In this talk, Beth Shapiro shares her unconventional career path that led her from a receptionist role at Ogilvy to becoming the executive director of City Meals on Wheels, a nonprofit that feeds homebound elderly New Yorkers. She recounts moving to New York with $500, working her way up through accounting and account management, experiencing a massive layoff, and juggling demanding agency work while raising young children. After years in advertising, she sought more meaning, faced skepticism about her skill set, and eventually secured a marketing role at City Meals on Wheels. Five years later she assumed the top leadership position, overseeing meals for seniors, many over 100 years old. Beth highlights pivotal mentors, the importance of financial literacy, the value of delivering excellence, and staying authentic. She illustrates the impact of the organization through stories like Mamie, a frail Brooklyn resident whose portrait now hangs in her office, underscoring how serving the elderly transformed her sense of fulfillment.
Chapters
Thank you. That's me. I'm Beth Shapiro. I'm the executive director of City Meals on Wheels. Quick question. How many of you live in New York? I can see hands. How many of you were raised in New York? Much fewer. I'm with the hands-down people. I am North Carolina-raised by Brooklyn parents. Brooklyn. Who said North Carolina? All right. Graduated college, sold my car, moved to New York with $500 in my pocket to find my fame and fortune. I wanted to go into advertising. I wanted to do account management. It took a very brief amount of time to get my first job at Ogilvy as a receptionist. Not what I wanted, but I needed money. I took the job. And to get into account management, I had to be a secretary. So I'm older than 40 and I'm older than 50. That dates me. Was on an old-time typewriter, 10 fingers, really slow. I could do it now. I couldn't be a secretary because I couldn't type fast enough. But if it was all thumbs now, I could do it. I practiced, I practiced. It was not going anywhere. Very wise woman, our CFO, started chatting with me and said, we have an opening as an account coordinator. And I thought, this is not good. The only class I nearly flunked at Chapel Hill was accounting. So I thought I had to tell her. I knew I had to tell her because she was making a huge mistake. And she said, "You can do this." I'm like, "All right, here we go." She's like, "It is your only path around typing." So I did it. And I was pretty good at it. And it helped me learn the financial underpinnings of a small organization, which I now know is quite important. Worked my way through past accounting and finally got into account management where I was doing what I wanted to do, working with clients, um, helping with marketing and communications, and it was great. We were a 50-person organization at the time. 23 of us were let go in one day. I was one of those 23. Not only did I not have a job, I had just charged a trip to the Bahamas on my brand new American Express card for my boyfriend's birthday. So I had to pay for it, figure that out. Found a job quickly, bounced around for several years, large agencies, small startups before there were startups, and realized at some point that it was a very crazy life. My kids were quite young. I was living in Westchester. My husband would put them in pajamas, drive them into the city to say goodnight to me, and take them back home. Oh. My daughter's here. She can attest to that. It was not fun. And I knew quickly that I couldn't do it. I left. Went to an agency up near home in Westchester and was incredibly happy. 8 years working with the smartest people I could ever work with. But along the way, killer hours still. Not insane, but killer. I had clients in London and California at the same time, so bouncing through time zones. I think traveling, my daughter probably has, I could tell you every guilt gift from every work trip that she ever received. And I knew I didn't like selling other people's stuff. I wanted to do something with more meaning. There was more dysfunction. It was time for me to go. I spent 2 years trying to get a nonprofit job. Nobody thought my skill set matched what they needed. And it was hard. I left without a job thinking, "All right, I can focus on this." 6 months of searching in front of the computer, sweats, trying not to eat the pint of Ben Jerry's while the kids were at school, trying to figure out what I was going to do if this didn't work. And another woman took a chance on me. The founding executive director of City Meals on Wheels was looking for a director of marketing and communications. I got a job. I thought it was gonna be a piece of cake. The skills translate. They did. I thought it would be easier and it would be a softer environment. It was a business. It is a business and needed to be treated like a business, and I learned that quickly. 5 years later, I took over as executive director. City Meals is feeding homebound elderly New Yorkers, people too frail to shop for themselves, 60 and older. 200 of them are 100 years old or over in this city. Yes, it is crazy. And they will tell you it's crazy if they're over 100. But I have never been more fulfilled. The path was not straight. I have met the people who built this city for you and me. And that was what was so meaningful for me. I did not have affinity towards older people when I was young. My parents grew— my grandparents died when I was a teenager. There was no connectivity. And that changed so quickly. I have met Mary, who rode the elephants in Ringling Brothers. Yep. Frederick designed the first leather bomber jackets for the NYPD. And Mamie is my favorite. My very first meal delivery going out with a photographer to see what we do, we were in Brownsville, Brooklyn, where my dad grew up. Not great when my dad grew up and not so great now. Mamie had lived there most of her life. Her husband and daughter, only daughter, had passed away. Her shoes were held together with duct tape. She lived in a small, dark apartment, and she was too afraid to go outside, even if she could. But she had a sparkle in her eye. And we were sitting in her kitchen, And the photographer brought the camera out, and she sat up straight, cocked her head to the side, and said, "Should I strike a pose?" That picture is still in my office to this day. It has changed who I am and moves me on a regular basis. When I look back and think 30 years ago, would I have ever realized or thought that I would feel so fulfilled in my job? I don't think I would have. But I've learned a few things. The path is not straight. The finance job was the best thing that could have happened to me to be where I am— where I am now and to have that knowledge. I had great people who believed in me, sometimes even before I believed in myself. I mentioned two women. There were a lot of other women. There were a few men in there, too. But to find people to mentor you— I believe that success does not come simply from hard work. It comes from trying to deliver excellent work. Because excellence is what breeds success. And I think beyond anything else, it is to be genuine and true to who you are. I am a little bit kind. I say that's the North Carolina still stuck in here after 30 years. But I've also realized I don't have to be an ass to be a leader in New York City even. Thank you. It's true. But to rely on your circle, to find your people, and to be true to who you are. Thank you.
