We had the good fortune of connecting with Christina Edwards and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Christina, we’d love to hear more about how you thought about starting your own business?

I started C3 Career Consulting, LLC because I did not see enough women and people of color in high paying careers and I wanted to change that. While working in corporate america, I would often ended up being:
1) The only woman in the room
2) The only person of color in the room
3) The youngest employee in the room

I knew that my community was just as talented, educated, and deserving to have a seat at the table, and I wanted to create a career consulting business that provided more people that look like me with the tools and resources to level up in their career. Since then, I have helped over 1,000 underrepresented professionals worldwide transition into enjoyable careers that maximize their income.

I never thought someone like me (a first-generation college graduate and first-generation business owner) could help clients get up to $50K salary increases in just 1 negotiation, 2 promotions within one year, managerial positions with no leadership experience, and so much more. However, when you are truly passionate about your craft and put God at the forefront of your business, he will give you the strategy and wisdom that you never knew you had.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
C3 Career Consulting, LLC is a Christian virtual career consulting agency designed to help underrepresented professionals transition into enjoyable careers that maximize their income. Our services consist of resume transformation, cover letter creation, LinkedIn optimization, interview preparation, mock interviewing, negotiation strategy, and career coaching. We also build partnerships with local and national organizations, colleges, universities, businesses, corporations, and institutions to equip students, employees, and incarcerated individuals with the necessary resources to navigate their careers effectively. Our services extend beyond career development. We offer workshops for leadership teams, enabling them to create more inclusive environments while becoming active allies in developing, promoting, recognizing, and retaining diverse talent.

What sets C3 apart from other career consulting agencies is that I not only have the lived experience of knowing what it feels like to be the only woman or person of color in the room and can relate better to my clients through that lived experience, but I also have the professional HR knowledge to give top tier support with proven results and testimonials to back it up. Unlike other consultants that may never even speak on the phone with a client who they are doing a resume for, my team and I offer 60-minute one-on-one sessions to dive deep into each client’s experience so we are not creating surface level content for their professional documentation. Our values at C3 is grounded in creating CLARITY on client career goals, increasing CONFIDENCE in their skills and abilities, while helping them develop the COURAGE needed to take calculated risks and seize opportunities that will ultimately maximize their career potential.

Starting C3 was not easy at all. I had no idea how to run a business because I didn’t have anyone in my family who owned one before. All I knew was that I gave great HR advice and did awesome resumes that got all my friends hired. In fact, the first 30 days of owning my business, I had absolutely no clients. It wasn’t until I started asking my friends who I helped in the past for free to write honest testimonials about me, when I started receiving paying customers shortly after. Even in the first 30 days of feeling embarrassed for putting myself out there with no response, I continued to ask God for clarity and strategy when running a business, while remaining confident within my craft. Now 5 years later, I have serviced over 1,000 clients! As I gained more connections over the years with C3, I learned more about free resources such as the Small Business Development Center (SDBC) and Women’s Business Development Center (WBDC) that helped me grow my business even more.

Overall, I want the world to remember that you NEVER need permission to persevere. Don’t wait for someone to tap you on the shoulder for your next opportunity. If you want to maximize your career potential and are struggling to advance, you don’t need to feel that you have to do things on your own. Reach out to an HR expert who can help you identify the blueprint for career success. At C3, we don’t just help you level up in your career, but we also help you make the right mindset shifts to believe that you deserve greater. Once we can get our clients to believe in and bet on themselves, that is when they are truly set up for unstoppable acceleration within their career.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
Although I do not live in Atlanta, I live in another amazing place, the city of Chicago!

I am newer to the Chicago area, so I do not have all the hotspots down just yet, but if my best friend were visiting I would definitely hope it is in the summertime so we can go to:
– An architecture boat tour on the Chicago River
– Pier 31 Beachside Bar & Grill to have dinner on the beach
– 14 Parish for a Caribbean brunch
– LH Rooftop for amazing rooftop views
– Tribe for a chill night out
– Fulton Market for bar hopping
– Chicago Riverwalk for sightseeing
– Millennium Park for free concerts
– Church at New Life Covenant Southeast
– ALL the food and cultural festivals!!!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
A key person who truly changed my life and may not even realize it is Jennyfer Holmes who served as a Manager within the INROADS program. For those of you that may not know about INROADS, it is a non-profit organization that creates pathways to careers for ethnically diverse college students.

I was a freshman in college working as a Cashier at CVS and Jennyfer was actually just one of my customers in line. She told me that I had an amazing personality, great customer service, and truly didn’t belong only working as a Cashier at CVS. She gave me her business card and told me to apply to the INROADS program to receive the professional development and support needed to secure a paid internship in corporate america. That evening, I applied to the INROADS program, but instantly got DENIED. However, instead of giving up and throwing away Jennyfer’s business card due to my rejection, I reached out to her to ask if an exception could be made for me because I was ready to take my career to the next level. Jennyfer wrote back the next day sharing that she overrode the system and will bring me in for an interview because she felt led to take a chance on me.

Since then, I not only got accepted into the program at 19 years old, but I also won “Intern of the Year” 2 years in a row, and had such a successful internship experience that I secured a full time HR position 6 months before my college graduation! I have now been in the HR field for over 11 years and that is truly thanks to Jennyfer Holmes. I had NO prior knowledge about the HR field and never even thought that I would be interested. However, I now own my own career consulting business that has gained 5-star client satisfaction ratings for 5 consecutive years! All it took was just ONE person to say “yes,” give me a chance, and believe in me. Jennyfer’s “yes” has truly changed my life forever.

Website: www.C3CareerConsulting.com

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/c3careerconsulting/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/c3careerconsulting/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/C3CareerConsulting/

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