005 Suzanne Gray on Me, Inc.

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Welcome to Career Tips & Trends.

Internet radio for savvy professionals – doing work you love, work that matters.

The process of finding work that “fits” is not a one-time event. Whether you are eighteen or sixty-two, fulfilling work requires an ongoing understanding of who we are and who we are becoming. Each transition point in life (even if unexpected and unwelcomed) gives us a fresh opportunity to realign our daily activities to embrace our continued maturity and our ability to contribute effectively.

Prepare for the new normal. – Dan Miller, Author of 48 Days To The Work You Love

Today’s show is brought to you by Appia, an online workspace where you can collect and curate all your career information. Appia is designed to help career professionals and their clients take their careers to the next level.

Check it out at getAppia.com.

In The News

In an April 10th, Wall Street Journal online column by Lauren Weber, titled Not All Jobs Are Created Equal, the best jobs were rated.

The top 5 jobs were:

Software Engineer
Actuary
Human Resources Manager
Dental Hygienist
Financial Planner

What struck me was not the list of best jobs but their criteria. Their five criteria were: physical demands, work environment, income, stress, and hiring outlook.

In line with today’s interview on the parallels in business ownership and the job search, what are your criteria for work you love, for your ideal job?

Today’s Interview

In today’s show we have an interview with Suzanne Gray from The Entrepreneur’s Source, to talk about parallels in business ownership and the job search.

(Click on the link above to listen to the interview or subscribe on iTunes.)

Suzanne Gray was nominated for 2010 Franchisee of The Year by the FSBI Brands.

Suzanne facilitates a weekly workshop in Burlington MA called “Career Transitions“; providing job seeking tools and confidence building activities to job seekers in a safe and interactive environment. She is frequently asked to be a guest speaker regarding career transition and self employment as an alternative career.

Suzanne helps individuals explore self employment. She also works with business clients providing coaching in the areas of Employee Selection, HR Management, Business Planning, Expansion Strategies and Sales/Marketing.

Suzanne’s goal is to assist others fulfill their dreams of self reliance and successful business ownership.

Suzanne worked in management and business development for over fifteen years. Prior to joining The Entrepreneur’s Source she was with National Grange Mutual Insurance Company. She is also a former Board Member of the Association of Career Professionals-New England and Planning Board Member, Fitzwilliam, NH.

Suzanne provided a list of questions to think about when considering business ownership. This is just a start – each individual has unique goals. Suzanne helps her clients through the process of clarifying their criteria.

Example job search calendar.

Contact Suzanne Gray

This Week’s Tip

In today’s interview Suzanne mentioned forming a mastermind group.

I first heard of Mastermind Groups in Napoleon Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich. Check out this YouTube video of Napoleon Hill speaking on the Mastermind Principle.

Also check out Keith Ferrazzi’s, Who’s Got Your Back: The Breakthrough Program to Build Deep, Trusting Relationships That Create Success–and Won’t Let You Fail. In it he goes into the importance of such a group for personal and professional success. Keith is a strong proponent of mastermind groups, comprised of a small number of diverse, high-quality, tight relationships. To be most effective he believes these groups need to be formalized and structured.

Additional Resources

Suzanne recommends The Success Principles(TM): How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be

By Jack Canfield. Jack Canfield is a Success Coach; best known for his Chicken Soup for the Soul series.

Canfield has 432 pages of insightful lessons such as these in his book. He breaks it down into six sections, and the chapters are usually less than ten pages long. It is an easy read and I found it inspiring, for business and for life!