CDI’s Advisory Board aka The Dream Team
The following individuals, excluding the President, are all volunteers.
Senior Directors
The following individuals are full members of CDI’s Board of Advisors.
Laura DeCarlo – President & Executive Director
BS; Member of the prestigious Forbes Coaches Council; Certified Content Marketing Specialist; Certified Customer Acquisition Specialist; Infinite Possibilities Certified Trainer; Money Breakthrough Method® Certified Coach; Certified Money, Marketing and Soul Coach®; MCD, CMRW, CERM, CECC, CCMC, CCM, CEIC, IJCTC, CP-OJSRM, CWPP, 360Reach, MRWLAA
Laura DeCarlo is recognized as the business success coach for career and resume professionals who want to authentically grow their businesses and dramatically enhance their skills. In her second year of private practice as a resume writer and career coach over 20 years ago, Laura successfully broke the six-figure revenue mark. It is her mission to help other career and resume professionals to experience similar success as she wholeheartedly embraces the belief that, “Ours is an industry with a soul where you can make a major difference while also making an extraordinary living.”
She has championed the ‘career hero’ mantra by pioneering efforts in visibility, credibility, and quality within the career services industry for both job seekers and career professionals as the founder of the global membership-based organization, Career Directors International.
Throughout her career she has spearheaded the development of numerous training programs and presentations for job seekers and career professionals, including the most recent, Certified Professional in Online Job Search & Reputation Management.
An industry leader, she has earned two degrees and 11 industry certifications and designations such as Master Career Director and Certified Master Resume Writer. She is credentialed as an Infinite Possibilities Certified Trainer, Money Breakthrough Method Certified Coach®, and Certified Money, Marketing and Soul Coach®. She is a member of the elite Forbes Coaches Council. Further, she has received the industry’s most prestigious awards in resume writing, career coaching, and job placement.
Laura is the author of Resumes for Dummies, 7th Edition (Wiley), Interviewing: The Gold Standard and Interview Pocket RX as well as co-author of Job Search Bloopers (Career Press); she has also been featured in over 15 resume and cover letter compendiums.
As a resume writer, career coach, and career director for her former private-practice, A Competitive Edge Career Service, LLC, Laura held the role of national//international resume expert for 54 professional associations such as PMI, AMA, AJST, ASAE, ASME, AVMA, and ASCE.
She has been a guest columnist on career issues for The Florida Today newspaper and been quoted in publications such as Forbes.com, Vogue.com, Forbes (IMPRESS), HR Magazine, US News & World Report, Monster.com, SmartMoney.com, Working Mother, the Wall Street Journal, and NBC 7/39 News in San Diego.
Website: www.careerdirectors.com
Blog: https://careerdirectors.com/blog/
Email: laura@nullcareerdirectors.com
Audrey Prenzel
BA, BEd, CARW, CEIC
CDI Director of International Team
Since 2001, Audrey Prenzel has been delivering career transition services to clients from 30+ countries. Capable of handling all industries, Audrey is in particular demand by senior level professionals within police, fire, government, IT, engineering and military disciplines. Audrey wrote Canada’s only book on military career transitions, Military to Civvie Street. The Complete Job Transition Guide for those Leaving the RCAF, Army & Navy.
An industry leader, Audrey earned the CARW and CEIC credentials. She holds an honours Degree in Psychology and a Bachelor of Education Degree. Audrey taught for 13 years as a regular classroom teacher and special education specialist. She is a Master Math Trainer for the Province of Ontario.
Due to her passion for helping veterans, Audrey was commissioned as a “Kentucky Colonel” from the Governor of Kentucky early in 2014.
Audrey is a TORI winner and nominee (several), TORI judge, CDI Board Member, and the CDI Summit Master-at-Arms.
Website: www.resumeresources.ca
Kimberly Robb Baker
Certified Master Resume Writer, Nationally Certified Resume Writer, Certified Job Search Strategist, TORI Winner; creator of the Career Storyteller Certification
Kimberly Robb Baker is Chief Career Storyteller at ThisLittleBrand.com and makes the power of career storytelling accessible to the masses at ThisLittleBrandUniversity.com.
A former MENSA member and an astonishing 9 on Kolbe’s Quick Start scale, Kim adores quickly getting to the heart of the matter, building something great, and moving on to the next big thing. While this meant being a high-achieving job-hopper throughout her early career, she’s been fulfilled living vicariously through her clients’ careers since 2006 when she attended her first resume writing conference and hung her shingle out in the virtual world.
Kim has been nominated for 25+ Toast of the Resume Industry awards, served as Certification Chair for the National Resume Writers’ Association, had her work featured in publications by Barron’s and JIST as well as major media outlets, and currently sits on the Board of Career Directors International. She co-works at 2112 with the grownups, and at home with her three homeschooled children—who eclipse most adults in the realm of creative insights.
Website: http://ThisLittleBrand.com
Marie Plett
Certified Executive Resume Master, Certified Professional Resume Writer, TORI Winner
Marie Plett is a Certified Executive Resume Master who first became obsessed with resumes when she was only 12 years old and tasked with helping her recruiter parents screen out bad applications. Though she started her professional career developing graphics and apparel for some of the world’s most popular fashion brands, she followed her true calling to become a resume writer and founded AspirationsResume.com in 2004. She now uses her considerable graphic design skills to create exceptional resumes that have won 9 TORI Awards since 2016, including 5 First Place Awards.
Website: www.AspirationsResume.com
Board Advisors and/or Committee Directors
The following individuals support the CDI Board in an added advisory capacity.
Gayle Howard
CARW, CMRW, CCM, CPRW, BIC, HRCC, CWPP, MCD, MRWLAA
CDI Director of Resume Certification & Former Director of Resume Awards
Gayle Howard is a Career Directors International’s most decorated resume writer with more than 12 first place TORI Awards to her credit including the coveted 2007 CDI Lifetime Achievement Award.
A Certified Master Resume Writer and Master Career Director, Gayle has been published in more than 22 international career books, and is an author in her own right with her book PS…You Need a Résumé—a definitive guide for jobseekers that later became a required reading resource for resume writing peers to acquire international certification with CDI. In 2007 Gayle released her e-course and companion book, PS…You’re a Résumé Expert that became the official resume writing course endorsed by CDI.
Gayle is clear about her aims. “I explode the myths surrounding resume writing by creating living documents that freeze special moments in time so they can be crystallized in the mind of the reader. Each career capsule as I call it, is a client’s moment in the spotlight—meticulously crafted to trigger that must-have response in recruiters and employers.” Gayle’s business, Top Margin Career Marketing Services opened its doors in March 1990 and has become a trendsetter in resume excellence.
Website: www.topmargin.com
Susan Guarneri
MS, NCCC, CPBS, CMRW, CCMC, 360Reach, CPRW, CEIP, IJCTC, NCC, CCTJ, MCC, MRWLAA
Former CDI Director of Programs
Susan Guarneri, the “Career Assessment Goddess” and “Resume-Magic Expert”, has a Master’s Degree in Counseling from The Johns Hopkins University, plus 25 years of experience in career counseling and coaching thousands of professionals and executives. She has also provided career consulting, training and employee development programs to Fortune 500 companies, colleges, non-profits and government agencies.
Co-author of Job Search Bloopers: Every Mistake You Can Make on the Road to Career Suicide, Susan is the only National Certified Career Counselor worldwide who is also certified as a Master Branding Strategist, Online Identity Management Strategist, and Distance Career Counselor. Her articles and interviews have been featured in The Princeton Business Journal, The Wall Street Journal, New Jersey News, Richard Bolles’ (author of What Color Is Your Parachute?) Radio Show, The Career Planning and Adult Development Journal, and professional association publications and best-selling books.
Susan has attained CDI’s prestigious Certified Master Resume Writer with a Lifetime Achievement Award distinction. Her careers-industry leadership roles include: 360Reach Certification Leadership Team, Career Assessment Expert and Advisory Board Member for Career Directors International (CDI), and Board of Directors Member for the Wisconsin Career Development Association.
While Susan lives in the beautiful Northwoods of Wisconsin, her online business is worldwide. Her personal brand attributes, via the 360Reach assessment, are caring, genuine, forward-thinking, strategic, connector, expert, and creative.
Websites: www.Resume-Magic.com; www.AssessmentGoddess.com
Email: Susan@nullAssessmentGoddess.com.
Robin Schlinger
BS, CARW, CFRW, CFRWC, CECC, CPRW, JCTC
Robin Schlinger, as a recognized Resume Writing Expert, is a Master Career Director (MCD), Certified Master Resume Writer (CMRW), Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), Certified Federal Resume Writer (CFRW), Certified Electronic Career Coach (CECC), and Job and Career Transition Coach (JCTC). Robin has been adding value to resumes and other career marketing documents which get her clients the interviews for the job they want since 2001. In 2006, she started her own company, Robin’s Resumes® (www.robinresumes.com).
Robin is currently the Director of Awards for CDI and previously served as judge for CDI’s numerous award programs. Robin has been a panel speaker at the last 2 CDI conferences in 2012 and 2011 and spoke at the last Career Management Alliance conference in 2011. She has served on the CDI meeting committee, developed a CDI teleseminar on preparing resume questionnaires and helped develop the partnership with LocalHires for their job fairs.
Robin is frequently asked to speak at job seeker conferences and online webinars. Robin uses her previous experience as a Senior Chemical Engineer, Quality Engineer, Process Engineer, Planning Analyst, and Applications Engineer to help her clients. Robin earned a BSChE with a concentration in Writing from MIT.
Website: www.robinresumes.com
In Memoriam
Pat Schuler
Pat Schuler is the President of The Gemini Resources Group, home of Kick Butt Sales Training™. Over 23 years of experience in corporate America as an award-winning sales professional to Fortune 500 companies positioned her to build a solid reputation in the careers industry as mentor, coach, and friend. Her mission is to help independent sales professionals to excel, frequently with results of no less than 37% revenue growth in as little as 90-120 days. For the past 11 years she has been guiding people (independent professionals and small business owners) through the process of learning to ask for what they’re worth – without being mistaken for the greedy, pushy salesperson.
Pat is Past President and current VP of The Circle of Connections, President of Business Women’s Network, and member of Career Directors International, Adventures in Brainstorming, Marketing on the Playground, and Career Management Alliance. She has presented sales strategy workshops and seminars to numerous groups, corporations, small businesses, and conferences – most recently CDI’s 2009 Annual Career Empowerment Summit. She also partners with The Academy on The Serious Revenue Program.
Website: www.kickbuttsalestraining.com