Meet the CSE | Persistence, Empathy, and the Power of Personality with Alice Ain Rich

Meet Alice Ain Rich

For this “Meet the CSE Series” blog post, CSE Career Captain, Yuxuan Zhang, MSBA’24, interviewed Associate Director of Career Strategies and MBA Career Coach, Alice Ain Rich.

Persistence, Empathy, and the Power of Personality with Alice Ain Rich

“As part of the CSE Staff Interview Series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Alice Ain Rich, I especially enjoyed learning about her past startup experience and how it contributed to her dynamic personality and wisdom in navigating her life and career. In this interview, she will share more about her passion for coaching. Check it out now!”

Yuxuan Zhang

Before being a career coach at Brandeis, you were a Human Resources Director at three different technology companies. What led you to Human Resources? What interested you in the tech industry?

Really good question. So I was fortunate to start my professional career in a small Boston technology startup. When I joined I did everything from sales, to marketing, and human resources, everything besides engineering. As the company grew from 30-100 people, they needed someone for HR Management responsibilities such as recruiting, compensation, etc, so I stepped in as Human Resource Director. The management team spotted me and I soon got more education and training in the field, and I started to like it, so I was just at the right place at the right time.

Yuxuan: Awesome. Would you say that your personality and characteristics helped you become a better Human Resource Director?

I think for me specifically, and I teach my students this: Companies don’t hire a resume, they hire people. A lot of people can have credentials, but you still have to be authentic to succeed in professional endeavors in my opinion. I believe my traits of being empathetic, innovative, and persistent were needed in my old job, as HR needs to connect with people and solve problems such as dealing with people’s crises, and how that can impact their work. I also had to be persistent in pushing changes in the workplace which can help bring people together because they are the core of the company. I would say my personality is the driving force for my professional success.

What inspired you to get into career coaching?

When I worked as a Human Resource Director I learned about people function, and an important part was employer relations, which I have been passionate about and excelled at. Employer relations involve listening, advising, and helping people to transition from one place to another. I found myself being good at coaching and it also makes me happy and energetic.

When I ended up leaving the 3rd company, I was at the point in my life where I wanted more balance and flexibility to manage my family and career. At that time, a connection from Boston College introduced me to the Dean of Carroll School of Business‘s Career Service Office. I took a leap of faith even though I have no prior experience in the field and met with the Dean and he hired me on the spot. I started a whole different career at the university level with coaching, and I launched my coaching business called Coach Alice later on in the late 1990s. I have been doing that ever since with corporate consulting or individual clients.

Yuxuan: That’s amazing. I have a follow-up question. How would you describe the transition from working for a startup to working at a university? What’s your overall experience?

The truth is, there were limited boundaries on working hours in startups. You have to work on weekends to get things done. It is good when you are in your 20s or 30s. As you get older, I don’t think it’s sustainable. What I like about the university setting is: as we still work hard, there are more boundaries around hours and we don’t usually take work home on weekends. I am at Brandeis part-time, I am still involved with companies so I can tell the difference. I like working with young professionals, especially Brandeis business students for its obvious diversity aspect.

What is your favorite thing about being a career coach at Brandeis?

My favorite thing is the intelligence, diversity, and appreciation of our students. I think our students are so smart and capable. I love learning about different parts of the world, I couldn’t even pronounce the country name “Namibia” when I met my first students. And I just was able to learn about Myanmar, where one of our MBA students is from.

Based on your personal experiences, what is your biggest piece of advice for students?

I got this from Meryl Streep, she went to my college and I have met her a few times in person, fortunately. I was present at the graduation ceremony where she was the commencement speaker, and the advice she gave to students was: life goes fast, the days can be long but years are short. Therefore don’t put your attention elsewhere when you are in the middle of an experience. Pay attention to people around you, take it in, because you are not going to be in the situation again. And I want to add something on top of that: Don’t walk around campus constantly looking at your cell phone. Be aware of your surroundings and connect with people.

And on top of that, remember to do things that bring you joy, and not focus solely on things and people that will drain your energy.

Yuxuan: I do have a follow-up question, nowadays young people are always anxious about being in school. What would you suggest to students to balance between the mindset of seizing the moment and not being too burnt out?

I’ve learned is that you have to set boundaries and devote time to self-care. I have a system called a pie of life. Each day you divide a circle with a piece of time for certain activities and work, you still need to be mindful of sleep and exercise, you can’t cut the foundation of self-care. A lot of things in life can wait, but if you don’t allow yourself to be healthy, the stress can be amplified because you are going out of your bandwidth of your tolerance. Students need to get more rest instead of pushing through the night.

Finally, what’s your favorite small talk topic? If a student wanted to initiate a really fun conversation with you, what should they talk about?

Alice: As I am tuned in emotion, I like to ask people what makes them laugh, enjoyable, and happy. 

Yuxuan: I guess that helps people to connect and dive deeper. On top of that, what people should not talk about when it comes to a more professional setting?

Alice: I called it the power of not: religion, politics, and sex. These topics tend to be more dogmatic and opinionated.

Yuxuan: Since a lot of students are from international backgrounds, what do you suggest about how students can express that in conversation?

Alice: A good question. I believe that being vulnerable can go a long way. I think you can express your appreciation towards the person and inform them of your English skills. Here is what I would say: I am really glad to connect with you, however my communication at the time might be difficult for you but I am working on it. Please feel free to interpret or let me repeat, because it is a learning experience for me. It is important to own that and understand that everyone has insecurities. When you are willing to open up and show vulnerability and humility, people will embrace you. But if they are not, they might not be the crowd you want to attract.

Yuxuan: That’s amazing, thank you for sharing all these insights. It was a great pleasure learning from you.

This original CSE blog post was written by Yuxuan Zhang, MSBA’24, and copy-edited by Stephanie Borr ’22, MA’23.

 

By Yuxuan Zhang
Yuxuan Zhang Former CSE Career Captain