Managing up is defined by the Harvard Business Review as, “Being the most effective employee you can be, creating value for your boss and your company.” While it is a good skill to have, in this episode of Business Edge, special guest Alison Jennings argues that there needs to be a balance. She proposes that this balance can be achieved by finding a boss who is a good fit for you and is knowledgeable about your role. She also speaks to how exactly to do this during the interview process so that interviewees can spot potential red flags before they commit to a role.

Alison is Vice-Chair of the Alpha Kappa Psi Foundation Board of Directors and an alum of Oakland University’s Mu Nu chapter. She’s an experienced finance and accounting professional and is currently the Senior Director of Finance at Goodkind Co. Alison focuses on creating efficiencies and process improvement while supporting overall business needs. She has a passion for numbers and an analytical mind which helps her excel in diverse team dynamics.

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Clarity Coaching, which differs from life coaching, is a term coined by Precious Azurée to explain the work she does with individuals seeking clarity and confidence in tackling their goals. In this episode of Business Edge, listen to Precious discuss the biggest issues she sees that hold her clients back from fulfillment and success. She discusses how people can overcome hurdles such as time management and a lack of prioritization, and how she has developed her craft through reading and learning. Plus, listen to her explain how data can help elevate the lived experiences of people of color!

Precious Azuree is a Clarity Coach sought out by entrepreneurs, small business owners, and nonprofits seeking clarity on their brand strategy, systems to boost productivity and personal development. In addition to her consulting business, she is breaking barriers as the Vice President and Co-Founder of the award-winning black female-led nonprofit MEASURE, a public education & data advocacy organization that uses data and education to mobilize communities to eliminate social disparities. In 2021, she was awarded Houston Business Journal’s Women Who Mean Business Outstanding Nonprofit Leader Award and positioned as the Social & Cultural Committee Chair of Houston Area Urban League Young Professionals.

With a strong emphasis on developing people, Precious has made it her mission to develop the human, social, and financial capital of her community to position their legacy for sustainability and growth. As a woman of faith, she leads with love, grace and this in mind: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11.

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Janine Branch loves to give back to those around her, and she strives to be a good example because in her words, “you never know who’s looking up at you or looking down at you.” In this episode of Business Edge, listen to her speak to the challenges and misconceptions that come along with mentorship, the importance of cross-cultural engagement, and how she has been able to help steer the organizations she has been a part of to success. Plus, listen to her discuss the journey of her and her husband’s pin business!

Janine Branch is a servant leader on a mission to foster purposeful global engagement by uplifting and nurturing civic-minded leaders to persevere and be resilient. Currently, Janine is a Program Officer implementing the U.S. Department of State’s International Visitor Leadership Program at FHI360, a nonprofit human development organization, and is the Onboarding Champion for the Global Connections department.

Janine spent more than a decade developing professional exchange programs at the World Trade Center Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. She uses her unique combination of over 13 years of international exchange program management and talent management experience to engage across cultures and create shared understanding through meaningful person-to-person interactions. In addition to the U.S. Department of State, Janine has worked with a variety of clients, including the Open World Leadership Center, U.S. Agency for International Development, Korea International Trade Association, the Embassy of the United States to the United Kingdom, and the University of Jos in Nigeria.

Janine is passionate about using professional development as a driving force to promote mutual understanding between the U.S. and other nations around the world. Janine is dedicated to building practical training programs to provide young leaders with opportunities to explore the international exchange industry and apply their academic knowledge to the “real world.” In doing so, Janine hopes to increase the network of citizen diplomats who have the individual willingness to build relationships to help sustain a secure, economically sound, and socially interconnected world.

Janine is a master’s degree candidate at the University of Baltimore focusing on Global Affairs and Human Security and plans to graduate in the Fall of 2021. During her studies, she developed a study abroad course on the “Sustainability of Voluntourism in Haiti,” which cumulated with an experiential trip to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. She holds a B.A. in Business Administration with a concentration in International Business from Towson University. She volunteers as a career mentor at Towson University. Janine has been married for eight years to her college sweetheart, Taurean and a dedicated mother to their 5-year-old son, Matthew and 7-year-old Maltipoo, Obie. She enjoys long-distance road running competitions, gardening, and visiting as many gluten-free restaurants as she possibly can!

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In a time of rising interest rates and anxiety, how can young people today sort through all the noise to find their first home? In this episode of Business Edge, co-hosts Chrissy and Nicole ask featured guest Cheryl Dunson about what young professionals need to know about the process of home ownership. Listen to her speak about how you can know when you’re financially ready to buy a home, how to find a realtor who’s a good fit for you, and how you can go about finding your true priorities when it comes to a home.

Cheryl likes to work, and she likes to be interested in what she does and make a positive difference for her clients. Regardless of the type of work someone does, once the client/customer/parishioner/patient/reader is an annoyance, it’s time to do something else.

As a marketing major, she began her career in data center operations. A fraternity brother told her about cattle call interviews being held by a large corporation and she was there. Wandering away from the marketing section, she struck up a conversation with a gentleman and discussed the automated inventory conversion that was taking place where her dad worked, and next thing she knew, she was taking math tests and wound up working in data operations. There was no IT major at the time.

Fourteen years later, she took a three-year sabbatical and never returned. She was a single mom and started buying rental properties and helping friends look at dated homes to determine how to make them work for their families. Eventually, she became licensed and with a few detours has spent the rest of her career in real estate.

Ten years ago she needed a change and was hired by a developer for a traditional neighborhood development, a tnd. It was just the change she needed. She had always enjoyed introducing friends to friends and helping people become part of the community where she lived, but in a tnd, while the homes are beautiful, it’s all about community.

While real estate was not what she expected to do for the majority of her career, it has the flexibility of time, income, and versions that has worked through the various stages of her life. She has had the opportunity to work in a few tnds and is currently in a Best in American Living award winning community that looks like a movie set. She says that real estate can be stressful, but it can also be rewarding, and that she has the opportunity to help make people’s dreams a reality.

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