Jerri Rosen, CEO/ Founder Working Wardrobes, joins me Monday at 9:30am!

If you missed Jerri Rosen on today's show, you can hear our entire conversation here.

ABOUT WORKING WARDROBES
Twenty three years after it was conceived, Working Wardrobes is going strong and looking forward to many more years of ensuring great success for its clients. We are committed to helping men, women, veterans and young adults emerging from life crises re-enter the workforce with career development and wardrobe services.

In 1990, Jerri Rosen, now CEO, and five friends were disturbed by the growing statistics of domestic violence. The group set out on a mission to help those in need. Intending to last for only one year, they gathered clothing and accessories, stored them in Jerri’s office, and held the first-ever Day of Self-EsteemTM. Serving 67 women from six shelters, the event was a life-changing experience - the first effort of this kind in Orange County- and the foundation on which Working Wardrobes is based.

A few years later Jerri introduced an idea to expand the base of clients served by Working Wardrobes. Her idea was to help men, as well as women, reclaim their dignity and return to work. In 1997, a partnership with George Zimmer and the Men’s Wearhouse took Working Wardrobes to a new level with the introduction of a Men’s Day of Self-Esteem. Now women and men could receive a helping hand as they emerged from addiction recovery centers, prison re-entry services and CalWorks programs.

In 2000, Working Wardrobes expanded its client base again, this time reaching out to emancipating and at-risk youth. The goal was to encourage young adults along a positive educational and career path, helping them recognize and avoid the pitfalls that lead to unemployment and poverty. A separate Day of Self-Esteem was held, and an extensive series of life and career skills workshops were developed that included goal-setting, career coaching and presentation skills.

Two years later, a Cinderellas for Life event was added to the lineup to help young ladies from low-income families prepare for prom. After seeing the impact made in the young ladies lives, Working Wardrobes wanted to serve young men as well. In 2011, Working Wardrobes created Dream Girls and Distinguished Gentlemen to provide prom dresses and tuxedos, along with all of the necessary accessories, to young ladies and gentlemen from low-income families. The event also helps teens plan for the future with workshops on etiquette, self-esteem and goal setting. In addition to helping participating teens, Dream Girls and Distinguished Gentlemen provides a lifetime of memories for hundreds of volunteers. Remaining dresses are donated to female Marines and military wives so they can attend the annual U.S. Marine Corps Ball at Camp Pendleton.

Another inventive aspect of Working Wardrobes is its ability and resources to help veterans reintegrate back into civilian life. Although the organization has been serving veterans for eight years, in 2011 it expanded the scope of services it provides to veterans by creating VetNet, a safety net for veterans. From outreach to enrollment and through job training, placement and follow-up, VetNet uses an integrated case management approach to directly link clients to supportive services available through the partnerships.

Today, Working Wardrobes is located in Costa Mesa, California in a facility that houses its administrative offices, Career Center and Donation Center. With the expansion of services and support, Working Wardrobes helps 5,000 men and women re-enter the workforce each year. Days of Self-Esteem and Success Graduations for women and for men continue to be exciting annual events that draw hundreds of volunteers who often find many other ways to support the organization. The Career Center provides vital services on a daily basis. Here, clients receive access to a nationally-recognized customer service certification program, career and life-skills workshops, a full-service computer lab to post resumes, career assessments and online job searches, as well as access to wardrobe services. Working Wardrobes has also expanded its enterprise to include two upscale boutiques and two thrift shops. All of the proceeds from these stores benefit the clients served by Working Wardrobes and allow clients to get on the job customer service training.

Working Wardrobes owes much gratitude to the Board of Directors, The SMART Women giving circle, generous corporate and individual donors, and the thousands of volunteers that have made success possible.

A few of the corporations that have helped Working Wardrobes along the way are:


Autobytel

BDS Marketing

The Boeing Company

Cookie Lee Jewelry

Cox Communications

Darden Restaurants

Decision Toolbox

dgWB

Disney Resort

FedEx

Knobbe Martens Olson & Bear LLP

Kyonna

Lennar

Men’s Wearhouse

Miss Professional Nail

PIMCO

Bonnie Toth Advertising and Desig

Union Bank

UPS

US Bank

Vons

Wet Seal


Working Wardrobes has made a difference in nearly 65,000 clients’ lives and many more thousands of volunteer lives and will continue to do so well into the future. The Career Center in Costa Mesa is open for tours Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. Please contact Megan Harless, VP Business Development at meganh@workingwardrobes.org to schedule a tour.

For more information, please visit www.workingwardrobes.org

www.facebook.com/workingwardrobes
www.twitter.com/workingwardrobe

Accomplished singer, songwriter, percussionist and engaging front woman Stacy Robin joins me at 9am pst on Get the FUNK Out!

If you missed Stacy on today's show, you can hear our conversation here.

TUNE in this Monday August 12th, when I chat with special guest Stacy Robin! We'll be chatting about her latest CD, listening to a few tracks, and finding out how she continues to juggle career, motherhood and a drive to create inspiring music (her latest CD is the BOMB!).

Accomplished singer, songwriter, percussionist and engaging front woman Stacy Robin creates a colorful musical palette with a fusion of pop, rock, folk & world music, lush vocals and intimate lyrical style. Her music takes you on a journey from playful odes to painful laments, from infectious hooks to deep introspection, and touches every emotion in between.

Stacy’s songs been heard on TV and film including the movie “The Stranger Beside Me” starring Mark Harmon, the CBS drama “The Unit” and TV ads for Gateway Computers and Toyota as well as radio ads for Wal-Mart. She has also donated the use of her music to non-profit organizations such as Step-Up Women's Network, Americans for Medical Progress, and Cedars-Sinai.

Get ready for a powerhouse show Monday morning with special guest Julia Pimsleur!

If you missed today's show with Julia Pimsleur, listen to the entire conversation here.

ABOUT Julia Pimsleur

Julia created a company called Little Pim for her own two boys and out of a desire to democratize language learning for kids. All children deserve the benefits of being multi-lingual in today’s global economy and Little Pim makes that fun, easy and affordable. Little Pim is one of the few women-run businesses backed by venture capital in the country, with an expanding international footprint. The company’s mission is to transform how children learn languages. The series has won 25+ awards for its proprietary Entertainment Immersion Method® and can be found at Toys R Us, Barnes & Noble, on Leapfrog tablets, in iTunes, Nook and other digital devices.

Julia is dedicated to helping women entrepreneurs get further faster. Her personal motto is “Fortes fortuna juvat” (fortune favors the brave), a message she is taking to women across America through her blog and workshops about raising angel and venture capital. Julia is helping hundreds of women entrepreneurs access capital via her Double Digit Academy quarterly boot camp (www.doubledigitacademy.com).

Prior to founding Little Pim, Julia was the co-founder and CEO of a film production company, which produced social justice documentaries sold to HBO, Cinemax Reellife and PBS. Julia’s dedication to social change took the form of fundraising as well as filmmaking, and she drove $20M in contributions to international human rights organizations. Julia is an award-winning filmmaker who grew up in the language teaching business, as the daughter of language teaching pioneer, Dr. Paul Pimsleur.

Julia currently serves on the Advisory Board of Global Language Project, a nonprofit which brings free foreign language instruction to kids in disadvantaged public schools, and as Communications Chair of Entrepreneurs’ Organization (EO). Julia earned her B.A. from Yale University, an M.F.A from the French National Film School in Paris and attended Harvard’s Executive Education Program. She lives in Manhattan with her husband and two young boys.

Past speaking engagements include: Stanford University, Yale University, NYU Stern Business School and Women Entrepreneurs Festival.

Julia is a regular contributor to the Forbes Entrepreneur section and has been featured on TODAY, NBC Weekend Today, Fox News, in Business Week, Wall Street Journal, New York Times and Daily Shot with Ali Wentworth. You can follow her at @juliapimsleur.

Nora Gallagher, an American writer of memoir, fiction and essays joins me today on Get the FUNK Out!

If you missed Nora on today's show, listen to this inspiring conversation here.

Nora Gallagher is an American writer of memoir, fiction and essays whose work, as one reviewer put it,” is renewing the language of ultimate concerns.” Her most recent book, Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic, is a memoir that explores her experience with a baffling affliction poised to take her sight. A map of illness, uncertainty, and faith that is both meditative and highly relatable for anyone who has experienced life-threatening illness or supported a loved one who has, Moonlight Sonata will be published by Alfred A. Knopf on May 21, 2013. For media inquiries, contact Elizabeth Lindsay. For speaking engagements, contact Elaine Trevorrow . Pre-order Moonlight Sonata.

Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic is part three of a quartet on modern faith as it is lived out. The quartet begins with Things Seen and Unseen: A Year Lived in Faith published by Knopf in 1998. Followed by Practicing Resurrection: A Memoir of Work, Doubt, Discernment, and Moments of Grace. Things Seen and Unseen was a bestseller and a finalist in the Spiritual category of the 1998 Books for a Better Life Awards. An excerpt was a finalist for Best Spiritual Essays.

Gallagher’s novel Changing Light was well-reviewed in the New York Times and other publications. It was chosen by the Times as an Editor’s Choice.

Gallagher learned writing on the ground in San Francisco as a stringer for TIME Magazine where she covered the Patricia Hearst trial, the Moscone and Milk assassinations, the Dan White trial and subsequent riots and the AIDs crisis. Later, she worked for Life Magazine and free-lanced, traveling to countries where she was interested in how people were living in the shadow of large events. She reported on families in Prague, just after the Velvet Revolution and the strange case of Jan Kavan, a dissident accused of collaboration. In Nicaragua during the Sandinista regime, she wrote about daily life, including a production of “Waiting for Lefty” at the National Theater.

Her essays, book reviews and journalism have appeared in many publications including The New York Times Magazine,DoubleTake, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times Magazine, Utne Reader, The Village Voice, Mother Jones, The Los Angeles Times and the Psychotherapy Networker.

Gallagher is a popular speaker having given talks at Yale University, UC-Berkeley, Stanford University, and Washington’s National Cathedral. For appearance and lecture inquiries, please contact Elaine Trevorrow or visit the Random House Speakers Bureau.

Gallagher was invited to enter seminary to become an Episcopal priest but finally decided to remain a layperson. She is preacher-in-residence at Trinity Episcopal Church, Santa Barbara and has given sermons in faith communities nationwide, including St. Mark’s Cathedral, Seattle, St. Paul’s Cathedral San Diego and Stanford University's Memorial Church. She has lectured on writing and taught writing workshops at Yale Divinity School and the Festival of Homiletics as well as at other institutions with grants from the Louisville Institute.

Nora Gallagher has given readings at bookstores across the country including: Elliott Bay Books, Seattle; Bainbridge Island’s Eagle Harbor and Book Passage, Corte Madera and appeared on panels at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

She was born in New Mexico, the daughter of Julie Walcott Gallagher, who taught herself architecture, and David Gallagher, who learned the law at Yale Law School and in practice. She was educated at St. John’s College, where she studied the Great Books of the Western World.

She is the editor of the award-winning Notes from the Field, published by Chronicle Books, 1999. A sermon is collected inSermons that Work and a poem in the anthology, September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond. Among her honors are a Penny-Missouri journalism award and fellowships at both the MacDowell Colony and Blue Mountain Center.

Her interests include the quest for meaning in our lives, how vulnerability connects us, the rights of patients, and breaking out of one’s religious tradition while maintaining integrity.

She sits on the advisory board of the Yale Divinity School. She is represented by Philippa Brophy, president of Sterling Lord Literistic, New York.

She lives with her husband, the writer Vincent Stanley, in Santa Barbara, California.

Author Nora Gallagher joins me to talk about her book Moonlight Sonata at the Mayo Clinic

My first camp experience filled with frogs and something kind of odd under my bunk!

Summertime brings back great camp memories. Born and raised on the east coast, I had my first camp experience at age 8...sleep away for seven weeks. I was a major tomboy, so I loved the whole camp experience, and quickly found a new hobby...looking for frogs under my cabin. I would wedge my body under the cabin and dig around, collecting all the frogs I could find. But one day, I found something white poking out from under the dirt. I dug around it and reached into the ground to pull out...a skeleton bone. Of course, being 8, I thought it was a dinosaur bone! The camp director was less than thrilled when I ran up to him during a tour and shouted, "HEY!! LOOK WHAT I FOUND UNDER MY BUNK!"

Sometimes, you find yourself...