Last week I spoke at a conference called Re-Branding You, sponsored by NYU’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies and organized beautifully by P&V Enterprises and Events by Ny. The conference was aimed at people who are looking to change careers or positions as the economy shifts. I met a lot of highly motivated, forward-looking people who aren’t sitting still while change and opportunity present themselves. One of the innovative aspects of the conference was a “speed-coaching” area. Attendees were given the opportunity to meet for 15 minutes with a number of professional coaches. I met with about a dozen people throughout the day between conference sessions.
One meeting, which was fairly typical, was with a young woman who had been recently laid off from a position at a New York bank. She didn’t have a clear idea of what to do next. Turns out she graduated from a major New York music school 10 years ago as an accomplished French horn player. She also teaches music to several students on the side. A little further into our conversation I learned that she loves to teach music and is passionate about it. Ahe really started smiling and her eyes and facial expression became much more animated the more we talked about music and the less we talked about banking. And….get this….she successfully teaches dyslexic children how to read and play music. Wow! I asked her whether she would love doing more of that and getting paid really well for it, versus working in a bank. She practically jumped out of her chair! Slowly, she described a plan to position herself as a private music instructor for special-needs (not just dyslexic) children, and that she would target the Manhattan private school market as a start. One person, one potential entrepreneur, re-branded.
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