Highlights of My 15 Years in Business

Today I celebrate the 15th anniversary of the day I officially started Charésumé, LLC (dba Epic Careering.)

I clearly remember the Memorial Day weekend right before my business launched. I fasted and cleaned and organized my office to prepare my mind, my body, and my physical space for a new beginning. That beginning has led to many other beginnings over the past 15 years. It hasn’t all been easy, but it’s been fulfilling and made a difference in many lives.

The #1 highlight has always been my clients. There have been so many amazing clients I have gotten to coach, but also to learn from – how they succeeded, how they overcame challenges, how they influenced change, what they had to endure. Along with my helping them, there have been many professional redemption stories – clients who realized their potential, found a new professional home, and thrived financially and personally because they were nurtured in being their whole selves, inside and outside work hours.

While my clients reached new professional heights, somehow, I managed to keep my business going through two pregnancies, births, 4 years of breastfeeding, and 5 years of either no school for my kids or half-day school.

Other highlights include:

• Additional publications on Philly.com, ReadersDigest.com, and CPAJournal
• Working with Tracy Davidson of NBC10 on her Jump Start events, doing LinkedIn training, and being interviewed at the studio for a segment
• Many radio interviews and podcast features
• Being Professor Huller, teaching and inspiring tomorrow’s leaders to follow their dreams
• Drexel University’s recognition as a published faculty member for Laser-Sharp Career Focus: Pinpoint your Purpose and Passion in 30 days
• Winning a Feedspot top 100 Career Blog award
• Three years of YEA Philadelphia students who learned how to start a business, some of which still prosper today!
• Winning 2nd place with my StockJock team at Philly Startup Weekend (Adam, Anas, John, John’s friend)
• Growing into Corporate training and State (DE) training
• Founding and co-managing the C3 Community on LinkedIn, engaging the awesome Lawrence Henderson as my partner

My clients have been from:

• Comcast
• UPenn
• IBX
• GSK
• QVC
• TD Bank
• ICON
• SAP
• ADP
• Oracle
• GE
• GM
• Qlik
• IBM
• eBay
• Honeywell
• J&J (& subsidiaries)
• Aramark
• Quest Diagnostics

I have spoken at/for:

The PA Conference for Women, GVFHRA (local SHRM chapter), Philadelphia Great Careers Group, Jump Start Your Job Search, Black Data Processors Association, ChemPharma, AichE, FENG, TPNG (where I was also co-chair for 2 years.)

I have been mentored by:

Ford Myers, Ed Callahan, Jon Wagner, and Dr. Dawn Francis.

I have developed the following programs/inventions:

• Jack Shipley helped me gamify the Accelerfate Career Campaign tool
• Jedi and the team at OpenForge, after a successful crowdfunding campaign with 76 lenders, helped me turn Accelerfate into a mobile game prototype
• Wharton MBA students who helped develop the prototype for an Online Executive Branding tool
• The Corporate Consciousness Ripple Blueprint was a 3-year labor of love that took all of my years of learning and experience to curate and develop with various coaches helping me along the way with content, curriculum, format, media, marketing, and enrollment – This is the future of my practice and the very best thing I have created thus far to make a lasting difference in this world

I have invested in studying under …

• Jay Block
• Lisa Nichols
• Vishen Lakhiani
• John Assaraf
• Christian Michelson
• Bill Walsh
• Tad James
• Michael Stevenson
• Leah Agami
• David Key
• Harv Eker
• Brendan Bouchard
• Carol Tuttle
• Anodea Judith
• Christie Marie Sheldon
• Chad and Holly Ockstadt
• Eben Pagan
• Terry Levine
• José Silva

I would like to thank the talent who have supported me and my mission over the years, my interns and assistants – MaryKate Sullivan, Heidi Jenkins, Angela Mosely, MJ Concetta, and my current virtual assistant, Cynthia Harder, who has been with me for over a year and a half now.

A couple of other people who made these highlights possible are my mother-in-law, who came weekly to watch the kids while I commuted to the city to teach, and my mom also helped watch the girls while I attended conferences and earned certifications. I’d like to give a shout-out to all my kids’ caretakers who made it possible for me to be my best for my clients: Betsy Czarkowski, Elissa Salamy, Emily Vandergeest, Jenna Bednar, and Kait Brennan.

All of these people and experiences have brought me here today, and I absolutely must give major props to my husband, Tim, for supporting me emotionally, financially, and physically. He doesn’t understand the ins and outs of what I do, but he knows I love it, and he knows I’m good at it, and he has total faith in me, and that means everything, especially when I lose faith in myself.

If you are reading this to the very end, thank YOU! I don’t often hear from the people who follow me, but from time to time someone lets me know that what I am putting out into the world weekly is making a difference for them, and just to know that the time and care I put into this weekly effort is reaching other people is enough reinforcement for me to continue to do so.

Thank you all for an amazing 15 years, and here’s to the next 15 years. I look forward to more conscious co-creation.

Karen Huller, author of Laser-sharp Career Focus: Pinpoint your Purpose and Passion in 30 Days (bit.ly/GetFocusIn30), is founder of Epic Careering, a 13-year-old leadership and career development firm specializing in executive branding and conscious culture, as well as JoMo Rising, LLC, a workflow gamification company that turns work into productive play. 

While the bulk of her 20 years of professional experience has been within the recruiting and employment industry, her publications, presentations, and coaching also draw from experience in personal development, performance, broadcasting, marketing, and sales. 

Karen was one of the first LinkedIn trainers and is known widely for her ability to identify and develop new trends in hiring and careering. She is a Certified Professional Résumé Writer, Certified Career Transition Consultant, and Certified Clinical Hypnotherapist with a Bachelor of Art in Communication Studies and Theater from Ursinus College and a minor in Creative Writing. Her blog was recognized as a top 100 career blog worldwide by Feedspot. 

She is an Adjunct Professor in Cabrini University's Communications Department and previously was an Adjunct Professor of Career Management and Professional Development at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business She is also an Instructor for the Young Entrepreneurs Academy where some of her students won the 2018 national competition, were named America’s Next Top Young Entrepreneurs, and won the 2019 People’s Choice Award.