It’s 7:30 a.m., and your four-year-old waddles up to you in his pj’s, as you’re frantically trying to finish your at-home blowout. You need to get out of the house. You’re already late for your job, only he’s sick and wants you to stay home. So, his wee hands reach out and he asks you for a hug, and that’s it. You don’t want to leave. Moreover, you don’t want to go through this part of your morning routine ever again.
And Inkwell’s Manon DeFelice would be right there with you. “It’s fine if you want to lean in to your career,” she says, “But what if you also want to lean in to being a mom?”
Frustrated with a lack of flexibility in traditional corporate jobs, Manon founded Inkwell as a recruiting service to help match capable professionals with startups and forward-thinking companies in need of top-tier talent on a flexible basis. It’s a win-win. The women recruited by Inkwell find flexible jobs that grow their resumes, and the startups that hire them get exceptional seasoned talent.
Prior to starting Inkwell, Manon led nonprofit AHA Foundation and served as its general counsel. At AHA Foundation, the first organization focused on ending honor violence, forced marriage, child marriage and female genital mutilation in the United States, she helped spearhead federal and state legislation. Previous to that role she served as assistant counsel in New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s Office of Criminal Justice.
In episode 12 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Podcast Editor Polina Selyutin speaks with Manon about starting a company, how to get more women in the boardroom, and the importance of being an advocate for yourself and other women.
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If you love museums and art, chances are Maria Yoon has your dream job.
As a performance artist, filmmaker, senior museum educator and founder of the recently-launched Private Museum Tours. Maria is a multi-hyphenate trailblazing her own path. With more than 20 years of museum education on her resume, including 17 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in her new business Maria guides individuals, VIP’s and groups through various museums and galleries in the greater New York City area.
“The best part [of my job] is to be surrounded by beautiful things. It never gets old,” Maria says. “Why? Exhibitions change every three months. At a large museum like the Met, they have such a large scale of collections that every day I find something new, and I find beauty in that.”
The last time we interviewed Maria Yoon on I Want Her Job, she had just said her final “I do” as part of her documentary, Maria the Korean Bride, in which Maria had 50 different marriages to 50 different “spouses” (including men, women – and even the Liberty Bell!) in 50 states, to bring greater attention to the cultural pressures and ostracism individuals feel when pressured to tie the knot.
“When I was 30 years old, my dad, I think he panicked … He felt that he didn’t live up to his standard as a father because I was still single. I was alone in his eyes, me – living the life I do as an artist and museum educator was not good enough … ” Maria says. “We began to argue a lot … and then I said, ‘Let me see what I can do to meet you halfway.’ That conversation became a giant documentary film.”
The film received attention from various film festivals, PBS, NBC News, Yahoo!, The Huffington Post, Timemagazine and even led to an appearance on TLC’s Cake Boss. But, after such acclaim, what comes next?
In episode 11 of I Want Her Job: The Podcast, Podcast Editor Polina Selyutin speaks with Maria about the deep and unexpected impact her film had on her own life, insight into how the film was made, as well as Maria’s future plans for a documentary about ghosting.
TOPICS DISCUSSED IN TODAY'S SHOW: