I started Caroline Manages, LLC in 2020 as a freelance project manager. I’ve since grown my career far beyond what I’d imagined (and to be honest I dream pretty big). I’m now a co-founder at Boundless Impact, LLC where I manage projects, processes, and people.
I started blogging and sharing what I was learning about the transition from Higher Ed/Student Affairs to project management in 2021. That means that I’ve written and shared a lot along the way. This site is an attempt to streamline and organize the resources I’ve collected — making it easier for me to update, and for you to take it in.
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I worked in Higher Ed for 7 years (Orientation & Student Activities) before transitioning into project management. I earned a PMP and an MBA on my way out, though depending on your goals I don’t think either are necessary to make a pivot.
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Higher education wasn’t for me, long-term, but I think it’s important to share that I loved a lot of things about it, and my exit was on wonderful terms. (As soon as I finish this page, I’m texting my last boss to set up a sushi meet-up, and I left that job six years ago.)
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My goal here is to demystify everything I'm doing. I love being a project manager, and I'm proud of the career I've built, and I love that it lets me serve clients who do important work powerfully and effectively. More than anything, I believe that we all win when the world has more confident, competent project managers.
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It took me a long time to name Caroline Manages LLC. For a while I was tossing around the name "Projects Are For Everyone", which is a name I didn't go with because it's a mouthful and it's terrible for SEO and about a million other reasons. (It's a bad name lol.) But what I liked about it was that (at least for me) it's a reference to my favorite poem on earth: Like You, by Roque Dalton, which has the following middle two lines:
I believe the world is beautiful and that poetry, like bread, is for everyone.
People need both. People need poetry, and people need bread. In my heart of hearts, my great hope is that this community does both: I hope it helps you put food on the table while breathing a little easier, and I hope at some points along the way it might help you see the world a little differently, a lot like a good poem.
I’m proud to have used my career to serve all kinds of people, though I’m always living and learning and being humbled by those I serve. I don’t take a single dime from clients before making sure their values are aligned with mine. Here’s what you should know up front about me and my work: