Jennifer Edwards, a 44-year-old single mom, had been successful in the import business for more than 20 years, but she felt that her career had reached a plateau. “I’m a two-time ovarian cancer survivor,” says Jennifer, “So when I had to stop working and then try to get back in the field, I thought ‘I can go back to this job and just pay the bills but not go anywhere, or I can get a career where I can go and grow and move around.’” Jennifer confidently chose the latter, and she connected with National Able Network to get started.

In order to take her career to the next level, Jennifer met with her career coach, Carey Goldenberg. She felt that in order to move to a new high growth career, she’d have to pursue a new industry. As she began to research her options, she felt that a medical career would be the perfect option. Not only was she a two-time cancer survivor, but also her son was a leukemia survivor. This was a deeply passionate decision, and she knew that she wanted to pursue health – specifically ultrasonography. She worked on her career plan with Carey, and she applied for the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Program (WIOA). Once enrolled, she was able to find and enroll in The Aquarius Institute to begin training for her new career pathway.

The flexibility of her training schedule allowed her to still take her son for evening check-ups – a very important piece for this career transition to be successful. Jennifer completed her classes in February 2020 and has been doing clinical work. In addition to all her hard work and transitioning to a new career, she’s worked with Carey to get her job search skills up to date. “Carey has been so good, and he’s given me so much information. He got me on LinkedIn where I had a lot of import contacts, but I started to reach out to the medical community. I’ve met a lot of people in the field. I’d like to move to Texas, so I’ve already been in contact with some hospitals down there.” says Jennifer.

Regarding overall experience, Jennifer says, “Without National Able Network I wouldn’t have been able to do it – moneywise and school wise – I think more people need to know about it [National Able Network]. Come out and ask for the help!”