Hi,

I'm hoping for a little help. My name is Hallie Crawford and I'm a career coach specializing in "boomerang's"...college grads that are either floating unfocused and underemployed or are still living off their parents. The kids are easy enough to find, but I'm looking for networking opportunities with the parents...the ones that want to see their adult children land on solid ground and would like to be done footing the bill.

Any direction on where I might find them would be most appreciated - Facebook and MySpace groups, blogs, publications, websites, forums, etc. I won't be pushing sales, just educating and contributing to their discussions.

What an excellent occupation you have Hallie. There are so many young adults and parents who could use your help, I'm sure.

And welcome to the forum community, by the way. If you are not a member of the National Association of Baby Boomer Women, and you are of boomer age (born 1946-1964)you might want to think about joining this organization for the networking opportunites. http://www.nabbw.com

Dotsie Bregel is the owner and CEO of that org, and the owner of this site/forum community as well.

Once you are a member, you can advertise HERE in the forums, but if you are not a member, we ask that you please only observe two rules here.

1. No advertising
2. Treat others with kindness in your responses.

You have already said you would not be "selling," so why not tell us more about your work of educating the public?

I can see a tremendous need for this type of interaction.

WELCOME!

Welcome Hallie..Glad to meet you. JJ is sooooo right. I became a member of NABBW several years ago and mentioned in passing to the ladies my afghan crocheting 'hobby.' Well to my surprise it was so well received it has become a business for me and a very good one. So become a member of NABBW and advertise on the home page or just in this forum and you will be amazed. Each other member offers a discount of their particular talent or special service for we that are members too and its a money saving, sometimes vital life saver...

Thanks for the warm welcome, I'll check out the site. I help parents of recent college grads to help them get their unemployed or lost graduate on the right track towards a career they enjoy. I primarily coach the graduate, but I also work with the parents to show them how to best support and motivate their grad during this time.

I can relate to your business. I have one son who graduated from Clemson University last year with a finance degree. Fortuantely, he's on the right track - he flies home from London today. It's his first business trip abroad. I was lucky enough to have a BWS friend who could help him while there if he needed it. It made my mother's heart feel better!

I also have a son graduation from film school next month and a daughter who just finished her second year of college.

Your profession is of total interest to me. When to stop supporting young adults is a frequent conversation with friends. This generation is floating in the 20s like no other before them. Boomers are still paying cell phones, car insurance, health insurance, and God knows what else for these kids well in to their late 20s and it's scary.

Feel free to email me if you're interested in talking me.

Hi Hallie,

I don't have any specific areas to suggest you look. Your work does sound interesting. I went through the "boomerang" phase with two of my own kids. One dropped out of college, came back home, unfocused, partied too much, etc. etc. She's back on track somewhat, but not living at home with mom any more either! The other bounced back home during my divorce when she just finished college and was unsure of what to do next. She had her BA but was undecided about going to grad school or taking a low-paying job she really didn't want. But she decided to work as a bartender to pay her own way at home (paid me a little rent, made her car payments, that wort of thing) and then realized it was grad school she wanted. She stayed with me about a year or so and then left for grad school. That year was a bit difficult because not only was I in the midst of a hard divorce but she was also at the stage of "I'm 21, I can do what I please, I'm partying until 3am after work" sort of deal. We had a few head-butting sessions because of that. I had to be up early for work and I never knew if she and a bunch of her friends would be trouncing in for fun and games after I went to bed.

It seems to me (and this is just perhaps my personal experience) but boomerang kids and divorce seem to coincide in that a lot of divorces happen at midlife and a lot of kids are leaving (or attempting to leave) when we're at midlife too. Would it be possible to talk to parents in divorce support groups? I just remember the boomerang situation and divorce as being so closely related for me and it seemed to coincide with a number of my peers too.

I jsut spoke with Hallie this morning and told her what a great idea she has. I think it's all about the way she markets herself. We're talking about the possibility of doing a teleseminar together.