In case you were wondering
I was lucky and grew up in the beautiful Berkshire Hills of Western Massachusetts surrounded by the arts, industry, literature, and family. I had a great education in a spirited high school, followed by 3 years undergraduate work at Caldwell College, 1 year abroad at the University College of North Wales, and for a change of scenery – 2 years for my masters at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Even better, I fell into a Training position at King’s Food Host, a Nebraska restaurant chain, where I had a fabulous mentor, Harry “Pete” Peterson.
Returning east, I continued in the training profession, and ‘fell’ into Human Resources at Berkshire Bank– undergoing an affirmative action audit and creating performance appraisal systems. From there I spring-boarded into Recruiting and Employment at Berkshire Life Insurance Company, then to Director of Human Resources at The Warren Five in Peabody, MA and finally to Senior Vice President, Human Resources and Training.
I bowed out of the corporate world with the white collar layoffs in early ‘90s – and started a new venture McGill Enterprises: HelpQuick Human Resources Advisory & Training Services. A business that continues to the serve small and mid-size companies in industries as varied as computer sales, finance and banking, hospitals, specialized manufacturing, education, distributors, entrepreneurial, nonprofits and closely held companies.
I was lucky and met with my first client the day after lay off, and spoke to my second client (referred to me by my first client) that same week. I turned my SVP job description and all my previous free lance experience into a consulting business. How exciting to work with so many talented people and diverse industries.
The opportunities! Publishing 2 training books with Irwin Press and 
mentoring HR professionals, revitalizing an HR certificate program for a Boston college, creating a wide variety of training programs, writing scripts, becoming an adjunct professor.
hqinsights 