Hello my fellow relaunchers! Thinking back to 2002 when I first took time off (7 years) after the birth of my second child, I had no idea where I would be 20 years later. Fast forward to now, I am so glad to have zig-zagged my way to career coaching and look forward to sharing some of my experiences with you.
I started out with a fairly linear career path by completing my computer science degree and then working at IBM in sales. After receiving an MBA, I worked for Monsanto developing business in China, and then for a Silicon Valley life science startup opening up channels in major Asian markets. My career path seemed pretty obvious during that phase of my career. When I re-entered the job market after my time off, there were definitely many false starts and career detours that led nowhere. In hindsight, I wish I had the iRelaunch roadmap to make sense of the ambiguity I faced. Upon reflection, I appreciated having had time for some trial and error and for immersing myself in the community building at our local school.
When I did find my way back as a paid professional, I discovered that learning and teaching were my best strengths. First, becoming an adjunct at UCSD led me to coaching and mentoring STEM founders and professionals. Then leveraging that experience in online learning, I became a facilitator for HBS Publishing for their global management training programs.
Even though I have thoroughly enjoyed the many impacts I have had as a teacher and mentor, I realize that the 1:1 interaction from coaching has been the most rewarding. In becoming certified as a “First 90 Days” (the onboarding best-seller) transition coach, I have been helping many Fortune 500 (including Nike, Google and Qualcomm) leaders acclimate to their new roles as they get promoted to enterprise leadership.
From my experiences, I know that building and belonging to a community is the most important lesson I have learned. I look forward to sharing what I have learned from my own journey with you as well as experiences I have picked up along the way from the classroom to the boardroom.
Kelly Huang
Career Coach
In the meantime, here are some of my education background and experiences:
- BA from Brown University (mentor for Women’s Launching Pad)
- MBA from Harvard Business School (certified in “Teaching Case Studies”)
- UCSD Marketing Adjunct since 2009
- IMD Business School Lausanne Switzerland alumni coach
- Boardroom Ready at Women in Bio - as the former co-chair, happy to share that our program has landed 125 board positions out of 150 participants
- Forbes Coaches Council - contributing thought leadership on coaching
- Hogan Personality Assessment certification
- Genesis Advisers - “First 90 Days” Transition Coach since 2018