Ellen Schneider / A Total Surprise

She spent 18 years in the corporate world of a local retailer. As VP of merchandise control, Ellen Schneider managed financial planning, pricing and product allocation in addition to coordinating liquidation and reopening for acquisitions -- A role most certainly centered on profit. And a role in which she thrived. But with teen boys at home and an increasing amount of travel pulling her away, Ellen began to re-evaluate her career…

Nudge into a new world.

It was just as she was leaving her VP position (and doing a lot of soul searching) that Ellen met with lead recruiter Heidi Horton – to discuss her professional objectives and to establish the relationship that would put her on Heidi’s radar screen. Meanwhile, she worked as an operations manager for a manufacturer, then moved on to a data research and statistical position for a major hospital. Neither was the right fit.

Every two months or so, Ellen talked with Heidi to reconnect or refresh her goals.

Then came the 12-page job description that put a surprise into motion. Heidi contacted Ellen to present the prospect of a CEO position for the Fresno-Madera Red Cross. Initially, Ellen was far from intrigued. Never before did she have even an inkling she might work in the nonprofit sector.

“But my relationship with Heidi had been so comfortable. She had never been pushy,” Ellen says. “So when she began to nudge me on the position, I figured she must really see something that I didn’t.” Ellen soon captured Heidi’s vision, but says it was a total surprise to find herself fitting into the role.

“Next thing I knew, I was on a plane to D.C. to interview at National Headquarters.”

Mastering yin and yang.

In her charge as recruiter, Heidi had spent a great deal of time studying the goals and operations of the organization and meeting with its board members. She knew the local nonprofit needed a leader with a strong business background, and she recognized that Ellen had the whole package.

“It was a god-send that she was in that role – I think for the board as well as for me,” Ellen says. “She could really see the needs.”

It was no secret that this would be a tough job, Ellen adds – addressing the financial health of the organization, rallying staff and volunteers who had dealt with short-term leadership stints, and gaining visibility and credibility in the eyes of the public. But Ellen quickly mastered her new world, and was even commended at a national event her first year on the job.

In the financial role, she says she was easily able to convert the technical aspects of products and profitability. “But when you tell the Red Cross story,” she emphasized, “you are talking about human beings.” And that has an impact and reward all its own, she says. Just one example: “When the hurricanes hit, the volunteers were here 60 hours a week, with not one grumbling word the whole time… It’s a totally different environment, and that part’s neat,” Ellen says.

“It has been a great match.”