We don’t write your story, we help you script a better ending.
Work At It is led by a diverse team of professionals who bring together career experiences, life lessons, and a passion for helping others in order to guide you to a life full of confidence and success.
Yael Wedeck
Co-founder / Dean of Self-Actualization
“I love helping people connect to undiscovered parts of themselves,” Yael says about her role at Work At It. “The excitement in the moment that a person comes alive in finding what makes them truly unique is immeasurable.”
For almost 30 years as a social worker and psychotherapist, Yael has been guiding people to that moment. Experience has taught her that the transition to adulthood can be a challenging time for many people. She conceived Work At It to focus on guiding young people like you through personal issues, self-doubt, and confusion about where to go next in life. She understands that these issues often prevent people from reaching their full potential, and in some cases, can lead to ongoing struggle. Yael believes that recognizing and understanding your strengths can be the catalyst for a life full of success.
No matter what issues you’re dealing with, Yael will lend a compassionate ear, guiding you through a powerful process of self-discovery. Through this process you learn to appreciate and love the person you are, discovering your own unique talents and abilities—and how to best use them to find success.
Using your newfound understanding of yourself, you and Yael can work to help you find a direction in life that’s best for you as an individual. And Yael will continue to be available to listen and offer honest and useful advice as you progress through the challenges of moving into the workforce.
Yael’s creative approach has empowered many people to find a more successful path in life. We believe she can help you too.
Credentials, experiences, and achievements: MSW, Hunter College • 25 years as a Clinical Social Worker •Diverse experience includes working in a school, a psychiatric hospital, and an Assisted Living for seniors. • Professional presentations on topics such as “Finding Meaning in Later Life” and “Using Evidence Based Treatments for Depression” • Mother of four
Rivka Ariel
Co-founder /
Success Engineer
When Rivka meets you, she envisions what your success will look like. She looks past your problems and struggles to see how your unique potential can become something special.
Rivka’s ability to use future success as a starting point comes in large part from her successful career in New Product Development. In that role, she envisioned what the marketplace would look like in 10 years, and then marketed the product to achieve success. At Work At It, she uses these skills to prepare young people for what they want to become in the future. This powerful technique leads people to believe in themselves long before they’ve found the success they want. Rivka says, “I love looking at young adults as they are today and helping them use their talents and individuality to be their best selves in the future.”
However, Rivka’s desire to help others comes from somewhere much deeper.
Her father was a Holocaust survivor who taught a fellow traveler French on the on the 3-week boat trip to America, in exchange for being taught English.
Eventually, he built a successful jewelry wholesale company, employing anyone who needed a job. He’d hire young, down on their luck immigrants and taught them his trade, even though many would go on to compete with his business. Like her father, Rivka believes that encouraging self-sufficiency is one of the most important things you can do for someone else. It’s in her DNA.
Rivka also understands the struggles that young adulthood can bring, especially when it comes to getting a career started.
“I prepare our clients as if they were going on interviews for Fortune 500 companies, even if they are interviewing for a local Mom and Pop shop,” Rivka says. “I prepare them to highlight their strengths and to let their best selves shine through.”
Like everybody at Work At It, Rivka brings together life lessons, work experiences, and a desire to empower others, to help you find a better path forward.
Credentials, experiences, and achievements: MBA, Columbia Business School • BS summa cum laude Biochemistry, CCNY • Director New Product Planning, Pfizer 10+ years • Director of Lifecycle Planning/Associate Director of Marketing, Novartis Pharmaceuticals • Four published scientific papers • Recipient of more than a dozen awards • Mother of four
Yaakov Mintz
Educational Visionary and Advocate
Teaching in traditional schools for 15 years has given Yaakov Mintz a unique understanding about the potential of young people.
“I have found that often it’s the kids in the lowest classes who are most full of life and potential. The educational system unintentionally punishes these kids whose talents are in areas that are not academic,” says Yaakov. “This sends the message to these young people that they aren’t talented or capable. In fact, the exact opposite is true; they are often the most capable kids in the school.”
Yaakov embraces people for who they are. For this reason, he believes that education comes in many forms, and traditional schooling may not always be the most effective path. Yaakov thinks outside the box to find the program that will help you chart your own unique path forward. Once the niche that fits you is discovered, he works with you to create an educational program that matches your needs. Internships, test prep, online classes, and vocational programs are all highly effective ways Yaakov helps you achieve great things without the academic limits of regular schools.
Credentials, experiences, and achievements: MA, Secondary Jewish education, Azrieli Graduate School of Jewish Education and Administration • BS, Biology, Yeshiva College • Currently pursuing a Master's Degree in Alternative and At-Risk Education from Marian University • Rabbinic Ordination, RIETS • 17 years as a Biology and Jewish Studies teacher • Science and Talmud Department Chair at the Rae Kushner Yeshiva High School • Father of five
Israel Anteby
Resumé and
Job Search Guru
“What help can a Financial Planner offer me?” you might ask yourself. After all, you are looking to find a job, not invest in the stock market.
But speak with our resume expert, Israel Anteby, for even a few minutes, and you can’t help but feel a more positive outlook on things. His warm enthusiasm is infectious and uplifting. This is because Israel’s work with our team is motivated by the concept of Tikkun Olam, which can be interpreted as a responsibility for Jewish people to work towards a better world. Israel takes this one step further and looks to help each person use their own strengths and personality traits to excel in their career paths and find fulfillment in helping people.
As a Financial Planning Associate in NYC, Israel uses an understanding of behavioral finance to better understand how investors and markets might react to global events. Israel is really good at understanding complex situations and simplifying them in conversation with others. He uses this skill to help you write your resume. His approach is simple. He takes the time to understand who you are as a person—
your unique strengths and skills, and your past experience—and puts it all together in a way that tells a story about you that appeals to potential employers. We sometimes call Israel “The Magician” because even if you don’t have loads of education or work experience, he can generate a powerful resume that will help you stand out from the crowd of applicants and generate employer interest in you. More importantly, the collaborative process itself helps narrow your focus on the best parts of who you are, and with this energy, you are better prepared for an interview.
Israel can also help you develop and implement a career and job search plan. Just like he helps his financial planning clients maximize their potential to accomplish their financial and broader life goals, Israel can help you create a long-term career strategy focused on maximizing your own potential as a person so that you can go on to use your own personal strengths to help make the world a better place.
Israel and Work At It help you develop a better storyline for your life.
Credentials, experiences, and achievements: BS, Finance, Touro College • 15 years in the Wealth Management industry • Financial Planning Associate at Morgan Stanley • Numerous industry recognized licenses and a Certified Financial Planner CFP™ candidate