About Shary Raske
Shary Raske brings fresh perspective during the unavoidable waves of change. Shary partners with executives and those in career transition to get them where they want to be and with greater ease. She provides the environment for her clients to make meaningful decisions using diverse and custom-designed career transition methodologies. Part of career transition also include ways to influence and communicate effectively. She is known both for being a partner who gives tenacious encouragement and tough-love, straightforward guidance. Shary also speaks nationally and loves giving her audience courage around issues of resiliency, coping with unexpected change, stress management, and workplace humor.
She is a voracious learner and studies market trends that impact future choices. Shary attracts professionals who want to take charge of their career, can be self-reflective, and have the courage to take positive action. Her clients are willing to stretch outside of their comfort zones to create holistic career transition plans that bring congruency between their professional and personal lives. Known for helping clients gain confidence, Shary’s strategic approach also includes developing a plan to minimize the negative impact of fixable career deficits.
Shary brings insight and authenticity to what she teaches. She is smart, witty, intuitive, and compassionate. Shary has worked with thousands of professionals in a myriad of industries. She’s worked successfully with top executives, engineers, accountants, inventors, small business owners, marketers, homemakers, performance improvement professionals, graduating students and artists, just to name a few.
Her background includes three distinct careers: Executive Leadership, Sales, and Career Strategist. As an executive leader in a major non-profit, she discovered she had a gift for efficiency and creating operating systems to lower costs and create greater impact. She eliminated most turnover and created better coverage through cross-training. As a fearless promoter, she appeared on television and radio frequently to ensure continual support and funding.
During her sales career, she continued facilitating the importance of relationship management and loved the creative problem solving required for exceptional sales revenues. During this career path, she opened new sales territories, outsold tradeshow hired guns, and taught other representatives how to create value.
Many years ago, Shary secured career transition planning services. Working with her career transition expert, Shary was able to see the patterns in her life, how she loved training, systemizing, learning, and creating new perspectives. After conducting career research meetings, she concluded that some type of consultative training would be a good fit for both her growing family and her professional life. Within that category she pro-actively chose the best fit – career strategist. Because she’s been both a client and a practitioner, she understands first-hand the complexities of career transition projects.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you do what you do?
First we work together to create an Ideal Career Profile. Then we create the Strategy that best fits that profile and build the Tools around it. Sometimes that includes building a new resume, compelling opening message, and market research. Without the Strategy first, the resume is often meaningless.
Sample Strategies
- Positioning yourself to be a solution to an emerging challenge / market
- Creating a board of advisors / influencers to create a bigger impact on your search results
- Conducting career research meetings to determine your best fit
- Attracting strategic business alliances
Sample Tools
- Momentum checklist
- Resume
- Daily action plan
- Accountability partner
- Cover letters
- Job interview preparation
- Salary negotiation preparation
What makes you different from other career strategists?
I help clients understand the obstacles to their success and then we brainstorm the “go arounds”. I live what I teach. I’m a voracious learner and believe that knowledge is power and knowledge can be leveraged. The biggest differentiation is that I use multiple methodologies both practical and intuitive, both complex and simple, both fun and serious.
What can a client really expect when they use your services?
You can expect dedication, respect, and keen listening. You will leave with more clarity, more options, and more tools to be successful.
I heard that career strategists are expensive, are you?
The initial conversation is free. Then if we agree that Courage to Change is the right resource for you, we schedule an initial meeting that evaluates what’s working and what needs attention. Sometimes only one meeting is required to right the ship, and you will leave with a preliminary plan of action. The fee for this meeting is $225 and can last up to two hours. Regardless of whether you choose a one-time only meeting or a longer in-depth project, we mutually agree on the success metrics to get the greatest return on your investment.
What Do Courage to Change Clients Want?
- better strategy
- better communication
- better leadership
- better change options
- better self-care during transition
- better compensation packages
- more focus
- more effectiveness
- more control
- more confidence
- more knowledge
- more value to employers
- more balance
- more happiness
- more options
- more meaning and purpose
- more abundance
“I’m grateful to Shary for pointing to the one defining yet often misunderstood aspect of leadership: listen fearlessly to your heart and follow your instincts. She helped me gain a practical sense of how to accomplish that.”
Steve Finikiotis
Osprey Associates