Careeer-1

For the last 10 years Tiffany Estrella has been grinding away in the fashion industry. Her career has taken her from the Dominican Republic to New York City before finally leading her to Los Angeles. In all, Tiffany invested 16 years in fashion—far from a small investment.

Like many people who devote that much time dedicated to one thing, Tiffany started to lose interest. For the last couple of years, it became a back-and-forth mental battle about what to do. It wasn’t until last year that she realized it was high time to make a change.

By a bit of luck, or perhaps fate, Tiffany found herself tasked with the job of leading a makeover for her company website. It was an entirely new assignment for her but while working on the site, she discovered a new interest–web design. The work allowed her to get creative, an element she enjoyed in fashion. Plus, she could toy around with technology while interacting with people. That experience nudged Tiffany towards the idea of leaving fashion behind for greener pastures, and eventually she formed a new plan–pursue a career in UX and web design.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, that isn’t a shabby plan. By 2024, web developers are expected to see a 27% job increase, which is far above the national average of all other occupations. The pay isn’t bad either—currently around $65,000 a year.

At first, Tiffany tried to navigate the transition herself, however, she quickly realized that despite the large amount of online resources available, it was far too overwhelming and the language was confusing. She needed help. Over and over she kept asking herself, “What do I do?”

It was that exact question that served as the catalyst for the creation of Careeer.

Anya Iverova, Careeer’s Founder & CEO, has an extensive background in both educational advising and technology. While in college she worked in her university’s career services office. After college, she held jobs at educational institutions, startups, non-profits and for-profit companies. In those roles, she provided career direction and guidance for individuals ranging from corporate clients attempting to obtain their MBA to students looking to shift into entirely new fields of work.

Anya caught on to similar trends with these people. “I noticed that in their transition, people lacked accountability, lacked expert direction, and lacked objective resources. Over and over I kept being asked, ‘What do I do?'”

The question found an answer—Careeer.

Careeer’s mission is to prepare people for the future of work, specifically by transitioning them into technology careers. Anya and her team accomplish this by assessing their client’s skills, measuring their human potential, and providing coaching services to accelerate the progression.

To begin the process, a client is matched with a Careeer coach for a one-on-one assessment. Together they evaluate the client’s current skills and determine any skills gaps that stand between where the client is now and their desired job. Other factors include the client’s budget, schedule and timeline.

After the assessment, the coach will create a custom education plan and road map. The road map oftentimes involves courses, boot camps or workshops from companies like General Assembly, Coursera, Design Lab, Udacity, Springboard and others. The Careeer coach aids with any applications necessary. Once the client is enrolled, it’s continual support all the way until job placement.

Anya (L) pictured with Tiffany. (Jay Tipton)

Tiffany began working with Careeer in the fall of 2016. Admittedly, she wasn’t too stoked about the idea of going back to school and taking courses, but once she got her feet wet she started to enjoy it. For her, the biggest help has been the tailored curriculum and the accountability provided by her coach. With distractions from her current job and social life, weekly check-ins keep her on track and motivated. She also benefits from the mock interviews that are orchestrated by her coach. Tiffany is currently finishing up her courses and with the help of her coach, has optimistically begun the job hunt.

Making the decision to pursue a new career can be intimidating but, as Careeer demonstrates, with the proper help and guidance the process and end result can be very fulfilling.

If you live in Los Angeles and are considering a career in technology, visit Careeer’s website to learn more about their services and how their enthusiastic team might be able to help you.

Dana Beth Ardi

Executive Committee

Dana Beth Ardi, PhD, Executive Committee, is a thought leader and expert in the fields of executive search, talent management, organizational design, assessment, leadership and coaching. As an innovator in the human capital movement, Ardi creates enhanced value in companies by matching the most sought after talent with the best opportunities. Ardi coaches boards and investors on the art and science of building high caliber management teams. She provides them with the necessary skills to seek out and attract top-level management, to design the ideal organizational architectures and to deploy people against strategy. Ardi unearths the way a business works and the most effective way for people to work in them.

Ardi is an experienced business executive and senior consultant who leverages business organizational transformation through talent strategies. She uses her knowledge and experience to develop talent strategies to enhance revenue and profit contributions. She has a deep expertise in change management and organizational effectiveness and has designed and built high performance cultures. Ardi has significant experience in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, IPO’s and turnarounds.

Ardi is an expert on the multi-generational workforce. She understands the four intersecting generations of workers coming together in contemporary companies, each with their own mindsets, leadership and communications styles, values and motivations. Ardi is sought after to assist companies manage and thrive by bringing the generations together. Her book, Fall of the Alphas: How Beta Leaders Win Through Connection, Collaboration and Influence, will be published by St. Martin’s Press. The book reflects Ardi’s deep expertise in understanding organizations and our changing society. It focuses on building a winning culture, how companies must grow and evolve, and how talent influences and shapes communities of work. This is what she has coined “Corporate Anthropology.” It is a playbook on how modern companies must meet challenges – culturally, globally, digitally, across genders and generations.

Ardi is currently the Managing Director and Founder of Corporate Anthropology Advisors, LLC, a consulting company that provides human capital advisory and innovative solutions to companies building value through people. Corporate Anthropology works with organizations, their cultures, the way they grow and develop, and the people who are responsible for forming their communities of work.

Prior to her position at Corporate Anthropology Advisors, Ardi served as a Partner/Managing Director at the private equity firms CCMP Capital and JPMorgan Partners. She was a partner at Flatiron Partners, a venture capital firm working with early state companies where she pioneered the human capital role within an investment portfolio.

Ardi holds a BS from the State University of New York at Buffalo as well as a Masters degree and PhD from Boston College. She started her career as professor at the Graduate Center at Fordham University in New York.