“These opportunities came about like a stepping stone.”
That’s a quote from Melanie Davis, from the very first Career Journeys interview I did way back in 2020. (At the time, I called them The Path To Career Reinvention.)
We had a great conversation about Melanie’s journey from reporter, to her own successful marketing and communications practice, to a well-known figure in sexuality counseling and education.
Some key points:
Transitions often start as curiosity before clarity
When Melanie had that “been there, done that” feeling, a volunteer role turned into a new direction for her career.
I found the same.
- During my actuarial career, volunteering for a variety of leadership-related initiatives, both within my company and the Society of Actuaries, started feeding a new direction for me.
- Going through an executive outplacement program opened up my eyes to my natural affinity for self-marketing. I started helping job seekers as a hobby on the side of my full-time systems consulting.
- That ultimately led to opening my own job search strategy coaching practice over 2 decades ago.
The real shift isn’t just what you do, but how you work
Freelance vs salaried tradeoffs, freedom vs perceived security and benefits, working with colleagues vs. independence.
Independence requires discipline and risk tolerance
And the “hustle” can be energizing or exhausting.
In my case, I always thought of myself as a corporate guy, and found it hard to imagine going solo. Until I happened into a consulting assignment doing exactly the sort of systems work I loved.
I quickly realized there had always been baggage holding me back that I wasn’t fully aware of, and my entire psychology shifted. I realized I didn’t want that baggage back, and knew how to market myself. That made the next transition to my coaching practice a no-brainer.
Let your network know what you want
Jobs and introductions appear when people understand your direction and strengths.
Public speaking is a career accelerant
Comfort off-the-cuff helps meetings, interviews, and leadership presence.
This is so true. I often tell prospective college students about how I reluctantly agreed to be in a dorm production (Once Upon a Mattress – I was Sir Studley), and how that made the biggest difference in my career. Not because I became a good actor (it was the first of a series of plays for me), but because I got comfortable in front of audiences.
Start with meaning/passion, then design the economics
Passion unlocks creativity and skill-building.
This is a core message in my 5 Secrets to Landing a 6-Figure Job webinar. If you start with the economics, you will often rule out promising avenues before you even seriously consider them. It’s so much better for your career options if you start with the meaning and passion, then figure out how to approach them in a way that makes the economics work for you.
There was so much more we covered in our discussion, and you can watch the entire interview here.
If you do, leave a comment to let me know what you think!
This is interesting. I have never had the confidence to market myself or even to figure out what exactly I want from a career. I think that it must take a leap to go into the unknown like this. Of course, passion and belief that it will turn out okay have to be part of this change.
Alice: While it takes a leap, it doesn’t have to be into the deep end. You can always pursue something simple along those lines (maybe a small moonlighting project) and see what you take away from that, then decide if you want to take a bigger step.
Hi John, the idea that “Transitions often start as curiosity before clarity” is exactly the inspiration I needed today. Thanks for writing this post and sharing your wisdom!
Thanks, Audre – I’m glad it served as a needed inspiration!
Really enjoyed this one, John – that “stepping stone” line nails how reinvention usually happens in hindsight. The idea of “curiosity before clarity” is spot on, and I love how you showed it through both Melanie’s path and your own (A funny thing – When I saw her name, I thought, “Wait! John knows her also?? Turns out I know a DIFFERENT Melanie! But i digress… like I normally do).
Your point about the real shift being how you work (not just what you do) feels like the part most people underestimate until they’re living it.
And I’m with you 100%: start with meaning and passion, then design the economics around it – that’s where the best options stay alive long enough to become real. Reminds me of the book from a while ago, “Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow.”
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Paul.
You are right about ‘how you work’ being one that most people underestimate. And it can be hard to really absorb until you are actually doing it. I pretty much completely discounted the idea of being independent until I stumbled into it, then found that I loved it and didn’t want to go back!
So agree with you about the importance of passion for creativity and our jobs..