“The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.” — Keith Ferrazzi
Guest Introduction: This is Exploring the Seasons of Life podcast episode 42. I’m Cindy MacMillan and today’s guest is Kathy Parks.
Introduction: Welcome to Exploring the Seasons of Life, a podcast for women with a big heart on a spiritual journey. Each week, join Cindy MacMillan as she interviews coaches, spiritual explorers and celebrants from all walks of life about beginnings, endings and the messy bits in-between. Self-love, well-being, and mindset are at the heart of our conversations because once you change the inside, the outside will begin to change as well.
Welcome back to the Exploring the Seasons of Life podcast and thank you for being here. This is a really special episode and I can’t wait for you to meet my guest today.
Kathy has spent the last 30 years working in Corporate North America for one of the top 10 most admired companies in the world. She has extensive experience in Sales Leadership, Planning & Training as well as developing, mentoring and coaching front line employees into leadership roles.
Since creating her Executive Coaching business, Kathy has worked with small business owners, solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, leaders at all levels of an organization, and especially women seeking to expand their career and pay aspirations.
Most recently, Kathy has been doing her best to help as many people as possible who have lost their jobs, to help jumpstart their job and career search.
Here’s a glimpse of our conversation: 2:04 Yeah, that's a great question, Cindy, because you don't really realize when you're young, that there are so many different seasons in your life.
5:11 I was fortunate to be able to take advantage of some really great sort of cutting-edge leadership experience. And I had a lot of different teams in my career. And we were always very successful and it became more and more obvious to me what helps them be successful. And that was really sort of a good leader, helping them grow and learn and have good mentorship and having helped with their career and the work. So that was really the heart of my job that I loved the most was really to help my employees with their professional development, their career progression, and really be just more successful businesspeople.
7:59 I think the most important place to start with any job search, even if you still have a job that you want to pivot or you're thinking that you're not that happy. And what you're doing is to really take the opportunity and figure out what you want to do with the rest of your life. It's kind of that “What do I do when I grow up?” thing that we're I think we're always asking ourselves no matter what season we're in. And so the question of, you know, are you happy with your career path with your profession?
12:45 Yeah, being prepared, practicing, having someone to practice with, practice in a mirror creating some, you know, understanding, again, back to understanding the value you bring to the table and what makes you unique, why are you going to be the best person for the job?
24:25 So first of all, to really try and enjoy each season for what it is and for what it's giving you in what you're learning and what you're experiencing. But also, that as you get older into sort of the later seasons – especially after retiring – it is not the end of your life. You're not so old that you can't enjoy, and you can't still learn, and you can't still be productive and also add value because you've been through all sorts of experiences that are of real value to people. So, it's just like the best is yet to come.
Resources Mentioned: Harvard Business Review
Women at Work
Race at Work
You can find Kathy Parks at: Website Email If you enjoyed this conversation with Kathy Parks, you might also enjoy these other episodes: Connection and Building Friendships with Christy Pennison
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From Software Engineer to Clinical Hypnotherapist with Lori Burke
Anxiety and Wholeness with Jennifer Kremer