Informal Education Allspring

Today we are talking with Brunnell Velazquez, a NextStep user and a recent graduate who's career journey didn't start out the way he planned.  With the help of Stephanie, a NextStep coach, Brunnell was able to travel down the road not taken. Courage has been the driving force behind his career choices: the courage to make a career transition to product, to later study computer science, and ultimately to choose a path unpopular to members of his community.

Menen Stroud is a Vassar alumna with her B.A. in Psychology and Education and her M.S.Ed in Education, Culture and Society from the University of Pennsylvania. Menen has been working in the education field since 2015. She has been spending her career journey defining what education means to her and finding ways to make school a safe space for Black children. We brought her on to the show to discuss how self confidence played a major part in her career journey.

Kara Kelly is self described as “a global citizen who defines actionable strategies and delivers re-imagined paths for digital transformation.” Kara is a Brown alumna with her BA in Economics and International Relations. She also received her MBA from the University of Virginia and recently completed her Certificate in Financial Planning at UC Berkeley. She has spent over 25 years strategizing for brands such as, Nike, Sephora, Gap, Mattel, and Best Buy and led a global team at Korn/Ferry. After spending years in corporate America, Kara recently pivoted to entrepreneurship by co-founding Lure CBD Wellness and coaching people to get their financial lives in order. She is a proud mom of two business and investment minded daughters. We invited her on the show to discuss how to best navigate career pivots and stay on top of your finances.

Today we’re talking to Niambi Clay, a Stanford alumnus who’s weaved DEI into everything she’s done: from helping students from underrepresented get into AP classes to helping counties think about diversity, equity, and inclusion differently.

Welcome back to Informal Education! On this week's episode we’re talking to Frances Jin! Frances is a product management genius that is here to talk to us about all things values.

Our first episode of Informal Education is finally here! This week we are meeting with Misha Ferguson, marketing operations expert for the tech industry, discussing how she’s gone from minimum wage to a six figure salary by learning how to negotiate and negotiate well.

Books and resources discussed during the show:
Barbara Stanny’s books “Secrets of Six Figure Women”,“Overcoming Underearning”, and “Prince Charming Isn’t Coming”.
Here’s an article that gives a quick review on Barbara Stanny’s “Secrets of Six Figure Women”
https://www.vocationvillage.com/secrets-of-six-figure-women/
Article on Overcoming Underearning
https://www.businessinsider.com/personal-finance/overcoming-underearning-increased-income-saved-time
Article on Negotiation
https://www.themuse.com/advice/how-to-negotiate-salary-37-tips-you-need-to-know