Career Change & Business Advice for Women | Second Act Success Podcast

Start a Consulting Business and Build a Career You Love | #278

Oct 19, 2026

Risa Seelenfreund, leadership coach and founder of LightSpark Leadership, shares her journey from corporate marketing to learning development and consulting. She explores transferable skills, discovering more fulfilling work, building credibility through continuous learning, and turning resilience into a coaching tool. Risa also discusses relationship-based marketing, referrals, networking, and preparing for entrepreneurship’s inevitable highs and lows.

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ANECDOTE

From Marketing To Flexible Leadership Consulting

Risa Seelenfreund left marketing after discovering she loved teaching coworkers and helping them develop.
She earned a part-time NYU learning and development degree, then built a consulting business after a four-month trial project offered flexibility.

ADVICE

Test Career Changes Before Taking The Leap

Explore possible directions while keeping your current job instead of making an immediate leap.
Risa tested technology and learning classes, then used her marketing background to win a hybrid training and tech-support role.

ADVICE

Find Transferable Skills You Actually Enjoy

Inventory the skills you use now, including communication, writing, and collaboration, rather than focusing only on your job title.
Rank each skill for both ability and interest, then pursue the skills scoring high in both areas.

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Thinking about leaving your corporate career to start a business? Book a free Second Act Strategy Call: https://secondactsuccess.co/strategy

In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast with business coach and author Shannon Russell, you'll meet Risa Seelenfreund, leadership coach and founder of LightSpark Leadership. Shannon and Risa discuss how she transitioned from a corporate marketing career into leadership development and eventually built her own successful consulting business.

After years of working in corporate roles and balancing the demands of motherhood, Risa discovered consulting as a way to continue doing meaningful work while creating more flexibility for her family.

More than a decade later, she's sharing what she's learned about career transitions, transferable skills, entrepreneurship, networking, resilience, and building a business that fits your life.

In this episode, you'll learn:

How to identify transferable skills that can help you make a career change or start a business
Why being good at something doesn't necessarily mean it's the right career path for you
How Risa transitioned from corporate marketing to leadership development and entrepreneurship
Why networking, relationships, and referrals are essential for growing a coaching or consulting business
How self-awareness, continuous learning, and resilience can help you navigate the ups and downs of entrepreneurship

If you're considering leaving corporate America, starting a consulting business, becoming a coach, or simply exploring what's next in your career, this conversation will remind you that your experience is valuable and your next chapter can build on everything you've already learned.

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More From Shannon:

📖 Grab Shannon's Book, Start Your Second Act
🎤 Watch Shannon's TEDx Talk
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