Whats Your Career Story

Today’s guest is Fran Biderman-Gross. Fran is the CEO and Founder of Advantages, an Inc. 500 global digital branding and marketing agency in New York. A graduate of MIT’s Entrepreneurial Master’s Program and Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program, Fran is a master at helping others translate their vision and values into a consistent and authentic brand experience. Fran is the developer of the “3 keys Workshop” and an in-demand speaker and consultant who has empowered countless leaders to form the emotional connections that drive revenue growth.

Since 1992, Advantages has blossomed from a local printing business to an international firm serving clients around the globe. Advantages has been named one of Inc.’s 50 Best Places to Work and their client’s work consistently garners industry awards and recognition.
Fran excels at leading senior executives to clearly see the results from purpose-driven approaches to marketing and leadership. She synthesizes decades of marketing expertise into inspiring and actionable steps so that purpose-oriented leaders can empower their teams and their organizations to build enduring emotional connections with their markets.
Fran is an Executive Board Member of the Queens Chamber of Commerce, Women in Print, and is an active member of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. She frequently lecturers at universities and is a sought-after speaker at entrepreneurial, women and industry-focused conferences and events. She lives in New York with her Tony Award–winning husband, Yeeshai Gross, and their family.

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Today’s guest is Natalie Poullard.  Natalie holds a master of science degree in Genetic Counseling from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and a master of arts in Psychology from Brandeis University.

As a genetic counselor, Natalie works with individuals with a personal and/or family history of cancer to provide genetic risk assessment and identification of hereditary cancer syndromes, coordinate genetic testing, and educate the patient regarding future cancer risks and medical management options. In addition, she provides supportive psychosocial counseling for individuals and family members with hereditary cancer syndromes.

In addition to her work at the UT Health San Antonio MD Anderson Cancer Center, Natalie is currently working with the GRACIAS Texas (Genetic Risk Assessment for Cancer in All South Texas) program to identify at-risk individuals in Bexar, Hidalgo, Cameron, and Webb counties. GRACIAS Texas provides genetic risk assessment, counseling, testing, and screening for both insured and uninsured individuals free of charge. This project is made possible by funding from the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT).

Natalie lives in San Antonio with her husband, her toddler, and their extremely energetic dog, Penny. 

Poullard@uthscsa.edu
www.becomeageneticcounselor.org
www.findageneticcounselor.com – Job Shadowing
www.mygeneticcounselor.com – Find Genetic Counseling University Programs

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There are over 500 careers I reference when working with my clients. We often think about careers that require a 4-year degree however some of the highest, most in demand careers are in the Career and Technical Education world which can include certifications or 2-year degrees. I felt it was important to talking about this topic with one of the experts I know. The Association for Career & Technical Education has proven research that show students involved in CTE courses are more engaged, perform better and graduate at a higher rate. Half of all STEM jobs call for workers with less than a bachelor’s degree. Health Care occupations are projected to grow 18% by 2026, adding more than 2 million new jobs. Almost half of the energy workforce may need to be replaced in 2024 and demand for solar and wind energy technicians will double.

Today’s guest is with Debbie Ruel-Schaefer the Career and Technical Education Director of the 4th largest school district in Texas with a CTE enrollment of over 26,000 students! Northside ISD offers over 135 different CTE courses which includes coherent sequences of courses in Health Science and Engineering where enrollment has dramatically increased over the last 3 years. Deb is a career educator in her 29th year of helping students to find what they are passionate about. She is the mother of Hannah, a CTE student who is pursuing her degree in Speech Pathology from Baylor University. I’ve had the honor of getting to know Debbie while serving on her CTE Advisory Board for many years and have seen her passion for the world of career and technical occupations.
deborah.ruelschaefer@nisd.net

https://nisd.net/career-tech/

NEON: Northside Employee Opportunity Network

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We have a national crisis on our hands with the lack of teachers in education. On
average, we have 80K positions that need to be filled each year from the
elementary to high school level. Ellie Maxwell is a recently retired public educator
and principal from the Boerne ISD district. Ellie holds a bachelor’s degree in
Elementary Education and a master’s degree in Educational Administration. She
spent 30 years in public education with the last 16 years as an Elementary School
Principal. In 2000 she was selected as Northside ISD’s Educator of the Year.
During her time at Cibolo Creek Elementary school she had a direct staff of 65
people and oversight for 750 students for their educational direction and safety.
She implemented Watch D.O.G.S. an innovative father involvement and
educational initiative, as well as established the “Bully Task Force” to provide a
proactive plan to address bullying to only name a few of her many
accomplishments.
Upon retiring, she transitioned into a new chapter of her life where she’s a
Training Coordinator at Ace Mart Restaurant Supply which is a shining example of
Act 2 in life. She’s a recipient of the Innovative Disruption Scholarship and has
many talents which includes cake and cookie decorating and is passionate about
football.

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Do you have a child that loves playing with Legos? Do they love Minecraft? Well,
there’s a good probability they have a high spatial ability which is required for
someone who becomes an architect.
We are fortunate to have Robyn Popa as our guest. Robyn has worked for the
Pfluger Architect’s San Antonio office since 2006. Her experience includes master
planning, facility assessment, programming, design, production, and construction
administration. Her recent experience includes projects with Comal ISD, North
East ISD, San Antonio ISD, Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City ISD, and Seguin ISD.
Robyn is passionate about education architecture and has worked on many
award-winning projects, including Pieper Ranch Middle School for Comal ISD
which recently won four TASA | TASB awards for Design, Sustainability, Planning,
School Transformation, and is a finalist for the 2019-20 TASA/TASB Caudill Class.
Robyn served as the 2018-19 President of the South Texas Chapter of A4LE. 
Robyn is a NEISD graduate (Madison HS), and graduated with architecture
degrees from Baylor University and Washington University in St. Louis.  She
currently enjoys spending her free time with her two kids, ages 5 and 7, and
architect husband, thinking of new places to travel (Iceland was the most recent
trip!) and new recipes to try out in the kitchen.

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Dr. Neely has worked in the mental health field for over twenty years and has been the chief executive officer of Neely Counseling Center, PLLC, since 2001. She has enjoyed serving in an array of capacities throughout her career, including psychotherapist, professor, consultant, and counselor supervisor. Working with a wide variety of populations and diagnoses has given her a comprehensive range of experience in the mental health field.

She has appeared on national radio and television shows as a guest expert speaking about confidence, self-esteem, anxiety, and relationship satisfaction. Dr. Neely’s children’s’ book titled “Straight Talk” was published in 2014 and won the prestigious Indie Excellence Book award, finalist division. This book is a culmination of Dr. Neely’s groundbreaking qualitative research in the area of hair shaming and self-esteem for girls of color. She has also published numerous articles on this topic.

In 2017 she joined the University of Texas Health Science Center Medical School as a behavioral health consultant. In that role, she speared headed an effort to combat the epidemic of physician suicide and helped to create the medical school’s first physician counseling program. Dr. Neely currently manages the day to day operations of her counseling center and serves as an adjunct professor for St. Mary’s University in San Antonio, Texas. She spends a large portion of her time writing, teaching, and speaking to an audience on issues related to self-esteem and anxiety. Dr. Neely is licensed by the Texas State Board of Professional Counselors and is an approved Counselor Supervisor. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Sam Houston State University, a master’s degree in Counseling from Prairie View A & M University, and a Ph.D. in counselor education from St. Mary’s University. She is supported by her husband and two beautiful daughters. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/drop-the-bs-w-dr-kirleen/id1421859970

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The career field I have most young adults interested in is engineering. Engineering is a demanding field with high paying salaries, and we are very fortunate to have our 7th podcast guest, Terry Welch who is the CEO of Sinclair Belgrave Energy. What engineering degree does he hold? Well, he actually has two! One degree in Electrical Engineering and a second in Chemical Engineering which made him an ideal podcast guest.

Terry has worked for large companies such as Dow Chemical, BP and The Sinclair Group in positions from operations through the ranks to President and CEO. He’s a graduate of Lamar University, has an MBA from Northwood University and is a graduate of the Thunderbird School of Global Management.

He shared he’s not a stereotypical engineer as he loves to be around people. Engineering has taught him to ask “Why?” which has led to his continued success in his field. It’s an honor to have him share his career story and words of wisdom for our future engineers.

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Do you have young adult who wants to be in the media world? Do they like producing videos or telling stories? I’m very excited about our guest today, Karin Gornick, a graduate of the University of California in Los Angeles, who is an Emmy Award-winning producer who has been creating social impact projects and films for broadcast, nonprofit organizations, and corporations over the past 25 years, including projects for CNN, Discovery Channel, PBS, The Kaufmann Foundation, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, and Common Sense Media. Several of her projects include a video series for PBS on Youth Entrepreneurship, Screenagers, a film about growing up in the digital age, and now Angst, a documentary on anxiety to help raise awareness about anxiety and lower the stigma of talking about our mental health. I was honored to get to know her during my initiative to bring Angst to San Antonio which has now been show to over 10 different schools, community organizations and churches with more on the schedule. Karin’s passionate about Angst, a film that featured Michael Phelps, was inspired in part by her own journey searching for help with her teenage son’s anxiety disorder and learning how much hope and help there is for treating mental health challenges. Her passion for educating individuals around the stresses our youth are experience has gained her global recognition for change, help and hope.

www.angstmovie.com

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We’ve all seen those young children who are natural leaders. They are coordinating groups of kids in productions. They run for student council or positions of leadership in both high school AND college. They are individuals that when you meet them, you instantly know they are going to be in positions of influence. But what career could that include? Our guest Sidney Chapon is in Global operations, leadership and organizational development which have been the cornerstone of Sid’s career.

He’s built a reputation for being a strategic and trusted coach and business advisor at Publicis Groupe, Leo Burnett Worldwide and Deloitte Consulting and has proven positive impact across industries including: professional services, integrated marketing communications, advertising, manufacturing, financial services, telecommunications, consumer-packaged goods, oil & gas and electronics.

Sid is a citizen of the world. He was born in The Netherlands and is currently based in the USA however spends a good portion of his time in Paris, France. He has operations and coaching experience in Asia Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and North America.

Sid currently works for Publicis Groupe – the world’s third largest integrated marketing communications company that owns multiple advertising and media agencies.

In his role he’s helped create the holding company’s corporate university. Sid holds a Master Degree in Organizational Development and is a certified executive coach.

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There has never been a more important time to talk about Public Health careers, especially with the current Coronavirus pandemic. It is a career field many don’t truly understand; hence they don’t consider it which is why we are fortunate to have our next guest, Patricia Blevins.

Tricia has over 17 years of experience in public health with concentrations in laboratory services, biosafety/biosecurity, training, and global health. Tricia currently serves as the Laboratory Coordinator for the City of San Antonio Metropolitan Health District. In this role, Tricia oversees the Laboratory Response Network (LRN) Program, influenza surveillance as well as the select agent program where she serves as the Responsible Official.

Prior to joining San Antonio Metro Health District, Tricia served as the Emerging Infectious Diseases Program Manager for the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) where she continues to serve on national public health laboratory committees. As an International Technical Consultant with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Global Influenza Surveillance Program, Tricia has had the opportunity to travel all over the world conducting training workshops and performing laboratory assessments.

Tricia began her public health career as an APHL/CDC Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellow at the New York State Department of Health Wadsworth Center. Tricia received an MPH from the University of North Texas Health Science Center and BS in Microbiology from Texas A&M University.

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