Moore 2 Discover Podcast
Discussion about challenges and triumphs by exploring the depths of self-discovery and personal and business growth.
Moore 2 Discover Podcast
Jenece Jones's Path to Entrepreneurial Success
Ever felt like you're stuck in a rut and yearning for a change? Harriet West-Moore joins forces with Janice Jones, the inspiring creator of Significant Beginnings, who shares her remarkable journey from Ohio to Florida, battling homesickness and job dissatisfaction. Janice reveals how faith and an inner calling led her to discover an unexpected passion for resume writing, ultimately transforming it into a thriving business. Her story is a testament to the power of embracing your unique talents and the courage it takes to forge a new path, even when financial constraints and personal challenges arise.
Join us as we explore the art of crafting resumes that not only bridge employment gaps but highlight personal achievements and growth. Janice shares invaluable strategies for tailoring resumes to different contexts and offers insights into professional writing services designed to support career transitions. We also discuss the global reach of her entrepreneurial venture and collaboration with her husband, a gifted graphic designer. This episode is a celebration of resilience, passion, and the transformative impact one person can have in empowering others to succeed. Tune in to be inspired by Janice's dedication to her mission and her vision for a brighter, more fulfilling future.
Website: signifbeginnings.net
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BeyondTheResumePodcast
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Moore Self Discovery email: contact@mooreselfdiscovery.com
Hi, this is Harriet Westmore from More to Discover podcast. This is the podcast where we discover ourselves through life's journeys, of stories of triumph, of tribulation, empowerment. This is the podcast where we share those types of stories. So welcome. I know it's been a while, but I'm working on some things in the background, so don't you know, don't fret, it's just that you know I'm trying to get things done and I want to present a good podcast for you, but today we have a very good podcast today. I think this is something that we need to know.
Speaker 1:Some of us may be transitioning in finding employment. Some of us want to change our careers of us want to change our careers. Some of us just want to do home, you know, start our business and we need to touch up our makeup or how we look on paper. And with us today is Ms Janice Jones. She is the creator of Significant Beginnings. She does resumes. She gives us tips and tricks of how to do interviews and how to look presentable in our professional have, a professional resume. So I'm just so excited because we have so much to talk about. So thank you, ms Janice. Appreciate you coming on the show today. Thank you for having me. Thank you for having me Absolutely Awesome.
Speaker 1:So just kind of give me a background story of who you are and let us know you know, how did you start Significant Beginnings? Well, I am a mom, a wife and I just enjoy life, so I actually I do work full time as well, but how Significant Beginnings started is. It's pretty a unique story, I believe, but my family and I decided to move down to Florida from Ohio in 2016. It was actually what was that? June 2016 or something. It was a big leap for us. Of course, being down there, I was homesick. Of course, the culture is different from the anywhere. I was just trying to find my way in and fit in, I guess In so many words, and I started out working at a place called I'll keep the name out of it, but I was doing credentialing there, ok, and so then I stayed there for, I want to say, less than eight months, and then I found another position and I was driving home. This, this of the second job that I had. I couldn't stand it. I was really miserable and I was driving home. I was working nights too, on top of that, and I was driving home.
Speaker 1:I was like Lord, is there something else that I can do what. What's like I got a talent to do something and, um, I was. So I heard like doing resumes and stuff Cause my family and friends would always ask me to do their resumes and their cover letters or whatever. And I said, okay, that's cool, but what am I naming Lord? And I heard significant beginnings and I'm like that's a different name and I'm like, why? Um, because I'm very inquisitive, of course. So, um, I, the reason why is because I was starting anew. I left my comfort zone and then I ended up going somewhere that I didn't have much family, of course, but my husband and my children, and he said it was significant. I'm like, really, and then it just be something new for somebody else. That's starting something new. It'll be a significant way of them starting a new job or whatever they have going on. But he also spoke it was a ministry as well. Wow. So, um, that way I can pour into other people.
Speaker 1:But I was way before my, you know, before my time, and I just kind of grew into what you see now I just that's who I go to about all my ideas the Lord, jesus Christ. I go to him for all of my ideas every day, amen, amen. So what you have just described as far as your journey is what many of us are on that path Now we're at our jobs, that we are just, you know, we just can't, you know, we don't like. You know, and we're like saying, lord, I mean, this is, I know this is not your purpose for me to be on the in this particular position because I'm just miserable. And you tapped in yourself and you just heard God speak to you about resumes and something that you said people and you just what you did, you took within yourself what people see you doing and took it and manifested. And God, just you know, put that in you and manifest it. So, as far as talk about your resume, the business itself, how did you get started and how did it start flourishing? Oh Lord, it didn't go right away. It's after two years. I had the name, I had the ideas, I had everything, but I didn't have the money. Ok, and I ended up.
Speaker 1:This is my third job at this point and I was working at a hospital and I was working as a continuing education I think it's a CME, that's continuing medical education and I was putting on events and stuff like that and for the doctors and the residents and so forth, and I was just like I don't want to do this anymore, I just want to work from home. I don't want to be here. I'm like, because I was traveling like an hour 15 minutes, I'm worried, yeah, and I was just like, and I had to get up two hours before I even had to be at work and drop kids off if if me being, it's god forbid something happened with my, my boys, you know, and it's like far away. I'm like lord, I don't want to like I don't know, I was just being all over the place. But, um, he began to.
Speaker 1:I began to see a lot happen for me at that point and it was, it was the last year that I was. I was actually at that hospital for two years, okay, and um, I was putting on a bls class and one of the providers got upset because she registered late. She actually tried to get put in the same day and she got in my face, she was yelling and so forth, and I was sitting there like and the people who know me back then know I didn't tolerate her things. I would talk off just as much as anybody else, would you know, you're in my face and I was just like I didn't do anything. I just sat there and I was like is this what we're doing? And I used to. Just I was like that's it, that's it, I'm done.
Speaker 1:So I began to look for something else, but I was looking more so for remote work, uh, because that was beginning to be the trend. And, um, I was like I'd rather be around my family. I want to do, I want to put more all into my, my business. And so a friend of mine actually she was a co-worker too, but it was a friend of mine, actually she was a co-worker too, but it was a friend of mine and she said hey, could you write me a resume? I'm like, yeah, sure, and I did it for free, I didn't charge her for it. And so she was like whatever you did to this resume, I'm getting phone calls like crazy, wow. And I was just like I just gave you, I just basically gave you what you gave me. So I just put it in better words, I guess. And um, and she said I'm going to try not to cry. But she said do you have a website? And I said, yeah, I do.
Speaker 1:And I had started this little website or whatever on Wixcom because it's free, and I had picked out my brand colors and all this other stuff. And she said, well, why didn't you start it? And I was like I didn't have the money to do an LLC and I didn't want nobody to take my name. Yeah, right. And so she said, well, I'm going to sow into you because I see your potential, I see how you're really talented at what you do. And so she did, she, she, she sold into me and then, oh, and she told me to go and and go get a PO box. So that same day I went and got a PO box. I think I waited two days. I had my LLC. I had my LLC.
Speaker 1:A week later I was able to leave that job. I went into another job, and that job was only for three weeks, which was Toyota. I did not want to work there, but I was like Laura, whatever you doing, because he was speaking to me to get out of the job and I like, well, where I'm supposed to go? Um, I ended up getting the job at Toyota and I was literally there for three weeks and I had already been speaking to somebody, um, in terms of remote work, and so the process was long. It took about two, two months, um, because I had already been talking to them before I quit okay, job at the hospital, okay. And um, had my interviews all the way up until, I think, the week before thanksgiving and they called and said you got the job in December. Wow, wow, yeah.
Speaker 1:And so then I was like, okay, now I have time to do my business, like I could do it on there. You know, do it on the side, of course, um, and so that's why I don't really down anybody, for if you, if you work in a full-time job, whatever it is, and you have a business, do that too, just as much as you put the effort into that job, put the effort into that business right. And I was just like, okay, now I got an llc, I got a new job, and 2020 went, and that's when COVID hit. But you had a lot of people who were looking for jobs, yep, and I just kept going from there and I just kept building services on top of it. And people was like, hey, do you do this? Yeah, I do. Let me add it to the service. I started. I said, hey, I also if you, if you need help finding a job. I sent out job postings. That's complimentary, but not resources and tips and all types of stuff, and let's just let's put a pin pin right there, because I think that's what stands out, your business stands out because you do do complimentary job postings and job listings. You've seen your clients job listings.
Speaker 1:I am a by the way people, I am her client and and I love, uh, what she does. She, she goes beyond. You can tell her passion is in her work because she goes beyond what you know is required. As far as you know all. You just ask for a resume, but you're getting more than just a resume you're getting. She's actually taking the time to know what, um, your niche is and what you want as far as what type of job you're looking for, and she actually searches for those particular job postings and sends it to you Complimentary. That's part of her, her package. So you can't help but to you know, flourish from that, because for someone like that because not everybody you know does that, which I thought was very, you know, ingenious, so let's talk about you being the resume expert.
Speaker 1:What do you think employers are looking for? What do you see? The average people who are getting the jobs based off of your, your professional resume that our people are really employees, are looking at. I mean, they want you, um, they don't want to lie and, of course, they want to results too. They want to see how, how, how your skills, how your accomplishments can result in maybe pivoting that business into something more, your ideas, whatever that may be, and you putting it on paper and being able to say, hey, this is what I do and this is how I could contribute to your company, and it sticks out, sticks out.
Speaker 1:And if it is, you know, averagely I think they only look at it for maybe three seconds or so or go through the ats, which is the um, oh man, it just left me. But the ats system, where they actually just run your resume through it and they look for keywords. But if you're, if the, the key to getting a callback is literally matching your resume to that job description, that's it. Wow, because they have the key words in there and all you're doing is like, okay, you're reading that job description, this is what you know, and aligning it with that job description, you're guaranteed to get a call Guaranteed.
Speaker 1:And your skills and your like what? I think a lot of it too. That, I see, is we're not using our words the right way, so or we'll use it repetitively, and they want to see something stick out, and sometimes you don't want to get too wordy, but you want to be able to just put it out there and say, hey, this is what I do, this is my skills, this is my accomplishments and these are my results, this is what I've done in my current role. That's what they want to see. Wow, what do you say to those who haven't, like let's say, someone who's been out of the working profession for years and just want to get back into it how do you bridge that gap? Or who hasn't worked or been laid off or whatever, and want to get back into? How do you bridge that gap? That's a good question.
Speaker 1:Um, it depends, and I think that's why I probe for certain things. Like I asked certain questions like hey, did you go to school while you were not working? Uh, did you do a sabbatical? Like you just needed some time. You need a mental break. There are certain questions I ask because I remember, especially on my resume. They'll say, oh, there's a, there's like a six, six month gap on my resume. Yeah, in school, though, I was getting my master's degree, so that's why there is a gap there. There is a gap there.
Speaker 1:I couldn't physically manage, you know, and or I'll say something like well, I decided to finish my master's degree and I was looking for the ideal position, so I took a little break. As long as you explain what you did during that time and you wasn't sitting on your butt, then they'll take it. That's a good question, good answer, good answer. I mean, you know you might not think about it while you were in school or whatever, but that's an excellent answer, because that shows that you were still, you know, fine-tuning your education. You were getting the skills and the knowledge that you need for that. Whatever position that you're going for, you dedicate that time, that six months or a year or whatever, to doing that. That's a good. I think. Companies, employers, they respect that and that's what they're looking for, because I do.
Speaker 1:You know, a master's degree it's a lot of work, it's a lot of class work, it's a lot of things, and with me being a wife and a mother and raising a family and in a master's program, I mean that that made sense, right, kind of kind of take a, and then we were in the process of moving too, because I was in my master's program, um, while we were living in oh, and then I started in 2015. So I ended up taking a little break as we moved to Florida so that I can get you know my bearings together. You know I want to keep my grades up, you know, and really pay attention to what I was doing. I had a great my director at the time, because I used to work for UH. I was actually wanting to get into a higher position and then I told her I was like, hey, I started my master's program and she's like, ok, and she said she wasn't promoting me. And I was. I was so upset. But here's why she didn't. She's like I need you to focus on the master's program. You can't do both. And I at first I didn't get that, but but after I finished it, I respected what she did, I respect what she did, so, but I ended up in that role anyway. As time progressed, I ended up in that role anyway. Maybe not at UH, but I didn't end up in that role. Wow, wow, yeah. And and you again, you know that that is something respect, you know to be respected what she said and how she. You know what she said.
Speaker 1:So what type of packages do you offer for clients who are seeking to have their resume fine tuned or redo and redone or whatever tuned or redoing, redone or whatever? Oh, wow. So I recently released, um some new services because I I understand that a lot of people okay, I'm tired of doing this, I want to do something else. So I do offer um career transition resumes, um, all kinds of resumes, like if you're going from military to civilian, if you're um, I don't put it out there like that Um, but I do offer it, um, wow. Like I do a cover letter and resume package. Uh, there is career coaching so I help you to prep for your interview. There is career coaching so I help you to prep for your interview.
Speaker 1:Linkedin optimization Like there's so many I just added oh man, let letter. Letters of recommendation. Oh, how to write that. I also help students, so academic writing and like there's so much that significant beginnings. I think that's why, um, the core of it is resume writing, but I think I um, it's listed as professional writing service because there's a array of services that is provided. Oh, wow, yeah, wow. Providing. Oh, wow, yeah, wow, I just recently did business, so I'm doing business writing too. Oh, wow, awesome, yeah, awesome.
Speaker 1:So, and just you know, a sidebar for people to know, I, janice, she did my personal resume. I wanted to look for a particular position and also have, besides podcasting, I do other businesses. So she created a business resume for me as well. I mean, like, like you said, she, I mean there's a whole different, you know resume. It's not, it's not that cookie cutter wording anymore, you know, like it was back in the day. So I mean, and what, what's the services that she offered? And she goes beyond. What is, you know, the package that you are, whatever package that you select, I mean she goes, she puts her heart and you can tell she goes beyond of what you would expect from anybody else. I'm highly recommending her. She does it virtually. We are in two separate states. She was in my home state, but now she's in Florida. She's now, but now she's in Florida, florida, yes, she's now in more of a warmer state than where she was in Ohio, and I understand.
Speaker 1:But you're still a Buckeye. I don't care what you you know, yeah, you're still a Buckeye, but anyway. But how can people reach out to you. Before we do that, can you give us a tip of any tips or advice that you would like to share to the audience of in looking for a job or looking, or, you know, when they want to talk to you, what are the things that you're looking for to, you know, to help them. What are the things that you're looking for to, you know, to help them. So one tip is is that some of these websites you have to be, so you know, careful about? I sometimes use Indeed, I'm sorry, linkedin, but not too often, but they have, like these new sites now for remote work. I actually wrote a remote work ebook and it's free. Oh, wow. So it does is based.
Speaker 1:I want to say that you want to. Just, the biggest thing for me is, if you want to do your resume for yourself, by all means, I'm going to go a little deeper, but you make sure that you're using the job description and not only that. I'm going to have to come for chat, gpt. It's not going to make it personalized and that's not for me a money grab for me to say, oh, come to me or anybody to write your resume. It's not going to be personal, it's a straightforward kind of thing, and so what we do is to make sure all of our consultations are free, doesn't matter what you're getting, they're free. I want you. You know, we sit and we have a conversation and I learned who you are and that, and once I learned who you are as a person, I make sure that it's replicated on paper. So that's my tip you know, make sure that if you are going to write it for yourself, that you're mindful that you're using a job description, as well as making sure that it's personalized and it's customized and tailored for that job.
Speaker 1:I'm glad you mentioned about AI and chat, t, p, t or whatever, because that was my next. That was one of the things I wanted to. You know, what did you, what's your thoughts on that? And you just, you know, pretty much clarify. I mean, like you said, it is, it's straightforward, you can tell that it's, you know, automated, generated and all that. It doesn't have that personal touch to it. Right, exactly, and some I think they have certain systems that I could be wrong, but they may be able to tell that you're doing that. Oh, we have to be careful about that, see, but they're catching, you know, just like for academic papers too. Oh, you know, they're catching the students using g, you know, and I mean, if people come for me, they come for me, but it is what it is.
Speaker 1:I did not, I tested it out myself. I did callbacks when I wrote my own right, when I used it for like certain things you know, to put like chat, gpt and I use them resume. No, hoarse, isn't that interesting? Yeah, I just didn't. Wow, maybe I did something wrong, I don't know. Well, no, I think you're just proving the point that not everything can be computer generated.
Speaker 1:Sometimes you do need that human, personal touch in things, in communication. We can't just, you know, do away with, you know, human communication. We still need that. That that's a piece of you know, interacting and connecting with people. You can't really connect with someone through a machine, you know's just a robotic, you just can't. You just proved the point. I love talking to people and getting to know different people, their personalities, some of my clients. We became prayer partners. We pray together, I mean, however, the relationship develops. But I don't feel like you know, I feel like we should have a communication and always have a communication, because that's how we learn from each other too. Absolutely, yeah.
Speaker 1:So, miss Janice, what is your website? Website, okay, so it's wwwsignif, so it's s-i-g-n-i-f. Beginningsnet. Um, I minimized it because it was so super long, so I'm doing this kind of significant beginnings, but it's actually significant. But, you know, is that correct? That is correct, yes, okay.
Speaker 1:So those of you who are watching us by video this is her website Go, please, please, support her. You need, I mean just asking a question. I'm sure she has her email on her website so you can actually reach out on the website to contact her and just a free consultation could do wonders. I mean, you might just be able to just have a resume that she can just, you know, tweak just a little bit and get the results that you're looking for. You're looking for so and and and all the things that she's offering.
Speaker 1:You know, I, I really highly, highly recommend Janice. I mean she, she's just a warm person. We connected on on on the internet. I found her on Facebook and you know that. You know, I, I, I recommend her. That's all I can say. I could be a testimonial on her website. I could, I could, you know, I recommend her. That's all I can say. I could be a testimonial on her website. I could you know she does phenomenal work.
Speaker 1:So last closing question what is, what are you seeing for the future for Significant Beginnings? International International, okay, international international okay, I want to be able to help, um, people all over the world, like I'm really getting into, um, helping people like newly, uh, business owners or entrepreneurs, because somebody, people, people help me. And I wanted, I was like I, I put that out there, you know, I was like, hey, I want to be able to help um, so I, I have coaching and mentor services for, you know, new business owners and stuff like that. You know, just to really push you, I'm not gonna hold, I'm gonna hold your hand in it, you know, and really help you do get to where you want to be. And for years I've been wanting to do this and I finally been released to do it. So I, you know, I really see that really taking and pivoting off, I already got two clients so far. It's wonderful, wonderful, yeah, wonderful, and I mean it's awesome.
Speaker 1:And then, like, collabing with my husband too. He does graphic design and really, yeah, he does. He did my logo. Um, I didn't know what I wanted and I was like I just want like a pen and my brand colors and man, I mean he just got it and um, so just collabing with him and being able to bring um, you know, just it's. We've been doing business since we moved to florida and so, um, I just thank god that I'm finally able to do. I'm really excited about helping people, you know, grow their business as well, but I definitely see international, definitely, and it's coming, it is coming.
Speaker 1:So thank you so much, janice, for being allowing, you know, the time, taking the time out of your busy schedule, because you got so much, you know, and God is just pouring and pouring and blessing you and your husband on greater things. So I appreciate you coming on and sharing your story and your encouragement and your testimony to of your business and I look for great things. I really do. Thank you so much for having me. All right, you guys, I will talk with you soon and you guys please be safe and be blessed. Keep God first. You are in the world, but not of it, so stay focused. All right, you guys, take care. I'm going to make a Thank you.