Angela Ceresnie is the CEO of Climb Credit. She has experience working in and starting multiple startups. She has led teams at Citibank and American Express. Interestingly, she studied computer engineering at the University of Michigan with a technical background.
Today, Angela talks about skill-building and the work she’s doing at Climb Credit as she tries to build the future for her own kids.
[02:15] Angela created her first startup while she was 7 months pregnant with her second daughter. She also dealt with imposter syndrome as a mother in the startup world.
[03:45] Climb Credit is an education finance company focused on partnering with high-quality skills-based training programs. It covers different industries with bootcamps as one of them.
[05:02] Angela explains the differences between getting federal loans vs. private loans and some things they look for in schools before deciding to work with them.
[11:00] With Climb, schools are incentivized in financing students to be able to get jobs so they can make payments.
[14:45] Angela talks about introducing insurance into their income-share agreement (ISA), a feature not everyone wants (but the people who want it, need it) and the benefits of ISA
[20:00] How to apply for a Climb loan and how their soft credit poll works – a feature that is only unique to Climb.
[22:18] Working with not only those with bad credit but those with new credit as well, Climb makes sure they provide products that can bring in people who are in that situation.
[24:00] How to achieve job security: data transparency + understanding outcomes. Find out what Angela thinks is lacking in our traditional 4-year education system.
[26:55] The job hunting experience: Sadly, our job market puts way too much emphasis on the degree and the name of the school.
[29:00] Timur explains what Career Karma is here for in terms of empowering people to get an alternative education versus going to a four-year college and get buried in debt.
[30:12] Other programs Climb Credit is working for and Angela’s vision for her kids. There are a lot of careers you can get without requiring a bachelor’s degree and
[33:00] The role of corporate training among companies where they no longer have to hire college graduates and retain existing talents who want to upscale
[41:20] How Angela deals with impostor syndrome especially as a female in a male-dominated world and the importance of really liking what you do!
[48:40] The qualities Angela is looking for in candidates that apply for Climb: being smart and the ability to take feedback
