CLIENT PROFILE: Transformations Coaching & Consulting
“Thank you, ten times over, for all the work you donated to creating our Giving Tuesday campaign. I can’t fully express my gratitude. I would never have attempted a campaign like that on my own. Now that I see how it’s done and I have the graphics I can repurpose, I’m certain I’ll do it again in the future. The Powerhouse team is terrific! I’m so glad to work with you professionally. I’m so very grateful for our partnership. Together we make a difference for women and families in need.”
– Jennifer Hacker, Founder and CEO, Transformations Coaching & Consulting, The Center for Help & Hope
Transformations Coaching & Consulting is the brainchild of founder Jennifer Hacker. Having experienced profound grief and the ways it can derail your life, Jennifer took her 20+ years of experience in the business world, combined it with her training and certification as a life coach and grief specialist, and transformed her career into one centered on helping women and families in need navigate through their grief and “move forward without moving on.” Her flagship coaching program helps individuals dealing with loss heal and embrace life without needing to let go of their loved one.
GIVING BACK & GETTING INVOLVED
Overcoming Barriers – Babs Sefiane and Life’sWork
By: Meredith Flory
Business growth can come in a variety of ways. An organization can grow larger in number of employees as its client base increases, or it may offer more services or products and expand its mission. Businesses may grow into new territories or simply have the means to invest back into their employees, operations, and community.
Life’sWork of Western PA is a longstanding nonprofit that focuses on helping people overcome barriers to employment, such as physical and mental disabilities, substance abuse, or family crises. Babs Sefiane is their chief development officer, working with clients, businesses, and the community in all aspects of business growth.
Babs has worked at Life’sWork for over five years, but prior to that she had 20 years of employment success in the energy industry. Then she decided she wanted a change in her career. She says, “I knew I wanted to give back, but I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do; and then when I came in and toured Life’sWork, I was like, this is the perfect fit.”
She has a unique and personal perspective on the work they do. Babs shared how years ago she was in a car wreck, facing major injuries and a long recovery period. She says, “It gave me that personal connection that I realized at any point, I could have been an individual that was receiving services here at Life’sWork.”
LEADERSHIP SPOTLIGHT
Megan Biddix—Event Facilitator Extraordinaire
By: Heatherlynn Akins
When Megan Biddix first joined West Monroe five years ago, she came from a varied professional background. Having worked for an international travel company just out of college, where she paired leadership with teams, Megan also spent time as a teacher and coordinated events for the leading foster care provider in Illinois before landing at West Monroe. Though she started with internal events facilitation at West Monroe, she quickly transitioned to marketing and working with top-level clients coordinating, strategizing, and executing different styles of events, including West Monroe’s annual marquee events.
West Monroe is a national management and technology consulting firm headquartered in Chicago that helps clients “adopt, adapt, and use digital technologies differently and more effectively as it relates to what really matters within their specific industry.” Unlike other firms, they bring together multidisciplinary experts who have experience working together to deliver solutions for their clients. Megan is aligned to the Chicago headquarters of West Monroe, where she works to ensure high-quality, highly effective client-facing events are planned and executed.
West Monroe makes Megan feel like a valued member of the team, with keen insight into how to provide career equity, professional growth, and rewarding connections. “It’s exciting to be onsite with clients,” Megan says. “It’s personally rewarding to know you’ve created a seamless event for someone to simply arrive and enjoy, especially if you’ve created a space for busy people to leave feeling refreshed, educated, and connected.”
Empowering the Homefront
Our Empowering the Homefront pilot program is here! Designed to empower and provide career support to military spouses, the program offers career kick-start prizes, including free resume makeovers and other career tools and support. Winners will be announced throughout 2023, so be sure to check out our Empowering the Homefront web page and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn throughout the year for more information and exciting opportunities.
Did You Know?
Event facilitators can wear many hats. From moderating meetings to planning grand-scale client events, the best facilitators know that each day brings unique challenges and opportunities that require a great deal of patience and flexibility. Working to bring another’s vision to life means having confidence in your ability to communicate effectively and the impartiality to creatively realize someone else’s dream.
The best event facilitators imbue confidence, curiosity, humility, and flexibility, especially when working with diverse clientele. Every small business needs to host some type of event, whether it’s an office meeting, charity event, conference, or just participation in a convention or trade show. If your business needs to plan an event, and you know that it’s not in your wheelhouse, Powerhouse Planning can help. We have experts on hand who can help you plan and execute your best event ever. To find out how we can bring your event facilitation vision to life, check out our website or contact us today.
MARKETING BUZZ
Social Media Tips & Tricks for a Successful Event
By: Julie Clark
Event organizers put a ton of thought and work into planning and preparing events: speakers, sponsors, venue, amenities, entertainment, and more. Whether virtual or in person, what can make or break even the most well-planned event? Attendance!
Creating a social media strategy to market your event is a must, and the quality and effectiveness of that plan can not only boost interest in attendance, but it can also attract sponsors, speakers, and the media.
Here are some easy-to-implement tips and ideas for your event’s social media marketing strategy.
Generate a buzz with hashtags. Hashtags will help you boost traffic to your event web page, create memorable branding and awareness, and help you tap into the communities and audiences you seek to attract for your event. Hootsuite has a helpful hashtags guide that will help you choose one perfect for your business and event.
