Career Journeys from the Ground Up: Discover Your Own Path

By Lisa M. Strahs-Lorenc B.S. M.P.S.

This book is targeted at all those who are searching for their “dream” career at any age and stage in life. It is divided into two sections: the first one contains interviews with individuals ages 27 to 85, and the second part is a workbook with personal questions and evaluations that will help the reader understand the challenges and goals to create his/her own career journey.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 4, 2023
• ISBN: 9781669876465

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 by Lisa M. Strahs-Lorenc, B.S., M.P.S.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 08/04/2023

Xlibris

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Contents

Dedication

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Helpful Tips for Reading this Book

Part 1 The Interviews:

Participant Summary

Drew Aglietti

Lasheca Lewis

Crystal Deichert, LPC, LMHC

Charles Fox

Sandra Nomoto

Densle Anderson

Marc Berlin

Janine Bolon

Frank Pomata

Robin Shatzkin

Lisa M. Strahs-Lorenc

Les Wolff,

Lisa Albinowski, Real Estate Broker

Marty Greenstein

Reflections

Part 2 Your Career Journey: It’s Your Turn Now

What Is a Job?

Let’s Explore Your Dreams

What About the Detours?

Be Honest with Yourself

Getting to Know Yourself

Time for an Inventory

Taking Stock

What are some of my options?

More Options

Is College the Only Path?

Parents: Your Ten Commandments

Look What’s Happening in the World of Work

Where Can I Get Help?

Still Lost?

Steps Along the Road

Set Your Own Goals and Steps to Success

Job Search 101

A Word About Resumes

Take Charge of Your Job Search

One Last Word about Confidence

What Now?

Contest

Appendix

From the Author

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all of the participants who willingly shared their stories of overcoming challenges and struggles while navigating their career journeys. I am grateful to each one who has shared personal and professional details that will motivate and inspire others to pursue their own career happiness.

I also have learned so much from all my clients, who have trusted me with their career exploration and have made themselves vulnerable to dig deep to discover new opportunities and take risks to make the changes necessary to discover what they would be best at.

I also acknowledge my significant other who knew his career path while in high school, and in spite of a lack of support, pursued his love of printing and still works at it after almost fifty years.

In addition, despite the fact that high school was not a positive experience for both of my children, they each have found their own career direction. My husband and I always encouraged them to seek to find their passion and happiness in their careers. Both have done so and have overcome challenges and obstacles in their paths. It takes a sense of risk, confidence, and desire for happiness that results in the best career path for each of us

Finally, in memory of my husband, he demonstrated a risk at the age of forty-four, when he decided to go to law school after being an architect for over twenty-five years. It is something we talked about during his life, and I was always so proud that he decided to become what he had dreamed of for many years.

Foreword

This book comes from years of experiencing and observing how little career counseling people really receive during their lives. There is such a need for people of all ages and stages of life to have a sense of direction. Who gives them this beginning direction: Parents? Guidance Counselors? College and Career Counselors? Relatives? Friends?

Bottom line: Most people go to college with a small inkling about their degree, their upcoming career, or even their job outlook. Those who choose not to go to college immediately are often made to feel like they aren’t smart enough or don’t fit into the expectations of their parents or of their school.

Here’s what I have seen in my career counseling throughout the years: many who regret going to college right after high school, and many who needed to explore more about other opportunities and what they would be good at. I have seen people struggle with debt and are not happy with their careers. I have seen people at all stages of life trying to find their career happiness and many others who lack the confidence to make the changes in their lives that would contribute to their happiness. You will see that there are other options from the interviews in this book.

My heart goes out to anyone who dreads going to work every day. I feel sorry for people who have not had the opportunity to explore their career happiness and spend their lives wondering what they could have done differently.

This book is an attempt to address those needs. It is for everyone in any stage of life to take a little time and read the career journeys of others with many applicable lessons. It is also an attempt to put together my career counseling skills in a way that can offer hands-on experience and hope for a better outcome. Even this process is a learning experience.

I hope it gets the reader to think, explore, and identify new options for a career.

Enjoy the ride on the Road Less Traveled.

Acknowledgments

Thank you to my editing and support team who dedicated their time and effort to make this book relevant, helpful, and understandable for those who read it.

I am so grateful to my mentor and colleague, Sandra Mittelsteadt, an English teacher and high school principal, who has devoted her whole life to ensuring that all students have opportunities to be the best they can be while in school and afterward. Her support throughout my years in workforce development has been integral to my own success and growth.

I also appreciate my colleague and dear friend, Deborah Randolph Price, a life coach and workforce development colleague, and her husband, John Price, a former corporate insurance executive, for their suggestions, feedback, and insights. The changes they suggested have made the book more understandable and accessible to readers of all ages and stages in their lives.

Without my student, Michael Adamson’s feedback, I would not have had the insight into a student’s perspective. His feedback and ideas were invaluable in making the changes and updates he suggested.

Finally, thank you to my partner, Stuart Menkes, whose honesty and critical thinking are always helpful to me in everything I do, and I appreciate his ongoing support in all my projects and dreams.

Helpful Tips for

Reading this Book

1. Read one interview at a time. They are detailed and contain important information and lessons. They are presented by age of the interviewee. It may be helpful to take notes, addressing each of the questions asked in the Before Reading the Interviews section.

2. Make sure you spend time on the reflections page. This will help you identify issues that may be similar to yours and what options were taken by the participants.

3. Part II contains many hands-on activities. These activities will provide you with information to get to know yourself better and gain insight into what you would be most happy doing. Do one at a time, and don’t overload yourself.

4. Be honest and open-minded. The more honest you are, the more you will get out of this book.

Part 1

The Interviews:

Fourteen Compelling Stories of Successful,

(This is not just about money.)

Professionals who overcame challenges,

struggles, and obstacles in their paths.

Before reading these interviews, focus on the following:

1. What kinds of common obstacles did the interviewees face to get to where they are today in their careers?

2. What was the role of mentors?

3. How many knew what they wanted to be when they grew up?

4. What are they most proud of in their career lives?

Participant Summary

*Ages as of this writing in fall 2022

Rejection isn’t a road block.

It leads to a different pathway.

Q. Is your current job or career what you thought you would do when you decided to first pursue a career?

A. I don’t think so. I left the nonprofit world thinking that it wasn’t the work I wanted to do. However, the reality is that I wasn’t passionate about healthcare. I did want to be a teacher.

Q. Did you have any career dreams when you were young?

A. I wanted to be doing something in business, and be around a lot of people. I liked to travel. I liked being out and about doing different things.

Q. Think back—did you know what you wanted to be when you were in high school?

A. Honestly, I did not. I applied to college to get a degree in Math. Then I changed to health care and exercise science, and finally to social work.

Q. What kind of advice did you receive? From whom? Did you have a mentor? If so, who was it and what effect did it have on your career decisions?

A. Honestly, I had no advice. I enjoyed giving others advice. I didn’t have a mentor then, and that’s why I like being a mentor to others. It was difficult. The advice wasn’t tailored to my situation.

Q. Please share your experience after school—high school or post-secondary education.

A. I decided to go to college at Colorado State University from 2014–2018. I studied exercise science for the first two years and then psychology for the last two years. I graduated in 2018 with a bachelor’s degree in human development/family studies.

In my last semester of college, I did an internship