About
Prepare to Launch
U
Susan Rietano Davey & Kelley Biskupiak, Co-Founders
Susan and Kelley met while speaking at a women’s conference in 2016. At the time, they were both independently consulting with companies and coaching a range of women (from seasoned professionals to young women navigating new motherhood) through life and career transition. Immediately, they felt a connection and knew that they could better help more women if they teamed up. So, the two joined forces first to share clients, then to run workshops, and, ultimately, to create the learning company Prepare to Launch U that provides instruction, inspiration, and community to women navigating work-life transitions along the continuum of life. Their original, signature Career Relaunch Course has launched over 1000 women globally.
In just six years, Prepare to Launch U has introduced multiple online and live instructional offerings including a first-of-its-kind online maternity leave planning course, a proprietary family leave planning course on the LinkedIn Learning platform, and widely popular live corporate workshops on Negotiating and Work-Life Synergy, to list just a few. Susan and Kelley regularly collaborate with universities and Fortune 500 companies, and they are sought-after speakers and moderators for conferences across the country.
Perhaps what’s best about Susan and Kelley, and what has best prepared them to design and teach their unique content, is that each of them has lived the work-life juggle: they both opted out to take career breaks, opted back in as working moms, and made mid-career pivots to start their own business. Susan and Kelley understand the challenges their students face because they, too, have faced them. And their complementary expertise and the clear joy with which they deliver their instruction, makes them a favorite of audiences large and small.
More About Susan
Hi! I’m Susan and my passion is helping women develop/reclaim their confidence and master the skills they need to fulfill their work and life goals. I started my career on the executive track at Xerox Corporation, where I moved through a rapid succession of sales, management and staff leadership positions, earning top performance honors and enjoying three stints as guest instructor at the company’s international training center. When I began having my children (three boys + a girl), I was faced with the “all or nothing” decision to work 60+ hours or not at all. I chose the latter. Recognizing that if companies had better and more widespread flexible work policies, they wouldn’t lose their “MBA Moms” like me, I soon joined Flexible Resources, Inc., the original flexible work consulting and staffing firm. Over two decades, I helped establish FRI as the industry expert on flexible work; countless companies adopt flexible work policies; and hundreds of women find (or create) flexible jobs and positive work-life synergy.
When I met Kelley, we realized that we could better help more women, by bringing together our complementary expertise. Through our Prepare to Launch U-branded online courses, webinars and live workshops, we are helping women (and the men who support them) find professional success and personal fulfillment along the continuum of work and life. Aside from our direct instructional work with PTLU students, Kelley and I regularly collaborate with universities, Fortune 500 companies, and LinkedIn Learning where we are proprietary author-trainers. Like the students and audiences who come to us, Kelley and I have both navigated maternity leaves, career breaks, career re-entry, flexible work, career pivots – and, in my case, the over-50 Encore career. We have truly “walked the walk” and we would be honored to be your guides!
More About Kelley
Hi! I’m Kelley and my passion is empowering women and families to lead balanced, synergistic, fulfilling lives. My niche is women in transition – a role I know well, personally. I started my career in Education, enjoying great success first in teaching, then administration, and ultimately in private educational consulting. After having my children (three boys), I took a career break. Six years later, feeling the need for intellectual stimulation and professional challenge, I went to coaching school and became certified as a co-active coach at the Coaches Training Institute. I built a thriving private coaching and consulting practice called Be You Bravely, LLC where I helped woman-clients find clarity in chaos and develop goal-based, purposeful plans to implement into their daily lives. The result for these clients was better balance, more fulfillment, and a life of renewed purpose and meaning.
When I met Susan, we realized that we could better help more women, by bringing together our complementary expertise. Through our Prepare to Launch U-branded online courses, webinars, and live workshops, we are helping women (and the men who support them) find professional success and personal fulfillment along the continuum of work and life. Aside from our direct instructional work with PTLU students, Susan and I regularly collaborate with universities, Fortune 500 companies, and LinkedIn Learning where we are proprietary author-trainers. Like the students and audiences who come to us, Susan and I have both navigated maternity leaves, career breaks, career re-entry, flexible work, and career pivots - and, just two years into our partnership, I became pregnant and had baby Harry in 2019, so I have very recently “walked the walk”! I hope you will choose us to be your guides.