Breaking the Age Barrier: How to Get Found, Land Faster & Earn More with Loren Greiff

What if the best jobs aren’t the ones you apply for—but the ones that find you? Loren Greiff, founder of PortfolioRocket, is here to shatter outdated job search strategies and show you how to tap into the hidden job market, where 80-85% of top roles exist.

A fierce advocate against ageism and networking powerhouse, Loren specializes in helping C-suite leaders 40+ land faster and earn more by getting found—not just searching. In this episode, we dive into:

🔥 The biggest mistakes executives make in their job search
🔥 Why applying online is a dead-end (and what to do instead)
🔥 The “FAB4” LinkedIn strategy to attract dream opportunities
🔥 How to overcome limiting beliefs and build career resilience
🔥 Why your next job should be a love story about the future, not a résumé obituary

Loren shares her own sticky floor stories, from growing up in a male-dominated family to defying expectations as a bold, unapologetic disruptor. If you’re ready to ditch the traditional job hunt and take control of your career, this episode is for you!

🎧 Hit play now and unlock the hidden job market!

🔗 Connect with Loren: LinkedIn | PortfolioRocket.com
💡 Work with Erica: Glass Ceilings & Sticky Floors Coaching
📖 Get the Book: Glass Ceilings and Sticky Floors

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Transcript

Loren - 00:00:01:

Today's guest is a powerhouse when it comes to helping C-suite leaders 40 and up land faster and earn more. Now, can I get a hell yes on that? Hell yes. She is the founder of PortfolioRocket, and I'll call it a one-of-a-kind kind of company that is going to help you get found. Y'all get found for the right opportunities. You know, those secret jobs that aren't posted online that everybody's talking about. And she helps you do this while building your network for the future. Today's guest is Loren Greiff, a loud and proud ageism advocate who doesn't just talk about breaking barriers. She shatters them. So can I get another? Hell yes.

Erica - 00:00:43:

Hell yeah.

Loren - 00:00:44:

So here today, she is going to drop some incredible pearls of wisdom and share some sticky floor stories. So Loren, welcome to the show. How are you?

Erica - 00:00:53:

I am fired up, and thank you. I am so excited because, by the way, guys, this is an in-person interview, which means we're not doing this virtually. I got to hug Erica in real life.

Loren - 00:01:07:

We have some IRL magic happening today. But Loren, for all of the listeners, tell me a little bit about who you are, what you do, and what is this whole come-up story of yours?

Erica - 00:01:19:

Thank you. My name is Loren Greiff, and I say that very specifically because if you look at the letters, it looks like I'm grief, and that could be a buzzkill, especially in your job search. I'm Loren Greiff, and I am the founder of PortfolioRocket, which is, as you said, a career consultancy that helps executives over 40 to land faster and earn more. And so my come-up story is kind of one of those nonlinear kinds of things. Nobody grows up to be dreaming about recruiting. I can just tell you that right now. And so I was recruited to recruit many, many, many years ago, and I had a knack for it. I could spot talent very easily. I could understand business dynamics. But there was something that I knew was going on, which was that the old system was just literally churning and burning and spitting people out. And at the end of the day, they had no ability to empower their own search, because the ways that we have all been taught how to go about jobs is to look online, find a job post, and send a million, billion, zillion, resumes through an automated system. I've told this story before, but I think it's a sticky story, so I will go ahead and share a quick tip, that the percentage of likelihood that your resume, and especially at the executive, and send that resume through and have it move anywhere is the same percentage that you would have of finishing a chapstick. So it is less than 1%. And yet we, are just doing the same thing over and over again. You know where that leads. And what ends up happening is we get tired and frustrated and makes this very difficult for us to have the energy and also the ability to persuade or motivate anybody. In your network, through the interviews. And so I was determined to come up with a system, a methodology, and a curriculum that would not only help you land faster and earn more, but be repeatable and that you could use throughout the rest of your career, because let's face it. You're not going to be staying in that next job for another 10, 15 years. You're going to really need to have the career agility because career stability, it's gone. There is no job security. And so this is a way to counteract a lot of the dynamics in the marketplace and the broken job system.

Loren - 00:04:10:

And not only that, but women live longer than men. We're living longer than ever, right? Which is what we want. So we're going to be in the workforce so much longer. But I am so excited, and I can't wait to dive into this, because fun fact about me that you may not know, but two of my last best jobs I got because I got found. They were never posted. They were never online for anyone else to apply to. And they were kind of created just for me. And I really attributed a lot of that to a little bit of timing and dumb luck. So I can't wait to dive into the methodology. But what I want to dive into is what empowered you and inspired you beyond just seeing the struggles to really go in and champion the 40 and up crowd?

Erica - 00:04:57:

So fun fact, you know, is that. In your career. There is that sense of, hey, guess what? I've been there. I've done that. I've been the road warrior. I am not looking just for another J-O-B, right? There are too many other variables that are at play. I want to have purpose in my life. I want to have some ownership and control over my schedule. I want to so make an impact. I hear this almost every single day. I got so much fuel in the tank. And I just want to work in a place where I can be skipping to work on Mondays. I want so much to be able to drive this impact. But these jobs that I keep seeing are all out of the same cookie cutter. And how do I vet for culture? How do I really know that I have this proverbial seat at the table? How do I really start to navigate a sense of this is going to make a difference in my industry? And that turning point for all of us. Be- From the ladder into the lattice, I like how you talked about that in your book, is really also a byproduct of a certain point in time in our life. And Arthur C. Brooks in the book called Strength to Strength talks about how we cross over between this, I got to do this, I got to do this, I got to do this, and this very kind of structured framework into there's something bigger and better out there that I need for a level of fulfillment for a level of self-worth and also real worth, like cha-ching, cha-ching, right? Like that compensation. And I've been doing X, Y, and Z for 20-something years and I'm just not ready to phone it in. I don't want to be doing that one more time and take another J period, O period, B period. Like that is, those days are over for me. And so if I were to lean into some of the younger audience, they're not at that mental place. Yet. And the idea that they could have a J.O.B. to be able to build those skills and those functions is much, much more urgent. So by this point, yes, of course we all need to upskill and we need to be practicing a variety of things, but the overarching, like driver need, full on heart desire is really to be loving my work and to be making an impact.

Loren - 00:07:36:

And so let's unpack this a little bit, because on this podcast, we talk all about the sticky floors, the limiting beliefs and toxic behaviors that keep you stuck.

Erica - 00:07:45:

Absolutely.

Loren - 00:07:45:

And when you hear that, what jumps out at you? What just sticks out in your mind is like, that was what I was going through.

Erica - 00:07:52:

Oh, yeah. So the... The sticky floor that I was really up against were a lot of those old limiting beliefs, right? I come from a... Pretty much male-dominated family. So in sad truth, I was not supposed to be somebody who was going to be making waves and disrupting and being, like I call myself, like a loudmouth age activist. I was not supposed to be doing that. I was probably supposed to be a lot tamer. But when I came out, I was a little bit, like you said, like a fire, like a house on fire. I'm not shy. I'm going to throw myself into uncomfortable situations. So I think that there was this limiting belief that somehow I was supposed to be a lot more demure and a lot more agreeable. And so there was that. The second sticky floor was that I was not like straight-A student. I was not that person that was hyper-organized. I was not that person that really did struggle with a lot of the things that you talk about, which is perfectionism. I did not suffer from perfectionism. I was like told over and over again, you're a mess.

Loren - 00:09:13:

Was it the don't give a shit-ism?

Erica - 00:09:14:

It was a little bit of like... Think it was more like fuck you ism.

Loren - 00:09:18:

Right.

Erica - 00:09:19:

It was more like, like, I'll show you like, like, I don't need to be in this box. I don't need to do this. I'm not a conformist. I do not want to just, you know, take things out of the box. You know, I always make jokes that when I get a new product or like it comes with a manual, I, I'm like, I don't RTFM. I don't read the fucking manual. Like I just got to like, go and figure that out on my own. And I'm a, I'm a very, like they're cracking up in here. I'm a very good troubleshooter. So I'm much more interpretive. I'm much more outside of the lines. I'm somebody that's more of a juggernaut or somebody that's going to be able to sleuth through something rather than have to follow a very specific recipe.

Loren - 00:10:04:

So when you think about that and you're almost going against the grain from a very early age, right? Coming out the womb, we're going against the grain.

Erica - 00:10:12:

A hundred percent.

Loren - 00:10:13:

Yeah. And we're not loving school, right? So we're not fitting into all the nice little boxes that as little girls we're told to fit into.

Erica - 00:10:20:

Exactly.

Loren - 00:10:21:

How did that impact you then as you moved through your life?

Erica - 00:10:26:

Oh, a real, you know, that real duality of who says, right, who says I can't. And also, but what if I'm wrong? What if even though I have this internal self-belief that who says I can, I'm still watching all these other people who are doing the thing that they're doing it, you know, the air quotes right way. They're doing it and they're really successful. And I think that it took a long time, to find the homeostasis and the balance between, you know what? They're both good. It's just this one's not for me. They're both great, but you've got to really own the piece that says, you know what? I respect and applaud the fact that you're doing it this way, but it just doesn't work for me. And I'm just going to, you know, really. Thrive off of the way, the thinking, and the success patterns that I see that have happened that have been completely non-conventional.

Loren - 00:11:39:

Yeah, but what if I'm wrong? It really kind of hit me right in the chest, and I immediately felt the anxiety because I struggle with that too, right? We don't want to fail. We want to do the right thing. Do you have any tips or strategies for how you move past that feeling of anxiety when you do have that thought of, what if I am wrong?

Erica - 00:11:59:

So I have a very much, uh, uh, It doesn't matter whether you're wrong or right. It's just the next right thing for you. You're not looking necessarily, you don't have to predict the next 50, 60 years of your life. You know what the next wrong thing is. So sometimes there's some deductive reasoning here, right? It's not about deliberating and having that level of certainty. The certainty isn't out there. The certainty is in here. And that level of certainty is really just about understanding. Of course, and many, many people say this, I'm certainly not the first or the last. If you do not know yourself, you will have absolutely no ability to drive any level of certainty. So you got to look in the mirror, get cash register honest, and understand, like, okay, this is the way that I operate in the world. These are the things that light me up. These are the things that really just like, I mean, if I have to do another administrative task, I'm like, done. Like, get me past that. I am not that person. So what do I do? I have to lean into other people who love to do that stuff so that we can be a better team together. And so I think that the first thing is really getting like, so, so clear on understanding that... You cannot drive any outcome until you understand your starting point.

Loren - 00:13:31:

That's so powerful. And I love this cash register honest phrase. I've never heard that, but it's so good. And what I find to be so interesting and where the light bulb went off for me is a lot of women who are below 40 don't yet know themselves. Truly, truly, truly know themselves. And I can speak this because I'm about to jump over that 40 number myself, y'all. So two snaps to making it to 40, right? But. What do you say to people in their careers who are still struggling to figure out who they are?

Erica - 00:14:06:

Yeah. You're only going to find out by doing. Okay, this is not a spectator sport. You're not going to be sitting on the bench and going, oh, by the way, it looks really good over there. So you got to get on the court. And you're only going to know. With successes and failures. And I really shouldn't say success because success isn't like the Ferrari or the Gold Watch or anything like that. I'm saying success within feeling like you are lit. You are vibing. You are in flow. You are hungry to do more of that. You are in a place where you are almost unstoppable. I mean, when I came up with this idea and left corporate, I went through like, I don't know, 15 notebooks. And it was like I was vomiting out ideas, right? And just like these like thinking and thinking and thinking and like putting this together. And I don't know what, honestly, I don't really know what happened, but it was like the dam broke. And I can't tell you what will happen tomorrow, but if you tap into this infinite resource of yourself and really, really take away all the noise, and you and I are going to be talking about other people's opinions, oh, oh, oh, in our next podcast. But my point is, is that that whole idea of. Listening to the things that are going to help drive whatever that thing is, that outcome is, and muting out some of those other opinions is so important because, as I said earlier, I'm not supposed to be here. I'm just not. And I understand that everybody had the best intentions and all of that well-meaning motivation. But if you aren't standing in your own level of empowerment and clarity, because they have to work together, then you're going to be driving down like a dirt road with a dead end.

Loren - 00:16:10:

And it's so true that if you don't actually do the thing or try a thing, you will never know. And that really resonated with me because as I climbed the corporate ladder, as I should, right, because that's the next level of success, I found myself at the top of that corporate ladder really miserable and really unhappy. And so I started just throwing things at the wall to see what would stick, which is my go-to, right? Go back to what you know works.

Erica - 00:16:35:

Totally.

Loren - 00:16:35:

And I throw it all at the wall and I did executive coaching. And I thought, you know, at least this will help me with my career. And I could not ignore how lit up I was after these coaching sessions, right? I would leave these sessions. It didn't matter how tired I was. It didn't matter if I was doing the work on a weekend or late at night. I was so lit up. And had I not tried that and felt that vibe. I don't think I would have recognized how truly unhappy I was in my corporate career, right? Which is about knowing yourself.

Erica - 00:17:06:

Yeah, it's... You know, it's a buffet. It's a poo-poo platter. If you don't try everything on there, you will have no means of contrast and comparison. And I love what you were sharing because what I didn't tell you earlier is that I grew up outside of Boston. My dad was a well-known Harvard Business School professor. So I grew up in this very kind of academic, very, very like highbrow kind of thinking, thing. And like I said, you know, like if you ever meet me in person, my kids always say your hair is its own zip code, right? Like I'm like all over the place. I have a lot of energy. I'm the last thing but tame. And so like this very kind of preppy like suit kind of thing was something I was ripping off from the beginning. And so I was like, how am I going to coexist with this? Structure this kind of template and knowing that this just doesn't fit. And it took me a long time to, like I said, to really be able to understand there's nothing wrong with either one. This just is not my favorite flavor.

Loren - 00:18:18:

Amazing. Incredible. And I want to switch gears because I want to talk about this hidden job market.

Erica - 00:18:23:

Oh, for sure.

Loren - 00:18:24:

God bless the job market right now. It is shitty. Shitty. Let's just say the least, right? I know people out there who have applied for hundreds and hundreds of jobs and have only gotten a few callbacks, right? Just a call back and they're crappy callbacks. So talk to me about the hidden job market because you say that 80 to 85% of roles exist there. What is it? Where do I find it? How do I break in?

Erica - 00:18:49:

Excellent. So first of all, I say it, but this is a known fact. I mean, the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, The New York Times, you know, you name it, they all talk about it. They, right? And, and. Honestly, let's like just... Throw ourselves back a little bit. You know a person and I know a person and they know a person. So behind each person is a minimum of 150 social media contacts. Each person. So we're sitting in a room of four right now. We got quite the little army. And so. Quality jobs are not found in the cesspool of applicant tracking systems. This is the mass market. And if you think about it, it takes no skill or talent to press the button that says apply now. Everybody believes that they're qualified, right? Why else would I not be playing? So that is your lowest bar. I'm qualified. But people at Choice Opportunities are not hiring people who are qualified. They're hiring people who are outstanding. And so the only way that you're going to be able to move away from this cattle call and this unbelievably low barrier to entry is to actually start to demonstrate that, especially on platforms like LinkedIn, over a billion people, folks. That are also coinciding with the most powerful decision makers in the marketplace. So 97% of all CEOs are on LinkedIn, and you better believe that so are their teams. So you are in the pool of, of, and the spotlight of decision makers. Unlike the AI bots that are... Churning and burning and have created even more access for people to apply. So with the advent of AI. The Herd just tripled. So you're putting yourself in a very, very unlikely spot to be found. So ways that can drive that curation of eyeballs to your profile include optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Again, millions of people talk about this, and there are absolutely ways. I call them the FAB4, the four areas of your LinkedIn profile that will convert, help you convert faster and get found. Your banner, number one piece of real estate, your headline. And I don't want your headline to just be generic job title.

Loren - 00:21:48:

Project manager.

Erica - 00:21:50:

No way. I want it to show me some level of transformation. I help executives land faster and earn more. I have an outcome that's attached to that. Yes, I use career coach or career strategist. Because that's the anchor of the keyword. And then I share what that expected outcome is going to be. Metrics also are huge. So in your headline, if you can use the metrics, kudos to you. The second other area that is super important is to make sure that your about section is not in, please, please, you can come find me. You can do whatever you want. But for the love of God, please do not say I'm a seasoned executive with X 10 years, 20 years of proven experience. Because as soon as you do that, you are just putting yourself in that same commodity pool. So you have to be able to use some storytelling. Super important. And then the last, the last piece is your profile picture. Again, make sure that it is approachable. You don't have to be obsequious and use a goofy smile, but you want people to be able to look at your eyes. So make sure that you are able to connect with them there because ultimately. People hire people, and again, cliche, know, like, and trust. So I've got to be able to start to engage in something here that says, hey, what you're telling me is something I want. Make it what's in it for me as the decision maker, not just telling me about yourself without having any kind of connection to the buyer who is going to actually pull a plug. So those are the key areas. And then the last thing I would say to get found. Leadership, right? And I'm going to share this with you because it's not something that's talked about on a regular basis. So when I say thought leadership, what I'm really getting at here is, yes, of course, comment, good comments, but share something, a POV, something that is unique to a specific perspective or a way of thinking about your industry, your business, your experience, because this is the part that most people don't talk about, that will increase your compensation. So hiring managers, decision makers, pay more for people who have something to say rather than set it and forget it.

Loren - 00:24:17:

I did not know that. That is a little nugget right there. But this is incredible because even if you do make it past those AI bots, right? Let's say you are outstanding and you magically make it. That recruiter, the very first thing they're going to do is go to your LinkedIn profile, right? Those resume days, like, yeah, it gets you through the ATS. But those days, I think, are done because I want to know who are you as a person. I don't, you know, yes, your resume tells me your pedigree per se, right? Your education, all those key things, check done. But I want to know, how are you going to fit into this culture, right? Are you a kind person? Are you a giving person? Are you somebody that shares our company values, right? How are you going to fit in? And even if you are the coolest, most amazing person in the world, if I can't see that in a LinkedIn profile and I see it on somebody else's, I'm going to them.

Erica - 00:25:09:

There is no doubt. It is such a huge influencer. You know, the other thing, just as a very stark contrast, your resume, getting that resume in the hands of somebody and the whopping six to seven seconds that they're going to spend going there and reviewing it for the first time. You're already cutting that pool down because that LinkedIn profile, 24-7. 24-7, and when decision makers, recruiters, hiring managers see your engagement, what does that say? This person is actually like they care about others. They are advocates for their industry. They are people who are helping other people. How many times do you hear people say, I'm a team player, I'm a team player, but they're sitting out there on LinkedIn and they're not connected to anybody? Do I believe them? All of these threads, you want to be putting yourself in the mindset of the person who is going to actually want to engage with you rather than just raising your hand and saying, I'm available. I'm available and I want a job.

Loren - 00:26:25:

Yeah, that sounds like you're going to be picked last.

Erica - 00:26:28:

Yeah, it does. It does.

Loren - 00:26:30:

Oh, my gosh. Well, I want to switch gears a little bit here because you focus on people who are 40 and up, right?

Erica - 00:26:36:

I do.

Loren - 00:26:36:

And I love this because, number one, as we said, women are living longer. We're working longer, right? All of these things. When we are talking to women in their 40s, what is this common myth that you often hear or a bad piece of advice that just makes you want to scream, shut the hell up?

Erica - 00:26:54:

So the most common issue complaint is I keep getting told that I'm overqualified. I'm overqualified. Which, the flip side of that is that's also because. You may be misrepresenting the value that you bring.

Loren - 00:27:19:

Tell me more.

Erica - 00:27:19:

So overqualified is a euphemism, is a placeholder for so many things. One is we think you're too expensive. The other one is we don't think you're going to fit into our culture. The third is, by the way, we're pretty certain that you don't understand our technology. And so all of these start factoring in. And the antidote to overqualified is to examine your level of relevance. So relevance says, I understand current conditions. You are not just throwing out the years of experience, right? I'm overqualified. Again, if you say I've got 20 years of experience. We need to know what that means to me now. I'm not here to understand. So you've been doing it the same way for 20 years? So does that mean that you're somebody that's been clocking it in for 20 years? What did that earn you? What did that do? And why does it matter in my company now and what we talk about at Portfolio is? And so what is the love story about the future that you're telling? I want your experience to not read like an obituary. I want it to read like. The future forward impact that you're going to be able to drive. Because if you just keep telling me about your past, your past, your past, the same way that if you go into a house and you see everybody else's family pictures, you're like, I can't see myself here. You want to be staging that and you want them to be able to envision you there. And so with a lot of people who have, and myself included, right, done things, learned things in a different time and place, if you are not able to drive a level of adaptability and agility for what is meaningful in this market, then they can't see you there because they're not living in the past. They have amazing, amazing mandates that need to be solved for tomorrow.

Loren - 00:29:28:

What's interesting, too, is like the future is just changing so rapidly. And when we look through this lens of you're overqualified or let's say you're too inexperienced, you're too young, you know, you can't be a CEO at 25. Well, you actually can now, right?

Erica - 00:29:45:

You sure can.

Loren - 00:29:45:

The future is here. It is changing so rapidly. So those are so outdated. But on the flip side of that, what kind of advice would you give someone who is on the other side of 40, right, the younger side of 40, who is being told that they're too inexperienced? What advice would you give them?

Erica - 00:30:01:

So for folks who are in their younger years, there's one thing that crosses on both levels. Either you're over 40 or under 40. We are living in a world right now where some would say, oh, there's five generations in the workforce. Other people would say that there are six. So being able to communicate. And be able to get things done across multiple generations is key for both sets. Because you're going to have that hybridity, of people at different ages and stages. Part of the resistance to some of the younger people is that you're only going to have a culture of 40 and younger. What about all that institutional knowledge and pattern recognition and reverse mentoring that is available for folks who are older who have seen it all and been there that may be very important in your company? You know, Chip Conley, who started the Modern Elder Academy, was the mentor to Airbnb when Brian Chesley was in his early, early years. Why? Because Chip Conley had already developed the most incredible boutique hotel brand, and so they were borrowing his knowledge so that Airbnb could get lift off. So they needed that grown-up in the room. So again, just being able to have that fluidity of talent and also points of view.

Loren - 00:31:38:

And if you don't know the come-up story of Airbnb and how they really just started based off of an idea, you should absolutely go check that out and listen to it. Because when I first read that, it was just so inspiring how a little tiny nugget of the right thing, right time, right place, now is a total empire that everybody knows.

Erica - 00:32:00:

Disrupted the entire industry. I mean, as we are here in Durham, that's where we're staying, you know, because we want to live like a local. We don't want to be in a cookie cutter hotel.

Loren - 00:32:12:

In a Holiday Inn. I hear you. Nothing wrong with a Holiday Inn, y'all. We love them. Okay. Loren, this is my favorite question to ask, but if you could go back in time to the Loren born to Harvard-educated individuals with the wild, crazy hair and her own zip code and all of that extra energy, but that doesn't quite fit in, what piece of advice would you give her today?

Erica - 00:32:32:

I would tell that person, who is now this person, I would tell that person to... Really stretch a lot further, to really, to think bigger, to think way bigger and not so small. I mean, what's the worst thing that's going to happen? So what? Who cares? You know, like, start thinking bigger and stop trying to conform and fit into all of that because ultimately, we can find ourselves running off of somebody else's agenda. And I really believe that we are in a time and place, some people will say, you know, it's the relationship economy. And the first relationship that you need to have is with yourself. And so that's really how I would phrase it.

Loren - 00:33:28:

I absolutely love that. And Loren, if somebody wants to reach out to you, connect with you, work with you, where can they find you?

Erica - 00:33:34:

LinkedIn. So I live on LinkedIn. That's my second permanent address. You can always find me there. I'm very, very active, involved, responsive. And if you want to know more about PortfolioRocket, please check out portfoliorocket.com.

Loren - 00:33:50:

Amazing. Thank you so much for coming on the show.