Creator Spotlight: The Forem
The Forem has been using Mixily over the past months for much of their programming including their office hours, workshops and live demos. Founded by Alli Young, The Forem is a Career Advancement Program empowering employees to own their career development. The program features a platform, workshop series and one on one mentor program. Their clients and partners boast an impressive list including Google, Pinterest, Time’s Up, Verizon and more.
Sarah Crandall, Director of Product and Membership, has been the one driving the Mixily events, so we sent her some questions to learn more about The Forem and virtual events.
Introduce your business.
The Forem was created because our CEO & Founder, Alli Young, realized that womxn’s careers depend upon their ability to self-advocate and raise their visibility at work. When womxn can create an undeniable picture of their value and present it confidently to managers and executives, more womxn are promoted at the first step up and given an equal shot at C-Suite roles. However, there are systemic challenges to achieving this visibility.
Through bootcamps and a unique Membership program centered on Five Critical Skills, The Forem provides actionable career support to counteract these challenges.
How often do you host events?
Our Members receive access to complimentary career workshops two to three times per month. But we also host bootcamps, workshop series, and one-off workshop events.
What’s an upcoming event you are organizing that you’re most excited about?
We just launched our quarterly career advancement bootcamp, Level Up. And we completely sold out this time, which is really exciting. This is my favorite bootcamp because it serves as a “crash-course” introduction to The Forem’s career tools and methodology, which means that every day attendees message me to tell me 1) how their lives have changed and 2) how they’re completely re-thinking their approach to their careers. It’s so inspiring!
Have you always hosted virtual events or how have they become part of your business this year?
It’s definitely new for 2020. Before COVID, our CEO Alli Young led a lot of in-person seminars and workshops around the country. But what we’ve discovered is that virtual workshops enable us to reach so many more people around the world. It’s exciting because the whole point is to get these career resources into as many hands as possible.
Any positive results of hosting virtual events?
We’ve been able to get our career resources into so many people’s hands, at a time when they need them most. (Remote work comes with particular challenges for visibility, especially for women and folx of color). We’ve seen The Forem help in real, tangible ways.
If someone was looking to host an event for their first time, any words of wisdom you would give them?
It always comes back to passion. You’re hosting this event because you have something to offer these people that can help them. Trust your gut and lead with sincerity and vulnerability.
Since using Mixily, what is your favorite feature?
Mixily integrates so well with our services! We use a lot of different platforms (including ConvertKit, Slack, and our own tech). Mixily’s team is always on hand to work with us. My favorite feature currently is being able to clearly see who has RSVP’d (yes, no, maybe), and who has been invited, but yet to respond. I am very excited about the new features Mixily is working on and can’t wait to see what’s next!
Do you have any pre-event rituals to get you in the groove like a favorite drink, snack, song or outfit?
I have a playlist that you can hear blasting on repeat in my Bushwick apartment when I am organizing the logistics for any of our upcoming events.
And then I have my standard mock neck, black, short-sleeved turtle neck that never fails me for any of these Zoom sessions.
Any new favorite podcasts, books or TV shows you’ve discovered this year?
I’ve been quarantining in Brooklyn, which means I’ve been stuck inside for the majority of my time. That also means I have recycled just about every single show I have ever watched. Some favorites include: Dark (Netflix, give it a few tries definitely worth it), Parks & Recreation (Hulu, no brainer), Sense8 (Netflix, looking for a little sci-fi energy in your life this is for you), Mr Robot (Hulu, so good). The new show on HBO Max Raised By Wolves so far is really good--check it out.
What is your favorite or most used emoji?
📈A chart going up! Always onward and upward to better things.
Call to action - where can readers learn more/sign up for upcoming events/follow on social.
You can join our Monday Newsletter to have career advice dropped in your inbox every week. It’s completely free and 100% useful: https://www.theforem.co/
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LinkedIn: The Forem
Twitter: @theforem_co
