I have known and worked with Nancy Karas for more than 25 years. During that time, Nancy has been an instrumental guide in forming and developing my career path. She has counseled me time and time again regarding my career, job changes, talent development, compensation negotiations, and employee relations issues. Nancy is highly resourceful, intuitive, and has the rare ability to foresee problems and provide creative solutions. I highly recommend Nancy Karas. She is an extremely talented human resources strategist.

Ernie Sulpizio

SVP Trend and Design VM , Boston Proper

Nancy is a gifted coach. For more than thirteen years, I was immersed in developing others at work and at home. I was not sophisticated about navigating an unexpected job search in the digital age. Nancy was the answer to my prayers; she taught me how to leverage social media, challenged me to be creative, imaginative, and bold, and, above all, to have confidence in myself, my abilities, and what I could offer potential employers. Nancy goes through walls for clients; she even drove from her home in New York to New Jersey just to hold my hand for a few hours before an important interview. If you are lucky enough to work with Nancy, you will find her to be empathetic, empowering, kind, thoughtful, and knowledgeable. I am thrilled to be where I am, and am grateful to Nancy for showing me the possibilities and helping me believe in myself. Working with her was a transformative experience.

Mary McGurrin-Novack

Regional HR Director, Nixon Peabody LLP

“Nancy is a professional, personal and business coach with a true gift. She has the ability to give people the strength and courage to move forward and the renewed knowledge that we CAN. Nancy instills self esteem and provides her clients with a clear path to achieve one’s goals. She was instrumental during the developmental stages of my business  and my business brand and website.

Not only does Nancy consistently respond (and her responses are quick) to personal issues that individuals are dealing with, she does so with incredible understanding, insight, and compassion.

I am constantly amazed at the depth of her knowledge and her intuitive comprehension of various situations and how to resolve them. A great problem solver, a caring person, a wonderful visionary…Nancy is highly regarded and cherished. I am fortunate to have her in my life.”

Laura Gravina

President & Owner, Reliance Specialty Infusion

Nancy is an extraordinary Master Career Coach and SVP at the Five O’clock Club where she both coaches executives and senior level clients, and also builds the business through her strong relationships with HR leaders across the country. She’s a superstar coach and a great career management resource for me, as well as the coaches that she mentors with her strong background in HR. She’s a true treasure!

Erica Golden

Career Coach and Talent Strategist

I was at my company for nearly 28 years when my position was eliminated. Needless to say, I was shocked, devastated and scared-I hadn’t looked for a new job since I was in my 20’s! Nancy was so supportive and she gave me such confidence and optimism. Nancy answered my emails at all hours of the day and night and I felt like she was truly in my corner every step of the way. Her help and guidance was invaluable and as cliche as it sounds, I landed an opportunity that I believe will be 100 times better than the one I was in.  

I cannot say enough about Nancy’s breadth and depth of knowledge, her experience, her “getting me” and what I was looking for, etc. I will be forever grateful!

Lisa Staras Abrams

Senior Human Resource Business Specialist , Montefiore Information Technology

I rate Nancy Karas a 10 out of 10 because she cares so much about her clients and has so much great advice that keeps one encouraged even when things may look dreary on the job front. Nancy has gone above and beyond on many occasions with the sole purpose of her clients’ happiness.

George Kegode

Consultant , Food Security, Value Chains, Resiliency, Rural Livelihoods – Africare

Nancy is a 10 out of 10. Nancy is professional, candid and really knows her stuff. She is a very good coach and expert HR consultant.

Clark Atwood

Vice President – West Coast Operations, Protecall Sustainable Building Solutions

Nancy is the consummate professional. She is talented, experienced, educated and compassionate. Her expertise in the field of Human Resources is second to none. Nancy can coach one on one or she can host a seminar. Nancy has Corporate as well as Small Business Experience which makes her well-rounded. I highly recommend Nancy; Nancy will not disappoint.

Patricia D. Rivera, CPA, CTC

President/Owner , 123 Accounting Services LLC

I met Nancy in graduate school and over the years we’ve worked together both professionally and personally: Nancy has been a business consultant at a number of firms I’ve worked at and a personal coach as I’ve worked to develop my career.

Nancy knows what she’s doing: she has an understanding of the Financial Services industry and a comprehensive level of expertise in the area of Human Resources. As an Administrative Executive, this has made her a valuable asset in achieving the goal of any engagement we’ve worked on together.

Nancy has a creative method of approaching issues and her solutions are practical yet innovative. Her personality makes getting the job done easier. She has assisted me in building strong departments and, while doing so, integrated herself into the workplace with little effort. I’m clear that Nancy’s work has allowed me to bring projects to closure with strong results and a staff that functions at the next level.

I can’t say enough good things about working with Nancy and I look forward to the opportunity to work with her again!

Michael Lehning

Experienced Manager of People and Processes Administration, Office Services and Facilities

Nancy has been a guest speaker and friend of the College for several years. She is passionate and enthusiastic about helping her students/clients, assisting them with moving forward in life and with learning a step by step process to shortcut their job search. Her workshops and presentations are very engaging, and she has been requested by several departments to present on a variety of career-related topics.

Anthony Michaelides

Acting Dean, Campus Services & Operations (CCC) and Career Center at College of the Canyons

I gave Nancy a 10 out of 10. Nancy has helped both my daughters in their search for careers and possible job potentials.

Diana Stanich

Professor, College of the Canyons

I simply don’t know where to begin in letting you know how professionally and personally rewarding I found my experience working with my Career Coach, Nancy Karas. To say, “She went way, way above the call of duty” is a major understatement and does not begin to convey the sense of gratitude I have for her assistance and expertise in helping me transition from the ranks of the unemployed, to what I consider to be the most exciting and rewarding career change in my 25 years in educational sales!

I first began working with Nancy about a year ago after being unexpectedly let go by a major publishing house. This was a major blow to my career and financial position, since I had just come off a great year in sales and understood the company was planning to grow in the education market. I was wrong about their planned direction. Initially, I felt much maligned, but as part of my severance they offered the services of The Five O’Clock Club. I had no idea what a gift it would turn out to be!

Soon after Nancy and I made contact and she learned of my background and what I was looking for in my next job, she quickly went to work on my behalf. She was able to help me immediately prepare for several interviews and customize my resume and cover letters for each position I applied for. As the summer dragged into the fall, and the interviews and applications came and went, Nancy kept me on task with following the Five O’Clock Club career search methodology, and I worked closely with the Club’s book Targeting a Great Career,which I found to be an invaluable source of advice and have since shared with many friends and colleagues.

Nancy always made herself available to me to fine tune my resumes and prepare for my interviews. Fortunately, and with Nancy’s help, I secured a full-time position just before the holidays. However, I knew deep down it did not address my long-term career and financial needs, but it was a job I knew I would do well at. Still, Nancy and I agreed I would keep looking. Throughout the winter and spring, Nancy continued to make herself available via e-mail and phone, and once I secured an offer from my current employer, she was able to help me negotiate the terms of the final offer. Delighted, I accepted and now am with a company that is exactly where I want to be both professionally and financially. Not many people can say that and it was mainly because of Nancy’s expert advice and counsel that brought me to this happy ending/beginning. It was a lot of work, and I know there is no such thing as guaranteed employment, but I have learned so much from Nancy, and grown so much both professionally and personally, that if I find myself unemployed again in the future, I now have the skills and knowledge to help me navigate those challenging times.

I could go on with countless other examples of how Nancy helped me develop into the confident professional I am today, but it’s her personal advice and friendship I so dearly value. She helped changed my attitude from “what’s in it for me” to “how can I help you”. In addition to writing this letter, I have posted other endorsements for Nancy and The Five O’Clock Club on my social media accounts so my other business and personal contacts will know who they can turn to when they need your company’s expertise.

Recently Nancy and I spoke and she asked if I would be willing to be a resource for one of her new clients. I told her I would be more than delighted to help. I think this is what’s known as “paying it forward.” I would like to end this note by thanking you, Nancy, and everyone associated with the Five O’ Clock Club. I am proud to be lifelong member.

 

I want to tell you how pleased I am to have worked with my coach Nancy Karas. A bit of background if I may. I spent the first 15 years of my career as an electrical engineer initially, 12 of those years on the business development side of technology. I experienced tremendous professional and personal growth during that time which included starting a family. In late 2004 the global travel of approximately 5 months per year had taken its toll on me and my family. The last straw was an ill family member requiring extra care. So I walked away from my career and was referred into a financial services position on the client side. The primary benefit of this career change, was that I was able to sleep in my bed every night.
 
After 7 years in financial services, I found myself both stressed and unhappy. A professional culture that solely measured your value and success by how much money you make for the firm was not for me and I had to get out. But could I make a transition back to technology after almost 9 years away? It was worth a shot but I knew I had to get guidance. Although I had kept up a professional network via LinkedIn, I quickly realized that I needed to find a more focused strategy to yield the results I desired. In my search for resources, I stumbled upon a book from The Five O’Clock Club, “Packaging Yourself; The Targeted Resume”. The book really made sense since I was trying to transition back into a career I had left almost 9 years prior. Nevertheless, I feared being perceived as dated and for the first time in my life I questioned my professional value. This book led me to connect with the woman who became my coach, Nancy Karas.
 
We initially spoke over the phone and I hired Nancy for a coaching engagement through which I implemented the 5 O’clock Club career search processes. One of the things that really impressed me with Nancy, was her extensive corporate work experience, whereby she truly knows the nature of the beast. But what impressed me the most, was her keen ability to effectively listen. She immediately understood what I was going through both professionally and personally. She was sincere, empathetic, and was always a positive sounding board through every step of my search. The end result was that through my commitment to make a change and her supportive guidance, I tapped into my old network and  landed a great position with a leading technology company in the renewable/solar energy space earning a very health 6 figure income. To my surprise, this happened within 3 months of engaging with Nancy. Certainly timing was on my side, but the focus I derived from the coaching process coupled with Nancy‘s guidance, is what I consider essential to the success I experienced.
 
I just celebrated my one year anniversary with the company and things are looking exceptionally strong for my company, the industry and for my career. For the first time in many years, I enjoy my work and feel valued professionally. I wholeheartedly recommend the 5 O’clock Club methodology and even more so, my wonder coach Nancy Karas.
Matt Louis

SMA AMERICA