Nailing the Interview: How to Tell Your Story with Confidence

📅 August 12, 2025 | 10:00 – 11:30 AM

📍Offbeat Coffee, Salem, OR

You’ve made the big decision: After years of entrepreneurship, you have chosen to pivot and return to traditional employment.

But knowing you’re ready is one thing. Navigating the job hunt is another.

In series, we focused on crafting résumés and cover letters that translate your founder experience into clear, compelling career stories.

Now in Part 2, Nailing the Interview: How to Tell Your Story with Confidence, we’re taking the next step: Helping you prepare for the interview with clarity, confidence, and strategy.

If you’ve spent the last few years running your own business, stepping into an interview can feel unfamiliar. You’re used to telling your story to clients, not hiring managers.

Now, you’re learning how to speak about your experience in a way that resonates in the corporate world, without shrinking or overselling.

This free, in-person session is for you if:

• You haven’t interviewed in years (or ever).
• You’re unsure how to talk about your business experience without sounding vague or overqualified.
• You’re struggling to explain why you’re making the shift – and how to do it with confidence.
• You want practical tools and guidance in a supportive, non-judgmental space.

In this session, we’ll explore:

• How to structure your answers and highlight your strengths.
• How to translate your entrepreneurial skills into the language hiring managers understand.
• How to address concerns (like being seen as “too independent” or a “flight risk”) before they become obstacles.
• How to talk about your transition with clarity, confidence, and authenticity.

This is Part 2 of our Job Searching for Entrepreneurs series, a community-led effort to support founders through one of the most emotionally complex and professionally transformative decisions they can make.

Come as you are, whether you’re preparing for your first interview in years, exploring new possibilities, or just need a space to talk through it all.

Grab a coffee. Pull up a chair. Let’s go through this together.

Conrad Rohleder is a business strategist and entrepreneur who builds resilient, people-first systems across industries, from tech to nonprofit leadership to local communities. He’s navigated multiple career transitions himself and knows how to help others find work that fits lives, not just their résumés. With deep experience in systems thinking, AI, and organizational change, Conrad brings clarity, empathy, and real-world insight to moments of professional growth.

Malee Ojua is a creative strategist, brand builder, and digital marketing company owner who helps small businesses tell powerful, human-centered stories. She’s deeply invested in creating inclusive spaces where people can show up fully, whether as entrepreneurs, job seekers, or something in between. Malee understands the unique emotional journey of career pivots and brings both practical guidance and heart to the process.

Also check out other Business events in Salem.