Brenda starts a new career following Path to Employment mentorship

Over the summer, Brenda was introduced to our organization through a family self-sufficiency program. Shortly thereafter, she joined our Path to Employment program where she was matched with her mentor, Emily. As a mother, grandmother, and breast cancer survivor who is now four years in remission, Brenda was looking to get back into the workforce as a customer service representative.

Brenda shared about her experience including how supportive and helpful Emily was throughout the six week process. She comments that the two immediately clicked and would do weekly virtual check-ins to see how Brenda’s job search was going and this personalized experience really made an impact on her job search. By the end of the six week period, Brenda secured employment as a cashier at Academy where she is hoping to grow into a management role!

Brenda mentioned that her experience as a customer service and City of Austin contractor for Austin Energy fueled her skills, but her time with Emily applied those skills to a role in the retail industry. Her path to employment proved to be a success thanks to several mock interview sessions with Emily that got her hired on the spot.

Brenda says she really spoke it into existence after graduating from our program because she had all the resources and guidance she needed to pursue her next career without any doubts. At the start of the program, she was pursuing another role at a company that no longer operates which validated her current role and where she was meant to be. “Everything happens for a reason,” Brenda says.

Originally from Michigan, she hopes to one day move back home to be closer to family and now has the ability to do this without impacting her career given that Academy has stores worldwide. Brenda shares that she feels really good about where her career is headed and even better about her newfound mentorship and friendship with Emily who is always just a call or email away.

Now that she’s employed, she plans to stay busy with work and utilize her time at Academy to get out of a funk that was largely impacted by the pandemic. Brenda recommends the Path to Employment program because of its easy, streamlined method for finding employment and the ability for job seekers to be matched with a dedicated mentor who is along for support every step of the way.

She also credits Dress for Success for their resources outside of career coaching and mentorship including access to utility assistance and other resources like gas cards that are provided for working women like herself that help care for other family members.

“It really works,” Brenda shares. “I’m looking forward to growing in this career and seeing where it goes from here.”