Lisa Vento Nielsen, MBA, PMP is an educator, executive and entrepreneur. This book applies the lessons she has learned and shared for the past 13 years as a higher ed professor and as a mentor to various clients through her small business, The Next Step. As a small business owner, Ms Vento Nielsen focuses on helping people take the next step in their education and career paths. She has honed this expertise and distilled it into a College and Career Readiness seminar that she presents at local area NYC high schools. She wanted to share this information and the lessons she wrote with more people and this book is the method for sharing these lessons. She has over 13 years experience in Corporate America and Higher Education. With her work in Corporate America, she has extensive hiring and resume experience. As an adjunct professor at local NYC colleges, her insight into what colleges want and how to present yourself is extremely valuable for your next step. Lisa has a BS degree in Marketing and a MBA in International Finance, both from St John's University. Her MBA is from the Rome, Italy campus of St John's University, where she learned how to speak Italian. Upon returning to the United States, she began her career in the financial services and publishing industries. She excelled at Project Management and is a certified Project Management Professional since 2004 with PMI. She left Corporate America to focus on teaching and entrepreneurial pursuits. Lisa began teaching at the University level in 2003 and learned she has a passion and a knack for teaching complex topics with a mix of real world and academic expertise. She self-published her first book "The Prof's Guide to Entrepreneur-ing" and her second book on college and career readiness is next. Lisa has run her own businesses over the years as a consultant preparing business plans, editing and improving resumes and helping businesses, professionals and students take their next step.