Wiser With Age

Tag: NY

  • NYPD lieutenant talks about becoming a co-author with his dad

    NYPD lieutenant talks about becoming a co-author with his dad


    Jon and Bernard Whalen are a father and son writing-duo who recently released their second co-authored book, “The NYPD’s First Fifty Years: Politicians, Police Commissioners and Patrolmen.†The book includes a look back at the formation of the New York Police Department in 1898 and the heroism, and even corruption, that has taken place within the organization since then. The book signing will take place February 18 in Queens, NY.

    Bernard, 57, is currently a lieutenant in the NYPD and has worked in the force for 30 years. He switched careers from a physical education teacher to the police force many years ago and has not left since. He says he also greatly enjoys writing in his spare time – something he learned from his father, Jon.

    Jon, 79, now a retired English teacher, began his career as a corrections officer at Sing Sing and Auburn prisons. However, he decided to leave that role for his love of English and teaching students. According to Bernard, switching careers was unusual for his father’s time, but he says watching his father follow his passion for teaching encouraged him to pursue his own passions as well.

    Later, Bernard came up with an idea to publish a novel with his dad. In 2000, they published their first fiction thriller, “Justifiable Homicide.”

    Bernard and Jon, or B.J. Whalen, as they call themselves, are working on other novels and hoping to extend “The NYPD’s First Fifty Years.”

    *Jon Whalen could not attend the interview due to health issues.

     

    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.Kelly Carrion, is a multimedia journalist who believes in the incredible influence storytelling has on people, and how they view the world. That is why she has made it her mission to tell compelling stories about extraordinary people. Her articles have been featured on NBCNews.com, NBCLatino.com, LowellSun.com and Nashoba Publishing. She is a recent Boston University graduate. Follow Kelly on Twitter @kellycarrion12.

  • From corporate to freelance to founding Ventureneer

    From corporate to freelance to founding Ventureneer


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.
    Geri Stengel (Courtesy Geri Stengel)

    After spending many years working relatively secure jobs in research, marketing and sales in the corporate world, Geri Stengel transitioned to the uncharted land of freelancing. Since 1994, she’s been working on her own – mostly providing other women entrepreneurs advice.

    The nearly 62-year-old from Queens, NY says she spends most of her time heading her own firm Ventureneer, a digital market research company which helps corporations reach small businesses. She also recently authored the book, “Forget the Glass Ceiling: Build Your Business Without One.â€

    “A lot of my work is doing reports…interviewing people for the reports, attending conferences, or events, and sometimes speaking,†says Stengel. “The last three to six months I’ve been doing a lot of speaking on women and entrepreneurship, and women investing in women.â€

    She says her favorite part about her job is analyzing and interpreting data.

    “I’m also very social, so I like networking and talking to people,†says Stengel. “I pretty much fall in love with all of my projects. Right now, I’m working on a project on crowdfunding. Women are more likely to try and raise money privately than publicly. The report will be about women who are seeking funding, and women as investors.â€

    Stengel says she didn’t plan on becoming an expert on entrepreneurship but ended up teaching four years on the subject at The New School, and presently, she’s facilitating a class offered by NYC for women who want to grow their businesses.

    “Everything was evolutionary,†says Stengel. “I thought I was going to be psychologist. I went to school to be a psychologist, but I took a year off after my BA, and when I started working in Manhattan for businesses, I really enjoyed it and changed my direction. I didn’t think it through.â€

    She says doing project management for large corporations and internet startups gave her a lot of experience writing strategic plans.

    “A lot of my work was doing business plans for businesses that were raising money,†says Stengel about her corporate world experience. “I had differences with my partners and left. I stepped back and said, ’Where do my skills fit in?’â€

    The proud business woman says her first independent project was a dollar store in Syracuse, NY, and it won a Goldman Sachs competition.

    “That was my first,†says the woman who went on to write a grand prize-winning business plan for the Yale School of Management and was honored as a 2012 and 2013 Small Business Influencer for her articles on Forbes about women entrepreneurs.

    If she had one piece of advice she would tell her younger self, what would it be?

    “I think find mentors and people to support you in whatever careers aspirations you have,†says Stengel. “I tried to do it all on my own, and I think having advisers, mentors and peer support groups help fortify you and provide direction. You need people to give you tough advice and advise you as you’re moving forward.â€

  • Long-time NY businessman and marketer gives back by teaching

    Long-time NY businessman and marketer gives back by teaching


    A woman with short hair wearing red necklace.
    Myron Gould (Photo/Greyson Cage Stock)

    “When I was much younger, I wanted to be a chemical engineer, but as I got a little older, I guess my mind turned more towards business,†says Myron Gould, 68. “My father was a very big influence in that decision. He was a person who was in business…he was a role model in that regard…I would sit in the car and listen to him and listen to what was going on – it was interesting. He sold machine parts, adhesives, all material used by manufacturing firms.â€

    The born and raised New Yorker has worked four decades in the business and marketing arena. In addition to being the CEO of his own business advising firm, where he helps people build business plans, he is also starting a new consulting firm to teach companies to keep their employees engaged. Gould is also an adjunct professor of marketing and management at New York University.

    “It’s my 20th year at NYU,†says Gould. “I was sitting in a friend’s office – a recruiter who dealt with direct marketing people…He got a phone call, and he said to the person on the phone, I have somebody right here. [The person] asked if I’d be interested in teaching a class, and I never stopped.â€

    And Gould never stops working it seems. In addition to running his business, he says he recently created a new capstone at the University – an option to writing a thesis for students which involves writing up a business plan instead and learning about entrepreneurship.

    “I get a considerable amount of e-mails from clients, I grade papers, then I go through many projects that I’m working on,†explains Gould. “My classes are from 6 to 9 pm, and this coming term four times a week – it varies. I have dinner at 9:30 or 10:30, then work another four hours.â€

    He says he’s making an effort in getting more sleep, however.

    “I love what I do,†says Gould. “I feel like I’m helping people.â€

    When Gould was starting out his career in the mid-1960’s, he says marketing wasn’t even called “marketing,†but “distribution.†One of his favorite jobs was at Columbia Records in his early 30’s.

    “It was a great place,†he remembers. “Sometimes I debate whether I should have left or not. I was recruited for a consulting firm.â€

    Today, he thinks video is the way to go. He uses green screen technology to create videos to complement his teaching.

    “I have virtual sets,†says the high-tech professor, excitedly. “I can put myself into a green room…Like where a weather person delivers the weather. I create videos of some of my lessons and make them available for people…I can be doing my work while sipping piña coladas on a ship.â€

    What advice would he tell his younger self about life?

    “I would talk about getting enough information to make good decisions,†he says. “A lot of times we make decisions impatiently, but sometimes it’s better to slow down a little bit. There were times in my life where I could have made a better decision by not acting so quickly.â€

    He adds his biggest project currently is getting his grandson, who just turned 4, to have a good life.

    “What he does with his life is his choice, but I want him to be equipped to make those decisions,†says Gould.

  • First female Asian elected official on the East Coast continues to give back and speak up

    First female Asian elected official on the East Coast continues to give back and speak up

    Ellen Young in the Chambers being introduced by the Speaker as a freshman member, and the first Asian American woman in the legislature in January 2007. (Courtesy Ellen Young)
    Ellen Young in the Chambers being introduced by the Speaker as a freshman member, and the first Asian American woman in the legislature in January 2007. (Courtesy Ellen Young)

    Ellen Young is not one to stay still, or stay quiet.

    The 62-year-old volunteers as the first, and only, Asian member of the Grievance Committee for the Second, Eleventh, and Thirteenth Judicial Districts. As one of 15 committee members, she reviews complaints against attorneys from Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. She says she spends the rest of her time at the newly founded Golden Age Learning Center, which serves approximately 200 seniors.

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  • Harlem cook realizes dream and opens vegan soul food restaurant

    Harlem cook realizes dream and opens vegan soul food restaurant

    Brenda Beener, owner and chef at Seasoned Vegan in Harlem, NY (Photo/Kori Raishon)
    Brenda Beener, owner and chef at Seasoned Vegan in Harlem, NY (Photo/Kori Raishon)

    Owning her own restaurant is something Brenda Beener has wanted for a very long time.

    “I didn’t even realize it, until I started talking to people,” says Beener, who is known in her Harlem, NY community for her exceptional vegan cooking skills.

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