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Women Who Went for It! is a bi-weekly podcast, hosted by Career Change Agent, Sara McArdle. The show features inspiring chats with successful industry changers who share how they found the clarity, courage and motivation to step into a deeper vocation and a life of meaning and fulfillment. We hope you'll see just how many before you have GONE for it—and they're eternally grateful that they took the risk!

Jun 9, 2019

Women Who Went for It Podcast Guest: Sondra Firestein
 
In this episode, Sara talks with Sondra Firestein about her journey from real estate agent to personal concierge. Sondra shares how she stumbled across her business idea, how she overcomes the critical voice in her head that could otherwise derail her, and how she grew her business, slowly and organically. Today, Sondra owns Pursuit Concierge, an on-demand personal assistance membership service that helps Seattle business owners, parents, and corporate climbers identify what they can delegate, and connects them with the resources necessary to make their personal and professional goals their reality.
 
Want to make your own career change?
Download Sara's Seven Cs of Successful Career Change Chart.
 
Sara and Sondra discuss:
  • How they got connected
  • The messages Sondra got about "career" when she was growing up
  • Her original dream of becoming an astronaut to solve the climate crisis
  • Realizing she wasn't a scientist
  • Getting a degree in architecture
  • Considering becoming a sustainable interior designer
  • Moving to Lake Tahoe
  • Working in quality assurance at an appraisal management company
  • Moving to Seattle
  • Starting a career in real estate
  • Side hustling in event design
  • Seeing that her clients were too busy to meet with her
  • Realizing that she didn't want to be in real estate or event design
  • Feedback she received at a speed networking event that tipped her off to her future career
  • What a personal concierge is
  • The ways that we all already delegate in our lives
  • How better delegation can improve relationships
  • How her company's support helped change one person's life
  • Figuring out how to start a concierge business through trial and error
  • The evolution of her business vision
  • How she made it work, financially
  • Her slow, organic business growth
  • How Sondra deals with that critical voice in her head
  • Sondra's networking resources and tips:
  • Sondra's advice for people starting their own businesses
  • Where to connect with Sondra and Pursuit Concierge online
  • ...and more!
Sondra's Full Bio:
Over the last 5 years, Sondra Firestein has helped more than 100 Seattle professionals create room in their lives for what brings them joy with mindful delegation™. She founded Pursuit Concierge in 2014, after working as a real estate agent and for an elaborate event designer. Noticing her clients, like young newlyweds and first-time homebuyers, were stretched thin, she wanted to offer a solution that would empower them to overcome the overwhelm. Pursuit Concierge was created to be a work-life balance solution for entrepreneurs, corporate ladder climbers, and families.
 
Sondra works closely with her clients to help them identify what they can delegate, and connects them with the resources necessary to make their personal and professional goals their reality. Believing strongly that people are better contributors to society when they're well-supported, she devotes her time to nurturing her team, her clients, and her personal relationships, including the one with herself.
 
Connect with Sondra and Pursuit Concierge:
Pursuit Concierge's website: pursuitofseattle.com
Pursuit Concierge's Instagram: instagram.com/pursuitconcierge
Sondra's Instagram: instagram.com/pursuitofsondra
Pursuit Concierge's "Thoughts" blog: pursuitofseattle.com/thoughts
 
Connect with Sara McArdle and Women Who Went for It:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/womenwhowentforit 
Website: www.womenwhowentforit.com 
Nominate a Podcast Guest: www.saramcardle.com/podcast-guest 
Email: womenwhowentforit@gmail.com 
Phone: 503.893.2043
 
Want to make your own career change?
Download Sara's Seven Cs of Successful Career Change Chart.