Time for a Major Career Change?
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I am at a weird crossroads. I have spent the last 15 years fighting my way through a very corporate facing career. I have, to my surprise, been quite successful and am now the youngest VP at my organization. But it has come at such a cost – work-life, my marriage has suffered, my parenting experience has suffered, my health is suffering. I am not sure it has actually been worth it. My stress levels have been off the charts for most of my career. More importantly, I am not sure I have ever “loved” what I do. I would definitely not say I am living my passion. I have been with the same org for almost 9 years and I am not sure if my itch for change is just from exhaustion and frustration or if I am actually really ready for a BIG life pivot. And if I am ready, I am not sure what that pivot even would be. I am scared I am in that “grass is greener” situation where I leave the comfort of my role and current org to go someplace that could be worse. I have worked in AWFUL, toxic environments before and I don’t want to ever go back. In my current role I have a ton of flexibility and I work virtually, I have earned the trust and confidence of our CEO and I have been tagged as high potential and the org is investing in my growth. Basically, even if a recession hit, it would be hard for me to get fired here. But I am just happy. I am over the same old stress, the constant battle and negotiation I am fighting in my current role. I am tired and feeling beaten down, and like I am missing out on life. That whole “work to live, live to work” thing is ringing in my head. When I look at Linked In and job postings, nothing really speaks to me remotely close to my field and experience where I could be a competitive candidate. So here are my stats: I have been in consultative sales for my whole career, working with mostly F500 and F1000 orgs. Sales, account management, managing large teams, working with C-suite executives, big speaking engagements, process improvement and operations, P&L management – all in both for profit and non-profit settings. Financially I do not have the luxury of taking some time off to figure out next steps. I have to work as we have a pile of medical debt. We do live within our means but have a way to go in terms of being debt free. In my current role I am over six figures and would like to stay close to that. While I find myself daydreaming about a franchise or running a new business, the bottom line is we have zero investment capital, NONE. And we are risk adverse people. I love to write, watch TV and movies, flowers and all things to do with home design/decorating. I am passionate about the environment and have always wanted to work in that space somehow but it has never panned out. I have a BA but no MBA or advanced degree. I feel drawn to “doing something”, meaning not sitting behind a computer all day. I need flexible work times, to go back to an office or non-home based location full time is not super appealing to me. I am not particularly creative but also have always been such a straight shooter/academic/corporate person that I never really stretched my creativity muscles. I don’t know what I am asking for here actually. I guess maybe any suggestions on what types of jobs I could look for. How do I take my skill set and translate it into something that brings me joy and keeps me at around the same income point? Am I just whining about being at a new stage in life? I am grateful for where I am at and have worked my tail off to get here. But….is there more? If you that made major jumps in your late 30s – why, what did you do and how did you do it? Thanks for reading this far, I appreciate this group!
Wow you have a lot on your mind. Want to have coffee.
My intuition says maybe there are people in my network that might be good connectionsI also do
think that talking with Laura Tara Reichart who is a Life Coach might be a good resource for you
