Sarah Steinberg is the former Executive VP of Johns Hopkins and now the founder and CEO of Frogstone Strategies. She realized her calling for helping others in higher education and pursued her passion ever since.
Through Frogstone Strategies, Sarah advises colleges and universities on the creation and development of revenue sustainable programs both online and on-site for adult and non-traditional students.
She also holds adjunct faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Georgetown University.
Listen now to hear from Sarah on why it’s okay if you haven’t realized your passion yet or if you’re a multi-passionate person on the Find Your Passion Career Podcast
Early Career
Early on, Sarah knew her strengths well. She went on to combine her skills in math and science and her curiosity about archaeology and graduated with an undergraduate and master’s degrees in civil engineering.
She ended up working at different firms for a few years before she realized she had two choices: a technical path or a managerial path.
Sarah wanted the managerial route, so she decided to arm herself with the tools needed to do so. She went back to further her education and earned her MBA in marketing and finance while having a part time job and a baby at home.
Bottom line: Nothing is impossible with hard work, determination and a qualified mindset.
Higher Education
Sarah began her career in higher education at Johns Hopkins University. Before joining academia, Sarah worked at an engineering firm showing that the career journey isn’t always linear.
“You don’t have to start and end with the same passion. I’m here to be a living breathing example of the fact that you don’t have to do that.”
Breaking into higher education wasn’t easy, but Sarah leaned on communication and manifestation.
“Thank you notes were a good thing back then and they are a good thing today. You have to do something that gives you the standout, you don’t know who the competition is.”
Sarah later found out that the job came down to her and another applicant, a retired admiral.
“I visualized myself in the job. I used to drive over to the campus and sit in the parking lot and think about what it would be like working for Johns Hopkins University.”
She let the visualization of being in the job and the goals she had for the position shine through during her interviews with the hiring managers.
Career Advice
Sarah highlights the importance of taking advantage of career services on campus and making sure to befriend them.
“You should be as prepared as possible, you should get as much help as you can, for networking, for making the job connections, for helping you with your resume, for interviewing skills.”
She also advises to take advantage of all those people asking, “What are you going to do?” and “What are you going to be?”
“The best thing to do is to turn that around and try to gather information from those people. ‘What do you think that I should do?’… ‘What do you think that my strengths are’, ‘Do you have suggestions?’ or… ‘Do you have connections?’ ‘Can you connect me to somebody that I can do an informational interview with?’”
“Flip the conversation so that you’re not feeling that pressure but you’re leveraging that pressure to your benefit.”
It’s okay to feel uncomfortable talking about your future, especially when it comes to a career. You don’t need to have it all figured out, but start flipping the conversation around to your advantage right now.
Write a list of at least three people who know you really well and ask them, ‘what do you think I would be good at or what do you think I should do?’ Start those uncomfortable conversations yourself and make them work for you.
Download my podcast interview with Sarah Steinberg here in iTunes!
Once you’re inspired by Sarah’s advice, we would love to read your review. Thank you so much!
FYPC Podcast Ep. 46: Ursula Diamond, Career Services Leader at Claremont McKenna College