Working on Purpose

After purposely choosing a career in the Human Resource field immediately out of college, Mark Mitford spent the last 20 years gaining a global perspective and expertise on how organizations handle their most valuable asset, their people. With an analytical mind and servant heart, he sought to be the trusted advisor to his leadership peers over the years and thoroughly enjoyed knowing he made a difference. Now, armed with those cumulative years of service, Mark knows he has much to offer small to medium sized companies who desperately need an informed perspective on how to hire, develop, engage and lead their workforce. At the same time, his tenure in the field makes him a bountiful source of advice for job seekers looking to land their next position. Join the dialogue and learn how Mark navigated his own career and what he can teach you about managing your own.

Most adults these days have had at least a couple careers over the course of their working lives. And many people go on to try as many as seven or more different careers over their 50 year work lifespan. Wade Cottingham has really only had two but has absolutely made the best of both so far! After a long stint as a computer programmer, he opted to find a way to work in the actual field in which he was schooled, which was Music, and so began giving piano lessons. Several years into this new career, he discovered something pretty magical: how to completely enjoy every private lesson 100 percent of the time and never complain, no matter what the external variables are. That epiphany and concept coincided with renaming his studio Lakewood Piano Lab, and it has led to a meaningful connection to his work that is simply and elegantly directed from a change in his perspective that continues to endure.

What did you want to be when you were a kid? Did you dream of being an astronaut or a police officer? Where did you get the idea and why did you want to pursue this kind of a career, and did you actually do it? A lot of us have a career dream when we’re a kid, and some of us actually see it through to fruition. Many of us change course several times during high school or college, or are derailed into different work in our early work years changing course as new vista open to us. Our fledgling ideas are early yearnings and guideposts as to what we aspire to be and do in our adulthood, and we often measure our life’s worth according to the extent to which we’ve achieved those childhood aims. Join the dialogue as two middle school girls describe their current career interests, where those aspirations came from, and what they anticipate their chosen paths will yield in their day to day lives.

What would your world look like if you managed to find work and develop a career that allowed you to authentically express your personality, draw on your best talents, and feel like you’re making a real difference to the community you live in? How would it affect your attitude about work and the effort you put into it? What kind of impact would doing this kind of work have on your personal life and how you see yourself? And how do you even find a job like that? We’ll learn the answers to these questions and many more in the conversation with Derek Smith, Vice President of Operations at the Metropolitan Fort Worth YMCA in Texas. He’ll share his early experiences with the YMCA, how he’s built a meaningful career within this well known international non profit organization, and why he feels his work matters.

Considering most people will spend a minimum of 40 years in their lives working, chances are if you have not already, you will soon find yourself at a crossroads in your career or personal life. Perhaps you’re beginning to feel the work you’ve been doing for several years no is no longer fulfilling. Or maybe you’re caring for young children, aging parents, and just need more flexibility to juggle everything. Or, just maybe you are ready for a completely different line of work that allows you greater challenge, personal growth, or self expression. According to Ms. Elliott Yeary, each day is a new beginning. You can start fresh, anticipating what today will bring. Or you can just settle for yesterday's doubts and fears. Which road will you take? Do you take the path to your new found future or stay in the shadows of the past? Join the dialogue as Ms. Sherri Elliott Yeary shares her expertise on personal and career crossroads, including her own journey through a few of her own.

Having spent 25 years as a child and adolescent psychotherapist focused on disadvantaged youth and the special needs population, Dr. Patricia Ruiz sees a completely new target for her clinical services: department stores and franchise businesses. Armed with a lifetime of personal experience raising her daughter with cerebral palsy and encountering the spectrum of welcoming to dismissive customer service interactions, Patricia has some unique and valuable business advice to offer companies who just may be interested in the buying power of the extremely brand-loyal disability minority population. Today, we find her at that daunting precipice, aching to see her business dream become a reality in order to improve the lives of those she has served for a quarter century by teaching business better customer service. Join us to hear why Patricia believes in the viability of her new venture and her initial plans to kick it off and transition entirely from psychotherapy.

It seems simple enough, doesn’t it? You’ve known forever that you were born an artist. Over a lifetime, you work in the jewelry business, paint paintings, and create greeting cards. Producing beautiful paintings was nice and people appreciated them, yet that work didn’t seem to register as having the impact on the community in the way you would like. Exactly how do you elevate yourself to living your purpose with those artistic innate talents and make the difference to which you so aspire? Join the conversation to hear how Marty Ruiz did just that, managing to turn his volunteer hobby to sing into a paid, fulfilling vocation that allows him comfortable work-life integration.

What we do to earn a living can have a profound influence on the meaningfulness of our overall lives. Our careers can be a terrific source of joy, or can manifest tremendous disappointment or angst in us. And sometimes, we just need some kind of change but don’t know exactly what it is. What to do, then, when your career has developed over several years, you’ve gained some valuable skills, and you think you might just be ready to make the leap to self-employment? Join the conversation as Chef Tara Anderson of Tara’s Table, who launched two product lines, Half Pint Palates in 2013 and will be launching Mother Meatball in 2015, shares her journey from a successful corporate executive chef to starting her own company. You’ll learn why she felt compelled toward entrepreneurship, how she made the tough decision to leave a great job, the early steps she took to launch the business, and how her life has since changed throughout her odyssey.