Gina DeLapa

Gina DeLapa
TOPIC-
Setting Boundaries to Reduce Stress

About Gina DeLapa Gina DeLapa grew up in a small Midwestern town, as the youngest of four kids. She credits her work ethic to her entrepreneurial parents and her love for classic rock to her three older brothers. Her Midwest family raised a few eyebrows as she headed to Southern California in 2001to pursue a Masters degree in counseling. But she brought her new skills home and became a full-time career counselor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan. Bitten by the writing bug, Gina served as the editor of two national newsletters, Loose Change and Four Bits, a money columnist for Grand Rapids Magazine, and a career columnist for RelevantMagazine.com and CollegeJournal.com, now part of The Wall Street Journal. (On the less glamorous side, she has also cleaned toilets for a Mom-and-Pop fast food joint, worked on a farm as a peach inspector, and wrote promotional copy for a consultant to the bowling industry.) In 2001, following the release of her first book, 401(k) Success Stories, Gina figured out she was not put on Earth to write about retirement plans. As a business writer, she was always interviewing experts—now it was time to become one. Five years later, she transitioned back to San Diego and began a five-year adjunct faculty role at her alma mater, while traveling the country to teach business etiquette to new college grads. Her clients included Deutsche Bank, Moss Adams, and Grand Valley State University. Permanently set in Southern California, Gina, contends she will reach either success or oblivion as creator of the Stuff You Already Know series. The series started as random notes in a red leather notebook with words of wisdom she wanted to record for her nephew, Adam. The journal soon turned into a manuscript, the manuscript became a book, the book turned into a series, and the series became Gina’s full-time career. She has never been happier
Date Recorded: 1/8/2014
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