Episode 77: Judy Schoenberg and Linda Lautenberg
Join Lori and her guests, Judy Schoenberg and Linda Lautenberg, as they talk about leveraging your skills across your career. They are the founders of EvolveMe, which helps women in midlife career transitions and women returning to the workforce.
Here are the things to expect in this episode:
The work that goes into “giving back”. It’s not just sitting on a board!
The value that getting involved brings to you.
Volunteering is a potential gateway to figuring out what you want to do in your career.
An inspiring story that EvolveMe has made possible.
Two different legacies that converge on the same path.
And much more!
EvolveMe: https://www.evolveme.work/
EvolveMe Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/evolveme.work/
Judy Schoenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/judy-schoenberg/
Linda Lautenberg: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lindalautenberg/
Connect with Lori Kranczer!
Website: https://www.linkphilanthropic.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorikranczer/
Episode Transcript
You're listening to the positive impact philanthropy podcast where we share the journeys of everyday philanthropists as they incorporate philanthropy into their lives. Philanthropy is a personal journey and through the stories we will share here, we hope it sparks something in you and how you can make your own philanthropic impact in the world. I'm your host Lori Kranczer attorney, philanthropic advisor and legacy giving strategist. Together, we're going to explore what it looks like to be an everyday philanthropist and make a positive impact in the world. Before we get started, make sure to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss a new episode posted on Wednesdays. Now today we have two guests joining us and I'm very excited to share that Judy Schoenberg and Linda Lautenberg founders of EvolveMe have joined us and they’re going to share the story with us today. Welcome.
Hi Lori, thank you for having us.
Hi Lori, thanks so much for having us today.
My pleasure. Okay, so let's start us off and why don't you share some more information about you?
Sure, um, well, we love your mission of everyday philanthropists. I definitely um fit into that category. Um My whole career has been about giving back. Um I was in the nonprofit sector for two decades, dare I say and spent 15 years at Girl Scouts of the USA and do a lot of work around women's and girls leadership development and had a really wonderful career there. So much about Girl Scouts two is about community service and community action and really paying it forward to the next generation of girls and women. And I um, you know, a few years ago I was looking out on the horizon for myself and I said, you know, I've had this full time job for 15 years now. And there's so much more that I also want to do. One of my aspirations was helping smaller nonprofits grow and develop and I always wanted a board role and I also wanted to actually get, you know, involved in some community work and really think about what my next chapter looked like as I was approaching 50 down the line. Um and so I took a leap myself and I left. I left my role my executive role at Girl Scouts and um I really decided that I wanted to take the skills that I gained in research and program development and branding and marketing and leverage them out in the world in a new way to impact people directly like I had done a lot of work, you know, behind the scenes and, you know, writing and kind of just work. I did some public speaking too. And I really was energized around that. And so I wanted to use my voice and pay it forward with all the kind of expertise and skills that I had amassed in my nonprofit career and use it in a new way. But I didn't know exactly how I wanted to use it. So you know, one of the things that I did do is start to do some strategic volunteering, and freelance work because I felt like you know, there were so many smaller nonprofits that we're still growing that really could use, you know, my help and assistance. And from that, I, you know, I joined some boards that is a, a aspiration I always had, and that work was really fulfilling. I was a board chair for the last four years at my kids school. So I was able to really be part of that community in a new and really rewarding way. And I also was on the board of a youth led hydroponic farming organization, which was in Title One schools in across New York City. So I got to really be involved in some community local work, too. And I had been operating at a big national scale before so really being embedded in the community in which I live was really important to me in that stage of my career, but I, you know, I was always in the nonprofit sector and I couldn't like imagine doing anything else. And then I realized that if you are a mission driven person and professional like I am, that you know, I started to talk to people that I admired and I never had like a formal mentor but I've had some mentors like along the way, friends and colleagues. And I started thinking about that, you know, it doesn't have to be only in the nonprofit world where my mission can, can flourish. And so I found and I was having to kind of, you know, it's kind of be isolating, like thinking about what your next role is, I was really happy with the board work, but I knew that I wanted to sink my teeth into something bigger than that. And I found a startup that was doing a fellowship program for women in the social impact sector who were returning to the workforce and I had never, I wasn't returning to the workforce. I was always freelancing after I left my role, but um this sounded great to me because this was a for profit company that was doing like purpose driven work. And um I did the fellowship kind of for research purposes because I thought I might want to do similar kinds of facilitation and training and I met Linda there she was doing for you'll hear different reasons why she wound up there, but she was also doing the fellowship. Um and long story short, they put us together and we wound up rebranding and remarketing, the fellowship that we were in and leading that for a while, and then um saw a real niche for women in the workforce, who are in mid life and who were transitioning and felt really isolated, doing it on their own. And like we did, it was really hard to figure out just by Googling things like the kinds of ways that I could leverage my talents and my skills into new opportunities, especially in midlife. So we created the program that we wish we had and we have very similar values in terms of being collaborative and generous. And really about like women supporting women, and how we lead our company and you'll hear more about it in a few minutes, just about the company, but all the work we do is group based and has a lot of different you know give back and philanthropic components to it. So um I found rewarding work in a new sector and um as an entrepreneur now and that's now my way of, you know, paying it forward and giving back.
Now, I'm really glad that you brought that up. I'm going to want to hear from Linda in just a moment but many people think that giving back, you, just means giving funds sitting on a board working in on profit like that. I'm so glad that you raised that because we do interview many women that are giving back through their for-profit word or their purpose or mission driven business and I'm just so glad because you articulated that so well about um that you can give back through a for-profit business that is mission driven, you know, depending on what the mission is, right. So um, so I'm really glad that you shared that. That experience as well. So, Linda.
Thanks, Lori and thanks Judy. So the interesting thing Judy and I now being co-founders is, we came to the same place, but from wildly different, different paths. And that's kind of what makes it all work for us to work together because our skills and the way we got here is very complementary. So I have in my early career, little to no nonprofit work or philanthropic work, I was on Wall Street and I was working 16 hour days. You know, I, when I graduated college, I like started right out in that area and then went and got my MBA came back and again back in finance and just you know was just focused on getting to the next level and the next level and, and then when we moved, my husband and I had had a two year old, we moved to New Jersey. He's a doctor, he joined a practice central New Jersey, there was barely internet. I thought I could keep working. I really couldn't do it with the community and kids. I thought I would take about a two year break from working and that's fun out to what ultimately was a 16 year break from the formal workforce, from the paid workforce. And so, once I kind of really adjusted to the fact that I was not working now and I was a stay at home mom, my first thought was that I would start getting involved in my kids schools. And so what I have learned is that every time that, that I have looked to get involved in something that was a philanthropic endeavor, or that was helping or that was volunteering, it always paid me back more than I got out of it. So, you know I was looking to get a you know, help out with my kids schools if they needed something and it was raise a hand, I'd be the person that always did it. And when I got back from that was growing my community and knowing more people and understanding all my kids friends, and I loved it and I did a lot of that kind of volunteering and we raised money for the school but ultimately, I just felt like that wasn't kind of enough because I was this was all great and I was volunteering my time but it was just me and my friends kids that were benefiting and I wanted to do something that felt like it would help the greater good and I, I came across this program called Impact 100, that is a giving circle. I know they have, they have um, I'm in New Jersey, they have three or four chapters here in New Jersey. And I loved the concept of it because it involves each, the idea is that if you have 100 women and each of the women contributed $1,000, you would have $100,000. And then you could do one amazingly impactful thing. So you could you know, help one nonprofit with a project that they've been waiting and waiting to do and haven't been able to do. So I got involved in that. And started raising my hand and taking you know, helping out joining committees, I ended up running committees, I ended up being on the board. But the amazing thing that I got out of this work other than seeing like all the good that it, that this program did because we would end up you know, funding like for huge projects every year, that we're having a huge impact right in our community, would be also that I met all these extraordinary women and I started to get my professional self back in working with them. So again, like by giving a lot of time, I was also getting so much out of it in return and I just love things that are a win-win like that. And so when I stumbled across the same program that Judy was talking about, for women returning to the workforce and social impact, I thought this is so great because I can actually make, you know, try to put together a career where I was, you know, mission driven. It didn't have to be non for profit, not for profit, it could be for profit, but in giving back in some way. I didn't know what that way would be, um and then, you know, that's where I met Judy. And we were both seeing that very real need that there was so many women like us that had hit midlife that had you know, put their careers on hold for family or had you know, whether it's kids or taken, taking time out to raise, you know, to help with their parents or you know, what have you, and and we're really feeling lost and depressed and stuck, brilliant, brilliant women, and they needed help getting unstuck and it's just a very isolating place to be I definitely was there myself and so we set out to help them by bringing them together. So they would feel that they were not alone and then give them a direct path and how to find their next career chapter.
So is this in in EvolveMe? This is what you're doing? Or is this from the program that where you met?
So this is, so we met at this other program and then that startup, I’m sorry I should clarify that startup um, changed direction it wasn't focused on women anymore that had been kind of a little side business for them and so and Judy and I had been contractors there so once that was gone, we said well, what what can we do with this? What have we learned and from both our own experiences of being just, you know, I felt that I invested so much in my career up front. And all of a sudden now I felt like well, I don't even know what to do. But when I looked back at everything I had learned through all my volunteering, through impact 100, I even started uh, it was, it lasted a couple of years, but I started something in my local community to give back during COVID. That was supporting the restaurants and the frontline workers that I ran. You know, I felt like I learned more about what I'd like to do with my career going forward through all of those activities and giving back than anything I did from business school or my finance job.
Yeah, so this is so interesting because and I really want to hear about what you're, you've come together and want to hear about their business now. However you really identified something that I hear from a lot of women about they want to do something they just don't know what it is. So how, how do you address that like or how, how did you go through that yourself? What, what inspired you or what resources were able to get you unstuck.
So that was one of the things that doing some of the volunteer work that I was doing helped a lot with. So, so many women discount if they're volunteering, they just count the skills that they're picking up along the way and about the real, very real value they're contributing. And so if you can do and Judy mentioned, doing some targeted, strategic volunteering as well. There's so many organizations out there that need the help of you know, a people that have the time to give it. And so by helping those organizations and contributing your skills, you help them move forward, but you also can start to suss out what you might like to do next. You can experiment a little bit, you can be a little bit more, take a few more risks, you know, if you've, if you're a finance person and you've never done marketing, but you're a smart person, you could say okay, well, maybe I can help with the marketing in this organization. I can learn from some of the other people that are doing that here. Help the organization move forward and take away some skills myself and bring those forward to help someone else in my next career.
Yeah, absolutely. Great. Okay, so now I just, let's hear about what, now you, you both are together. Let's hear what you've formed.
So we, yeah, so we formed EvolveMe right before the pandemic, um at the end of 2019. And we formed a professional development company for women in midlife career transitions, are women returning to the workforce after a break or pause, whether that be for you know, caregiving for younger children or for elderly women who are currently working and want to pivot or change careers. We know that there's lots of them out there now. And you know, so many women are leaving their roles you know, in droves and also women who are, you know, emerging from a personal transition like a divorce or health crisis and really need to regain a professional footing. So you asked before, like, how do you find a direction like you know, you want to do something and often for women, it is more purpose driven and more meaning, you know, they want more meaning out of their next chapter. Very few people that we work with want to return. Some do, but more often than not, they don't want to return to their prior industry or career or role, but they've all had success in the past. So that's kind of bolstering them to know that they can be successful again, even though they come with us often, you know, with lack of confidence.
So what we do, we have created a method called the dare method for career reinvention, which is a step by step process that we the groups of women cohorts of women through because you have to be courageous to do this work, right. It's no pun intended, but DARE does stand for Discover, amplify, refresh and embark and we are tuned into training programs called the reinvention collective that's the cohort based training and we lead women through each of these steps through modules and trainings with ourselves and with expert contributors. So that you know, the Discover part is all about, like what Linda was talking about, like leveraging your skills across your career, right. How do you take well, you know, what you really be redoing philanthropically, or in volunteer work, paid work like, what are your, you know, strengths? What are your skills? What do you love to do? Right? Because often what we what we, what we're good at is not what we love to do anymore, right? So that was true for me like I knew that I could do another job in the nonprofit sector, maybe become an executive director of a small organ and a smaller organization, but just because I could do that, did, does that mean that I should be doing that now, or I want to do that. So really identifying, you know, your, you know, what you're passionate about now and what your values are?
Really, we talk a lot about aligning your values to what you want out of your work life. Now, so much has changed, especially in the last few years. So do a lot of that inner work, like we talked about career reinvention is an inside job and so that's where we start and that can take some time to gain that clarity. And then you kind of come out with on the other side with two or three ideas and so much of the magic happens from other women coming together and doing this work because we're industry agnostic. So you have this beautiful combination of like women who you know, maybe in the corporate world then you have artists and designers and you know they see things in each other that you can't see if you're just in your silo doing this professional development work with like if you're a lawyer doing it with other lawyers, so really like new possibilities start opening up and then we move into amplify which is all about amplifying your voice getting over impostor syndrome that we all face, creating a new like pivot pitch we call it to go out in the world with a compelling story. And only then like often people come to us and want to like refresh your resume right away or your LinkedIn. Only after you go through these stages do we do deal with like really refreshing your toolkit, so you know, creating a targeted resume or LinkedIn profile and then going into, you know, moving out into the world and networking and interviewing skills, because we know that most you know, roles. 80% of them are really secured by professional and personal connections. And so really, you know, building your network and your personal brand is so key to this work. And you know, we are in our ACE cohort right now. We became, we were started in person and now we're a digital company. And so we reach women all across the US and beyond. And women are you know, transforming and landing coveted roles and like emerging with a whole new community and, you know, personal board of advisors and confidence to that, this is possible, like we're all about, you know, if you can't see it, you can't be it. So Linda and I are like, share generously like about our experience, our trial and error, our ups and downs. You know, this is, this is kind of like a roller coaster. Lots of iterations you know, you don't just like come out and say like, Okay, this is it like that might change like a year from now. And so like really model role modeling, you know, how, how your careers and evolution right and so the women that we work with also, you know, are really open and, and share their stories. vulnerably so, we create that safe space to make that happen. And yeah, it's very rewarding and it's all about you know, paying it forward.
We love stories here. Can you share a story, like an impactful story, and an example. Don't have to name names of anyone, but um any, anything that stands out?
Sure. So um..
We've got so many.
Um, so there was one woman that we worked with um, that was actually, she had been in the same career in fintech for 20-30 years, but she was working in government and she had gotten to the point where um, the work environment she was in was just really toxic and she had, but she stuck there for the last, you know, five, six years in that situation because she just felt like she was trapped because she was of a certain age at this point. And so she, she really wanted to get into the private sector and get out of this, but she felt like I let it go too late. And now I'm stuck. I can never get out of here. So I will just slog it out. And, and she came to our program, and it was, you know, again, we were in the middle of COVID. And they were like, nobody was going to stores anymore and all retail was online. And so the women in her accountability group pointed her in that direction, and made a couple of contacts for her. And you know, now she's doing, she's doing the same type of work, but at a major national retailer, and you know, and she had really just thought you know, this is just it for me. I'm just so stuck. So there's another woman that, that we worked with, and I love, love this story, how she's kind of overcome this. So she she had an amazing career and her dad got sick, and she ended up being at a very young age, was pretty much his sole caretaker. And so her whole as she would describe it, her whole main middle part of her career when she felt like she should have really been moving forward. You know her 20s into her late 30s, she really had to put what she was doing on hold, just kind of take something that was the status quo and her role and focus on her dad and when she came out of that. She just, she felt just that she really lost a big part of her career that she could have been really figuring out what she wanted to do. But she really turned, is turning lemons into lemonade because she thought during this time I learned so much about what it is to care for an elderly parent and get them through that whole phase of illness all the way to end of life and I don't want anybody else to go through that without knowing what resources to go to or where to turn for help. And so now she's starting her own company that helps other people manage that process with their parents. So that's very typical of a lot of the women that that come to us, that whatever career they've had in the past, in their next chapter, they're looking to do something meaningful. They're feeling grateful for something and they want to pay it forward. And that's another beautiful.
That's great. Yeah, I love to hear these stories and I think people can relate to them, especially women going back to the workforce, and no one even thinks about all these different situations that can happen and why someone would leave the workforce and go back and it usually does fall on women. So as the caregivers for whether it's elderly parents, or children, or doing their own situations so with that, I do want to understand what what is your legacy now and I'd love to do the legacy for EvolveMe and also for each of you.
I think we can each say what we want to happen for EvolveMe, we're actually in a very exciting phase right now. We're going like into year four coming up this fall. And so we're planning about the next iteration of the business and what it will look like. So we're in this mode and I think, for EvolveMe I think, you know, I'd like us to see us I'd like to see EvolveMe have an impact on as many women in midlife who need you know, the inspiration community and support to know that the next chapter is possible, whatever that means for them. And so it means reaching more women. With our cohort based work with the reinvention Collective, we do some work one on one too. And then we also do work going into companies and organizations to help women's employee resource groups and for company leadership to retain top talent because we know so many women are leaving the workforce and we want to be there to help them, you know, recommit to their roles and give them the support that they need. So I'd love to see that happen. You know, to as many women as we can reach and you know, social media is great for that now and ever being a digital company, we have that capacity, so looking for more partners and more opportunities to elevate women's voices and for me, I think that, that I mean my legacy, you know, I dedicated my whole career to women and girls leadership. I was 24 and I went to the United Nations World Conference on Women and I've never looked back. And unfortunately, progress has been slow. And sometimes I'm like, wow, I've really been doing this for this long and this is where we still are, but we have seen changes and we have seen more women across you know, in politics and company, you know, corporate leadership in you know, academia in women's on the rise of women's entrepreneurship. So I'm hopeful and I guess my legacy is that I'm helping women, you know, advance like in their work, in their lives, and you know, women in midlife 100%. But really all, all women, I think because I've worked with you know, kind of girls and young women and women across the lifespan. So I'd like to leave a legacy of, you know, having helped and supported women at whatever age and stage they are in their life that I'm giving of my self and my talents and skills to make a difference in their lives.
What about Linda?
So, so at impact 100, I know we talked, the whole idea was to focus on projects that had both depth and breadth intact. So I feel that with as as we continue to roll out more cohorts, we're achieving breadth with, with our individual work, but it's it's that depth when we work with, when we have these small groups of women and the impact we have when they come out of our cohorts and say that they've changed that like it was a life changing experience. And that's not just Judy and me. We just set it up in a group of women, that together they both found that it wasn't too late for them, and that they could that they always that they come out feeling that there are possibilities and opportunities for them and that life isn't over at 50 or 55 or 60 or 65 or 45, whatever the number is right? Like it's not too late. You're not too old. And there are so many things you can do out there and so much value can create you know, I, we, we do give a scholarship with every cohort. So that's one woman that wouldn't have been able to afford it, that, that now had that opportunity with us too. So I'd like to keep doing that. And then for the breadth of impact that more goes to you know the work that we do with companies, because it's not necessarily true that you have to leave your role if it's not working out. There are all kinds of things that you can do to craft your role within the company that you're at, to make it work better for you if you just knew how to do that. And so we like doing some of that work, too, because it's all just about helping. We're as women, we're all just juggling so many things. And a lot of that caregiving does fall on us and it's, it's not a complaint. Honestly, I wouldn't have it any other way. I'd love raising my three children. I just don't want to be penalized for having taken time out of the workforce that now I give up the rest of my life, right? They're all out of the house and I don't want anybody else to feel that way, too. So personally, my legacy would be to help as many women never feel like it's too late for them to you know, to do whatever it is that they want to do next. And they should and that they shouldn't be penalized for, you know, whatever twists and turns their career has taken because a lot of times those twists and turns have been in the service of somebody else.
Thank you both. It's really such an interesting interview to hear about your backgrounds, how you came to me and what you created together. I think it's very impactful. I think it's incredibly important for women to know about your services can you share where people can find out more information about you?
Sure. The best way is to head to our website, www.evolveme.work and you'll see there's a lot of freebies, a lot of free tools and resources that you can download to get started if you're thinking about a next chapter and we also have a you know, a newsletter that you can sign up for there. And that's where we post events and all the information about the reinvention collective that we offer twice a year as well as our work with companies, so that’s the best place. You can also follow us on LinkedIn individually, Judy Schoenberg, Linda Lautenberg and evolveme.work, we have a business page there too. And we're also on Instagram @evolveme.work. So those are the best places but yes, head to our website for all the good stuff.
Great. Alright, so we're gonna drop everything into the show notes. And I'm gonna check it out as well. I am a woman of midlife. But I'm not, I'm not making a transition to this point. I'm doing what I'm doing but um, it's always great to connect with other women that are in the same situation and, and create a community. I think this is great. So thank you both for joining us today. And thank you everyone for listening. We hope we provided insights and inspiration that you could use for your own philanthropic journey. Until next time, see you.
Thank you for joining us, hope we provided some insights and inspiration that you can use for your own philanthropic journey. You can tune in every week on Wednesdays when new episodes are dropped. We'd love to hear your feedback. So leave a comment and a rating about what you like and what you'd like to hear more about. And if you liked the episode today, make sure to share it to raise awareness about the story to inspire other women to take action. I'm Lori Kranczer and until next time. You can make a positive impact through philanthropy every day. Thanks for listening.