
I have somebody special on the podcast this week. Her name is Allie Danziger, and she has a heartfelt passion for helping ambitious people succeed. In 2009, Allie started one of Texas’s top marketing agencies. And let me just say this as y’all will hear in the episode, she was all of 24 years old. She is very hard-working, and she loves what she does.
Allie also really cares about being an amazing mom and sister and wife and friend and daughter. I find her story to be extremely inspirational and I’m having her on the show because she’s really filling a gap for those of us who are worried about our teens and young adults actually being able to make it out in the real world.
Allie’s newest venture Ampersand was started in 2020 and applies the 10,000 hours of lessons she learned in hiring, managing and mentoring entry level employees and interns, and a career readiness and internship matching platform. She compares it to a dating app, like Bumble. Ampersand takes interns and teaches them basic skills and then matches them with companies through their unique career readiness and internship matching platform. In the last year, Ampersand has trained 7,000 young professionals and placed over 450 internships around the country in a variety of companies and industries.
Allie aims to democratize access to internship, placements and internships while simultaneously helping companies of all sizes build a pipeline of talented, driven, and diverse talent. This is a very, very cool company that she has started. And I mean, I could take some lessons, many lessons from this young mom / whipper snapper, who just knows how to get some sh*t done. She’s really impressive. I think you guys will love learning from her and hearing what she’s got going on.
As always, thanks for listening, and be sure and head over to Facebook and you can join my free group Mastermind Parenting Community, where we post tips and tools and do pop up Live conversations where I do extra teaching and coaching to support you in helping your strong-willed children so that they can FEEL better and DO better. If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it!
About Allie Danziger
Allie has a passion for helping ambitious people succeed. Allie started, and later sold, one of Texas’ top marketing agencies, Integrate Agency, where she was lucky enough to work with, and learn from, some of the most talented innovators, designers, thinkers and doers she had ever met; the chance to lead a company that has generated over $15MM in total revenue, employed over 150 people, and helped over 600 clients grow.
Allie’s new venture, Ampersand, applies her >10,000 hours of lessons learned in hiring, managing and mentoring so many employees and interns in my 12 years running Integrate. She is now dedicating her time to eliminating the skills gap from higher education to employment, and democratizing access to internship placement and mentorship, while also helping companies run successful internship programs.
Gain exclusive access to Ampersand’s Career Preparation bootcamp: https://www.ampersandpro.com/careerprep
Allie’s Web and Social Links
About Randi Rubenstein
Randi Rubenstein helps parents with a strong-willed kiddo become a happier family and enjoy the simple things again like bike rides and beach vacays.
She’s the founder of Mastermind Parenting, host of the Mastermind Parenting podcast, and author of The Parent Gap. Randi works with parents across the U.S.
At Mastermind Parenting, we believe every human deserves to have a family that gets along.
Randi’s Social Links
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Transcription
0 (1s):
My name’s Randi Rubenstein, and welcome to the Mastermind Parenting podcast at Mastermind Parenting, we’re on a mission to support strong-willed kids and the families that love them. You’re listening to the Mastermind Parenting podcast with Randi Rubenstein episode 1 95. Well, hi guys. I have somebody special on the podcast this week. Her name is Allie Danziger. Here’s her official bio. She has a heartfelt passion for helping ambitious people succeed. And just so y’all know, this is for all of us who have teenagers or young adults, and we’re like, oh crap.
0 (43s):
They’re like, they like can’t call and make themselves a haircut appointment. How on earth are they gonna ever, like, know how to just function in a job? Are they gonna have the people skills? Have I failed? You know, all the things we worry about. Okay. So in 2009, Allie started one of Texas’s top marketing agencies. Okay. And let me just say this as Y all will hear in the episode, she was all of 24 years old, and she’s not a genius, and she doesn’t have the biggest personality in the room. Like she’s adorable. She’s very girl next door kind of energy.
0 (1m 24s):
And like all, I think so many of us think like, you have to be the best and you have to be the standout and you have to be this and that. And Allie has created her own success. Like sh her parents instilled a very strong work ethic in her. And she did start working at 16. I mean, I remember asking her early on, I was like, how did you become like a little marketing powerhouse at such a young age? Like, did you go, come, go to like a really impressive college? And were you the top of your class for, she was like, Nope. Nope. Went to university of Texas was never a standout student. Just like, you know, like did fine, but no, like she, and I was like, okay, where does all of this come from?
0 (2m 11s):
And I think the thing I love about Allie is that She is very hard working and she loves what she does. And she also really cares about being an amazing mom and sister and wife and friend and daughter. Like, she’s just, she’s like just a normal person who has really achieved big success. And so I find her story to be extremely inspirational and I’m having her on the show because she’s really filling a gap for those of us who are worried about our teens and young adults, actually being able to make it out in the real world.
0 (2m 52s):
She is filling a gap. And I want her to tell you all about this amazing, really this new company and passion project that she started. So a little more about her story in 2009, Allie started one of Texas’s top marketing agency Integrate Agency, which she sold in 2018 under her leadership Integrate Agency generated over 15 million in revenue, employed hundreds of young professionals and helped over 600 clients grow Allie’s newest venture Ampersand was started in 2020 and applies the 10,000 hours of lessons she learned in hiring, managing and mentoring entry level employees and interns, and a career readiness and internship matching platform.
0 (3m 36s):
Okay. So She compares it to a dating app like Bumble, like, you know, like taking these interns and, and teaching them kind of all these basic skills and then matching them with companies. So she matches employees and interns and a career readiness and internship matching platform. In the last year, Ampersand has trained 7,000 young professionals and placed over 450 internships around the country in a variety of companies and industries. Allie is dedicated to eliminating the skills gap from higher education to employment, through scalable technology solutions with Ampersand, Allie aims, to democratize access, to internship, internship, placements, and mentorships.
0 (4m 22s):
So that’s another way of saying like, you don’t have to just come from a rich family where your parent knows this person. Like she wants to provide access to these internships to people who maybe don’t have a connected family. I mean, I didn’t, when I was growing up, I remember hearing about all the people doing all these cool things and like, I didn’t have a well connected family. And I remember thinking like, oh, that must be nice. So that’s part of her mission here, right? She says with Ampersand, she aims to democratize access to internship placements. And me while simultaneously helping companies of all sizes build a pipeline of talented, driven, and diverse talent.
0 (5m 7s):
This is a very, very cool company that she has started. And I mean, I could take some lessons, many lessons from this young mom slash whipper snapper, who just knows how to get some shit done. She’s really impressive. I think you guys will love learning from her and hearing what she’s got going on. So enjoy. Okay. Hi. Hi. So full disclosure to our listeners, Allie and I have known each other for a while. We’re very comfortable and she’s doing big things in the world.
0 (5m 47s):
And her latest venture really affects kids. My kids ages as well as businesses like mine, small businesses, like I have hired one of your, I have a paid intern at the moment. And she went through your program. I found her through you guys. She’s fantastic. I am. So she lives in Ohio. Yeah. She, I mean, she doesn’t live here. She lives in Ohio. She’s like I had a block against LinkedIn and of course I signed up for like yet another program to teach me how to do something. And I’m not a big executor. And so I did this week long program, and then I was still swirling.
0 (6m 30s):
I literally asked the lady who run, runs the program. If my intern could do this, she like went in, she figured it out. She sat with me, she held my hand, she got my LinkedIn profile set up the right way. Like,
2 (6m 44s):
It’s
0 (6m 44s):
Great. She’s awesome. She’s and she’s all of 22 years old.
2 (6m 49s):
Yeah, exactly. That’s great.
0 (6m 51s):
Anyway, so I feel like you are providing something and I know that’s why you created this because you saw that there was a hole in the market. So, but for parents like me who have Teens and young adults, and I know they’re needing to like, like their wings are almost fully ready to go and fly and I’m just like, but they’re still wet. I need to know how to like, properly prepare them. So I want you to talk about what it exactly it is you’re doing and why you created this company.
2 (7m 27s):
Yeah. Thank you so much for having me on and letting me to you and listeners this, when I idea I called you, you, the people I called when I was brainstorming this, I was like, I have this idea. There’s this huge problem that I’m uncovering. Can I talk to your kids and you to your kids and your kids, friends as I was first identifying this problem, but I’ll start with the, I think that’s important. But my previous company, a marketing agency and I hired right out professionals, I just really liked hiring like the C whether that was through interns or entry level, recent grads. And so I’m just known in our community that likes of people, when lots of professionals calling me or their moms were calling, can you to do what now that maybe the lesser drops or their internships or college, you, they were deciding what to do.
2 (8m 23s):
Now that college was going online. And I felt like this record telling the same people, the same thing over and over again, get off your, just something cool with this moment in time that you’ve presented, starting a podcast. I getting on zoom and talking to 10 young professionals, coaching them through their internship experiences and talking to them for four hours a week, as they were in internships, really guiding them through that experience. We realized that that seven outta 10 of those young professionals ended up getting a paid internship or job offer at the end of the session that we, we were hosting.
2 (9m 3s):
And, you know, I didn’t know what it was. I just was like having fun talking to these young professionals, coaching them and helping business owners with a gap that they really, you know, people have such a stigma against interns or entry level hires. And I just knew I know what we can teach them. And so I was just having fun with it, but quickly realized that there’s a bigger systemic problem taking place here. And so we started building out a software platform then to really, and to bring this training to underrepresented communities, to work with career services, to work with employers all over the country to help find talent. So we work with companies, all the country schools, all the country help professionals.
2 (9m 51s):
That’s there. Employment, employment colleges are not teaching the skills that business owners need, students entry level employees to know. And so we found this white space and filling started, turned into a software platform, asynchronous training, and then the summer, because lots of parents were us for this hosting, these very intensive group boot camps, basically a six week bootcamp, where we go way more in depth than we ever have before with personality, career coaching, resume development, interviews, networking, guest speakers, all of it.
2 (10m 36s):
You’ll have coach by your side, actually guiding you through the experience, which just people don’t have that. Like adults spend a lot of time on career coaches and life coaches and all that, but like such a pivotal moment in your life is when you are either starting college experience, experience college experience, and going into the world. There’s a huge shift happening through young professionals minds and that like you’ve experienced with your kids and you, you know that, but they’re from this, it’s all about, it’s all about we, you it’s. And so help guide that massive transition,
0 (11m 16s):
You know, it’s interesting because, and I think this will, the listeners will relate to this. So for anybody who has kids that I don’t know starts, you know, your kids are like tweens, maybe even upper elementary school and it’s time for them to have a conversation with a teacher and advocate for themselves. Or, I mean, this is even embarrassing to admit, make a freaking haircut appointment once they’re teenagers. Yeah. And they’ll say, will you just do it? And for the longest time, because I teach this in my programs, I come from a place of, yes, most of the time I say yes, like, can you just drive?
0 (12m 0s):
Can you drive me? Yes. Yeah. Can you? Right? Because then it’s like the opposite of the boy who cried Wolf. If I have to say no to something, especially like, I know once they become teenagers, I’m gonna have to say no a lot. So when I have to say, no, I’ve had so many years of coming from a place of yes. Over the little things that they know that no means no. Right. So I’d be like, yeah, it’s fine. And of course, because I’m me and I have personal relationships with everyone that I go to for hair or whatever it is. I’ll tech all, you typically text the person. I I’m like check or I’ll call them we’re friends. You know? So what I realized though, was that because our kids are growing up in a different time, having these face to face conversations or even conversations over the phone, that interpersonal skill is a lagging skill in these kids.
2 (12m 55s):
Yeah. And it’s so important to learn those skills right now, our recent grads, they had totally different college experience than your normal college grads. Right. So they don’t have that interpersonal. They don’t have experiential learning that happens in group discussions and group projects that usually happen in person. So we’re seeing it a lot with recent grads or people grad graduated over the last two years and now entering the workforce. But that’s activities that can absolutely at practices. You’re about Randi them. Do some of that work. We always have like the kids table at dinner and then like all friends experience different themselves, you or I did because our social circle was limited to the people that we physically came into contact with.
2 (13m 58s):
And now people who are of the gen Z demographic, their experiences are like, I post this on social media and thousands people have the opportunity to experience it and feedback. It’s lots of S that come have more thought and more diverse backgrounds and all of that, that comes from, from that. But that, so there’s benefit. But the downside of course, is the lack of that interpersonal human to human face, to face communication that they just don’t have as much experience. And yes, businesses are changing to, you can book your hair appointment and not necessarily have to talk to someone more and more to accommodate that, but it’s still such an important skill that will always be necessary in life.
0 (14m 42s):
Well, it’s people skills. I mean, I think many of us even experienced this during COVID where I know I did where I became a shut in. And then all of a sudden, like, as the world has opened back up, I’m like, oh my gosh, I have to figure out how to like, interact with other humans, IRL in real life, you know? Yeah. And so my kids are so annoyed with me when I use acronyms like that. But, but you
2 (15m 5s):
Know, but it’s so true adults.
0 (15m 7s):
Yeah, no, I mean, I think our kids, like that is their experience because there’s so much that happens via technology, that, that when they get into the workforce and now they’re gonna have to have those interpersonal skills, there’s some catch up time. And I think it can feel embarrassing. You know? I mean, you are definitely filling a gap.
2 (15m 29s):
Yeah. They are embarrassed to ask those kind questions. I actually was just in a meeting with 15 different young professionals from different colleges in part of this ambassador this afternoon, they were so raises questions, but I could tell what was going on. And so I was able to say, Hey, you have access to Ampersand, go nine, where we talk about build your LinkedIn. What know who’s be at the you’re backgrounds are on LinkedIn. So talking points, practice your professional pitch and how you’re introduce yourself so that you’re prepared and that bit of homework, so confidence that’s needed for when you network that’s training that we do.
2 (16m 31s):
And I take a lot of inspiration from the way that you, to people, your podcast and humans, speakers, like, but we’ve all been there. We’ve all started a first job. We’ve had embarrassing moments. We’ve had to ask tough questions, we’ve made mistakes and you recover from it, but you just have to have access to that type of information. And a lot of young professionals just don’t know where to relate to people or where to get that information. And so once I discovered that I realized that there is this just massive gap and where that then leads young professionals, three of recents that was year’s stat are either unemployed or employed.
2 (17m 22s):
And just because they don’t have access to the jobs when, when we’re in a crazy environment right now where there’s so many jobs, but business don’t think that young professionals have and entry employees have the skills that they need in order to just get started right away and be prepared for day one at the job. It’s just this, it’s this crazy dichotomy that like no one trusts each other and no one’s well connected. And so our software comes in and really fills that gap. And
0 (17m 50s):
Then you’re, it’s kinda like a, is you were a matchmaker. Yeah, right. Like I was like, gosh, I really need to hire somebody who can help me with some of these social media things. And, and, and, and you were like, so just fill out the thing and we’ll hook you up. And I was like, really? And it was, it took such little time for me to fill the thing out and then to get, you know, people that would be, that were a match. And frankly, the first Rena, Rena Watson, the first person that we jumped on a zoom call with, we were so impressed by her. I was like hired. Yeah. I mean,
2 (18m 29s):
Yeah. We, we like, as we build out and as we’re talking to our tech team, we think of ourselves like dating app, like Bumble. We, we wanna compare ourselves to Bumble as much as possible in the entire user experience and building out more of that software that really looks and feels like that. But that is what’s happening on the back end, where just like the makes the first move on Bumble, the business makes the first move, get their top candidates are matched specifically their, so you said, had experience LinkedIn, all those candidates on LinkedIn or all those job opportunities on LinkedIn business, out the candidates, the, we then tell the, the business wants to move forward.
2 (19m 12s):
Then the candidate gets a notification. Randi is interested in interviewing with you, coordinate the time. And then it goes from there, but it’s all happening automatically on the back end with algorithms and tech stuff.
0 (19m 25s):
But, you know, I think also the other thing is, is that when your kid, I was just talking to a mom about this yesterday, that, you know, when she was, she was a kid, she remembers being a kid and her dad sort of shutting her down and saying like, she was trying to argue a point. And she was like, and he was like, you don’t know things. I know more than you, you are a kid. And she felt dismissed and shut down. And she said, now that I’m an adult, he was right. I did. I thought I knew everything. And the older I get, the less, I actually know, you know, which I said is, is a sign of maturity and wisdom. Like the older we get, the more we’re like, I don’t actually know anything.
0 (20m 8s):
Like I’m, I’m never gonna stop learning. I said, but I think it’s just a part of, I know it is. I know it’s a part of human development, young adult, Teens, and young adults, they have that, you know, teenage rebellion is real. And so they’re trying to figure out like, like what do I actually need to listen to my parents about? And what information have they put implanted in my brain that I can prune away. Right. And so it is a normal stage of development where you’re going to try and argue every single point. So like even me who I, you know, I’m a coach.
0 (20m 50s):
I teach people all day long about, you know, communication and relationships and time management and, you know, efficiency, all the different things. And I have a 16 year old right now and his temperament, his whole life has been the easiest, most delightful human and he’s 16. So I can tell him Till’s blue till I’m blue in the face. Hey, listen, you gotta B minus on that. And you know, it was great work and your teacher even said it was great work. So why don’t you go make an appointment, go into her office hours and say, you said this was great work.
0 (21m 30s):
Do you think I’m only capable of a B? I really felt like this was more than a B minus. Can you gimme feedback, go in and ask her, pick her brain advocate for yourself. She’s grading a whole classroom full of papers, you know, she’s human. So who knows. But, and he was like, yeah, I’m not doing that. But if all of a sudden he were to hear that from a third party.
2 (21m 53s):
Yeah. Oh yeah. Such a difference.
0 (21m 55s):
I mean, he’d be like, oh, that’s a great idea.
2 (21m 58s):
Right? Totally, totally. I mean, same thing, like to a job or ask for advice the time and like, like, yeah. Or my husband actually we’re realistically it means nothing. If he says something in terms of like advice, but if someone else says the exact same thing, I suddenly believe it. So yeah. I mean, a lot of what we, when we’re bringing in the guest speakers, it’s this for the same purpose, like we have a partnership with Beman and they do personality assessments. I dunno if you’re familiar with them, but love working with them. And it’s so much deeper. Cause it goes to both your motivations and your stressors and how you perform under stress.
2 (22m 40s):
And I think a lot of parents like tell you the type of that they see you as, but they don’t necessarily have the language of what to do with that. And the right, the right words for that. And so we found that by partnering with them, they give, they give us all of these great tools, but also language of how young professionals can present themselves the world and then go out and like find the right jobs for them, communicate appropriately to them, communicate back to your parents of what its that you’re looking for. You’re looking for informational interviews or to build your personal network, understand like who you wanna talk to and why, and just communicating that kinda a tangent away from like third party resources.
2 (23m 21s):
But I are hearing it from a third party, but you know, I just, I think it’s, it’s valuable to think about like all the different pieces of information that we get and from who, and understanding like,
0 (23m 33s):
Well, and I also think, look, that’s just self-awareness so if all of a sudden your child at a very kind unsure insecure point in their life can get that extra support that is going to set them apart. I mean, I can say as a small business owner, you know, that’s why Reina has stood out so much to me. Right? So when all of a sudden somebody comes in and this young person makes your life easier and can communicate with you and can, and has opinions. And isn’t just some little mealy mouth. I don’t know anything. I don’t know anything.
0 (24m 14s):
I didn’t get any practical information actually in my, what, 23 years of education, you know, I got a bunch of knowledge, but how does that translate into the real world? And so now all of a sudden, if I have this young adult who comes in and they know a thing or two, and they show up confidently, like that is amazing to me, it does set them apart. And then I let them know. Okay. So then what a confidence builder to this young person? Who’s like, okay, I might be young, but like I can hold my own. Right? Yeah.
2 (24m 52s):
Yeah.
0 (24m 54s):
Confident
2 (24m 55s):
Humans
0 (24m 55s):
To me are like insecure people. I never trust insecure people. And we all go through stages of insecurity. But I was just saying this recently, like in my personal life, other parents of teenagers, I’m like, I’m gonna put my head down and deal with my own kid because we’re also insecure when we have teenagers. Cause we’re also worried about the risky behaviors and getting into college and what their life’s gonna be like that. I just feel like when we’re insecure, nobody’s really trustworthy. So if we can help our kids go from insecure to confident by, by, you know, giving them opportunities like what you’re providing, like that’s just a win for society.
2 (25m 38s):
Agreed, agreed. I mean, as a business owner who, with of business owners too, like seeing so many young professionals who just don’t have that confidence and they don’t have the skills and they don’t have anyone to talk to about it and they graduate college and they like, feel like they’re about conquer the world and their spirits are because their careers didn’t set them up correctly or in, you know, they don’t have in their corner maybe. And then they go work at smoothie. There’s anything wrong with working at smoothie king. But like when they have all this potential in the world and they’re, and they’re motivated and they just don’t have the right connections and the way to it together. And they don’t that confidence to that interview or whatever, it’s, it’s heartbreaking.
2 (26m 21s):
This generation is the one who’s the, so just need to go set them up. We need to set them up for better success because unfortunately they’ve had not the best couple of years and they’ve missed out on a lot of really great things that are important to developing society proven for decades. And so, you know, that’s exactly what we’re, what we’re trying to do.
0 (26m 50s):
Thanks for joining me on the Mastermind Parenting podcast. Remember you can join our email list at Mastermind, Parenting dot com for more tips and tricks on how to have a peaceful household. Let me segue for a second, because you are a little bit, a little bit of a special unicorn just in that, the way you started your career. Okay. And I know you’re very humble and, and modest about it, but how old were you when you started your marketing agency?
2 (27m 25s):
So I was when I started that company and I’m doing, I’m doing a know, I was kind on my own a lot. Like I was in a job, but like had a lot of freedom and lot of and adding all these great things, the company. And then as soon as I college, I just working. It’s always been, since I turned 16, it’s just become part of my identity. And I contributing world meaningful all through college. I had internships every semester starting And I mean, don’t me wrong.
2 (28m 23s):
He had no idea what I was doing. And it was faking. I made cheerleaders behind the scenes. I did know a little bit just agencies and experience that of lot of other 24 year olds.
0 (28m 47s):
Well, and, and so tell me, if, have you kind of pinpointed, like what, cuz I know like you, you had the successful marketing agency, you sold it, you were still working with them. Obviously you have a big, you know, you have a big reputation. It would’ve been easy for you to just stay like your whole career could have been marketing and you shifted gears to this. Like this was a passion project at the beginning for you. Why, what about it made it? Yeah, I mean, right.
2 (29m 24s):
I mean the summer of co of the pandemic, beginning of the pandemic, I was just like fed up with life as I think so many of us were, I remember the day it was like million end of may. I went for a run and I came back and my kids like sweaty outside. And then they were like, bored. Cause they were inside. Like we cannot do this. Like something something’s gotta get like, this is, this cannot be life this the summer. I dunno what it’s. And so that night my husband and I sat on the, and we were like, literally Airbnb, where can we go? Where can we drive to we’re going Colorado because it’s better. Whether the kids can be outside. They don’t have to be stuck inside. We’re figuring this out.
2 (30m 4s):
And so we went to Colorado, it was, we were supposed to be there for two weeks and we ended up staying for nine because it was like, why come back to gross Houston? We brought our nanny with, so we were able to work there. And throughout that experience, I did the book the artist’s way. Did you recommend it to me?
0 (30m 24s):
I mean, I, my, my brain dumping method I got from Julia Cameron because she that’s her morning. It’s like my version of her morning pages.
2 (30m 33s):
Yeah. I think you might have actually mentioned it to me because around the time is when you and I were like first starting to get, or we were getting to know each other better and, and talking. So I started, I was like, something’s gotta give, something’s gotta change. I dunno what its, but like things aren’t, I’m not the person that I wanna be right now. And so started doing the artist way. And through that experience really identified what I am most passionate about and what has driven me for the, or what had driven me for the past 12 years in my marketing agency. And I, I always had this like complex that I was just making rich people, rich people richer that that’s like, what I did is I just like companies like get bigger. I just, it to myself because I always felt like, well, they’re hiring more people.
2 (31m 16s):
They’re putting food on more people’s plates. But at the, of the day I just like, I was rich people richer. And so what really motivated me was the people aspect of it. People that worked for me over the years, that I either like brought in as interns or entry level and then went on to go do other amazing things or did amazing things with my company or started other companies. Like I stay in touch with every single person who’s ever worked for me and I love following their journeys. And so recognizing through the artist’s way that that was something that I was so passionate about while simultaneously talking. So to so many young professionals who had lost their jobs or internships or were deciding what, what to do with college.
2 (31m 58s):
Like all of this was like happening simultaneously over the summer. And every night I’m like sitting with my husband over wine, like what am I gonna do with all of this going on in my brain? Like I wanna focus the people and the culture, the company, or start something, you know, related to this. And it all kinda came together when I was doing like a, just to young professionals. It all came together actually. So,
0 (32m 25s):
So have you connected those dots then of you from 16 to 24 and you having the passion to help other people at that stage of life also realize that they can do whatever they want. They can, they can, they can start a company one day. They can like, you know, like have you, yeah,
2 (32m 49s):
I have connected pieces. And some of it is, I feel so fortunate for the opportunities that I connections that I had. And I recognized that not everyone had that. My first internship was at my parents hedge fund. It was unpaid internship. And being able to have that experience on my resume, got my next internship, internship, that internship hardest. Also my dad, my parents have worked my entire life. I like had such vivid memories of gonna take your daughter to Workday and like seeing what their life was and, and wanting to be that and learning as you were about how to advocate for school and work.
2 (33m 34s):
And so both as, and really amazing opportunities in front of me that I like I did have access to makes me realize like that’s how I was able to then go get eight internships to then start my company at. And as I did more digging into this entire industry and realizing that there’s systemic problems with universities and not giving access to the opportunities, if you’re not at the top of the class or if you’re not gonna work or on the path to working for one of the university’s top funders, you know, or top alumni that the careers really is not giving you the same level of attention.
2 (34m 15s):
Like I had these opportunities and I didn’t my career services, but not everyone does. And I wanna create something that breaks the mold and, and gives the lessons and the connections to the people who don’t necessarily have access to it.
0 (34m 29s):
Well, and I remember picking your brain, like, like, like how did you, how did you do the, all of this? And I remember you’re like, I was never like, like I got a fine education, but I wasn’t like
2 (34m 44s):
The top. I wasn’t a great student. Yeah,
0 (34m 45s):
Yeah. You were like, I wasn’t, I wasn’t the top student and, and even I like, you know, here you are marketing PR all the things and you’ve got this go getter personality, but really, really you have a, your you’re a quieter person naturally. Wouldn’t you say that like,
2 (35m 6s):
Yeah. I just like to, I mean, I lead by listening and like listening to other people. I, the thing in, I don’t people or do any of that in a way to lead served leader, just kinda seeing the landscape. Yeah.
0 (35m 40s):
Like, did you tell me that as a little kid, you were kind of an observer? I don’t know. I feel like no,
2 (35m 46s):
No. I was like, as a kid, I was like, had to be the center of attention.
0 (35m 51s):
Oh, you did? Okay.
2 (35m 52s):
Yeah. Okay. But yeah, but I, I think as I got older, I didn’t, I realized that like, I didn’t love, I, I didn’t necessarily always love that much attention. Hey, I like attention to an extent, but I don’t necessarily need to be like the loudest voice in a room at all.
0 (36m 11s):
Yeah. But like, as a friend, maybe it was that as a friend, quite often, when your friends are going through something hard, like you’re the one that they’re gonna call in and confide in and you’re the one that’s gonna help them problem solve.
2 (36m 24s):
Right? Yes. I, yes, definitely problem solve. Like my friends don’t call me just to like, listen, I guess I, but then I do involved and help.
0 (36m 37s):
Yeah, yeah, yeah. No, it’s so cool. Okay. So, so I know everyone’s gonna be like, okay, so how do I sign my kid up? How can you help my kid? You have something cool going on this summer. Talk about that.
2 (36m 49s):
Yeah. So this summer we’re doing this career prep week intensive geared in Houston. So your kids really do need to be here to take advantage of, of most of it. But there are opportunities if you’re not in Houston, I think we’re gonna have this one kid from New York, then it, and our coach is not here in Houston every day. So it really is just an opportunity to get all of the job skills lessons, get the one on one coaching, get all of the materials together for your resume, your cover letter, your interview skills, your personal brand. What’s your elevator pitch. All of that packaged up really, really nicely, as well as all of the skills that you need.
2 (37m 30s):
Personality assessments, the real knowhow of how to search for a job. And next you, you go through that entire experience, tons of guest speakers, networking opportunities, and then in the networking opportunities are actually gonna have the coach come to the networking events, stand with you and give you real time feedback on how you’re doing. And like, Hey, go talk to this person, go talk to this person. So I think it’s gonna be a life-changing experience for any of the kids who go through it. And like, if you’re sitting on your parents’ couch all summer, like why not?
0 (38m 0s):
Well, and okay, so for anybody who’s watching the video, you can see Cheryl the dog in the background. And if you’ve heard some snoring, that’s her, she likes to snore. I wanna put this out there. And this is something that we, that we just use. It’s like a little Parenting script that we just used with our 16 year old. When your kid says to you, why do I need that? Okay. Like what are you talking about? I just, you know, I graduated or I got into blah, blah, blah college, or I’m already making great grades. Like why on earth would I need this? And this is actually, I’m gonna give my husband credit. So what Scott said to our 16 year old was he said, mom has a coach.
0 (38m 45s):
I have a coach. Mom is a coach. And he said, coaching is not for people that are tanking. Coaching is for people that are doing already great and fine, but why wouldn’t you want to be even better? And so I said, it’s kind of like, you know, when you, his, my boys have just, they, they love to go and work out and they’re very thin. And so, you know, when you’re thin and you start to work out, you build muscle pretty quickly. And I said, I said, look, you started going to the gym. And when you start to work out and let’s say you are working out with a personal trainer and very quickly, cuz you’re already at your goal weight, you know, you just start building muscle.
0 (39m 32s):
And so before you know it, you achieve sort of super fitness. I said, coaching is the same. You’re already just fine. But you wanna achieve that life. That is way beyond fine. That’s who coaching is for.
2 (39m 47s):
Love it. Yeah. Yeah. So true.
0 (39m 49s):
Yeah. Okay. Well, thank you. Thank you for filling this gap because we needed. Yeah. Yeah. Okay. And so how do people like find out more and all that jazz and I’ll put in the show notes as well.
2 (40m 4s):
Yeah, there’s a on our website and then five o’clock. We are a little webinar, some live like coachings that people can see it and learn more about it as well. So you can find up for all that on our website.
0 (40m 21s):
Awesome. Awesome. Thank you for being on the show.
2 (40m 24s):
Thank you so much. So fun since I listen.
0 (40m 27s):
Thanks for listening today, guys. I hope you picked up some tips tools, maybe some baby steps for creating more balance and boundaries in your life. And I just wanted to let you know if you want to continue moving the needle forward in creating this for yourself, having a happier household. I want you to go to my website and check out Mastermind, Parenting dot com. We have three beginning programs and if you need some accountability and more support, then please look for the one that would be a good fit for you. And As always, we’re on all the social channels under Mastermind Parenting on Instagram, it’s Mastermind, underscore Parenting, and you know, periodically I do pop up on different Instagram lives, Facebook lives, where I give you teaching and coaching.
0 (41m 21s):
And I love engaging with you live to help you help your strong willed kids so that they can feel better because when they feel better, they do better. And I love, love, love, getting to know you guys. So thanks for listening. If you like this podcast, please don’t forget to subscribe, rate and review super, super appreciative.
