When you grow up no one prepares you for the perpetual question of determining what you will be. As women this becomes a persistent quest as the roles that we play in various aspects or seasons of our lives can sometimes conflict with professional goals and aspirations. Enter Lauren McGoodwin, founder of Career Contessa, who guides women to reign as the entrepreneurs of their professional destinies.
“In my second career outside of college, I recognized that I had a strong desire to pursue a career where my strengths and skills were highlighted and that I would not have this option unless I actively changed my situation,” says Lauren.
“When Lauren discovered her passion for recruiting, she became a student of the profession. Thoughtfully and carefully she began her diligent gathering of information to gain more insight into this industry.”
Reading the material available in print and on the web, however, was not enough, so she prospected various recruiters utilizing LinkedIn, asking to interview them. It was in these conversations that she acquired the best advice and gained many key advantages over other candidates, eventually landing a technical recruiting role at HULU.
Lauren’s year and a half career search was intense. It was at this moment Lauren realized that there needed to be a better resource out there to enable individuals to have a successful career search. “People have the idea of what they want to do, they just don’t know how to get there. They do not lack ambition but sometimes lack direction. Since I received the best career guidance by just talking to perfect strangers working in my desired profession, and was successful in that process, I thought others would benefit from these conversations and this method of career searching as well,” says McGoodwin.
It was in this search that Lauren found one of the many impetuses for inspiration for Career Contessa. This online community features the personal pathways of women in various professions showcasing their careers and how they got there. This is powerful for women in various stages or moments in their career to become inspired by someone else’s success story.
The idea is mainly to help women to answer the following questions:
“What am I looking for?
What skills do I have that play to my individual strengths?
What might I specialize in?”
Having answered these questions a professional has begun to create the outline of their preliminary steps to push them outside their comfort zone to find career happiness and fulfillment. Career Contessa’s mission is to be the post- graduate online career center that provides entry and mid-level professionals with an actionable plan, designed around access to industry-specific experts and guided by personal accountability coaches.
“You don’t need to be Beyoncé or Marissa Mayer, although they are admirable women with compelling stories of inspiration. You just need to keep looking for what you want to be doing and never give up. When you do this you will find a lot of satisfaction in doing what you love!”
Studies have continually proven that career satisfaction is proportional to health, well-being and personal happiness. Career Contessa is teaching women everywhere to achieve this balance because when we find our bliss, we find ourselves.
