my work in Greenfield as an apartment maintenance contractor--slow, low paid. I went from $30,000 a month in 2007 to $150-300 a month in 2008. Many contractors had nothing. Thus the value of my marketing kept me alive. It wasn't enough and crumble has turned into collapse as Gov. Schwarznegger begs for jobs on CNBC.

By building my business only on referral at first, I was not working in the bubble. When the big homebuilders began to go down in 2006, one of my clients was selling to move to Washington DC where she could be a lobbyist for pharma'. At first it looked like San Francisco was going to experience a property value drop. My client thanked me for my work saying I made it possible for them to get a higher price for their house than they were asking. People in San Francisco tend toward a specialness of place that aggrandizes personal ego. That was hard to deal with in the local market, and carpenters are always greedy at the top. Despite it all, I maintained a 10% profit, had a debt to gross 1/10. That all changed. The swiftness of the collapse, in my opinion, has been a manipulated event.

People who had no business fooling around with the price of housing got into the market and their stupidity--yes you if you are a TV instructed investor--aided the manipulated crash. How can we have too many houses with so many homeless? This kind of crash cannot be effectively marketed against. What has been created is a social manipulation and there will be some areas to benefit once the scope of the whole problem is known. Profitability has to come from proper technique, not raping the Earth or People.

Now our challenge will be in how to pick up the pieces, how to gain the client's trust again, and delivering product and service with best regard for those who will pay for our lunch!

There's a cute sign over at Northampton Ford--where my Red Ranger-- named Red Honey-- came from, "Tough Times don't last, tough people do." This is the season for the true mental warrior, the moment in time when we must grab the tiller for ourselves and forget about papered government handouts from a broke government. I've been broke before, and always healed. Tough people are built out of rubblization.

I recommend Dimitri Orlov for reading. Never stop reading. Use books, they "feel" more than computers.

Robin Marie Ward

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Permalink Reply by Rebecca Caplice on February 23, 2009 at 12:08pm

An interesting sad-but-true story. In my experience the best outcomes often are a result of an extremely painful event. The high school prom king and queen generally crash and burn early in life because they have never learned from experiencing failure or rejection. It's the unpopular nerd who follows his/her passion to a lifetime of success.

From years of lending to small businesses, these are the two most important things I have learned from the most successful business owners:

1. Successful entrepreneurs never take their eyes off the ball. Their paths may be littered with dead bodies but they just step right over them. They don't wallow in what could go wrong or even what did go wrong - the goal is always in focus and all movement heads toward the goal.

2. Successful entrepreneurs always know exactly how they are doing. Their financial records are meticulously maintained, even if the best information those records reveal is how much money the business is losing.

You seem to have the right attitude about what you have experienced recently, so I am sure you will prevail. And your story makes it so apparent that the Pioneer Valley is doing very well right now, realtively speaking. A great deal of the worst suffering is centered in California. Maybe you will want to move back to Franklin County?

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Permalink Reply by Andrew Seward on February 27, 2009 at 5:00pm

I am willing to discuss management and leadership careers in the high tech sector.

Andy

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Permalink Reply by Debra Washer on March 6, 2009 at 1:29pm

I have been working as a systems analyst for over 20 years. I have experience in the fields of insurance and higher education. I would be willing to discuss the career paths of systems analysis and design and/or managing in information technology.

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Permalink Reply by Allen Davis on August 10, 2009 at 11:59am

i am happy to help with careers in higher education and nonprofit organizations, including fundraising and leadership.

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Permalink Reply by Matthew Sheridan on September 25, 2009 at 10:03am

I am more than happy to discuss careers in Finance/ Financial Services (Sales, Asset Management etc.)

Matthew J. Sheridan

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