As the chief architect for the Transition Café website, Dan has a strong passion for helping people in career transition.
Dan possesses an unusually diverse set of work experiences. He has lived the corporate life working for two of the nation’s oldest and most respected conglomerates, Exxon and Kraft Foods. He has helped managed the expansion of an emerging biotech company (Kendal International) facing rapid growth at the zenith of the dotcom craze. He has helped a family business (Goldner Associates) develop and refine plans for operation and succession. He is an entrepreneur who runs a company that connects individuals with business opportunities.
But the experience that people find most meaningful is one you will rarely find mentioned in a website bio.
Dan was abruptly laid off from a high-profile corporate job.
Nothing in his career prepared him for the shock of this unexpected and poorly-handled layoff. Not facilitating several downsizing programs, not his many years of career counseling and performance management experience, not his natural ability to empathize with people affected by downsizing programs he was in charge of implementing. “This isn’t something that often happens to HR people and I have to say that the view was definitely different from the other side of the desk,” recalls Dan. “The experience was devastating and it changed the way I looked at managing my own career.
After much soul searching, Dan realized that if he didn’t take control of his own career, no one would do it for him. “After losing my job, I realized that I had never felt like I was in control of my career,” he remembers. “It was like I lost control of my career destiny. While this was a difficult time, it was a defining moment for me both personally and professionally and essentially was the catalyst for what I am doing today.”
“Probably the most important lesson I learned after getting laid off was that I needed to develop a network of contacts. To put it bluntly, I was embarrassed how few people I had met outside of my past and current workplace. I knew from that point on that I needed to build a base of meaningful relationships that would not only recession proof myself but be a valuable resource for others.”
That brings us here today. The Transition Café website was created to help you become a better networker and build a solid base of meaningful relationships (please visit Our Mission page https://transitioncafe.com/our-mission/ ). So with that, I wish you all the best and happy connecting!
Since 2005 Dan has owned FranNet of Tennessee, a company that specializes in matching entrepreneurs with franchises,www.frannet.com/daronoff.