By Molly Wylie
A UMass Boston graduate student shares career lessons she’s learned by interviewing leaders in the field of aging services for The Mentor’s Voice podcast.
Melissa Andrews, president and CEO of LeadingAge Virginia, told me recently that certain influential people make up the “kitchen cabinet” of our professional lives. These people, through formative acts of guidance and inspiration, propel us into our careers.
Thanks to “The Mentor’s Voice” podcast from LeadingAge, my kitchen cabinet is now filled with seven thoughtful leaders in the field of aging services.
I met all of these leaders while hosting installments of the new podcast, which lets students currently pursuing aging-related degrees and careers listen to the wisdom of professionals in the field of aging services and also ask the questions.
My interviews with these leaders came at a perfect time for me. I’m a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Gerontology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston who is close to starting a dissertation and launching a career search. Fortunately, I’ve learned many lessons from my growing kitchen cabinet—lessons that I will carry into the next leg of my academic and professional journey.
My favorite question to ask on “The Mentor’s Voice” is, “How did your educational and professional paths lead you to your current role?”
I, like many of my classmates, am pursuing a research degree without a definitive picture of what my job out of school will look like. Some of my classmates aspire to be professors. Others are not convinced the academic track is for them, and envision a career conducting research in places like advocacy organizations, think tanks, government agencies, and private firms. Some of us are intrigued by the implementation of aging services, and could see ourselves leading nonprofit senior living communities.
For me, the “perfect” job might combine a little of everything. While I revel in asking empirical and systematic research questions, I don’t want to sacrifice hands-on work with older adults and community programs. With a bachelor’s in psychology, work experience as a case manager and supportive housing coordinator, and a soon-to-be-acquired PhD in Gerontology, what can—and should—my career look like?
When I asked the mentors how their education and work experience led them to their current role, I secretly hoped their paths were winding. I wanted to know that C-suite executives in nonprofit aging service organizations come from a myriad of backgrounds, both personally and professionally. I wanted to validate the notion that my experience, too, could lead me to a leadership role like theirs if I really wanted one.
I was pleasantly surprised to find that no two mentors’ paths were the same, and many mentors had rather unconventional ways of ending up in aging services. Most of the mentors I interviewed didn’t know they would end up in aging services, or even in health care. There was no perfect lock-and-key fit between undergraduate degree and career trajectory. Some of the mentors were nurses by trade, others social workers and lawyers.
Julie Thoron, president and CEO of Friendship Haven in Fort Dodge, IA, started out with an interest in journalism and a bachelor’s degree in broadcast news before taking a job as a part-time social worker in a local nursing home.
Lou Woolf, president and CEO of Hebrew Senior Life in Boston, MA, began his career marketing packaged goods for both adults and children. This experience helped him understand the importance of providing consumer-driven care and recognizing the full intellectual capacity of individuals at either end of the lifespan.
Manny Ocasio, chief human resources and compliance officer at Asbury Communities, explained that he was unaware of his commitment to health care until he witnessed the powerful human connection between three nurse leaders and a newborn baby in an acute-care hospital. Ocasio describes himself as one of those students who always took the side route, who pursued every single option before reaching a final destination.
Melissa Andrews fell in love with art history in high school and was determined to find a museum or gallery job in New York City. Little did she know that a newspaper advertisement for an assistant curator position would lead her to a job bringing art to the assisted living community at The Hebrew Home at Riverdale. This community is part of RiverSpring Health, the organization where her mentor, Dan Reingold, now serves as president and CEO.
During his own interview on “The Mentor’s Voice,” Reingold used a Quaker expression to sum up the career journey: “Follow the path as it unfolds before you.”
This may just be the best—and most succinct—advice for emerging professionals in the field of aging services.
Molly Wylie is a third-year Ph.D. student in the Department of Gerontology at UMass Boston.