A Career that Soars! is an online career platform for ambitious women leaders at @every level. Building on decades of experience delivering services to corporations, the platform was established by Susan Colantuono and Michelle Redfern in 2019.
Our mission is to provide more women, in more workplaces, across the globe, access to leadership and career development experiences that they may not otherwise be able to access.
With actionable and proven content specific to your level and career stage, A Career that Soars! is the place for you to:
AND if you want to:
...then don't bypass our global network of businesswomen who have the potential to become your personal board of career advisors.
We have designed A Career that Soars! as a supportive, private and distraction-free space to help women become more capable, confident and inspiring leaders today in order to grow in their careers tomorrow. (We're not FB, so you won't see uncurated research on women, political rants or baby photos!)
If your employer offers a women's network and/or leadership development programs for women, please leverage them or ask us about our Corporate Membership Packages.
If you're an entrepreneur or self-employed, e.g. a coach, speaker, author, etc., we invite you to check out What Works, One Roof or other networks specific to the entrepreneur's journey.
With targeted topics (similar to hashtags on social media) we make it easy for you to address leadership and career challenges by connecting with women who share your interests and experiences, industry, profession, learning goals and even physical location.
We also curate content through our subgroups based on major career stages such as the...
Emerging Leaders Circle if you are moving into early leadership roles; (like a supervisor, team, or project lead).
Leaders Circle If you have direct reports and operational and strategic responsibilities;
C-Suite Roundtable if you are a C-Suite executive (or close to it!)
ACtS! replicates the experiences (and highlights) of live programs where women step forward to ask for help, proudly share successes and insights, form trusting relationships, and learn with and teach each other.
Actionable content includes, articles, quick posts, inspirations, learning guides, tips from each other, guidance from virtual mentors and perspectives shared by recognized experts.
Live engagement events. Every month we share insider knowledge, experience-based wisdom and cutting edge ideas gleaned from our spectacular failures, epic wins, and hard-earned career lessons in a variety of formats that include:
Global connections with women who share your career stage or location and who share the goal of becoming a more competent, credible and confident leaders.
In our safe, supportive, women-only environment, you can candidly share major career lessons, strategic moves, go-to technologies and tools, and valuable life experiences... with refreshing honesty and transparency. An environment where everyone feels like their voice is worthy of being heard, and that there's value in sharing.
To have an all-area-access experience with our highest value and exclusive content, we invite you to sign up for our membership which is just $145 (USD) per year.
Your membership will support you no matter where you are on your leadership journey - whether you're at career start, in middle management or in the C-Suite. As a member, you will benefit from:
If you make a business case for reimbursement, you might even be able to gain organizational support/reimbursement for your membership.
Our Guarantee
We can't tell you how many women's conferences begin with the promise that attendees will have one takeaway...and there they have you captive for a day...or three. Here you have to show up, but if you do we're sure you'll walk away with a lot more than 1 because we know A Career that Soars! is a growing community of savvy women leaders at all levels who share generously and honestly about their experiences.
But we know you don’t know that, so...
So, if at the end of the year, you have engaged with A Career that Soars! at least 15 minutes a week (approximately equivalent to one 8 hour conference day) and haven't made one valuable connection or benefited from one actionable tip/insight/lesson from the women you've met, the conversations we invite you to, or the quality of responses to your questions, we'll happily refund your membership fee. Just send a direct message to Hosts Susan Colantuono or Michelle Redfern.
For my performance review, I used Michelle's inspiration and wise words to stand tall and sell my worth and capabilities and then used Susan's advice to tell the story in numbers using strategic and financial acumen. It went better than I could have imagined. The board members said, "We can't thank you enough" and my CEO's response was, "Wow Sally, you nailed it." I received a promotion, a pay rise and additional staff for the next project ACtS! has been the best group I have ever joined. Sally M., General Operations Manager, National Professional Association
I want to thank you again for sharing these resources with me. I have recently been asked to be the CEO of a startup I've been incubating. This idea of being a leader at this level was shocking to me. I was very unsure of whether I was qualified and if I wasn't, I was unsure of how I would get there. Your piece on the "The Missing 33%" has shone light on this for me. It's given me good framing on how to approach this opportunity. I wanted you to know that your work is having impact globally. Most grateful from a dreary Melbourne ( Australia) Friday. Cat H. A. Global BD&C, National Science Agency
My current workplace promotes gender equality, but the executives are all words no action, fail to be inclusive and their behaviors reflect subtle bullying. At the time of joining ACtS!, I was overwhelmed with this treatment and massively suffering from impostor syndrome, fanned with self doubt and questioning my own capabilities. I was looking inwards and blaming myself for where I am and why I felt how I did. Through ACtS!, I read and interact with so many other women, who empower me directly or indirectly and helped me to overcome this phase of self doubt. S.S., Manager, B2C Company
Thank You. I was working out the other day and listening to Susan's TED Talk. As a CEO and female entrepreneur your talk certainly resonated with me. Insightful, well explained and spot on. I have spent a good part of my life in recruitment and advising and guiding and this is an area that I agree has been overlooked. Jacqui B, CEO Professional Services Company
I had an insightful discussion with my boss on Friday. This gives me a good perspective about my work from his point of view. I am glad that I asked for his time and was able to structure the discussion with great questions that lead the conversation to be constructive. Thank you so much for your help!
I joined ACtS! to learn from others, be engaged in a network and find the secret ingredient of being a great leader. I embraced every program, found a community of like-minded women who inspired me. I am proud to say I have a new job that will enable me to deliver greatness by building a Technology team and shaping it to the needs of a very complex and unique organization. Thanks to ACtS! member, A.R., who helped me put together my action plan and to Michelle Redfern for providing thought provoking discussions and content throughout last year.
Hi, your co-hosts here. We've been frustrated by the limited reach of the experiences raved about by women who are able to access leadership and career development resources at their companies - including the deep value gained from the connections made during live workshops.
Our answer is A Career that Soars! - an engaged global community of women who:
We all know that careers rarely follow a direct upward trajectory. Instead, we head in directions we never envisioned, move to lower levels to grab new opportunities or rise to levels we sought (or the winds took us). Osprey, eagles and hawks embody all these moves as they soar in the skies overhead.
Have you ever thought about how hard it is to represent the many women around the world who are and aspire to be great managers and executives? We have. And we get supremely frustrated by images that are exclusionary. It's important to acknowledge all the races, ethnicities and nationalities of women who are and aspire to become great leaders and executives.
So, when Susan Colantuono had to choose a cover image for No Ceiling, No Walls she went metaphoric with an image of a goldfish jumping out of the water (no ceiling, no walls - get it?) and continued the image with Make the Most of Mentoring and the draft of Network!.
We hope you appreciate the rationale as we occasionally extend the image into this community.