For 25 years, John Imperatore survived and thrived as an independent trader in the hustle and bustle of Wall Street’s unforgiving commodities pits. He developed a multidisciplinary approach to the game of floor trading, helping him succeed in a wide range of markets, such as financial futures, currencies, precious metals, and energy. In 1990, he was voted in as Vice Chairman of the New York Futures Exchange.

Throughout his career, John remained active in his community, coaching his children’s sports teams, joining volunteer groups to assist residents in El Salvador, Blackfeet Nation, and Appalachia, and running an outreach mission for his church, which involved coordinating parish volunteers to host and serve local homeless families.

In 2008, open outcry trading which had been a preferred way to trade since the 17th century, was once and for all disrupted by electronic trading, deeming floor traders as relics for an earlier time. Reflecting on which skills might translate into a new career, John concluded that his “soft skills” were his greatest asset and could fuel his career change. Subsequently, John pursued his Masters in Mental Health Counseling at the University of Miami, and went on to serve as a recovery counselor, a couples’ counselor, and a general practitioner in private practice.

Upon chance, John learned of the Seniors Helping Seniors® franchise, an in-home care service enabling seniors to maintain an independent lifestyle in their own homes for as long as possible. Seniors Helping Seniors® matches more active seniors with less active seniors. This mutually beneficial and enriching relationship provides both the caregiver and the recipient a way to give and receive®. John is now the owner and operator of a Seniors Helping Seniors® franchise, serving seniors in Delray and Boynton Beaches.

John will not only share his personal journey but also discuss the challenges and job opportunities in home healthcare that COVID-19  has created.  A link to Seniors Helping Seniors is on our website along with other resources to help you find work or figure out what you want for yourself.

Access the replay of this Zoom event here.

Encore Palm Beach County was created to tap into the skills, talents and experience of people over 50 to help solve social problems.  More than 40% of Palm Beach County residents are over 50 and more people are retiring here every day.  The pandemic has made it difficult for people to volunteer in person, yet nonprofits will need help more than ever going forward.

On July 15th, we held a panel discussion on the future for voluntarism in Palm Beach County with Donna Pulda, Vice President of Volunteer Services, United Way of Palm Beach County and Rosemary Nixon, Founder of Encore Palm Beach County.  Encore PBC Board member Karen Roberts moderated.

Donna has been a member of the volunteer services staff at the United Way since 1999, is a member of the local chapter of Directors of Volunteer Services (DOVS), the Florida Association of Volunteer Resource Managers, Volunteer Florida and an affiliate of the Points of Life Foundation.

Among topics our panelists discussed are:

• Why has voluntarism declined among folks 50+?
• Can volunteering lead to new employment?
• What are the possibilities for volunteering from home?
• Should companies do more to release employees for volunteer work?

And more….

You can access the event replay here.

One of Encore PBC’s goals is to encourage entrepreneurship and new careers after 50.  We have wanted for some time to feature interviews with those who have successfully created new careers and now Zoom has made it easy to do that.  On July 8th, Rosemary Nixon talked with Shelly Isaacs, well known in South Florida as a film lecturer.  Shelly combined his background in advertising with a love of film culture to create a new career hosting screenings of contemporary and classic foreign films followed by lectures at universities and theatres all over South Florida.

Access the event replay, the first of our Creating New Careers series, here.

Toby Haberkorn shared her knowledge on how to find work, based on her 20 years of experience as an executive recruiter.

Toby is an experienced executive-search consultant and certified job search strategist with a Master’s Degree in Human Resources Management.  She enjoys working with individuals who are at crossroads in their careers and lives.

She is the co-author of Best Job Search Tips For Age 60-Plus: A Practical Work Options Resource For Baby Boomers, which provides strategies and resources to help mature job seekers successfully navigate the changing work world.

See the Zoom replay here.  Password: 6d@^418z

In this Zoom workshop, Certified Professional Transformational Coach Maritza Coscarelli shared stories, tools, resources, and insights on resilience, not just for surviving but for thriving, in life and business, beyond our current circumstances.   Her professional and personal experiences shared in this talk are supported by psychological findings, neuroscience and plain old common sense. It is our choice in any situation to resist or adjust to change.

You can see the recorded workshop here.

In case you missed our How to Use Zoom Zoom event on Wednesday, May 27th with the Tech Savvy Senior Sheila Finkelstein, please click here for a recording with all the great information she shared.

In case you missed our Ask the HR Experts Zoom meeting on Thursday, May 21st, please click here for a recording with all the great information that was shared.

Please use the following password for access: 1G*yH5p8