B.S.M. in Marketing and Information Systems, Tulane University
M.Ed. in Student Personnel in Higher Education, University of Florida
Graduate Certificate in Career Coaching, University of South Florida
Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction, University of South Florida
Product Manager Certification, Product School
This is my story
Hi there! I’m Cara Bernstein Chernoff and I serve as the Chief of Staff here at Ama La Vida. So glad you are here!
When I started college, I was an over involved student with no direction as far as what I wanted to do with my life. I considered over a dozen different career paths and made my advisor groan every time I came into her office. One day, when I asked if I could just stay and be involved with clubs and extracurriculars for the rest of my career, she kicked me out of her office and told me to look into Student Affairs.
After working in Higher Education and the Software Engineering Bootcamp space for several years, I realized that my passion was working one on one with individuals going through different stages of transition. Schlossberg’s Transition Theory became a part of my every day – that the things that happen to us and the things that do not happen to us impact how we interact with ourselves and the world around us. The red thread throughout my career has been helping individuals in various states of transition and helping them become the individuals they want to be.
Transition and learning happens in so many places within our world. For careers, it is figuring out where our passions are and how to bring the best out of ourselves in others. In business, it’s about how we transition with people. products, and processes to focus on people first, mission always. For our daily lives, it’s discovering who we want to be, what in our worlds have an impact on us, and how to love life.
I am interested in people, product, process, learning and mattering. My professional career has been influenced by my Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) focused in Curriculum and Instruction: Higher Education Administration from University of South Florida with coursework in Adult Learning. I appreciate having a growth mindset approach, empathy towards others, and seek opportunities for creativity, organization and collaboration.
I came to Ama La Vida at a transition point in my life. I have found my space to help the members of the Ama La Vida community discover their mattering and transformation and to “always be bettering.”
