Women recount road to professional success
BY TOYNETT HALL Staff Writer

HOWELL - Jean Holtz and Michelle Lilley, two professional working women, recently shared the stories of their career success with about 100 Howell High School students.

Their presentation was part of Women's History Month, which was recognized in March.

While both women acknowledged that the plans they had for their lives took a different direction from what they thought would happen, they said their will to persevere through their struggles landed them in the right destination.

Holtz, the vice president of communications for the nonprofit New Brunswick Development Corporation, had dreams of becoming an architect or an engineer.

However, Holtz, who said she was raised in a lower-middle-class family, had no money to go to college. It was only through a liberal arts scholarship at American University that Holtz was able to attend college.

While at American, Holtz said, she honed her writing skills and majored in anthropology. She told the Howell stu- dents that she was interested in many different areas, but said she always followed her instincts.

During her career journey, sheworked as a publicist and media relations professional for legislators. In 2000 Holtz joined presidential hopefulBillBradley on his campaign in the role of advance press operations.

Holtz eventually came to her present position with the New Brunswick Development Corporation, which works toward the revitalization of theMiddlesex County city, which is the home of Rutgers University.

Lilley, the social studies supervisor at Manalapan High School, followed a different path to career success.

Upon entering Loyola College in Baltimore, Lilley declared a major in business but dropped out of school a month later. Her decision to drop out of college struck a chord with her family because she was the first person in her family to go to college.

Nevertheless, Lilley realized that her passion lay somewhere else and she enrolled as a history major at Rider University, Lawrenceville, in January 1987. In addition to trying to figure out what her true passion was, Lilley had to cope with being 50 percent deaf.

"I struggled, especially in middle school and high school, because of my hearing impairment. I was not an advocate for myself and the teachers then did not know how to deal with the hearing impaired," she said.

Lilley, who said she came from a lowincome family, said her parents did not want to deal with her deafness, nor did they have the money to provide her with a hearing aid.

"I lost a great deal of education because of my insecurity and the fact that I did not have the equipment to hear everything that was going on," Lilley told the Howell students.

Nevertheless, Lilley graduated from Rider in 1991 and was named Social Studies Educator of the Year, an award given to the student teacher the professors deem most promising.

Lilley, who attributes much of her success to her ability to read lips, said, "Every one of us will have struggles in our lives, but it is up to us to take that struggle, build on it and move forward."

Both women gave their impressionable audience some advice to follow when they enter the work force.

Holtz said, "You should all network, don't burn bridges, learn to not get hung up on words, keep your emotions in check, and most importantly do not cry in the office. It will diminish how people see you."

Lilley shared the same sentiment and added, "Don't take yourself too seriously, and know that you are going to make mistakes. Find out who you are in every role you play and remember that your job does not define who you are…you define you."

Senior Anne Ficalora said the women's messages were uplifting.

"It was motivating to know that it is possible to have children and a career," she said.

Sophomore Nicole Bowman said, "I come from a family where you have to decide on having a career or having children. It was nice to hear that despite the challenge, you can have both."

According to some of the young men in attendance, talk about juggling a family and a career offered insight into the dual role of women in the work force.

Senior Alex Firsichbaum said that when he reaches that point in his life, he would remember this conversation and consider taking a step back in his career for his family, and become a supportive coparent.