Shepard, Molly Dickinson

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Shepard, Molly Dickinson

PERSONAL: Female; children: three. Education: Wheaton College, B.S.; University of Pennsylvania, M.S.

ADDRESSES: Home—PA. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Penguin Group, Plume Publicity, 375 Hudson St., New York, NY 10014.

CAREER: Worked in career development and executive coaching and in executive search firms for over twenty years. Diversified Search, vice president; Hay Career Consultants, regional vice president; Manchester, Inc. (career development firm), president and cofounder; The Leader's Edge (women's career development firm), Philadelphia, PA, founder and executive officer, 2000–.

WHYY-TV 12 (PBS), Philadelphia (chairman), United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania (board of directors), Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce (vice chairman of executive committee, member of board of directors, chair of member services committee), Pennsylvania Women's Forum, Chapter of the International Women's Forum (IWF), World Affairs Council (board of overseers), Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania, Trustees Council for Women, University of Pennsylvania (board of directors), National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Kimmel Center (board of directors).

AWARDS, HONORS: Heart of Philadelphia Award, American Heart Association, for leadership and dedication to the community, 1998; Paradigm Award, Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce, to a woman in business whose outstanding professional and personal achievements serve as a model for success, 2001; Elizabeth Campbell Award as Outstanding Public Broadcasting Volunteer of the Year, 2002; March of Dimes Honoree, Montgomery County Women of Achievement, 2003.

WRITINGS:

(With Jane K. Stimmler) Stop Whining & Start Winning: 8 Surefire Ways for Women to Thrive in Business, Plume (New York, NY), 2005.

SIDELIGHTS: Molly Dickinson Shepard and Jane K. Stimmler have both led successful careers in the business world. Shepard has been a consultant in career development, leadership, executive coaching, and executive search services, for more than two decades. She has worked for several executive search and career coaching firms, and is the founder of The Leader's Edge, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, a firm that specializes in assisting high-level women executives to advance through leadership development. Shepard also donates her time to various nonprofit organizations and associations, and has received several awards for her community service. Stimmler is an expert on marketing and communications. A principal of The Marketing Edge, a marketing and communications consulting firm, she assists people in effectively marketing their corporate or personal messages, as well as consulting on overall corporate communications strategies. In Stop Whining & Start Winning: 8 Surefire Ways for Women to Thrive in Business, the authors share their experiences with women who want to give their careers a makeover. Stimmler and Shepard give women advice on how best to communicate their desires for advancement to the mentors and decision-makers involved in their careers. The book offers an eight-step program to help women climb the corporate ladder, including tips on networking, mentoring, and career planning, and how to take into account the different ways in which men and women communicate. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly found Stimmler and Shepard's effort to be a "detailed book on achieving career success," and noted that any woman will "find something to improve her professional effectiveness."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Library Journal, October 15, 2005, review of Stop Whining & Start Winning: 8 Surefire Ways for Women to Thrive in Business, p. 66.

PR Newswire, March 13, 2001, "Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce Honors Molly Shepard As the Region's Most Outstanding Business Woman," p. 4515.

Publishers Weekly, August 29, 2005, review of Stop Whining & Start Winning, p. 50.