Saying Yes to a Different Path: A CareerCircle Career Journey

Courtney Remaley, CareerCircle’s Director of Partnership Management, loved being at home with her mom and watching her dad go to his sales leadership role. She thought that she would follow in her mom’s footsteps. She even went so far as to write in a letter to herself in her senior year of high school predicting that is where she would be in 10 years.

But it turns out that life had some slightly different plans.

From a Job to a Decades-Long Career

“I never saw myself being at Allegis for longer than five years, but it’ll be 20 years this month,” Courtney shared when we started talking about her career journey.

Courtney expected that her role as a recruiter for Onsite Aviation (an Allegis Operating Company) would just keep her occupied until she moved into the role she really wanted: being a mom. But it ended up being the start of a decades-long career that was filled with new opportunities and learnings that have made her the person she is today.

After working as a recruiter, she moved over to the Contract Engineering Division at Aerotek before beginning to find her footing in the Sales office for the engineering division where she later went on to  help open a satellite office in Newnan, Georgia.

When a Director of Business Operations role opened up in the Miami/South Florida area, she took her experience of running the satellite office into that role. But she realized pretty quickly that Miami wasn’t the right fit for her.

“There was an opportunity to go to Jacksonville, and I raised my hand and said, hey, I’d love to get out of Miami,” she shared. “It just wasn’t the right fit for me culturally so I was looking forward to a change of scenery.”

But after some time in the role, Courtney started to question whether it was her location that was the problem or the role.

“Deep down, I think I knew Business Operations just wasn’t the right fit for me. It was very heavy on the operations side of things and I really missed working with customers, building those relationships and solving customer challenges in the workplace.”

So she raised her hand again and made the move over to the national sales team with Aerotek as a Strategic Initiative Executive.

A tip for you: If a role isn’t right for you, but you love the company you work for, don’t see quitting and moving on as your only option. Sit down with a leader on your team and explore options for positions that might be a better fit for you.

Before long, she became the Director of Strategic Sales - Healthcare, a role that she called “one of my favorite jobs that I’ve done.”

“I really enjoy teaching and coaching people in that role and working with clients at a high level, talking about big business propositions and presenting. I just really loved being able to work so closely with people,” she shared when asked about why she loved the role so much.

Always Being Ready To Say Yes

While Courtney loved working as the Director of Strategic Sales, when MarketSource (an Allegis Operating Company) reached out about a role that would oversee collaboration across numerous Allegis OpCos, her interest was piqued.

“It felt like a really unique opportunity to help MarketSource grow by leaning on relationships that I had built over the years while making new ones across operating companies. I didn’t know much about it, but I was flattered that I was asked to come over and help with that piece of the business. I’ve always been the person who says yes to opportunities, whether it’s a new territory, a new role, or just a growth opportunity. I want to say yes. And so I did!”

That drive to say yes stemmed from her relationships with her mentors, including her dad whose footsteps she was now fully walking in. “All the mentors I’ve had have always guided me to say yes to things more than you say no, because as soon as you start saying no, people stop asking.”

It didn’t take long in her time at MarketSource for a new opportunity to come knocking.

“I made a point to stay in contact with Kim Sneeder [Managing Director of CareerCircle] over the years since she had mentored me in my role as a Director of Business Operations and I have always looked up to her.  She explained that CareerCircle had started a partnership with Grow with Google and asked if I was interested in making the move. Naturally, I said yes.  It was a great mix of leadership, client engagement, and operations!”

After spending time with MarketSource, Courtney learned she really enjoyed working for a smaller OpCo so the opportunity to work for CareerCircle, which is the smallest in Allegis, was something she was excited about. She loved the idea of having a voice that could initiate change and the opportunity to get a lot of things done faster. 

A tip for you: There is a major difference between large and small companies and both have their pros and cons. When you’re on your career journey, and especially when on the job hunt, consider whether a larger company or a smaller company is better for you and your needs.

She was also looking forward to working for a company with a mission that was close to her heart.

While she wasn’t a stay-at-home mom as she had imagined when she was younger, she was a working mom. As a working mom, she understands the needs of working parents when it comes to their professional development and moving into a role that better helps them provide for their families.

“Working at CareerCircle meant being able to work from home and find a semblance of balance in my life as a parent and as an employee. In my previous jobs, I was on an airplane every other week. Now I can give quality work to my job, but still be here for dinner with my kids. It does mean being really disciplined with my time, but that discipline means that at the end of my workday I’m a mom 100%.”

Moving to CareerCircle also helped Courtney reconnect with skills and passions that she hadn’t used in her last few positions. She was really excited to build something from scratch and she realized how much she enjoyed working with that ambiguity and taking a little bit of direction and guiding a team through a strategy to get them to the next level.

A tip for you: Taking the time to understand yourself can make a major difference in your career. Consider the deeper root of why certain requirements are important to you and focus on that “why” in your job search.

Learning From Every Step of the Way

When asked about her career journey, Courtney highlighted how much she has focused on learning from every opportunity she has had. “I don’t think I’d be where I am today without all of my jobs. You learn from each of your experiences the things that you like and the things that you don’t like. If you have a good leader or a good job, you learn what you want in the future and how to go for it. If you have a bad leader or a bad job, you learn what you don’t want to emulate.”

She suggests that everyone embraces learning from every step of their journey as well as saying yes to more opportunities that feel right. It also never hurts to have mentors and advocates fighting in your corner.

“I’ve had several bosses along the way who have been so supportive in not just helping me learn, but advocating for me to take on new roles and responsibilities. They were even there to tell me when they thought I was making a mistake and having that trust and honesty has been so valuable in my career and my life.”

While Courtney staked her claim at Allegis, her dedication to continual growth meant that she always had a new challenge on her plate.

We hope that her story inspires you to grab the opportunities that are presented to you and thrive in your career, no matter what your original career goals were. Don’t underestimate how much satisfaction can come from knowing who you are and what you want out of your role…even if it means moving around.

If you’re ready to take the next step on your career journey, join the CareerCircle community here.

For more career journey stories from the CareerCircle team, check out our posts with Cecily Guggisberg and Daniel Pugh.