Profiles From the Ladder - Danielle Carrig
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Since high school, Danielle Carrig has had two primary passions: working in the nonprofit sector and championing women’s issues. Now, as the executive director of Step Up, a nonprofit organization that provides classes and workshops to at-risk teens and networking opportunities to professional women, Carrig can fulfill both. Here, Danielle tells WORKS how she realized her dreams.
She followed her passion. Danielle attended an all-girls high school, which cemented her passion for helping women. “I was given the tools to become an advocate for us,” says Danielle. Once she graduated, however, Danielle realized the business world didn’t offer the same nurturing, safe environment as her school, especially with women continually forced to make tough choices between career and family. That’s when she decided to pursue an undergraduate and a graduate degree in women’s studies.
She course-corrected herself, even though it was scary. After college graduation, Danielle watched all of her peers pursue professional degrees like law and medicine. Thinking that was the safe and smart thing to do, she applied to law schools, took the LSAT, and planned to become an attorney. But before she accepted any offers, Danielle reconsidered. “I talked to a lot of young women in the field who were dissatisfied with their experience in large firms,” she says. Not wanting to head into an unhappy profession, she made a last-minute decision to go to grad school at UCLA for women’s studies. She credits that decision to “being confident and taking the time to figure things out.” Flexibility is also something Danielle employs on a daily basis with Step Up by changing and adding programs to ensure they don’t become obsolete. “We’re constantly shifting based on feedback and based on trends,” she says.
She went straight to the source. After deciding to scrap her law-school plans and pursue the highly competitive women’s-studies program at UCLA, Danielle moved to Los Angeles even before being accepted. She got a job at UCLA’s School of Business, directly with the Dean of Finance, and spent the year getting to know people in the women’s-studies department. The following year, Danielle was accepted with only seven other candidates. “Ultimately,” says Danielle, “it’s about saying, ‘Here’s what I’m interested in and here’s what I can do.’ You need to actively pursue your passions and make sure it happens on some level.”
She squeezed the most out of each experience. Though taking a job at the business school may have seemed off base for a women’s-studies major, Danielle learned a great deal about business by managing a $45 million budget. Her initial job at UCLA led to another in Women and Philanthropy, a major giving group on campus. “In the nonprofit world, you need fundraising experience, which is something a lot of people don’t realize,” she says. Danielle credits her time at Women and Philanthropy for teaching her how to directly solicit people for money. Through her employment at UCLA, Danielle learned about business, fundraising, and philanthropy, all of which are key to her current position.
She found a mentor. Danielle’s former boss, the Dean of Finance, had gotten her M.B.A. later in life and was a huge source of support for Danielle. “She told someone I was going to run my own foundation someday, which is something I had never even thought of,” remembers Danielle. Due to her own experience, Danielle recommends that every woman find a mentor, even if that woman is not in the same field. “Have someone who is older and wiser who can help set direction during formative and confusing times. It can prove vital,” she says. Step Up addresses that need through a Professional Mentorship Program, which pairs women with senior-level executives in their chosen field for a six-month period, and through Professional Development Panels, which feature premier business leaders speaking on a variety of women’s business issues.
She chatted people up. Danielle always talked to people in different fields to get their take on their professions. “Though networking can be hard, the more people you open yourself up to, the larger contact base you have to fall back on,” advises Danielle. Though it’s counter to the dog-eat-dog business culture, she encourages female executives to give time to women seeking their advice. She also encourages something she calls “quiet” networking, forging a connection with people you come into contact with at backyard barbecues or parties. After all, you never know who you’ll be able to call on years down the line.