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SCORE Mentor Spotlight: Jean Stephens
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December 19, 2022
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SCORE mentor Jean Stephens

The commitment to volunteering encompasses more than just helping others. It involves a deliberate decision to dedicate your time and talents to improving lives and lifting up your community. Volunteering is a way to make a meaningful difference in the world and your life. Jean Stephens made that commitment when she became a SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon mentor in 2020.

Bringing Decades of Experience to Benefit SCORE Clients

Before retirement, Jean spent over thirty years in the Medical Device industry. Jean enjoyed the good fortune of working for three different start-ups that went public. Two of these were later purchased by Fortune 500 companies such as Johnson & Johnson and Abbott Labs. During these years, Jean's primary area of expertise was developing customer service, supply chain, sales for service revenue, and product development for a service product line.

"My last start-up was i-STAT, which went public and then was purchased by Abbott Labs, which then established an Abbott Point of Care Division. I retired from this division of Abbott Labs. Through this experience of going from a start-up to a division of a Fortune 500 company enables me to identify with the start-up (entrepreneur) mentality but have that experience of knowing how to grow to a larger entity. This knowledge includes cultural changes within an organization and planning and establishing functional area strategy that will enable a business to grow. I learned from the best how to market and sell a product to a targeted marketplace, all with an entrepreneur's enthusiasm and willingness to work hard."
   - Jean Stephens, SCORE volunteer mentor

Helping Others Succeed with Their Dream within A Community

When Jean arrived in Lancaster post-retirement, she knew that she would seek out a volunteer opportunity that supported the small business community. She happened to read about SCORE and was inspired by their mission to foster vibrant business communities through mentoring and education. Jean attended a SCORE education workshop before committing to volunteering as a mentor. She was so impressed by the quality of the content and the presenters that she was certain this was the organization that would meet her goals. 

"I wanted to encourage and coach others to succeed with their dream within a community. I had the good fortune of achieving this and wanted to ensure others could experience the same and benefit financially from their dreams.  Being from New Jersey and only living here in Lancaster for a short time, I have seen that Lancaster has the entrepreneurial spirit and supports its local businesses. This spirit was never more evident than during the COVID pandemic. I feel so proud to be a part of SCORE that has helped small businesses secure CARES Act loans & grants, and mentor local businesses to survive and thrive. Being a SCORE mentor helps preserve that American dream of being an independent business owner."
   - Jean Stephens, SCORE volunteer mentor

Achieving EXTRAordinary Goals

Although Jean Stephens was new to Lancaster and brand new to Chapter 16 as a certified mentor, not to mention that she had never heard of the Extraordinary GIVE, she volunteered to chair the 2020 ExtraGIVE campaign for SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon. This event is one of our major fundraisers of the year, and 2020 presented unique challenges during a global pandemic. But she tapped into her "Jersey Girl" spirit and went all-in from the very start! Jean inspired her Development committee team and created a robust virtual campaign to meet this ExtraGIVE season's challenges.  The results are a tribute to her hard work and dedication, with a final total well above the Chapter goal at $29,138.73.

But Jean would count her most significant achievement as a more personal one. She appreciates the quiet satisfaction of making a difference in someone's life, of helping to take a dream one step closer.

"There is nothing like seeing my clients feel validated about their ideas and then continue to work to achieve their dream.  When they are on their way, and they send a note updating you on their progress and saying, 'Thank You.' Well, it's the best bonus I ever received."
- Jean Stephens, SCORE volunteer mentor

Jean is eager to serve with co-mentoring opportunities. She is familiar with the following:

INDIVIDUAL SKILLS

  • Business Operations
  • Business Strategy & Planning
  • Manufacturing & Product Development
  • Sales, Marketing & Public Relations
  • Supply Chain Management

INDIVIDUAL EXPERTISE

  • Health Care & Social Assistance
  • Professional & Business Services
  • Transportation & Warehousing
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