Imagine Yourself Taking Command of Your Career w/ CEO of Push Career Management, Brenda Cunningham

“Taking care of business” is a powerful phrase that applies to a variety of life scenarios. Sometimes, it includes taking care of something physical, like your car. Other times, it means taking command of something intangible, like your career. If you take a good look, you’ll find some interesting similarities when it comes to getting the most mileage out of each.

It’s easy to see that cars require maintenance, upgrades, and the initial purchase of an actual vehicle. After this week’s revealing episode, it makes sense that a career also needs these same requirements for ultimate performance: maintenance, upgrades, and the initial acquisition of an actual job.

Let’s say you already have a fantastic vehicle that is just right for you. Maintenance is key. Make sure to get oil changes and tune-ups regularly in order to keep your car in stellar condition. If you are one of the lucky ones who already has a fantastic job/career and hopes to hold onto it, you might want to develop a maintenance routine where you are regularly sharpening your industry skills (through classes or conferences), building new contacts (by networking with quality connections), and peeking under the hood to make sure that you remain an innovative, relevant, benefit to the company.

Do you ever feel the desire to take things to the next level? You might want to upgrade your car with a fresh paint job or brand new tires and hubcaps. What if you want to upgrade your career by seeking a promotion, by moving up the corporate ladder? This might require gaining certain certifications or training, refreshing your resume and career portfolio, evaluating your job description while reviewing and applying to current job postings, and proving to higher-ups that you are ready for new opportunities.

Wanna go car shopping? Or job searching? Whether you’re purchasing a car for the very first time, replacing a car that gave out, or simply switching to a vehicle that better fits your needs, the acquisition is necessary. The same holds true for a career. You want to acquire a job, and you need to determine what job best suits you. You might be new to the job market (or maybe there’s been a long break). Perhaps your position has been eliminated and you’re facing layoffs, or the company has decided to go in “a different direction”. Maybe you are dissatisfied with your current job and desperately want to find a different one. This type of search requires strategic thinking: moving beyond an updated resume and posting to job boards. You don’t want just any job, but the right job – and in the least amount of time.

In any of these scenarios, getting some expert advice can take you to the next level! Just like a qualified mechanic improves your car, a Career Manager/Job Strategist can give the proper advice and techniques to advance your career goals.

Our guest, Brenda Cunningham, CEO of Push Career Management is just the type of Certified Job Strategist, Professional Resume Writer, and Career Manager to give us quality guidance. Listen in for ways to truly take command of your career!

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EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

Sandy Kovach [00:00:01]:

Life can throw a lot at you, but imagine if your life were different, better, not because of what's coming at you, but because of what's coming from you. Let's get there together. Join us and imagine yourself.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:15]:

Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. Whatever it is, wherever you are, good day. I am Lanee.

Sandy Kovach [00:00:21]:

And this is Sandy. We've got something And that we're gonna imagine that's gonna be very helpful today, I think.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:27]:

Yeah. We are imagining ourselves confidently moving forward, And we will be fully equipped, both mentally and practically, to step up and climb up and elevate ourselves on that golden ladder of the career of opportunities. Oh. You like that? I do. The golden ladder?

Sandy Kovach [00:00:48]:

I like it. I'm visualizing it right now.

Lanée Blaise [00:00:50]:

Well, then visualize this too. We have a guest here today who will show us the way up that golden ladder because at Imagine Yourself, we love To just hand over on a silver platter expert knowledge and advice from wonderful influencers who are kind enough to take time out of their busy schedules Mhmm. To share their stories and their strategies. And today, we are bringing Brenda Cunningham. She is the CEO of Push Career Management, and so if you or anyone you know out there is currently looking for their dream job or trying to Switch over from a current position into an ideal career. Or maybe you're just looking to go further in your existing job. Then Brenda Cunningham As a certified job strategist, credentialed career manager, and certified professional resume writer is a beautiful and profound way to start. We want to welcome you to imagine yourself, Brenda.

Brenda Cunningham [00:01:50]:

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much. That was lovely.

Lanée Blaise [00:01:53]:

Thank you. You are lovely. You're gonna be so helpful today for people who are out there with questions, with frustrations, with that feeling like they're in that Rut. We're gonna pull anybody out of that rut.

Sandy Kovach [00:02:03]:

So you're famous for fireproofing your career, and one of the things that you say is the best Defense is a great offense.

Lanée Blaise [00:02:12]:

Kinda like, in sports and and in life and everything. But in your career, what exactly did you mean by that?

Brenda Cunningham [00:00:21]:

I think about certainly my own story and then so many of the people that I end up supporting and helping on their career journeys, but I was laid off. I thought I am this untouchable. I'm really good at my job. I had survived so many Rounds of layoff that I thought this last wave is gonna pass me by as well. Not the case. So, ultimately, I was by a layoff. And as you go through something like that, and in my case, I Form that into an actual career of helping other people to, a, avoid layoffs, and, b, conduct their job searches and things of that nature.

Brenda Cunningham [00:03:00]:

And so as I kinda look back Over the series of events, unfortunate or otherwise, there are some things that come to my mind, and I'm like, wait. Was I doing the right things? Was I working on the right kinds of projects? Did I know what kind of difference that I was making? Was it very evident To the powers that be that I was a valuable and irreplaceable resource. And so a lot of times, we just don't know what to do To be on that kind of positive offensive to make sure that we're protecting the job that we do have, that we do actually want to have, Not just a job that I need to survive Right. But I really want to be here. And am I doing the right things to make Sure that, again, all the powers that be recognized, I'm a valuable contributor, and then they should not be in such a quick hurry To get me out of the door or replace me.

Sandy Kovach [00:03:00]:

When you were writing an Isha Cogborn's book, and our listeners may remember her from The personal branding podcast. And if not, whenever you get a chance, go back and listen to that. But in Isha's book, you said that, technically, everybody is replaceable. But when you were let go, was that back in the o eight, o nine big layoff period?

Brenda Cunningham [00:04:16]:

Actually, when I listened To your interview with Isha Cogborn, it struck me that we were laid off on the exact same day.

Sandy Kovach [00:04:25]:

Hey. Oh my gosh.

Brenda Cunningham [00:04:25]:

January 14, 2009. What? So it's like, wait. That day sounds very familiar. But, yes, we are replaceable no matter how awesome and amazing we are at the things that we can do. Because we are awesome. Yeah. And I just saw A video, it was probably like Jay Shetty, one of those kind of motivational videos. And there was a gentleman who his Wife was really unhappy.

Brenda Cunningham [00:04:51]:

He's always at work. And he just said, hey. Just give me a couple of more years, and I promise we'll find another director. But right now, they can't replace me. There's nobody else that can do the job quite like me, and then he died one day. Oh. And they replaced him in 2 days, and I'm like, yeah. We're all replaceable.

Brenda Cunningham [00:05:08]:

And so the sooner we can kinda get that through our thick skulls, I think the better off we'll be.

Sandy Kovach [00:05:13]:

Yeah. But what do we do to make us Less replaceable, I guess, is the question. And and then we'll go on from there to maybe what would we do if we wanted to go into a different direction. So let's start with what do we do in our current career if we wanna stay to make us less replaceable.

Brenda Cunningham [00:05:29]:

I'm going to be alluding to my section in the book on purpose practical strategies to live your best life, a collaborative book project led or spearheaded by Isha Cogburn. And some of the things that I specifically want to bring to your attention are are number 1, bring solutions and not complaints. This is a very valuable lesson that I learned early on from one of my mentors turned supervisor. He very candidly just sat down and said, you know, Brenda, don't ever come into my office and just tell me what you don't want to do. You need to be prepared with at least 2 or 3 alternatives that make better sense to you. And I said, oh my gosh. It was brilliant. It was so simple, And it's brilliant, but that was spot on.

Brenda Cunningham [00:06:14]:

Don't be the kind of person who just comes into work every day Nagging and complaining and venting and moaning about how bad and terrible things are. And I can't believe that they've made this other management Change in management, they just don't understand, and you're just kind of in this constant state of frustration versus Bringing a solution to the table.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:37]:

Yes.

Brenda Cunningham [00:06:37]:

So instead of just being mad about everything, how about you tell me what you think we should be doing? And give me a couple of options that I can work with, some things that might make some better sense because of your perspective on the situation.

Sandy Kovach [00:06:53]:

So now go complaining, first of all, to your coworkers about it. And number 2, don't go complaining to your boss about it unless you have an alternative.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:00]:

Correct?

Brenda Cunningham [00:07:01]:

Absolutely. Nobody wants to be around the negative Nellie or the Johnny rain clouds. That are just always. They're just mad about everything. Yeah. And so it's like, what can we do? They wanna yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:13]:

They wanna be around a fixer.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:15]:

I used to work with a guy, and his nickname was literally the cloud.

Brenda Cunningham [00:07:19]:

Oh my god.

Sandy Kovach [00:07:19]:

I know. I'm sorry. But it was a long time ago.

Lanée Blaise [00:07:22]:

He just brought that dreariness instead of bringing some fresh innovative ideas.

Brenda Cunningham [00:07:27]:

I even think about even my children. We were having a conversation this morning that they're teenagers. We're so bored. I'm like, okay. So What do you wanna do? So you can use this and Don't come at me and say, I'm bored without telling me You have to have a solution to that thing. What do you wanna do? Oh, I wanna go to the movies. Okay. We can go check out and see what's playing at the movies.

Brenda Cunningham [00:07:51]:

But if you just come to me and say I'm bored, I've got nothing for you. Uh-huh. I will just start assigning you things. Okay. You're bored? Here, go wash from. You know, go read a book. And so I will give you tasks as opposed to you taking on the things that you actually wanted to do. It makes your whole experience more enjoyable when you bring solutions, but it actually creates a perception of you as a leader and a real Thought leader in your space.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:19]:

And I like that you're teaching your children to do that

Lanée Blaise [00:08:21]:

That's right.

Sandy Kovach [00:08:21]:

Out of the game.

Lanée Blaise [00:08:22]:

Absolutely. Brenda has tips for the home life and the work life.

Brenda Cunningham [00:08:26]:

That's through. Yes. The second thing that I really wanna focus in on is investing in yourself because a lot of time. Even probably pre 2007, it was very commonplace for employers to send you off to conference and Pay for your certifications and everything that you kinda need to just be better and continue to learn and develop. They were footing a lot of those bills, and then the day came when budgets dried up. And one of the 1st budgets that dried up Was the budget of professional development. Yes. And so it was all of a sudden people found themselves asking their employers For Dollar Pay.

Brenda Cunningham [00:09:10]:

Can you send me here? Can you send me there? And the answer kept coming back. No. This happened to me as well. So I said, you know what? I recognize that I still need that learning. I still need that credential. And if you're not gonna pay for it, and if I know that I really need it, I better be willing to raise my I had to say, hey. I'm gonna do it.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:31]:

That goes hand in hand with what you previously said. If you are constantly investing in yourself and upgrading your skills, Then you will very easily be that person who can provide solutions when things are not all the way hitting all the points. Absolutely. And then again, they're not you know, so irreplaceable. I feel like it's a Beyonce type of yeah. Irreplaceable and and upgraded.

Sandy Kovach [00:09:53]:

Alright. Now we got a halo.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:55]:

All you single ladies out there, just know.

Brenda Cunningham [00:09:56]:

Oh my. Okay. Yes. Oh.

Lanée Blaise [00:09:59]:

But no. It just feels like everything you're saying works together to make you a more productive from an vital employee.

Brenda Cunningham [00:10:06]:

It really does because if you are stuck in the just kinda old ways of doing things, If you've ever uttered the words that'll never work or we've never or we've always done it like this, when you start to say things like that, It means that you haven't been venturing out into the cutting edge. It just means that you're really, really stuck in some old way of thinking. And that's a very dangerous territory in this kind of very innovative age that we live in. And so if you are going to remain really competitive and hesitizing in this really Fiercely competitive marketplace right now. You've gotta know some things that not everybody knows, and you've gotta keep always being a lifelong learner or Constantly devouring new information and new points of view and not just relying on How we used to do things and what worked 20 years ago. And so, yes, it all does absolutely tie in together.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:11]:

I have a burning question for you. You ready? Yes. Burning me. Okay.

Brenda Cunningham [00:11:15]:

I'm ready.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:16]:

What is the first thing a person should do when they are because I see this on Instagram and stuff like that. When they are I could say a person is dissatisfied with their current job, but just some people straight up Hate their job.

Sandy Kovach [00:11:31]:

I know people like that. Yes. Yeah.

Lanée Blaise [00:11:33]:

I do too, and I want to I what should they do? What advice do you have for my friends out there like that?

Brenda Cunningham [00:11:39]:

Jesus. So so first of all

Lanée Blaise [00:11:42]:

That's the first answer.

Brenda Cunningham [00:11:44]:

First of all, we wanna make sure that they actually hate their job and not, like, their boss. A Uplifting more. Sure. Because a lot of times, what you see is that people don't necessarily leave bad jobs. They leave bad bosses. And so take a real honest assessment of what is it about this thing that you don't like, Then you can make an appropriate decision to move forward. But then the second thing is if you know you don't like this, Then what do you want to do? So it goes right back to that finding solutions all over again. I'm bored.

Brenda Cunningham [00:12:21]:

Okay. What do you wanna do? I hate this. Okay. What do you wanna do? And so we're always just looking at you to say, this is what's next then. I don't enjoy this anymore. I hate this. You cannot just wallow in that misery, and I hear it all the time. I tell people, I'm like, you are really good at telling me what you don't want, But you have no idea what you do want.

Brenda Cunningham [00:12:44]:

So we have got to start spending time daydreaming, being Positive in thinking about the things that we actually crave, the things that we want to do, the things that bring us Energy and joy and make us want to get up in the morning. One of the things that I started earlier this year is a podcast called the day before Monday, and it's really about what happens on Sunday night as you get that anxiety because now you have to go back to this place again. And I hate it. I hate this place. And I, like, live for Friday. And I

Sandy Kovach [00:13:18]:

just internal dialogue every weekend.

Brenda Cunningham [00:13:20]:

It is. We don't have to operate in that space. Who said you had to just be miserable every day of your life? Who said that? Who told you that, Why would you listen to them? And so I'm not going to anymore. No.

Sandy Kovach [00:13:34]:

No. Not that I'm miserable.

Brenda Cunningham [00:13:35]:

But you do need to Understand exactly what you do want to do next, and I'll go a step further. Don't limit yourself. Don't Say, well, I don't really know what I wanna do. I don't have it all narrowed down. It's okay if you don't have it all narrowed down. Just narrow it down to Some degree, give yourself even 3 different directions that would be equally suitable for you. I would just enjoy this thing whether it be Factoring or health care or education. I just wanna do work that matters.

Brenda Cunningham [00:14:08]:

Here are the directions that make sense to me. Those 3 industries came out of me so easily because those were my crossroads Women I was laid off. I was enjoying my work as a project manager, But I didn't necessarily love the type of products that I was manufacturing. And so I'll kind of walk you through this whole process. I said to myself, Well, I didn't love that. What would I love to do? Well, I wanna make a difference through products. Okay? So manufacturing something that matters, Like, maybe oral cancer screening kit. I could get behind that versus a cell phone widget device that I didn't care about.

Brenda Cunningham [00:14:46]:

Mhmm. I cared about Inspiration, and I cared about helping people feel better. So health care was an obvious pathway for me. And so I just define I can pursue project management in manufacturing, health care, and education. And either of those options would have made me equally happy so I could pursue all 3 with equal vigor.

Lanée Blaise [00:15:08]:

Does your company push career management help people to identify and reach towards those different areas that they might wanna go over with a professional like yourself. Because there's people who are fresh out of college who don't know exactly what they wanna do with their degree. There are people who are in the thick of things and might wanna go a different direction or, like you said, people who've been laid off or Older people who are ready for that next step in their career before retirement.

Brenda Cunningham [00:15:37]:

The short answer is Absolutely. Yes. The longer or more medium sized answer is when you come to us with some sense of direction, that is our sweet spot. You know what you want to do, and we're gonna connect the dots to help you get there. Sometimes you can't see how you're qualified, But that's my gifting. So you're really good at your job as a broadcaster or as a medical doctor or as an engineer or an IT professional. You're really good at your job, but I'm really good at my job. And my job is to to help you see yourself in this new place.

Brenda Cunningham [00:16:13]:

So I like for people to come to me without limits. These self imposed limits, you know, we put on ourselves that we look at Job posting and we tell ourselves immediately, oh, I could never do that. Oh, I'm not qualified for that. Oh my gosh. It's been years since I've done that. They never give me a chance. Those kinds of conversations go right the heck out the window. Once you have a conversation with me, I'm like, yes.

Brenda Cunningham [00:16:35]:

I See it. I'll ask you just the right questions to pull the right information out to then show you. Because if you don't believe it, you're gonna have a Heck of a time trying to help somebody else see it. And then from there, we actually go and build out portfolios, resumes, LinkedIn profiles. We can even help with the interview conversation through interview coaching. And so all of those pieces now get pulled together because you came to the table. You came to this conversation with some sense, some inkling of where you want it to be even though you didn't necessarily know How you are going to get there.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:11]:

Yes.

Brenda Cunningham [00:17:12]:

I will say that sometimes people will come and they want to be a particular thing, and I will have To send them off on a learning journey. If you just decided today, Lanee or Sandy, that you wanted to be medical doctors, that's great. I believe that you can do that, but there are some actual steps that need to be made between here and there. Like medical school. A no. Right. You gotta go to medical school.

Lanée Blaise [00:17:39]:

I mean,

Brenda Cunningham [00:17:40]:

they don't just hand out MDs on the corner. So there are gonna be some steps Often that need to be taken, but you will know what those steps are after an encounter with Pushcareer Management.

Sandy Kovach [00:17:52]:

When you look at somebody and you look at their dreams, It's not you that's ever putting the limits. It sounds like it's just the people coming in that are putting their limits. Yep. But if it is something that's, like, far out, A DJ is not gonna be a doctor.

Lanée Blaise [00:18:04]:

Right. Not in a year.

Brenda Cunningham [00:18:05]:

Not in a year.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:06]:

You will say, okay. Are you willing to spend 10 years in school or something?

Brenda Cunningham [00:18:11]:

I'm gonna tell you the truth. And so the truth is what sets us free. Right? Mhmm. And if it's the truth and the truth is that, yes, you can do this. And it's gonna happen, and it's gonna be about 10 years, but you're gonna become an MD. Darn it. And so I'm just gonna tell you what those steps are in between where you are and where you're looking to be, but you'll get there. Right? Because.

Brenda Cunningham [00:18:32]:

10 years is gonna go by regardless. Mhmm. So you might as well come out on the other side of 10 years with an MD or whatever that thing is. 10 years is exaggerated. Sometimes it's more like 2 months. Go take a class. Go volunteer.

Sandy Kovach [00:18:46]:

Not for a doctor.

Brenda Cunningham [00:18:47]:

Take on a project. Right. Sometimes just for some other career transitions. It might be simple things like go study and take a certification exam. Mhmm. It could be something just as simple as that. Go take a class. Not everybody needs to go back to school and get a master's degree.

Brenda Cunningham [00:19:04]:

Sometimes we can just go take a 3 month certification program and be very well equipped. It really just depends on what the specific goal is, but there are steps that you can take as an individual to get you there without question.

Sandy Kovach [00:19:19]:

Now one of the things you talk about specifically is older workers. So what if they are in this position to Wanna do some kind of a transition? Probably not maybe a doctor, but that's really not a usual second career. Yeah. Health, let's say that An older worker did wanna go into a 2nd career, or let me ask you this too. Is there a way to help fireproof The career that they are in now, and are they more in danger?

Brenda Cunningham [00:19:47]:

Really, the short answer to that, yes. Older workers are being kind of this disproportionately targeted for things like layoffs, but let me tell you why. It's not discrimination. It's their right. Okay. Okay? So let's think about this. A lot of times, the stigma associated with older workers, their skills are out of date. They're inflexible to change.

Brenda Cunningham [00:20:11]:

They haven't kept up with today's technology, and they are some of the highest paid workers in the workforce. Mhmm. And so why would I Pay you more, and you are not able to take my organization into a new level. You're really great at Kind of sustaining us maybe where we are, but you're not able to take us into that next phase that we need to be in for our greater kinda longer term success. And so why would I? And so, really, the solution because, again, I'm not a complainer. I like

Brenda Cunningham [00:20:44]:

some things. And so the solution to the older workers and older being really defined lately as, like, 55 years and older, still as a part of the work forth. Yes. The solution is to keep your skills up to date. There is no age limit on when you can go back for continuous education. You have to embrace investing in yourself just because the good old days, you know, back in my day, the employer used to pay for you to go to from. Now they're not doing that anymore. I'm not doing that.

Brenda Cunningham [00:21:18]:

Uh-huh. And so what's happening is you are getting left behind, And you are no longer marketable. And so a lot of the older generation workers that I work with, I'll ask them very candidly when's the last time that you've gone through any sort of professional development. And the answer Almost all of the time is like, oh, I don't know. It's been years. That's a problem. Yeah. That is a very serious Problem that you are still operating on really, like, 5, 10, 15, 20 year old information, And you have not done a single thing to remain competitive in today's marketplace.

Sandy Kovach [00:22:01]:

Because it's so different now. I mean, technology is moving leaps and bounds. So maybe that one worked back in the day. But no matter who you are and how old you are, you have to keep on top of these things.

Brenda Cunningham [00:22:12]:

It's a it's a brand new day. And so one of the things that Not just older workers, but really everybody should do is just take a few moments every now and again and go look at a job posting For their current job or wherever they think they wanna be next, and look at what are the skills that are required. And make sure that you are able to Offer at least 85, 90% of that skill set to the workplace. And if you don't have it, now you know exactly what to go target for your professional development.

Lanée Blaise [00:22:41]:

That's a tremendous idea because, like you said, they've been there for a while, and there is value to knowing the old way of doing things. Yeah. And there's value to knowing And being open to new ways of doing things. And when you look back at those posts, the more updated job postings and job descriptions, You might realize that I am a wonderful candidate because I have the ability to combine the old and the new and provide a beautiful full package as long as I'm willing to open my mind to the new. Right.

Sandy Kovach [00:23:13]:

Yes. Right.

Brenda Cunningham [00:23:14]:

And I'm guilty of it too. I just recently crossed Into my forties. And and I don't know if you've noticed. Thank you. But have you noticed? When you go to the grocery store now, there's, like, 2 registers open and, like, 8 self checkout lines open. Yes. And I find myself saying, what happened to the good old days?

Sandy Kovach [00:23:38]:

When everybody had a checker.

Brenda Cunningham [00:23:39]:

A bagger, and I find myself getting really Angry that now I have to do my own grocery bagging and scanning, and I finally get it. The attitudes of the older workers, you know, it never used to have to be like this, and, like, I get it. But as much as I understand it, It doesn't make us exempt from understanding how to use today's technology. Right? It's okay for me to be angry, but I still need to know how to use Amazon. I still need to know how to use from. I still need to know how to use the self checker. So as much as I may want to resist and bulk at the idea of it, I still have got to be Able to function in today's world.

Sandy Kovach [00:24:19]:

And then once you get over it, the technologies, the various things, whether it's something like a checker or it's being adept at social media or a lot of the things that people might balk at. It's a beautiful thing once you're there. Yeah.

Brenda Cunningham [00:24:33]:

Once you're in, you're immersed in that thing. But once you say things, oh, this new single technology, like, this vocabulary is what's causing the stigma to really be present for the older working generations. And so just Keep this in mind. Again, age discrimination particularly is very real. It does exist. And although illegal, it exists and it happens every day. But the thing that really you can do to help yourself overcome that hurdle is to remain competitive in today's marketplace.

Lanée Blaise [00:25:08]:

I feel like I wanna pose a question to anyone listening, kind of one of those self reflective questions. Do you out there feel that you need A Brenda Cunningham or the actual Brenda Cunningham in your life. Because I know that sometimes people have trouble with networking With their career portfolio, with their resume, with their social media profiles, learning how to reach out To invest and upgrade in your own professional development skills. There's just so many things. There's all the things. Even you mentioned in your writing as far as knowing people, Not just inside your current department, but outside of your department, outside of your company, in your industry. Networking can just be A real chore for some people, but something that's necessary. I understand that your company, PushCareer Management, provides Free 15 minute phone consultations that can lead to people getting unstuck and lead to a personal training pathway that helps for the entire career.

Brenda Cunningham [00:26:11]:

Yes. It's amazing to me what can be accomplished in a simple 15 minute conversation. I have seen people really discover breakthroughs, and they just had no idea. Sometimes you just have no idea where to begin, What to do next, and you'd feel so helpless. And it's a problem that can probably take you months months years years to Come to a conclusion. But when you talk to an expert, when you talk to somebody who really knows that, you can generally solve problems within a matter of minutes. So I love, love Being able to have those conversations with people, set them free, show them that there is a pathway From where they are to where they want to be, encourage them to start daydreaming so that they know where they want to go next, And just really help them understand whether they are very successful in their current career or they're embarking on a career change Regardless of what their current situation is, I just love that time to be able to listen, encourage, Provide some practical strategy, and, yes, all of that can be accomplished in 15 minutes.

Sandy Kovach [00:27:27]:

And so you've got a lot of other assets that I wanna go over here before we let to go. You've got Crush the Pink Slip, Get Back to Work in 60 Days. That's your book. You've got blogs. You've got All kinds of things that can help people. So give us a rundown on where we can get the book, where we can get in touch with you, and some of the other things that you do.

Brenda Cunningham [00:27:49]:

I do so many things because I know that different people learn differently and different mediums speak to different audiences. But, yes, Crush the pink slip, get back to work in 60 days. It's a daily digest style guide of how to conduct an effective job search, not just What you think, oh, let me revise my resume and apply to a 100 jobs every week, and that's it. No. It's a lot more comprehensive than that, and you can get that on Amazon We're 1999, so that's a great investment in your job search arsenal. Also, we do have the day before Monday radio show and podcast at where we talk about just different things related to careers, and we just wanna make sure that, again, you're equipped with all the right tools. Of course, you can go visit our website, push career management.com. Just learn more about who we are, the different services that we offer.

Brenda Cunningham [00:28:43]:

That's also where you can click to schedule your free 15 minute conversation. Or if you're interested, you can schedule a more Comprehensive 45 minute strategy session where we can go even deeper. But then finally, I wanna encourage you guys to connect with me. So LinkedIn is one of the major platforms that I operate on, and I have a very wide audience through LinkedIn. And so I encourage People connect with me, Brenda M Cunningham right there on LinkedIn because I share lots of encouragement and how to tip Through social media on LinkedIn and Facebook.

Sandy Kovach [00:29:19]:

Let me just ask real quick now. I tend to be on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, and sometimes Snapchat. And I do have a LinkedIn profile, but unless I'm looking for a job, I am not on LinkedIn very often, and that's probably a big mistake, isn't it?

Brenda Cunningham [00:29:33]:

That is one of the largest misnomers about LinkedIn is that it is only useful as a job search to Bored. That is one of its great features, if you will, or elements, but that is by far not all that it can do. And so one of the things that I encourage folks when they think about using LinkedIn is to recognize it as a professional development platform. We talked about professional development earlier. Right? Sometimes that's going to conferences, taking classes, but check this out. Sometimes it's just asking a question to other people who have been there, done that so that you can save yourself a whole ton of time And just go straight to the solution. So when you're connected with or in network with other people who do what you do And you come across a new challenge or issue, maybe you haven't faced it before, but they probably have. Well, what did they do to overcome that thing? And so how about we ask the people that are in our network, the other experts that we're acquainted with, And save ourselves a lot of time.

Brenda Cunningham [00:30:44]:

I know I could go read 8 books and listen to 4 podcasts and go take a class, Or I could simply ask a question and get 12 responses within an hour.

Sandy Kovach [00:30:53]:

That's a lot quicker. Yes.

Brenda Cunningham [00:30:55]:

That's a heck of a lot quicker. And not to mention, that's Just the number one place where recruiters are going to source their talent. And so if you are looking for a new position, You want to be found at the place where the recruiters are looking for talent, and they're

Sandy Kovach [00:31:09]:

looking for talent. On Snapchat?

Brenda Cunningham [00:31:11]:

They're not looking I mean, you listen. Oh, they might. You know? You gotta But the filters actually find you there, but they are intentionally going to LinkedIn. So there is so much usefulness there on LinkedIn, not to mention just when you are connected with the right people, the information and Content that comes into your feed helps to keep you in the know about things that are going on in your industry, even in your communities. Just keep that in mind that it is so much bigger and broader than just a simple job search site.

Sandy Kovach [00:31:44]:

Now we'll get your LinkedIn and your website and all your links too on our website, imagine yourself podcast. But I also wanted to ask about Isha's book real quick, the one that you are a part of. That's where we found you first, and we really enjoyed your chapter and the whole book, actually. Yes.

Brenda Cunningham [00:32:04]:

On purpose, practical strategies to live your best life. What an exciting project. 16 people, All these minds and all these different perspectives on life and work and family and career and all these things, and it really comes together to create a very comprehensive solution guide for people who are solution oriented and are looking to make Very fundamental, concrete, tangible changes to the way that life has been happening to them so that they can start understanding that they can be in control, and they can jump back into the driver's seat of their own life.

Lanée Blaise [00:32:42]:

Again, it's that concept of going straight to the source, someone who's been there, done that, and you can benefit from it. Oh my goodness. Brenda, we hope that you know how much you're talking about LinkedIn. We are glad that we have been linked into you personally today. We

Brenda Cunningham [00:32:57]:

You have

Lanée Blaise [00:32:58]:

just been a wealth of information and a wonderful person. We hope you know how much we appreciate having you here. We wanna Thank you for speaking with all of us here in Imagine Yourself Land today.

Brenda Cunningham [00:33:12]:

Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for having me. This was so fun. Such a great honor to meet and talk with you both and to just speak with your audiences and hope that this conversation has helped to encourage somebody along the way

Lanée Blaise [00:33:26]:

I know it will. Overall, we just want everyone to imagine yourself happily, competently, Self assuredly grabbing the reins and riding yourself off to your ideal career.

Sandy Kovach [00:33:42]:

Thanks for listening. Now, we'd like to hear from you. Got an idea for the show? Wanna share your story or just say hello? Make sure you connect close. You can do that at imagine yourself podcast.com, and we'll talk to you again next time when we have something new to imagine.

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