YouLaunchU Approach
YouLaunchU is a career counseling service dedicated to helping people successfully enter and navigate the job market. Through our tried and true Launch Module curriculum, we’ll help you identify your talents, hone your skills, and clarify your interests to make your best move forward. Interested? See what we offer and choose what works for you!
YouLaunchU People
Doug Ireland
Doug graduated from Dartmouth College with a BA in Psychology. While there, he was a multi-sport athlete and an active student on campus. He regrets not taking advantage of the college’s career services office. Upon graduation, he had a brief and miserable professional tennis career before joining a telecommunications start-up soon thereafter. He pursued that field for six years with mixed success before joining Lehman Brothers.
Doug held management positions in the financial industry across an array of disciplines and geographies. He was involved in the hiring process for 30 years and trained lots of new graduates.
Since leaving finance, Doug has coached over 500 individuals seeking help in the job market. Through individual counseling, college sponsored seminars or youth development non-profit organizations, he has had great success moving his clientele forward.
Off the clock, he has served on the Piedmont Unified School District Board of Education, the Piedmont Ed Foundation and co-chaired successful school parcel tax campaigns. For 20 years, he’s been a member of the Dartmouth Career Advisory Group focused on athletes and is also an advisor to Fairview Capital, a money management firm in Marin County. Doug has the most fun when he’s working with and for young people. It’s why he’s spent years coaching, sitting on the San Francisco Girls Chorus board, participating in student-led homebuilding trips to Mexico, and harassing his four (adult?) kids.
Laura Francis
After earning a double BA in International Relations and Psychology from UC Davis, she began her career living and working in Japan. Over the last 30 years she has held positions in education, logistics, sales, art and software. Perhaps, she hasn’t been able to hold down a job. She is a certified college and career counselor specializing in career coaching for teens and young adults. She also runs career readiness workshops for rising and recent college graduates.
Laura is passionate about helping students incorporate self-discovery and career and major exploration to prepare for what’s ahead. Her years of working with young people – from elementary school through college graduation – exposed her to the inner-workings of both lower and higher education. She believes that investing time in self-discovery helps teens make a successful transition from dependents to independent individuals. She also believes in the value of career exploration while in high school and leading into the college admissions process.
Laura lives in Oakland with her husband and has two college-age daughters whom she uses as test cases for her methods. She works virtually with students from around the country and the world.
Anna Eilertsen
Anna attended Whitman College where she earned a B.A. in English. She could usually be found working in the college Writing Center, leading sorority operations, and occasionally studying. While she claims to have perfected the art of procrastination, we’ve seen worse.
After she graduated, she lent her writing and marketing instincts in the early phases of our business and was instrumental in the ultimate direction of YouLaunchU. As a recent grad who also paid little or no attention to the college career services, Anna brought a fresh perspective about the needs and concerns of a liberal arts graduate.
Eventually, she ditched Doug for a real job and joined the Girl Scouts of Northern California, where she worked for two years as a Marketing & Communications Specialist. Fortunately, she overloaded on Thin Mints and returned to YouLaunchU.
Anna has driven content creation, day-to-day client engagement and led the development of Launch Mode, our career-focused card game. Her sense of humor and empathy with our clientele has benefited everyone involved with YouLaunchU.
Having completed the Kickstarter campaign to fund Launch Mode, Anna rejoined the traditional workforce at the YMCA of the East Bay where she manages media content and program. We miss her regular participation but appreciate her advice and counsel when called upon.
