Erica: Hey, girl. By now, you know I have HER Collective, my online community for ambitious women who are done doing it alone. HER Collective is for the women who are smart, capable, and driven, but they find themselves stuck on the sticky floors like self doubt, burnout, and waiting for permission that quite honestly never comes. Inside HER, you get more than motivation. You get real support, real strategies, and real momentum.

Erica: We work on things like clarifying what you want now and what's coming next, building confidence without burning yourself out, navigating hard conversations, career moves, and leadership moments with clarity, and surrounding yourself with women who actually get it. This isn't about hustling harder. It's about moving intentionally with the right tools and the right people in your corner. If you're ready to stop spinning, start choosing yourself, and build a career and life that actually feels aligned, I'd love to welcome you inside HER Collective. You can learn more and join us at www.joinhercollective.com.

Erica: Because honestly, girl, you were never meant to do this alone. Today's guest is a powerhouse when it comes to helping C-suite leaders 40 and up land faster and earn more. Now can I get a hell yes on that?

Loren: Hell yes.

Erica: She is the founder of Portfolio Rocket, and I'll call it a one of a kind company that is gonna help you get found, y'all, for the right opportunities. You know, those secret jobs that aren't posted online that everybody's talking about, and she helps you do this while building your network for the future. Today's guest is Loren Greiff, a loud and proud ageism advocate who doesn't just talk about breaking barriers, she shatters them. So can I get another? Hell yes.

Loren: Hell yeah.

Erica: So here today, she is going to drop some incredible pearls of wisdom and share some sticky floor stories. So, Loren, welcome to the show. How are you?

Loren: I am fired up. And thank you. I am so excited because, by the way, guys, this is an in person interview, which means we're not doing this virtually, and I got to hug Erica in real life.

Erica: We have some IRL magic happening today. But, Loren, for all of the listeners, tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do, and what is this whole come up story of yours?

Loren: Thank you. I will. My name is Loren Greiff, and I say that very specifically because if you look at the letters, it looks like I'm "grief," and that could be a buzzkill, especially in your job search. So I'm Loren Greiff, and I am the founder of Portfolio Rocket, which is, as you said, a career consultancy that helps executives over 40 land faster and earn more. And so my come up story is kind of one of those nonlinear kinds of things.

Loren: Nobody grows up dreaming about recruiting. I can just tell you that right now. So I was recruited to recruit many, many years ago, and I had a knack for it. I could spot talent very easily. I could understand business dynamics.

Loren: But there was something that I knew was going on, which was that the old system was just literally churning and burning and spitting people out. At the end of the day, they had no ability to empower their own search because the way we've all been taught to go about jobs is to look online, find a job post, and send a million zillion resumes through an automated system. I've told this story before, but I think it's a sticky one: the percentage of likelihood that your resume, especially at the executive level, will send through and move anywhere is the same percentage that you would have of finishing a meal with one chopstick. It is less than 1%, and yet we are just doing the same thing over and over again. You know where that leads.

Loren: What ends up happening is we get tired and frustrated, and it becomes very difficult to have the energy and the ability to persuade or motivate anybody in your network through interviews. So I was determined to come up with a system, methodology, and curriculum that would not only help you land faster and earn more, but be repeatable, something you could use throughout the rest of your career. Because let's face it, you're not gonna be staying in that next job for another ten, fifteen years. You're gonna really need career agility, because career stability is gone. There is no job security. This is a way to counteract a lot of the dynamics in the marketplace and the broken job system.

Erica: And not only that, but women live longer than men. We're living longer than ever, which is what we want, but we're going to be in the workforce so much longer. I am so excited and can't wait to dive into this, because fun fact about me: two of my last best jobs I got because I got found. They were never posted.

Erica: They were never online for anyone else to apply to, and they were kind of created just for me. I attributed a lot of that to timing and dumb luck. So I can't wait to dive into the methodology. But what empowered and inspired you, beyond just seeing the struggles, to really go in and champion the 40 and up crowd?

Loren: So, fun fact: at that point in your career, there is that sense of, hey, guess what, I've been there, I've done that, I've been the road warrior. I am not looking just for another J-O-B. There are too many other variables at play. I want to have purpose in my life. I want to have some ownership and control over my schedule. I want to make an impact.

Loren: I hear this almost every single day. Like, I got so much fuel in the tank, and I just want to work in a place where I could be skipping to work on Mondays. I want so much to drive impact, but these jobs I keep seeing are all out of the same cookie cutter. How do I vet for culture? How do I really know that I have this proverbial seat at the table?

Loren: How do I really start to navigate a sense that this is going to make a difference in my industry? That turning point for all of us, from the ladder into the lattice, and I like how you talked about that in your book, is really also a byproduct of a certain point in time in our life. Arthur C. Brooks, in the book Strength to Strength, talks about how we cross over from this "I gotta do this, I gotta do this" structured framework into "there's something bigger and better out there that I need for a level of fulfillment, for a level of self worth and also real worth," like cha-ching, cha-ching, that compensation.

Loren: I've been doing X, Y, and Z for twenty-something years, and I'm just not ready to phone it in. I don't want to be doing that one more time and take another J-period-O-period-B-period. Those days are over for me. If I lean into some of the younger audience, they're not at that mental place yet, and the idea that they could have a JOB to build those skills and functions is much more urgent.

Loren: So by this point, yes, we all need to upskill and practice a variety of things, but the overarching driver, the full heart desire, is really to be loving my work and making an impact.

Erica: And so let's unpack this a little, because on this podcast we talk all about the sticky floors, the limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors that keep you stuck.

Loren: Absolutely.

Erica: And when you hear that, what jumps out at you? What sticks out in your mind as, that was what I was going through?

Loren: Oh yeah. So the sticky floor that I was really up against was a lot of those old limiting beliefs. I come from a pretty much male dominated family. So in sad truth, I was not supposed to be somebody who was going to be making waves and disrupting, being what I call a loud mouth age activist.

Loren: I was not supposed to be doing that. I was probably supposed to be a lot tamer. But when I came out, I was a little bit like a house on fire. I'm not shy. I'm gonna throw myself into uncomfortable situations.

Loren: So I think there was this limiting belief that somehow I was supposed to be a lot more demure and agreeable. And then the second sticky floor was that I was not a straight-A student. I was not hyper organized. I did struggle with a lot of the things you talk about, which is perfectionism. I did not suffer from perfectionism.

Loren: I was told over and over again, you're a mess.

Erica: Was it the "don't give a shit" ism?

Loren: It was a little bit more like "fuck you" ism. Right? It was more like, I'll show you. I don't need to be in this box. I don't need to do this.

Loren: I'm not a conformist. I always make jokes that when I get a new product and it comes with a manual, I'm like, I don't RTFM. I don't read the fucking manual.

Loren: I just gotta go and figure that out on my own. I'm a very good troubleshooter. I'm much more interpretive, much more outside the lines. I'm somebody that's more of a juggernaut, somebody that's gonna sleuth through something rather than follow a very specific recipe.

Erica: So when you think about that, you're almost going against the grain from a very early age. Coming out the womb, we're going against the grain.

Loren: A hundred percent.

Erica: And we're not loving school. We're not fitting into all the nice little boxes that, as little girls, we're told to fit into. How did that impact you as you moved through your life? Hey there, listeners. If you have ever felt like you're stuck in a place, held back by self doubt, perfectionism, or that pesky inner critic, you're not alone.

Erica: We all face those sticky floors that keep us from reaching the heights we dream of. But guess what, it's time to shatter those limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors to uncover infinite possibilities. My book, Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors, is your ultimate guide to smashing through barriers, overcoming limiting beliefs, and stepping into your full potential. This book has been endorsed by none other than Mel Robbins, best selling author and motivational powerhouse.

Erica: It's also been featured in Success Magazine, so you know it's packed with insights that work. Inside, you'll find real life sticky floor stories, practical strategies to help you navigate your own sticky floor moments, and a whole lot of inspiration to keep you climbing. This isn't just a book, it's your roadmap to success, confidence, and freedom. Grab your copy of Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors today at www.ericaandersonrooney.com.

Erica: Whether you're in the boardroom, the classroom, or just starting out, this book is for you, because no one deserves to stay stuck, no one deserves to feel small, and you have glass ceilings to shatter. Let's do this.

Loren: That real duality of, who says I can't, and also, but what if I'm wrong? What if even though I have this internal self belief that "who says I can," I'm still watching all these other people doing the thing, the "right" way, and they're really successful. I think it took a long time to find the homeostasis and balance of, you know what, they're both good.

Loren: It's just this one's not for me. They're both great, but you've gotta own the piece that says, I respect and applaud the fact that you're doing it this way, but it just doesn't work for me. I'm just gonna really thrive off the thinking and success patterns I see that have been completely nonconventional.

Erica: Yeah, this "but what if I'm wrong" really kind of hit me right in the chest, and I immediately felt the anxiety, because I struggle with that too. We don't want to fail.

Erica: We want to do the right thing. Do you have any tips or strategies for how you move past that feeling of anxiety when you have that thought of "what if I am wrong"?

Loren: I have a very much of, it doesn't matter whether you're wrong or right, it's just the next right thing for you. You don't have to predict the next fifty, sixty years of your life. There's some deductive reasoning here.

Loren: It's not about deliberating and having that level of certainty. The certainty isn't out there. The certainty is in here. And that level of certainty is really just about understanding, and many, many people say this.

Loren: I'm certainly not the first or the last. If you do not know yourself, you will have absolutely no ability to drive any level of certainty. You've gotta look in the mirror, get cash register honest, and understand, okay, this is the way that I operate in the world. These are the things that light me up.

Loren: These are the things that really just, I mean, if I have to do another administrative task, I'm done. I am not that person. So what do I do? I lean into other people who love to do that stuff so we can be a better team together.

Loren: So I think the first thing is really getting so clear on understanding that you cannot drive any outcome until you understand your starting point.

Erica: That's so powerful, and I love this "cash register honest" phrase. I've never heard that, but it's so good. And what I find so interesting, where the light bulb went off for me, is a lot of women below 40 don't yet know themselves. Truly, truly, truly know themselves. And I can speak to this because I'm about to jump over that 40 number myself, y'all.

Erica: So two snaps to making it to 40. But what do you say to people in their careers who are still struggling to figure out who they are?

Loren: You're only gonna find out by doing. This is not a spectator sport. You're not gonna be sitting on the bench going, oh, by the way, it looks really good over there.

Loren: So you gotta get on the court. You're only going to know through successes and failures. And I really shouldn't say success, because success isn't the Ferrari or the Gold Watch. I mean success within feeling like you are lit, you are vibing, you are in flow, you are hungry to do more of that. You are in a place where you are almost unstoppable.

Loren: When I came up with this idea and left corporate, I went through, I don't know, 15 notebooks. I was vomiting out ideas, thinking and thinking, putting this together. I don't really know what happened, but it was like the dam broke.

Loren: I can't tell you it will happen tomorrow, but if you tap into this infinite resource of yourself and really take away all the noise, and you and I are gonna be talking about other people's opinions on our next podcast, but my point is that whole idea of listening to the things that are going to help drive whatever that outcome is, and muting out some of those other opinions, is so important. Because as I said earlier, I'm not supposed to be here. I understand that everybody had the best intentions and all that well meaning motivation.

Loren: But if you aren't standing in your own level of empowerment and clarity, because they have to work together, then you're gonna be driving down a dirt road with a dead end.

Erica: And it's so true that if you don't actually do the thing or try a thing, you will never know. That really resonated with me, because as I climbed the corporate ladder, as I should, because that's the next level of success, I found myself at the top of that corporate ladder really miserable and really unhappy. So I started just throwing things at the wall to see what would stick, which is my go-to, right? Go back to what you know works.

Erica: I threw it all at the wall, and I did executive coaching. I thought, at least this will help me with my career. And I could not ignore how lit up I was after these coaching sessions. I would leave these sessions.

Erica: It didn't matter how tired I was. It didn't matter if I was doing the work on a weekend or late at night. I was so lit up. And had I not tried that and felt that vibe, I don't think I would have recognized how truly unhappy I was in my corporate career, which is about knowing yourself.

Loren: Yeah, it's a buffet. It's this "poo poo platter." If you don't try everything on there, you will have no means of contrast and comparison. I love what you were sharing, because what I didn't tell you earlier is that I grew up outside of Boston.

Loren: My dad was a well known Harvard Business School professor. So I grew up in this very academic, very high brow kind of thinking. Like I said, if you ever meet me in person, my kids always say your hair is its own zip code. I'm like all over the place.

Loren: I have a lot of energy. I'm the last thing but tame. So this very preppy, suit kind of thing was something I was ripping off from the beginning. I was like, how am I going to coexist with this structure, this template, knowing that this just doesn't fit? It took me a long time to really be able to understand there's nothing wrong with either one.

Loren: This just is not my favorite flavor.

Erica: Amazing. Incredible. And I want to switch gears because I want to talk about this hidden job market, because...

Loren: Oh, for sure.

Erica: God bless the job market right now. It is shitty, let's just say the least. I know people out there who have applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs and have only gotten a few callbacks.

Erica: Just a callback, and they're crappy callbacks. So talk to me about the hidden job market, because you say that 80% to 85% of roles exist there. What is it? Where do I find it?

Erica: How do I break in?

Loren: Excellent. First of all, I say it, but this is a known fact. The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, New York Times, you name it, they all talk about it.

Loren: Let's throw ourselves back a little. You know a person, and I know a person, and they know a person. Behind each person is a minimum of 150 social media contacts. Each person.

Loren: So we're sitting in a room of four right now, and we've got quite the little army. Quality jobs are not found in the cesspool of applicant tracking systems. This is the mass market.

Loren: If you think about it, it takes no skill or talent to press the button that says "apply now." Everybody believes they're qualified. Why else would I not be applying? So that is your lowest bar.

Loren: I'm qualified. But people at choice opportunities are not hiring people who are qualified. They're hiring people who are outstanding. The only way you're gonna move away from this cattle call and this unbelievably low barrier to entry is to actually start to demonstrate that, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, over a billion people, folks who are also coinciding with the most powerful decision makers in the marketplace. 97% of all CEOs are on LinkedIn, and you better believe so are their teams.

Loren: So you are in the pool and the spotlight of decision makers. Unlike the AI bots that are churning and burning and have created even more access for people to apply. With the advent of AI, the herd just tripled. So you're putting yourself in a very unlikely spot to be found. Ways that can drive that curation of eyeballs to your profile include optimizing your LinkedIn profile.

Loren: Millions of people talk about this, and there are absolutely ways. I call them the Fab Four, the four areas of your LinkedIn profile that will help you convert faster and get found. Your banner, your number one piece of real estate, your headline, and I don't want your headline to just be a generic job title.

Erica: Project manager.

Loren: No way. I want it to show me some level of transformation. I help executives land faster and earn more. I have an outcome attached to that.

Loren: I use career coach or career strategist, because that's the anchor keyword, and then I share what that expected outcome is gonna be. Metrics also are huge. So in your headline, if you can use a metric, kudos to you. The second area that is super important is to make sure your about section is not, and please, please, you can come find me, you can do whatever you want.

Loren: But for the love of God, please do not say "I'm a seasoned executive with ten years, twenty years of proven experience." Because as soon as you do that, you are just putting yourself in that same commodity pool. You have to be able to use some storytelling. Super important. And then the last piece is your profile picture.

Loren: Again, make sure that it is approachable. You don't have to be obsequious or use a goofy smile, but you want people to be able to look at your eyes. Make sure you're able to connect with them there, because ultimately, people hire people. And again, cliche, but know, like, and trust. So I've got to be able to start to engage in something here that says, hey.

Loren: What you're telling me is something I want. Make it "what's in it for me" as the decision maker, not just telling me about yourself without having any kind of connection to the buyer who is going to actually pull the plug. So those are the key areas. And then the last thing I would say to get found, thought leadership.

Loren: I'm gonna share this with you because it's not something talked about on a regular basis. So when I say thought leadership, what I'm really getting at is, yes, of course, comment, good comments, but share something, a POV, something unique to a specific perspective or way of thinking about your industry, your business, your experience, because, and this is the part most people don't talk about, that will increase your compensation. Hiring managers, decision makers, pay more for people who have something to say rather than "set it and forget it."

Erica: I did not know that. That is a little nugget right there. But this is incredible, because even if you do make it past those AI bots, let's say you are outstanding and you magically make it, that recruiter, the very first thing they're gonna do is go to your LinkedIn profile. Those resume days, yeah, it gets you through, but I think those days are done, because I want to know who are you as a person?

Erica: Yes, your resume tells me your pedigree, your education, all those key things, check done. But I want to know how are you going to fit into this culture? Are you a kind person? Are you a giving person?

Erica: Are you somebody who shares our company values? How are you going to fit in? And even if you are the coolest, most amazing person in the world, if I can't see that in a LinkedIn profile and I see it on somebody else's, I'm going to them.

Loren: There's no doubt. It is such a huge influencer. The other thing, as a very stark contrast, is your resume getting into somebody's hands and the whopping six to seven seconds they're gonna spend reviewing it for the first time. You're already cutting that pool down, because that LinkedIn profile is twenty-four seven. Twenty-four seven. And when decision makers, recruiters, hiring managers see your engagement, what does that say? This person actually cares about others. They are advocates for their industry.

Loren: They are people who are helping other people. How many times do you hear people say, I'm a team player, I'm a team player, but they're sitting out there on LinkedIn and they're not connected to anybody? Do I believe them? So all of these threads, you want to be putting yourself in the mindset of the person who is going to actually want to engage with you, rather than just raising your hand and saying, I'm available. I'm available, and I want a job.

Erica: Yeah, that sounds like you're gonna be picked last.

Loren: Yeah, it does. Oh my gosh.

Erica: Well, I want to switch gears a little, because you focus on people who are 40 and up. I do. And I love this, because, number one, as we said, women are living longer. We're working longer.

Erica: All of these things. When we're talking to women in their forties, what is this common myth you often hear, or a bad piece of advice, that makes you want to scream "shut the hell up"?

Loren: So the most common complaint is, I keep getting told that I'm overqualified. Which the flip side of that is, that's also because you may be misrepresenting the value you bring. So "overqualified" is a euphemism, a placeholder for so many things. One is, we think you're too expensive.

Loren: The other is, we don't think you're gonna fit into our culture. The third is, we're pretty certain you don't understand our technology. All these start factoring in, and the antidote to overqualified is to examine your level of relevance. Relevance says, I understand current conditions. You are not just throwing out the years of experience.

Loren: If you say I've got twenty years of experience, we need to know what that means to me now. So does that mean you've been clocking it in for twenty years? What did that earn you? What did that do? Why does it matter in my company now, and what we talk about in a portfolio is, what is the love story about the future you're telling? I want your experience to not read like an obituary.

Loren: I want it to read like the future forward impact you're gonna be able to drive. Because if you just keep telling me about your past, your past, your past, it's the same as if you go into a house and see everybody else's family pictures, you're like, I can't see myself here. You want to be staging that, and you want them to be able to envision you there. So with a lot of people who have, and myself included, done things, learned things in a different time and place, if you are not able to drive a level of adaptability and agility for what is meaningful in this market, then they can't see you there, because they're not living in the past.

Loren: They have amazing mandates that need to be solved for tomorrow.

Erica: What's interesting too is the future is just changing so rapidly. When we look through this lens of "you're overqualified," or "you're too inexperienced, too young, you can't be a CEO at 25," well, you actually can now.

Loren: Right.

Erica: The future is here. It is changing so rapidly. Those are so outdated. But on the flip side, what advice would you give someone on the younger side of 40 who is being told they're too inexperienced?

Loren: So for folks in their younger years, there's one thing that crosses on both levels, over 40 or under. We are living in a world right now where some would say there are five generations in the workforce, others would say six. Being able to communicate and get things done across multiple generations is key for both sets, because you're going to have that hybridity of people at different ages and stages.

Loren: Part of the resistance to some of the younger people is that you're only gonna have a culture of 40 and younger. What about all that institutional knowledge, pattern recognition, and reverse mentoring available from folks who are older, who have seen it all and been there? It may be very important in your company. Chip Conley, who started the Modern Elder Academy, was the mentor to Airbnb when Brian Chesky was in his early years. Why? Because Chip Conley had already developed the most incredible boutique hotel brand, and they were borrowing his knowledge so Airbnb could get lift off.

Loren: So they needed that grown up in the room. Just being able to have that fluidity of talent and points of view.

Erica: And if you don't know the come-up story of Airbnb and how they really just started based off an idea, you should absolutely go check that out and listen to it, because when I first read that, it was so inspiring how a little tiny nugget of the right thing, right time, right place, is now a total empire that everybody knows.

Loren: It disrupted the entire industry. As we're here in Durham, that's where we're staying, because we want to live like a local. We don't want to be in a cookie cutter hotel.

Erica: In a Holiday Inn. I hear you. Nothing wrong with a Holiday Inn, y'all. We love them.

Erica: Loren, this is my favorite question to ask. But if you could go back in time to the Loren born to the Harvard educated individuals, with the wild crazy hair in her own zip code and all of that extra energy, but that doesn't quite fit in, what piece of advice would you give her today?

Loren: I would tell that person to really stretch a lot further, to think bigger, way bigger, and not so small. What's the worst thing that's gonna happen? So what? Who cares?

Loren: Start thinking bigger and stop trying to conform and fit into all of that, because ultimately we can find ourselves running off somebody else's agenda. I really believe we are in a time and place some people will call the relationship economy. And the first relationship you need to have is with yourself. That's really how I would phrase it.

Erica: I absolutely love that. And Loren, if somebody wants to reach out to you, connect with you, work with you, where can they find you?

Loren: LinkedIn. I live on LinkedIn. That's my second permanent address. You can always find me there. I'm very active, involved, responsive.

Loren: And if you want to know more about Portfolio Rocket, please check out portfoliorocket.com.

Erica: Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show.