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Repurpose Your Career | Career Pivot | Careers for the 2nd Half of Life | Career Change | Baby Boomer

Repurpose Your Career podcast brought to you by Career Pivot is a podcast for those of us in the 2nd half of life to come together to discuss how repurpose our careers for the 21st century.  Come listen to career experts give you proven strategies, listen to people like you tell their stories about how they repurposed their careers and finally get your questions answered.   Your host, Marc Miller, has made six career pivots over the last 30 years. He understands this is not about jumping out of the frying pan into a fire but rather to create a plan where you make clear actionable steps or pivots to a better future career. 
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Now displaying: February, 2017
Feb 27, 2017

In this episode, Marc shares the chapter, “When Clouds Part: Moments of Clarity,” from his upcoming book, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, scheduled to be available for pre-order in March, and available on Amazon, in April, 2017.

 

Key Takeaways:

[2:03] Sam was in his late 50s when he was laid off for the second time. He went on walkabout for a month. In that time, he had a moment of clarity. He realized he didn’t need a lot. All he needed was food, drink, a place to sleep, and a place to work out.

[3:19] In moments of clarity, distractions vanish away in the face of something life-altering: illness, death, divorce, layoff, disaster, an inheritance, or an opportunity. Suddenly, the way you were living doesn’t make sense. It may touch on your career.

[4:20] You might realize you went into a career under pressure, or that you are stopped in your career path. Because of a change, filters that prevented you from seeing things as they are have come down, and you have an opportunity to learn more about yourself.

[4:57] You learn what’s really important to you at those times. The problem is, those filters go back up quickly. If you don’t act in that moment of clarity, or set a change in place, you will go on as you were, with a nagging sense of a missed opportunity.

[5:25] Marc talks about his own walkabout in his 20s. Spending only $500.00 in a month made him realize he needed a lot less than he thought. It also was when he met his wife of 30 years. Marc mentions other moments of clarity around his family, health, and job.

[6:43] In a disability period after an accident, Marc found peace. His returning to work, when IBM was near bankruptcy, gave him purpose to change his career to preserve his contentment, rather than adopt the panic of his colleagues.

[7:46] Marc’s moment of clarity helped his career pivot to teaching high school. What Marc learned in his moment of clarity no longer had a front seat in his awareness, but it was still there. Marc asks clients to look back for moments of clarity, and chronicle them.

[8:27] Fill out a history of each job from its start to end. Note circumstances, duties, challenges, what you learned, how you felt, what you liked and didn’t like about your role, the team and management, the environment, and the conditions of your exit. Do this for every position you’ve ever had, and you will see a pattern.

[10:16] Career Insanity is doing the same thing over and over, but expecting a different outcome each time. In Sam’s case, he decided to look for another job, and take a couple of years to plan to pivot with his spouse to a more modest lifestyle.

[10:49] You’re likely to have a moment of clarity after reflecting back on your life and your career. You’re likely to see patterns and missed opportunities that have brought you to where you are today. What do you want to do, from today on?

[11:10] Action Steps: Retrace moments when you suddenly saw life differently, after a hardship, or a happy event. Write down what you learned, whether you followed the lessons, or ignored them, and the results. Retrace your job history. What did you learn about yourself and your needs from each job? Moments of clarity are, oh so valuable!

[11:45] Highlights to consider: (1) Marc’s bicycle accident, as related in episode 016, gave him clarity for his life. (2) Marc hated programming eight hours a day with a coding pad for IBM. When he followed his boss to a different position, he found he had made the same mistake. Looking back at his career changes, he sees several relapses.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Audible.com Get a free audiobook download and free 30-day trial.

CareerPivot.com

CareerPivot.com/blog

Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me

Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey, available in early 2017

Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey

 

Take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Give this podcast a review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there.

Feb 20, 2017

In this episode, Marc explores the twists and turns in his career that led him to make a career pivot and to launch the CareerPivot brand, website, and blog. He talks about writing his books, and he makes an important CareerPivot announcement for listeners and clients. Listen in to learn more of the CareerPivot story.

 

Key Takeaways:

[:55] February 13, 2107 is the 5th Anniversary of CareerPivot, so Marc has a special episode for you! This episode will have three segments: about Marc, about the evolution of CareerPivot, and finally, what to expect from CareerPivot, coming soon!

[1:33] Marc was born in New York and raised in New Jersey. His parents advised him to go to college, although he had a learning disability. He graduated from Northwestern in engineering, in under four years, and went to work for IBM in Austin, for 22 years.

[2:08] He worked in word processor software, system assurance, mechanical design, technology transfer, and then he injured his back in December 1992.

[3:19] Marc’s injury required three months off work. At the same time, IBM went through a near-bankruptcy. On April 1, he came back to chaos in his department. He was offered a job at an IBM briefing center, doing product disclosures for IBM’s top customers. He enjoyed being exposed to all kinds of customers and industries.

[3:55] In the late ‘90s Marc followed his manager into IBM Global Services, as a consultant, and it was his first career failure. His only client was EZCorp Pawn Shops. Episode 4 of this podcast tells more about that experience.

[4:24] Marc went back into marketing, and by 2000, he left IBM. He went to work for a successful tech start up, and had a moment of clarity on July 11, 2002, when he had a head-on collision with a car, on his bicycle. He was in the trauma center for five days. In months he flew to China, and landed in the midst of the SARS epidemic.

[5:14] The following year he laid himself off, and taught high school math for two years. He learned it was not for him, so he resigned. For the first time, he felt lost. He went to a non-profit, the Jewish Community Center, and lasted a year. He returned to what was comfortable, a tech startup, Lifesize. That was a mistake, and he retired in three years.

[7:15] In 2006 after teaching high school, Marc had found Launchpad Job Club, a nonprofit weekly networking community. Marc went to his first meeting and saw lots of people that looked like him. That is where the seed of CareerPivot was planted in his mind. He still went on to his two final jobs, before CareerPivot became a reality.

[9:58] In June of 2011, Marc launched a blog, My Career for My Life. In 2012, Marc launched the CareerPivot.com brand and website. He spent the year finding his voice. In 2013 Marc and Susan Lahey published, Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers. The book came from Marc’s blog, a whitepaper, and Susan.

[11:05] Marc started CareerPivot for clients in Austin, Texas. He has since had clients in Germany, the UK, Switzerland, Peru, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore. Skype gives him a global reach.

[11:54] Where do we go next? The second edition of Repurpose Your Career is coming out on April 15, shifting to the concept of second half of life. At some point, midway in our life, things change.

[13:01] CareerPivot will launch a membership site, mid-year. Marc invites you to take a survey to provide input. Just send Marc an email. This site will have a modest monthly fee. Early members will be eligible for a very inexpensive life membership. His goal is to create a community where people can access advice, training, and community.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

CareerPivot.com

CareerPivot.com/blog

Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me

Launchpadjobclub.com

Don't Retire, Rewire! 5 Steps to Fulfilling Work That Fuels Your Passion, Suits Your Personality, and Fills Your Pocket, by Jeri Sedlar and Rick Miners

Do Not Retire Even if You Can: A Baby Boomer Manifesto, by Mark Miller and Susan Lahey

Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide to the Second Half of Life, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey, available in April 2017

Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for Baby Boomers, by Marc Miller with Susan Lahey

 

Take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Give this podcast a review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there.

Feb 13, 2017

In this episode, Marc interviews Thom SInger. Thom has worked in sales, marketing, and business development roles for Fortune 500 companies, law firms, and entrepreneurial ventures. He is now a professional master of ceremonies, motivational keynote speaker, and the author of 12 books on the power of business development, networking, entrepreneurship, legal marketing, and presentation skills, while also serving as the host of the popular Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do podcast. He regularly speaks at business and association conferences across the United States and beyond, and has presented to over 600 audiences during his career as a speaker. He lives in Austin, Texas, with his wife and their two highly-spirited daughters. Marc and Thom discuss several topics, including Thom’s start in business, discovering his untapped talent, his interest in preparing for a job pivot, and the push that kicked him out of the corporate nest into a career he had dreamed about, and prepared for, for years.

 

Key Takeaways:

[2:30] Thom sold advertising, computer training programs, and financial printing, which led to employment in marketing with two large law firms, a bank, and a consulting firm.

[3:15] Most of Thom’s income comes from presenting and speaking at conventions and conferences of 200 to 1,000 people, as the MC, or as the opening keynote speaker.

[4:32] Thom reveals the steps he followed to transition from marketing to being a successful public speaker. Why did he choose that career, and how did he pivot?

[7:00] Thom spoke at events for years, improving his skill and gaining confidence. He wondered where the people were who made money speaking. He found the National Speakers’ Association, and attended their local and national meetings, interviewing all the speakers he could, to learn the business model of regular people who spoke.

[8:08] Thom decided he wanted to do it, so he wrote a book, created a website, and started speaking for free! He spoke at meetings of the Chamber of Commerce, and Rotary Clubs, and anyone who would let him, for exposure.

[8:36] Thom had planned to go full-time by 2011, but on April 1, 2009, at the bottom of the recession, he was laid off. There were no jobs in his marketing field. He jumped into speaking. He had already been earning about $20K on the side, speaking and training. How did recession conditions allow Thom to jumpstart his speaking career?

[11:27] Thom planned to earn 50% of his income from training law firms, and 50% from association conferences. In the recession, law firms stopped training, but associations still held meetings. He lowered his rates to fit conditions, and got jobs, but not the money he had hoped. For 3½ years he went into debt, and it took 3½ years to get out.

[14:55] Thom found that a keynote speaker is not one thing. 25 speakers have 25 very different business operations, topics, and deliveries. Thom’s message was network, brand, and community engagement. At one conference Q&A for his keynote talk, it was clear he had transformed the culture of the event for the next few days, as a catalyst.

[16:35] Thom took the moniker The Conference Catalyst, not for a business name, but as he is known. Others have copied it, but the name is his. He says you have to listen, and you must stand out. Thom advises to find a twist on what you do, that is uniquely you. Thom has a signature story, only true for him. You try things, to find what works.

[19:42] April 1 is Thom’s eighth anniversary. He keeps raising the bar of success, but he is doing what he loves, and making his living in a crowded field. It’s a learned skill. Thom has given over 600 professional speeches, and he can inspire an audience. He sought the CSP certification, and is one of only 800 professional speakers who have it.

[22:21] Looking back, Thom doesn’t see much he could have done differently to succeed in speaking. He had to learn what he didn’t know, and he had to work at it. He only would change this: to invest more on his website, and less on PR and marketing. His advice is to be around, and make friends with, people doing what you want to do.

[27:45] Marc’s notes: Thom was already sidestepping towards his new career; Thom planned his career pivot, but the layoff was the kick in the pants; Thom adapted to conditions. This fits the pivot pattern: Thom had a plan to act, but didn’t; there was an event to trigger action; things did not turn out as expected, but he was willing to adapt.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Careerpivot.com

Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me

Website: ThomSinger.com

Podcast: Cool Things Entrepreneurs Do

Getting Naked: A Business Fable About Shedding The Three Fears That Sabotage Client Loyalty, by Patrick Lencioni

Career pivot interviews: episodes 3, 7, and 11

 

Take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Give this podcast a review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there.

 

Feb 6, 2017

In this episode, Marc interviews Taylor Pearson, entrepreneur, and author of The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5. Inc. Magazine just rated The End of Jobs as one of the Top Three ‘Start Your Own Business’ books of 2015, and a ‘Top 25 Business Book’ of 2015. It has sold tens of thousands of copies, and it has been translated into Chinese (simple and complex), Japanese, Korean, and Thai. A Wall Street Journal bestselling author and entrepreneur James Altucher, said of it, “Entrepreneurship is not a choice you can make at your leisure. You have to jump on the train, or lose your chance. Now is the time, and Taylor’s book describes exactly how to do it.” His work has been featured in media outlets, including Business Insider, Inc., and Entrepreneur. A former Brazilian Super Bowl Champion (It’s not what you think!), Taylor has lived in Tennessee, Alabama, Argentina, Brazil, Viet Nam, Thailand, San Diego, Texas, and currently, in New York.

Marc and Taylor discuss how Taylor wrote an important book on online entrepreneurism, what he means by the end of jobs, and how your job will change. They discuss the vital importance of learning new skills — not by paying for them, but by earning them through experience. New skills bring new earning opportunities, and new markets to grow for your future.

 

Key Takeaways:

[2:40] Taylor is from Memphis, Tenn. He attended a small college in Birmingham Ala., studying History and Spanish. He worked as a medical interpreter, and taught English in Brazil. He started listening to podcasts on entrepreneurship, and online businesses. He returned to Memphis, and started working at an online marketing agency.

[4:00] At the agency, he did SEO and project management, managing fulfillment and clients. He moved to manage an e-commerce organization in San Diego, working with a web marketing team based in Southeast Asia. He moved there, to run the team. The owner also ran a community for online entrepreneurs. This was a new exposure for him.

[5:40] Taylor published The End of Jobs about the new life script the Internet enabled. He borrowed the title from, "The End of History?" a 1989 essay by Francis Fukuyama, who proposed there were no remaining viable competitors to liberal democracy. Taylor proposes the institution of traditional jobs will end, much as communism will end.

[7:48] Taylor had attended a conference of the community of entrepreneurs, held in Bangkok, Thailand. At a breakfast, the discussion was how to explain the new career path of online international entrepreneurism. Taylor moved the conversation into a book intended for Millennials. He is pleased to learn that Baby Boomers take to it as well.

[9:34] Marc is working with a client now, looking for a problem for him to solve. The goal is to start a business. Some Boomers are, of necessity, entrepreneurs, with too little saved to retire, and no job offers. Two thirds of all small businesses are owned by Baby Boomers, and they’re ready to sell but not to retire. So, they start a new business.

[11:16] Taylor’s book cites three reasons he believes we are at peak jobs: communications technology, the rise of machines, and the abundance of credentialization. As an example of tech, this podcast is held over free Skype, recorded inexpensively, and will be uploaded for anyone in the world to hear. Compare to radio.

[12:34] There have been huge decreases in cost to talking with people around the world, creating global access to the labor market. Companies no longer need to hire locally. All that’s required is an Internet connection. Vietnamese programmers fluent in English are excited to work for $1K a month. Their grandparents worked in rice paddies.

[15:11] We underestimate how quickly jobs are being outsourced or automated. Not only manufacturing jobs, but now knowledge work is being performed by AI. An AT&T study in the early 80’s proposed 100 thousand cell phone users in 2000, not the 100 million that really used cell phones in 2000.

[17:58] We’ve stopped thinking of higher education as an investment, and started thinking of it as a must-have. But, for two decades, the salary value of the degree has been going down across every industry, while the cost of it has been going up. The lines have crossed for a lot of professions, such as JDs and MBAs.

[20:33] Taylor discusses the concepts of Mediocristan, and Extremistan. Most people heightwise, financially, etc., live in Mediocristan. Outliers — the very short, the very tall, the very poor, the very wealthy — live in Extremistan. Most people work in Mediocristan, they don’t improve skills, don’t work on side projects, and get laid off — and it’s too late.

[24:43] Costs and risks to entrepreneurism are much, much lower than they were five years ago. Playing it safe is the new risky. Taylor talks about stair-stepping to entrepreneurship. Chinese companies will take purchase orders for $5K, if you want to sell physical products. Start to experiment, and learn inexpensively.

[27:13] Taylor talks about Rob Walling, who was in a C-level position at a construction company, and started side projects, like an ebook with plans for a duck boat. That taught him about SEO, Wordpress, and managing customer support. The more he learned, the bigger his ideas, and using cash flow, he bought a software firm and more.

 

Mentioned in This Episode:

Careerpivot.com

Contact Marc, and ask questions at: Careerpivot.com/contact-me

Email: Taylor@TaylorPearson.me

Website: TaylorPearson.me

Twitter: @TaylorPearsonMe

The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5, by Taylor Pearson

The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, by Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott

Will It Fly? How to Test Your Next Business Idea So You Don't Waste Your Time and Money, by Pat Flynn

For other episodes in the Experts Series, listen to Episode 2, Episode 6, and Episode 10.

 

Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, or Google Play. Give this podcast a review and subscribe! If you’re not sure how to leave a review, please go to CareerPivot.com/review, and read the detailed instructions there.

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