Surrounded by spectators with aluminium bow ties, pink-streaked hair, ivory lace gloves, and too much eye shadow, Kyle Friedman Greenberg ’85 ’17P got married in a mock punk-themed wedding ceremony. The bride and groom were decked out in their best ripped-up threads.
The event was a fun mixer to bring Greenberg’s Alpha Phi sorority together with the Kappa Sigma fraternity and showcased her willingness to bond with her sisterhood and enjoy the Lehigh experience.
She sought such a community when she arrived on South Mountain in 1981. She rushed in January of her first year and relished every moment of being a member of Lehigh’s first sorority.
The women around her were fun, supportive, and great at offering advice. “We were women of different ages, majors, and backgrounds that may never have gravitated to one another if not thrown together in Alpha Phi,” she says.
Another fun event, called Cardiac Arrest, had the women apprehend deans, administrators, and professors to raise money for the Heart Fund. To be released, each criminal had to post bail by calling colleagues, family, and friends for donations.
Of course, she was there for the Bed Races, Greeker eating, and catching the final 1:50 a.m. bus back to SMAGs.
A Career in Sales
Greenberg dreamed of writing copy and studied journalism and public relations. She did realize her dream, writing copy as an intern for a sports anchor on the local television news. She also wrote for The Brown and White.
Ironically, her byline often appeared on the same page as the Lehigh alumnus she’d truly marry, David Greenberg ’84, who wrote the popular “weekender” section. But they would not meet until luck and Lehigh brought them together when both were living in New York City and working in advertising.
That job wasn’t her first one post-Lehigh. As a senior, she visited the career center and looked at job opportunities written on index cards. She applied to a sales position, interviewed, and received an offer … only to turn it down.
That position required travel across the tri-state. She wanted a life in Manhattan, so she and a few women from Lehigh became roommates. That’s how she ultimately met her husband – at an informal gathering of recent Lehigh graduates at a Lower East Side pub that had an all-you-can-eat pasta bar.
By this time, Greenberg had worked in media buying, selling local spots on national TV and buying for clients across a variety of channels.
Her career continued to progress in nascent markets as she sold ads on local cable at Cablevision and then on the new Court TV network at the dawn of coverage for trials involving O.J. Simpson, Lorena Bobbit, and the Menendez brothers, among others.
Beyond her expertise in deftly managing sales on new platforms, she brought innovation to this work, creating a job share role so she had time to raise her two young sons and maintain her work and client relationships.
Her Second Act
Then a disruption came. Her husband was being transferred to Mexico City. She took it in stride, taking an immersive Spanish class and moving her toddlers to a new country. But an unexpected injury to her knee pushed her in a new direction: yoga.
It was challenging yet soothing, intense yet meditative. Soon she was leading a group of expatriates in Mexico in downward dog. When she and her family returned to New York, she earned a 200-hour certification and began to teach yoga. It began in her town's continuing education program and extended to the after-school programs in elementary schools.
The work brought yoga to others and helped Greenberg connect to parents and members in her new community.
She continued this work for 20 years, adding pilates and advanced yoga certifications to her credentials.
Today, she offers private and group classes at a studio and teaches at a private high school as part of its physical education program.
She is bringing these skills to the Soaring Together Women’s Summit, where she will offer a morning yoga class and then a breakout session on second acts.
“Finding my second act passion was organic,” she says. “How an injury led to inspiration and direction. It feels very purposeful.”
That sense of organic purpose matters to Greenberg. When her sons left for college, she founded a club for empty nesters called The Freebirds so she and other mothers could figure out this stage of life together.
Connecting with the women of Lehigh at the summit also seems to be coming at the right moment.
“Yoga can be a great way to reconnect with a multi-generational group of women who are doing amazing things in their lives,” she says. “Even without meeting them yet, I know they are amazing because Lehigh creates leaders with character who work hard, share common values, and make great friends. We have the confidence to do what we want to do and a community of women who totally understand the power of that shared connection.”
