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Welcome to Life After College!

Jenny Blake - Headshot PhotoI’m thrilled to have you here. I’ve been blogging for five years, so there is lot of content to sift through on this site, and I know it can get overwhelming. I want to make sure you get the best and most helpful content up front, so sit back, relax, and enjoy this guided tour! All links are set to open in a new window so that you can easily return to this page.

1. “Best of” Round-ups:

In these round-ups, I outline my favorite and the most popular posts of the year, give statistics about blog traffic, and share personal milestones and achievements. It’s the best way to get a view of the entire blog on fast-forward. 

2. Most Popular Posts:

3. My Favorite Posts:

4. Browse the Archives:

5. Learn more about the Life After College book:

Life After College Book Cover

  • Check-out the fancy schmancy book website: LACBook.com
  • Blog posts that cover the road to getting my book published
  • For the full nitty-gritty inside scoop, check-out my newsletter archive – which covers highs, lows, and lots of writing-related resources in much more detail
  • Check-out the book on Amazon and order your copy!

6. About Me – the Short Version

Jenny Blake - Headshot PhotoI am the author of the book, Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want (Running Press, 2011). I’ve been blogging since 2007 with a personal mission to provide simple, practical tips about life, work, money, happiness and personal growth. My goal is to help people focus on the BIG picture of their lives…not just the details. To “wake up, live big! and love the journey.” I’ve been featured on Forbes.com, US News & World Report, CNN.com, and have spoken at Google, Best Buy, Carnegie Melon (TEDxCMU) and Columbia University.

I took my own great leap by leaving Google after five and a half years at the company (on the Training, Career Development and Authors@Google teams) to pursue my passions full-time as an author, speaker and coach. I am a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) and completed training to be a yoga teacher at White Lotus in October 2010.

Just for fun: I LOVE cupcakes, coffee and personal development books. Dogs, dancing, gadgets, yoga, watching football, baseball, writing and travel make me pretty happy too. Want to get to know me without ever having a conversation? Not that there’s any fun in that, but I fit the Myers Briggs profile ENFJ to a tee.

7. About Me – the Longer Version

8. About this Blog:

During the first quarter of my junior year at UCLA I got the opportunity of a lifetime. My political science professor and mentor suggested a possible job opportunity for me at a start-up company in Palo Alto doing online political polling. I took a leave of absence to help start the company as the first official employee (among six college professors).

I anticipated filing papers…I was wrong. I had tremendous opportunities and responsibilities, but I hadn’t anticipated what it would be like to be in the real world – to work full time, to save money, to spend so much money, to be so far from my friends. As much as I loved the confidence I got from working so hard and learning so much every day, at times I felt incredibly lonely and confused.

I started Life After College to help others feel less alone and more resourceful on their own journeys. [Click here to read the full story]

9, More great ways I can help:

  • Sign-up for a personalized, 1:1 coaching session. I offer a highly discounted rate for the first sample session.
  • Shameless plug to buy my book, which essentially functions as a portable life coach.
  • Download and use one of my many templates.

10. Ways to stay up-to-date:

10. Get in touch with me:

Send me an email via my Contact Form. I look forward to hearing from you!

11. A short video to say thank you (in which I express my love for cupcakes):


You might get a kick out of the outtake video too :)

12. A longer video (~25 minute TV Show interview) in which I talk about the book, the blog, and my philosophies on life:


Note: My book is titled “Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want“  (not a perfect life…which I would never claim to have or advise you to strive for!)

13. Did you make it this far? If so, I’m impressed…and very grateful!

Thank you so much for spending your valuable time and attention with me.

Cookie monster cupcake for you!