Inspirational Insights – Cary Hanosek

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We are lucky to have so many tremendous women in our community! You’ve met quite a few of them in our Woman of the Week feature. Now, we’re going to ask them some probing questions and see what kind of insights we can glean from these talented, successful women. Some are Executive Elements clients and some are not. Some are seasoned professionals and some are just starting out in their career. And all are super smart!

Today we hear from Cary Hanosek, Investment Associate with Merrill Lynch. Last year she was our Woman of the Week and now she’s agreed to share more career insights.

We asked Cary, “What’s the best job you’ve ever had?”

Here’s what she said:

“The best job I have ever had is the one I have right now. I am an entrepreneur, business owner, and trailblazer. Every day is different, exciting, and challenging. Depending upon what our clients need, I wear many hats: business advisor, financial educator, family counselor, Certified Financial Planner™, and opportunity connector. I am very blessed indeed to love what I do and to work with a fantastic team.”

Inspirational Insights – Tricia Wheeler

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We are lucky to have so many tremendous women in our community! You’ve met quite a few of them in our Woman of the Week feature. Now, we’re going to ask them some probing questions and see what kind of insights we can glean from these talented, successful women. Some are Executive Elements clients and some are not. Some are seasoned professionals and some are just starting out in their career. And all are super smart!

Today we caught up with Tricia Wheeler, editor-in-chief of Edible Columbus and founder/owner of The Seasoned Farmhouse cooking school.


What do you think is the biggest challenge facing women in the workplace?

I have never worked in a traditional workplace. I started my own first business when I was 23 and I have been self-employed for my whole career. I have had employees and have created workplaces. A challenge I have witnessed is women who have to juggle so much. I have employed single Mom’s with little support – I see them trying to work hard, and balance family responsibilities. I think even for those of us fortunate to be with a spouse that contributes equally to family and work – it is hard. I think finding a balance between work and home will continue to be a challenge as more and more women build careers while raising a family.

What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you’d first started out?

As a young entrepreneur – I was very conservative. I was limited by capital, but not by potential. I wish someone would have sat down with me early in my career, looked at my business financials, helped me really understand the numbers & then would have advised me on bringing on some capital to build a sales team, expand my technology sooner & to invest in good talented people. I think I could have grown my business even better had I had this early intervention.

How do you think women can best get ahead in business today?

I have a couple of ideas – first, people do business with people they like. I think you need to be yourself, to be authentic and to follow through on every promise you make. I also believe in karma – I try to put out as much goodwill as I can on a daily basis knowing it will come back. I believe that opportunities are born of hard work – I try to say, yes as much as I can and I try to seize opportunities when they come my way.

Are women creating more balanced lives? Why or why not? Are you?

I think women recognize the need for balance. We lead such busy lives & the economic pressure the last few years has made it even harder for some women to slow down and to take better care of themselves. I think I tend to be someone that bites off a lot, but somehow manages to pull it off. I think the key for me is segmenting my time – I call it big projects, I figure out what all my big projects are & I designate chunks of times each week to devote to big projects. I feel like this moves me forward and forces me to schedule my time more efficiently. This year I did not schedule anything on Monday’s – it became my catch up and get organized for the week day (this helped me be more productive).

What are you most excited about right now?

I am most excited about opening our new cooking school – The Seasoned Farmhouse, in Clintonville in April. It is a place that brings our work at edible Columbus into practice – the tagline of the school is cultivating cooks and gardeners.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever done in your career?

After I sold my first business, I took a 9 month sabbatical and moved to New York to attend the French Culinary Institute. I had always wanted to go to culinary school and was finally able to realize this dream. I loved every second of my experience and felt like I learned more in that time period than ever before. I loved being in a new city and discovering new things around every corner.

Kim Ratcliff

Inspirational Insights – Kimberly Ratcliff

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Kim RatcliffWe are lucky to have so many tremendous women in our community! You’ve met quite a few of them in our Woman of the Week feature. Now, we’re going to ask them some probing questions and see what kind of insights we can glean from these talented, successful women. Some are Executive Elements clients and some are not. Some are seasoned professionals and some are just starting out in their career. And all are super smart!

Today we hear from Kimberly Ratcliff, Director of Communications for Battelle for Kids. A few months ago she was our Woman of the Week and now she’s agreed to share more career insights.

We asked Kim, “What’s the coolest thing you’ve done in your career?”

Here’s what she told us….

The coolest work I’ve ever done has been with high-performing teams. I describe it as “cool” both in terms of the process and the final product. When I work with people I can trust in a team setting, the benefits are immeasurable. On a selfish level, it feels good to create with people who have high standards for quality and a good sense of humor. And in terms of productivity, the work is greatly improved by the efforts of a team that is constantly learning and growing.

The coolest thing about the coolest thing I’ve ever done is that it happens all of the time. I don’t even have to leave my office to find a good example. Where I work, at Battelle for Kids, we partner with large U.S. urban schools and rural collaboratives to support the transformation of educational systems for student success in college, career, and life. This is “big work” — it requires a passion and level of dedication that not everyone possesses. But every person I work with at Battelle for Kids has this mission-driven sense of purpose.

Here’s a case in point: My colleague and office-mate, Janice Zielinski, is a communications ninja of the highest degree. I feel like I learn more just by sitting in the same room with her. When we have a new challenge (i.e., every day!), our Senior Communications Director Julianne Nichols appears at our door, with a smile on her face, seeking out problem-solving help for one of our clients from across the country. Julianne starts the process by positioning the communications challenge. Then, she rolls up her sleeves to think through it with us. We gather chairs in a huddle or do stand-up meetings to work it through.

All three of us have similar backgrounds, with agency and/or corporate as well as education experience, and we all do the same type of work, but we have very different approaches to the process. Julianne is focused on strategic positioning—she keeps our team pointing to solutions for the overarching business goals. Janice is all about efficiency and creativity—she is one of the fastest and cleanest writers I know. I tend to bring an approach that leans into a combination of written and visual solutions to meet the needs of different types of thinkers and learners. Inevitably, we co-create solutions for our clients that they use over and over again, with many people in school districts. It’s an honor to know that our work touches so many educators.

I’m a firm believer in the power of teams to create wonderful and useful work. Whether I start off by framing up the solution, or if I’m involved in editing downstream from the written work’s inception, I trust in the quality of the work because it was initiated or touched by a colleague like Julianne or Janice. Working with cool people—defined by their ability to take the work to the next level—is most definitely my coolest thing ever done.

Wow, that’s fantastic! We love hearing that people are so inspired and jazzed by their work every day. Thanks so much for sharing, Kim!

lisa bloomquist scott

Inspirational Insights – Lisa Bloomquist Scott

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lisa bloomquist scottWe are lucky to have so many tremendous women in our community! You’ve met quite a few of them in our Woman of the Week feature. Now, we’re going to ask them some probing questions and see what kind of insights we can glean from these talented, successful women. Some are Executive Elements clients and some are not. Some are seasoned professionals and some are just starting out in their career.  And all are super smart!

Today we hear from Lisa Bloomquist Scott, HR Talent Manager for PricewaterhouseCoopers, Adjunct Professor at Loyola University and Self-Help Author. A few months ago she was our Woman of the Week and now she’s agreed to share more career insights.

We asked Lisa, “What do you think is the biggest challenge facing women in the workplace?”

Here’s what she said:

The longer I’m in the workplace, the more I encounter other women who attempt to undermine other women…including me. Fortunately, this did not happen early on in my career. I was fortunate to work with some incredible women when I first started out who continue to be a strong presence in my life today. However, the higher I climb the corporate ladder, the more I find myself becoming a target for other women who clearly do NOT believe in the power of sisterhood. Men have a “Boy’s Club” that is very real and very alive. Women do not.

In my opinion, this is the biggest challenge facing women in the workplace. Women do not jump quickly to empower or support one another. Instead, for a number of varied reasons, women’s initial instinct is often to destroy their female competition before even giving the relationship a chance to blossom into something better….a partnership…a collaboration….a force to be dealt with, if you will.

This is what I would like to see more women do in today’s workplace to advance our gender as a whole. As Madeleine Albright once said in a keynote speech, “There is a special place in hell for women who don’t help other women.” Isn’t it time women come together and start looking at each other as allies and sisters, instead of enemies?

Great insight, Lisa! Thanks so much for sharing! Readers, do you agree?
Learn more about Lisa here.

Inspirational Insights – Caroline Golon

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We are lucky to have so many tremendous women in our community! You’ve met quite a few of them in our Woman of the Week feature. Now, we’re going to ask them some probing questions and see what kind of insights we can glean from these talented, successful women. Some are Executive Elements clients and some are not. Some are seasoned professionals and some are just starting out in their career. And all are super smart!

Caroline Golon

Today we’re chatting with Caroline Golon, founder of High Paw Media, a content development, PR and social media firm.

EE: What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you first started out?

Caroline: In my first job, I had the most incredible bosses. I was a little 22-year-old living in New York City, trying to figure it all out. I was so naïve about so much! These ladies took me under their wings professionally and personally. They taught me things, let me learn and make mistakes and allowed me to create my own projects and do things the way I thought they should be done. I worked in a fast-paced, fun and creative environment with bosses who cared about my success. I didn’t realize at the time what a gift that was! I thought that all jobs would be like that. Unfortunately, they weren’t. I wish I’d appreciated my situation at the time and stayed in that job longer. I had no idea how good I had it!

But today, I am completely appreciative of all the great work and incredible clients I have. I learned not to take things for granted. Thank you, Pat and Jenny!