As I look back on 2025, what stands out most isn’t the pace or the scale of the work—it’s the responsibility of it.
This past year reinforced why I do this work: to help leaders rise in their roles, build confidence, regain a sense of control, and move their campuses toward meaningful student outcomes—together.
2025 was my second full year in business, and it was a year of depth.
The work expanded—but more importantly, it became clearer, more grounded, and more consequential.
The year, in context
In 2025, I partnered with 30 institutions across 19 states, shaping career ecosystems that touched approximately 650,000 students.
That number still stops me—not because of scale, but because of what it represents: students asking big questions about their futures; career services leaders carrying significant responsibility for making career development work; faculty looking for ways to help; and campus leaders carrying immense responsibility while searching for clarity and direction.
This is the reality many campuses are navigating right now.
What the work actually looked like
Here’s what 2025 looked like on paper:
2025 by the numbers
Hundreds of hours of interviewing campus stakeholders — Listening, diagnosing, and helping teams navigate real constraints and tradeoffs
154 coaching hours — Supporting leaders through complex decisions, competing priorities, and institutional pressure
50 newsletter editions plus 8 articles and blog posts — Translating complexity into usable insight for the field
18 speaking engagements — Invited talks, conference sessions, podcast interviews, and webinars that created space for strategic conversation, reflection, and clarity
5 partnerships with edtech and software organizations — Collaborating to support innovation in career services
4 facilitated workshops and retreats — Helping teams align around shared priorities, roles, and direction
A growing professional community — Conversations with 500 new newsletter subscribers and nearly 2,500 new LinkedIn followers
Behind those numbers was work carried out across very different institutional realities—from large, complex public universities to small, private, and faith-based colleges.
Supporting leaders across that range sharpened my judgment and reinforced a core truth: scale, mission, and structure matter—but many of the leadership questions are remarkably similar.
As I shared pieces of this work throughout the year—through writing, speaking, and conversation—your responses made it clear what was resonating.
What resonated with you
Your engagement reminded me why this community matters.
One of the most humbling parts of this year has been the trust people placed in me.
I was invited into vulnerable, high-stakes moments: leaders visioning futures that don’t yet exist; teams navigating gnarly institutional politics; managers working through difficult performance and people decisions they deeply cared about handling well.
Supporting others in those spaces is a responsibility I don’t take lightly. It requires care, discretion, and deep respect for context—and it continues to shape how I approach this work.
A milestone worth celebrating
One thing I haven’t said out loud yet: I’m no longer doing this alone.
In 2025, Paré Consulting expanded to include:
A Senior Consultant, Judy Anderson of 5959 Solutions Inc, supporting deeper institutional work
An Onboarding & Operations Coordinator, Isabelle Powell, strengthening the backbone of the practice
This shift matters.
It allows the work to be more thoughtful, more sustainable, and more responsive to the complexity campuses are navigating. It also reflects something I believe deeply: this work deserves care, not hustle.
Thank you for being part of this journey—for the emails you’ve opened, the conversations we’ve shared, and the trust you’ve placed in me along the way.
You may have noticed this reflection arrived a bit later than usual. That was intentional. After a year of sustained work—listening, writing, advising, and building—I needed space to think carefully about what to carry forward. Stepping back, briefly, was part of doing this work well.
Here’s to a steadier, more intentional 2026—together.
Warmly,
L’Oréal Early Talent Competition
February 10-20th
A short, virtual and high quality experience where students work on a real L’Oréal challenge, build a concrete project they can talk about in interviews, and receive feedback and recognition from industry professionals.
Open to all majors and backgrounds—especially helpful for students who need resume-ready experience quickly. Feb 10–20.
Make sure your institution is on the list! Email Lindsey Rosenbluth (lindsey.rosenbluth@podiumeducation.com) to enable your students to RSVP. No commitment involved.
Read more about why I think these Early Talents Competitions are worth it.
