Nancy Volpe Beringer defied the expectations of a 59-year-old at the peak of a stable and reliable career. She took a risk—and left security for the chance to feel completely fulfilled.
She traded in her promotion in the education field for an entirely new direction. “For me, oxygen is related to creativity,” says Volpe Beringer. “In this management position, I was losing that ability to create. So, I felt like I couldn’t breathe.”
She asked herself one important question: “If you were young, what would you be studying?” The answer even surprised her. Fashion design. Thinking back to her days of sewing in summer school and tailoring her own prom dresses, Nancy Volpe Beringer decided that constructing wearable art was the perfect way for her to get her oxygen.
Nancy Volpe Beringer made headlines for designing the technicolor coat rapper Tierra Whack donned at the Grammy awards. Of course, there were many more pit stops between her departure and arrival at success.
Changing roles from teacher to pupil at Drexel University, dealing with a difficult-to-talk-about bullying situation and developing a completely environmentally-friendly way of constructing clothing were all learning experiences that Nancy Volpe Beringer fully embraced.
OnUp features Nancy Volpe Beringer as an inspiring innovator based in the Greater Philadelphia Area. Get the full story here: OnUp Innovators Season 2
The Uncommon Individual Foundation is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit leader in mentor-based learning, founded in 1986 by Dr. Richard E. Caruso. A successful entrepreneur, Caruso attributes his entrepreneurial success to the mentors he encountered throughout his life. UIF is his way of ‘mentoring it forward,’ to help individuals and organizations succeed through curated connections to mentors in Business, Education, Media, and Technology. For more information about UIF, visit: uif.org. UIF recently launched a new media studio to help innovators navigate the media landscape. Visit: uifrecstudio.org.