Reinvent Yourself

Latest Episodes:

#174 When Injury Leads to Innovation (Ivy Slater) Sep 20, 2022

Show notes

Ivy Slater always wanted to be a dancer. She earned a degree in dance and went on to become a professional dancer, something many young ballerinas don’t achieve. But at 23 years old, an injury brought her dance career to an immediate halt. Heartbroken, Slater knew it was time for a reinvention. Living in New York City with no idea where to begin next, she went through several reinventions, as an exercise instructor, as executive assistant to the powerhouse woman behind a global athleticwear brand, and more. At 27, Slater entered into the hardest negotiations of her life - with her father. In this conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Ivy Slater discusses what it was like to reinvent from the wreckage of tragedy to build a multi-million dollar company. She explores her midlife crisis at 45 and the secrets for success that led to her newest reinvention, Slater Success Coaching, a firm that helps women scale and grow their businesses. A truly resilient force, Slater gives listeners insights into tapping into their power and taking ownership of their lives and careers.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Ivy Slater is an entrepreneur, internationally-bestselling author, speaker, podcast host, and professionally-certified business coach. As the CEO of Slater Success, Ivy works closely with C-Suite executives and upper-level managers to advise and create clear strategies that provide instant and longterm impact on businesses. From generating team synergy and launching new sales initiatives, to holding mastermind retreats and corporate trainings on communication, finances, or strategic planning, Ivy is an expert at cultivating and facilitating relationships that are the hallmark of any successful business.

Key Links:

Website

From the Barre to Boardroom - Ivy’s book

Podcast

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps
3:00 - How her parents inspired her to believe that anything was possible
7:00 - Losing her career at 23 after an injury
11:30 - Becoming the right-hand assistant to business owners
18:00 - Asserting herself to become a partnership in her family's business
20:50 - Navigating a midlife reinvention as an empty nester
22:18 - Finding your "what"
28:00 - How to stand out in the coaching industry

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#173 Helping Women Scale Their Business to $1 Million (Eleanor Beaton) Sep 16, 2022

Show notes

“Money is power,” Eleanor Beaton’s mother told her at a very young age. “Always make your own.” Growing up in Nova Scotia with an economist father, Beaton learned all about finances. She began her career in advertising, where she opened her own communications consulting agency before later reinventing herself through business journalism. By her mid-20s she had brought her love of storytelling together with her passion for personal development and founded SafiMedia. An acronym for Self-Actualized Female Innovator, SafiMedia aims to double the number of female founders who scale past $1,000,000 in revenue by 2030. Ten years after creating SafiMedia, tragedy struck when her father passed away from a sudden illness. In this conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Beaton discusses the dissolution of ambition she experienced at the loss of her father, how her grief became the catalyst for reinvention, and her advice for women who are ready to take the leap into entrepreneurship. Now the host of the Power + Presence + Position podcast, Beaton helps other women reinvent their lives and their careers on a daily basis.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio: Eleanor Beaton is the founder of Safi Media, a business coaching and advisory firm for women entrepreneurs. Eleanor and her team provide business coaching, learning programs and custom content to thousands of women entrepreneurs globally, as well as the conferences, associations and corporations who champion them. Eleanor and her colleagues at Safi Media are on a mission to advance global gender equity by doubling the number of women entrepreneurs who scale past $1M in revenues by 2030. In addition to running Safi Media, Eleanor hosts one of the country’s top-ranked podcasts for women entrepreneurs, Power + Presence + Position. Eleanor’s work has been published or quoted in publications including The Globe & Mail, The Atlantic, CBC, Chatelaine and Readers Digest. She has spoken at conferences and events throughout Latin America, North America and Europe.

Key Links:

Website

SafiMedia

Podcast

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

Social & Website

#172 From Famous Family to Fashion Pioneer (Liz Lange) Sep 09, 2022

Show notes

Liz Lange was fresh out of college when she landed her dream job as an assistant at Vogue. With a degree in comparative literature from Brown, Lange never expected her career path to lead her into fashion design. Nevertheless, after watching her pregnant friends struggling to fit into regular clothes, she couldn’t let the need for fashionable maternity wear go by. In 1997 she reinvented herself as a designer, launching Liz Lange Maternity. Ten years later, the brand became the biggest-selling maternity line in the US. Now the Creative director and CEO of the Figue fashion brand, Lange is also the co-host of the Just-Enough Family podcast, a series in which she chronicles the rise and fall of her once-untouchable Stienberg family in 1970s New York City high society. In this conversation with Covey Club founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Lange discusses what it was like to work with Vogue Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour, how she navigated her many career reinventions, and what advice she would give to aspiring entrepreneurs

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Liz Lange is a retail and fashion pioneer. In 1997, out of a one-room office, she created Liz Lange Maternity, changing forever the face of maternity fashions. A decade later in 2007, after dressing every major pregnant celebrity, forging license deals with Nike and Target, and opening three flagship Liz Lange boutiques, Lange sold her business. She is the author of “Liz Lange’s Maternity Style: How to Look Fabulous During the Most Fashion-Challenged Time” (Random House, 2003). Lange is actively involved in many charities and is spokesperson for cervical cancer awareness. She lives in Manhattan with her 12-year old son, Gus and her 10-year old daughter, Alice.

Key Links:
Instagram
LinkedIn

The Just-Enough Family on Spotify

The Just-Enough Family on Apple

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps

02:30 - Vogue, working in fashion and pioneering maternity wear
09:45 - Acquiring FIG, a French fashion line of travel wear
11:10 - Developing her "memoir" as the Just-Enough Podcast
15:00 - Exploring the history of her famous family
20:00 - Navigating indecision in career reinvention
25:00 - Liz's advice for pursing an idea even when you don't feel supported
32:46 - Where to find Liz online

Social & Website

#171 Reinventing Yourself All Over Again From Scratch (Kathleen Smith) Sep 02, 2022

Show notes

Kathleen Smith’s first career was as a lawyer, particularly an assistant prosecutor working in juvenile justice in New Jersey’s Hudson County. Smith loved her work, but after giving birth to the second of her three children her career became overwhelming, and she gave it up to raise them. After fifteen years away from her industry, Smith found herself with no connections and no idea what to do next. Feeling stuck, she decided to reach out to other women in the same predicament for inspiration. She traveled around the country interviewing women on video, a project that grew into the lifestyle website MorphMom.com. Smith went on to teach classes and speak at conferences before launching a radio show, a podcast, and most recently a television show. Listen in to her conversation with CoveyClub founder, Lesley Jane Seymour, to learn how she handled the challenges of starting all over from scratch and mastered working from home in a post-Covid world. Smith also shares her advice for starting your own business and for avoiding the mistakes most people make when first stepping into entrepreneurship.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Kathleen Butler Smith is the founder of morphmom.com. After graduating from Holy Cross and from Georgetown Law, she served as an Assistant Prosecutor in Hudson County, New Jersey for six years. She stopped working following the birth of her second child, and later discovered that re-entering the workforce would be difficult. Kathleen quickly noticed that she was not alone and that there were, in fact, many women who found themselves in a similar position, struggling to discover their next step, be it work related, volunteer-based, or simply rediscovering their passion. She began to chronicle the inspirational stories of women (whom she named "Morphmoms") who had managed to chart their own course with the hope of helping other women do the same. Since its launch in 2012, Morphmom has become a platform to promote and to support these women and their remarkable stories. Kathleen and her husband, Jim, have three children in various stages of leaving the nest.

Key Links:

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

#170: Her Reinvention as a Writer Happened at 63 (Stephanie Raffelock) Jun 09, 2022

Show notes

For Stephanie Raffelock, reinvention runs in the family. After her parents divorced when she was four, she watched her mother constantly reinvent herself as a single woman in the ‘50s, moving across the country every year. At just 17, Raffelock dropped out of school and moved to LA, where the drug-laden culture of the ‘60s and ‘70s led to self-medicating and homelessness. A passion for writing inspired her reinvention and she became a college freshman at 35. But life intervened and it would be three decades before she wrote her first book. In her conversation with CoveyClub founder, Lesley Jane Seymour, Raffelock explains how it’s never too late to reinvent–she attended a Buddhist college, interviewed luminaries such as Allen Ginsberg, and ultimately began her publishing career at 63.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Stephanie Raffelock is the author of Creatrix Rising, Unlocking the Power of Midlife Women. (She Writes Press in August, 2021). She also penned the award winning, bestseller, A Delightful Little Book on Aging. A graduate of Naropa University’s program in Writing and Poetics, Stephanie was a contributor to The Rogue Valley Messenger, in Oregon. She’s blogged for Nexus Magazine, Omaha Lifestyles, Care2.com as well as SixtyandMe.com.

Key Links: Books by Raffelock: A Delightful Little Book on Aging on Amazon

Creatrix Rising on Amazon

Social media:

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Facebook

Instagram Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps

[00:3:02.00] Becoming a writer and working in journalism

[00:5:18.00] Struggling to work freelance and landing current job

[00:14:30.00] First book and burying stories

[00:16:06.00] Revision and reproduction

[00:19:12:00] Sexual violence and #MeToo

[00:22:02.00] The importance of telling your story

[00:29:15.00] Skills learned throughout writing life

Social & Website

#169: When an Economic Upheaval Forces You to Reinvent Your Career (Susan Schoenberger) May 27, 2022

Show notes

Susan Schoenberger always knew she wanted to be a writer. After graduating from Dartmouth with a degree in English, she launched her journalism career in newspapers. But when the market crashed in 2008, the publishing industry faltered, and Schoenberger’s career of over 30 years came to a standstill. As she applied for new work (more than 50 applications over the next 2 years), Schoenberger never gave up on her writing. Listen in to her conversation with CoveyClub founder, Lesley Jane Seymour, to learn how a personal trauma informed her stunning new novel.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Susan Shoenberger serves as Director of Communications for Hartford International University for Religion and Peace, a graduate school with an interfaith dialogue focus. Her first novel, A Watershed Year was published in 2011. She is also the author of The Virtues of Oxygen, published in July 2014 and The Liability of Love, published in July 2021.

Key Links: Susan’s novel The Liability of Love on Amazon LinkedIn Website Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps

[00:3:02.00] Becoming a writer and working in journalism

[00:5:18.00] Struggling to work freelance and landing current job

[00:14:30.00] First book and burying stories

[00:16:06.00] Revision and reproduction

[00:19:12:00] Sexual violence and #MeToo

[00:22:02.00] The importance of telling your story

[00:29:15.00] Secret skills she learned throughout her writing life that you can use

Social & Website

#168 From Nun to Fortune 500 Founder: How One Woman Overcame Her Fear of Reinvention (Ellen Snee) Apr 08, 2022

Show notes

Ellen Snee grew up in New Jersey, the oldest of five children in an Irish Catholic family. When she was 12 years old, a priest friend came to the house for dinner and gave everyone a blessing. Young Ellen then announced to her family that she wanted to become a priest when she grew up, for the opportunity to bring peace and joy to others. When her elders enlightened her to the fact that women are not allowed to become priests in the Catholic church, a young rebel was born. Snee decided instead to become a nun, discovering the Sacred Heart community while attending Fordham and going on to teach for Sacred Heart University. One of many reinventions caused her to transition to a career in women’s development, and after 18 years she left her convent. In this conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Snee recounts the reinventions of her life, including launching a Fortune 500 business, moving to California and meeting her husband, helping women claim leadership roles in the business world, and writing her book, “Lead: How Women in Charge Claim their Authority”. Learn Snee’s steps for dealing with fear of transition and how to take the leap to follow your passions.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Ellen Snee has been at the forefront of women’s leadership for more than 25 years. Dr. Snee brings strategy, research and executive experience to global companies and their top female talent. Her original research at Harvard University on women’s experience in roles of authority formed the foundation of her consulting and coaching work with Fortune 500 companies such as Cisco, Goodyear, Marriott, Pfizer and Schwab. Later, as the Global VP of Leadership Development at VMware, she launched the company’s groundbreaking business initiative, VMwomen, designed to attract, develop, advance and retain talented women. Her new book Lead: How Women in Charge Claim Their Authority makes her wisdom and experience accessible to all women seeking to accelerate their careers. Dr. Snee lives in the San Francisco Bay Area where she continues to coach and advise women leaders and executives worldwide, and frequently speaks to companies and conferences.

Time Stamps:

3:19 – Catholic family and childhood dreams

6:32 – Life changing books and female empowerment

8:52 – Starting coaching business

13:02 – Writing her book

19:20 – What the younger generations are doing right

22:28 – What you can do to get ahead

25:20 – How to lead effectively

32:50 – Coaching stories

Key Links:

Social & Website

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, please support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub.com for more inspiring conversations.

#167: Reinventing After 50 to Recover Your Life’s Passion (Jennifer Lewis McKay) Apr 01, 2022

Show notes

Jennifer McKay is no stranger to reinvention. Born and raised in New Orleans, she completed a communications degree before moving to Los Angeles and starting a twenty-year career in marketing. Later, married with children, she moved with her family back to Louisiana and a new career as a stay-at-home mom. After five years, however, McKay was restless. She knew she needed to get back to work but the idea of returning to corporate America was daunting. Her reinvention as an entrepreneur began when her sister started a direct sales company. Soon, McKay was part of the #1 skincare brand in the country, raising a team of consultants and building her own organization within the company. Listen to her conversation with Covey Club founder Lesley Jane Seymour to discover how McKay rediscovered her passion for fine art in her 50s and embraced her identity as an artist. “It’s such a personal thing to create,” McKay advises. “And it’s such a generous thing to offer for the world.”

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Jennifer McKay is a Louisiana artist currently living in Lafayette, LA. Her abstract art consists of mixed-media paintings and sculptural pieces.

Key Links:

Website

Instagram

Facebook

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps:

2:33 – Growing up in New Orleans and starting in marketing

3:20 – Stay-at-home reinvention

5:00 – Starting sales with older sister

10:48 – Working up to the top of the company

11:38 – The art of failing

13:28 – How you can balance success and stress

17:37 – Why you need a mentor

23:20 – Joy and learning

27:05 – The importance of positive self-talk

30:50 – Success at any age

#166: How to Reinvent Your Relationship to Your Children’s Education (Caitlin Meister) Mar 25, 2022

Show notes

New York City native Caitlin Meister began teaching even while she was still learning herself. A lifelong learner, she developed a passion for igniting the curiosity in young minds. Her first reinvention came when her son was born, giving her a new understanding of working with children – but as a mom. She went on to create The Greer Meister Group, a NYC-based private educational consulting and tutoring practice. And, like many of us, when Covid hit in March 2020, Meister was forced into another reinvention. She saw the loss of community that kids were experiencing and witnessed the need for connectedness in her own son. In her conversation with CoveyClub founder Lesley Jane Seymour, Meister explains how she reinvented her approach to teaching, bringing a sense of connection to children in the time of Zoom calls and quarantine. Most importantly, she shares her insights on how parents can reinvent their approach to educating their children, how you can find the “teachable moments”, and most importantly how you can foster a lifelong love of learning in your child.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Caitlin Meister is the Founding Director of The Greer Meister Group, a New York City-based private tutoring and educational consulting practice. Her interest in education began when she was young, and she began teaching children and teens while pursuing her own education. Inspired by her own educational experiences at the Little Red School House, Stuyvesant High School, and Wesleyan University, she went on to receive additional training through the Harvard Graduate School of Education and in the Orton-Gillingham approach for teaching students with language-based learning differences. Meister has extensive experience working with gifted learners and supporting neurodiverse students, and she is dedicated to a strengths-based, neurodiversity-affirming approach.

Key Links:

Website

Facebook

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe to CoveyClub for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps

02:54 - How giving birth to her first son changed her relationship to teaching

04:30 - Reinventing her personal identity as a mom

09:43 - Perserving the growth mindset in kids

11:07 - How you can foster your child-like curiosity

14:45 - Pivoting business protocols during COVID

20:45 - How to create opportunities for your children without force

26:00 - How to reduce parenting stress

Social & Website

#165: When Job Loss Leads to Understanding Your Own Story (Kate Eckman) Mar 18, 2022

Show notes

Kate Eckman assumed she’d follow the rest of her family into a medical career. Quickly, however, she realized the path wasn’t for her and she turned to journalism. Eckman’s career took her from red-carpet reporting in Hollywood to covering politics in DC, courts in Chicago, and even wildlife in Florida and Africa. When she moved to New York for a television job, Eckman was forced to reinvent–and quickly–after the job unexpectedly fell through just one week later. Being in New York City allowed Eckman, who happened to meet the physical qualifications, to begin modeling for the plus size industry, which brought her face-to-face with her own insecurities about body image. In her conversation with CoveyClub founder, Lesley Jane Seymour, Eckman explains exactly how the trajectory of her life was changed by loss and spiritual upheaval and how it finally led to her telling her story in a book.

FREE GIFT! Don’t start your reinvention without downloading CoveyClub’s starter guide called “31 Badass Tips for Launching Your Reinvention Without Fear!”

Bio:

Kate Eckman empowers high-achieving individuals to actualize their full potential. She leverages her experience as a well-known communications, performance and mindfulness expert, accomplished entrepreneur, and elite athlete to equip leaders with the tools, methodology, and energetic boost they need to excel at the game of life.

Key Links:

Website

Full Spirit Workout Website

Full Spirit Workout on Amazon

Social media:

Twitter

Instagram

Facebook

Join CoveyClub: If you like what you hear, you can support the CoveyCast podcast with a five-star rating, and subscribe for more inspiring conversations.

Time Stamps

5:17 - Growing up, going to Penn State, starting her journalism career

7:10 - Moving to New York

7:48 - Modeling, body image struggles, and beginning to write more vulnerably

8:20 - Losing two people to suicide and focusing on public speaking

11:09 - Writing Full Spirit Workout

15:20 – Why questioning who you are is a good thing

22:00 – Normalizing losing a job as an opportunity to grow

29:12 – Kate's tips for mitigating judgment

Social & Website

CoveyClub website

Facebook