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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: August, 2019
Aug 26, 2019

This episode covers some of the specific benefits the Millers have found by moving to Mexico. Besides saving money on food and rent, they enjoy the beautiful surroundings, they walk more, hike regularly, eat local food, live like locals, and take local transportation. They have lost weight, they are healthier, they have less stress, they have made many friends, and they are happier.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:22] Marc welcomes you to Episode 142 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot is the sponsor of this podcast; CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.

[1:51] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[2:09] Marc has uploaded the manuscript of Repurpose Your Career, Third Edition to KDP Amazon, the self-publishing arm of Amazon.com. Marc has ordered multiple proof copies of the paperback edition, to send to the volunteers of the Repurpose Your Career release team to review for fit and finish.

[2:31] The release team is moving from reviewing the book to getting ready to write reviews. Members of the review team who have committed to writing a review on Amazon after publication, and are willing to spend $.99 for the initial Kindle version, will get a PDF version of the book to read before the publish date, and later a paperback.

[2:53] Marc plans a soft launch of the book on Thursday, September 12, and a hard launch on Monday, September 16, followed by both a virtual and a real book tour starting Monday.

[3:14] If you are interested in joining the review team, please go to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam.

[3:24] Marc has recorded many podcast guest appearances, some of which have already been published with more to come. Go to CareerPivot.com/launch you’ll find all the links of all the podcasts.
[3:38] Marc will be in Austin the week of September 22nd, the New Jersey area the week of September 29th, and D.C., the following week. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners.

[3:51] Marc has multiple events planned for Austin, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Marc will then have a meet-and-greet in D.C. You can find the events on CareerPivot.com/launch.

[4:09] Next week, Marc will interview Russ Eanes. Russ is a member of the Career Pivot Online Community who left his job more than a year ago at the age of 60. Russ suffered a double whammy: both his industry and his career path were disappearing.

[4:25] Come listen to his story of getting lost and finding his way to writing a book and starting a business to help others self-publish.

[4:35] This week’s episode will be Marc’s one-year reflection on being an expat. Marc and his wife have lived in Ajijic, Mexico for a little over a year. He will reflect on what he has learned and how the Millers have changed in the last year.

[4:59] You will find all the posts and podcasts on becoming an expat at CareerPivot.com/Expat.

[5:17] Marc introduces his reflections on the first year of living in Mexico as an expat. He recorded this episode on August 19, 2019.

[5:28] The Millers arrived in Ajijic on June 23, 2018, after a three-day drive from Austin, Texas. Their planned three-month experimental trip turned into four months and while they were there they decided to sign a lease. It has been 14 months since they left Austin, Texas. The Millers have lived in Ajijic for about 12 of those months.

[6:00] The one-year lease on the casita the Millers are renting is running out and they are signing another one-year lease. During this next year, they will decide whether to rent or to buy something. Marc has written a large number of blog posts and podcasts on their move to Mexico and they are found at the Expat link above.

[7:00] On June 21, 2108, the Millers drove the four-hour drive from Austin to Laredo, Texas and spent the night. Fairly early the next morning, they crossed the border and met Juan Pablo Chavez, who guided them through the immigration process and started driving them to Ajijic, on the North Shore of Lake Chapala

[7:36] Lake Chapala is the largest lake in Mexico, about a 40-minute cab ride from the Guadalajara Airport in Guadalajara, the second-largest city in Mexico. It was a two-day drive from the border. They stayed overnight in Matehuala, which is where they always stay when they drive back and forth.

[8:05] The drive down was pretty easy. Mrs. Miller kept the two very large cats company in the back seat. They drove about seven hours each day. The Millers have since made the trip, multiple times by themselves.

[8:31] When the Millers first arrived, they rented a one-bath, one-bedroom house, outside of Ajijic, in Riberas del Pilar, a bedroom community, booming with expats.

[8:53] The Millers spent the rainy season summer in Riberas and looked for a rental for January. It turned out they had to take action sooner than January. Just as in Austin, everyone is moving there, real estate prices are going up, the old gringos don’t like the new gringos, locals are being priced out, and there is a lot of gentrification.

[9:59] Earlier than planned, the Millers started looking for a rental, and signed a lease for the casita in Ajijic starting September 3, 2018. The casita is half a block from the plaza, which puts them right in the middle of things. It’s kind of loud, but not as loud as Austin.

[10:26] When the Millers moved in, they had a special seven-foot-tall cat tree made by a retired local named Nacho (Ignacio) for a third of what they would have paid in the U.S. They scheduled to go back to Austin for six weeks at the end of October and clean out their condo for rental.

[11:08] It was a nice three-day drive back. The cats were well-behaved and the roads are almost entirely toll-roads between Guadalajara and Laredo, except for around 10 miles at Lagos de Moreno. The truck traffic on the highways is amazing.

[12:02] Back in Austin, the Millers discovered six weeks was not enough time! They had rented a five-by-ten-foot storage room in South Austin that they filled up. They got rid of almost everything they owned. They had planned to process their resident visa applications in Laredo. They canceled the appointment when they ran out of time.

[12:52] The first week in December, the Millers traveled back and spent Christmas in Mexico. The owner of a restaurant they frequented invited them to her home for a Christmas Eve party! Parties in Mexico extend into the early morning, so they didn’t stay that long.

[13:43] The Mexican people take Christmas and New Year’s very seriously, with a lot of celebration.

[13:51] The Millers traveled back to Austin in late February for a speaking engagement Marc had in early March. They found some friends in Ajijic to house-sit and watch their cats for this three-week trip. The Millers stayed with friends in Austin.

[14:20] One of the things that stands out to the Millers every time they go back to Austin is how noisy Austin is and how little they enjoy it, contrasted with Ajijic. In Mexico, there are always fireworks (cohetones) exploding, music blaring from cars, and festivals. It is loud. But the U.S. seems to have a constant “white noise” of traffic, machines, etc.

[15:28] Americans ask if the Millers feel safe in Mexico. Marc contrasts Ajijic to SWAT Teams across the street from his condo in Austin and various problems that just don’t occur in Ajijic.

[16:31] Before the September trip, Marc and his wife had taken a hike up the nearby mountain. Marc calls Ajijic Paradise with an average temperature of 72°. The lake, about four blocks away is at 5,000 feet. The mountains behind them go up to about 7,000 feet. They hiked up to a waterfall and it was not a hard hike.

[17:11] Since the Millers returned to Ajijic in December, Mrs. Miller hikes up into the mountains just about every day for one, two, or three hours. It’s beautiful.

[17:30] Because of frequent walking, Mrs. Miller has lost significant weight. Marc has lost enough to be the same weight now as when he graduated from college. On their Spring trip to Austin, they bought new clothes to fit better.

[18:09] Mrs. Miller can shop in Mexico but Marc is 6′4″ so it is very challenging to find Mexican clothes to fit him. He buys some things from Amazon.com.mx. The Millers have found that they still eat out too much, as it is very inexpensive to eat out in Mexico and the food is so good.

[18:48] For the equivalent of $25.00, the Millers can eat entrees, wine, and split an appetizer at a fine Italian restaurant. The same meal in Austin would have been over $100.00.

[19:04] The Millers are eating well. They have lost weight. They are living, as much as possible, like locals. This year, they started taking Spanish classes from the Lake Chapala Society with many other gringos. They have an amazing teacher, Berta, who is getting her teaching certification. She is really good with gringos!

[19:53] The Millers have gotten into a regular rhythm of things they do. Mrs. Miller goes to Yoga two or three times a week. Marc goes once a week. Mrs. Miller hikes almost every day.

[20:11] Marc hikes on Fridays with the Ajijic Hiking Group, which is a bunch of organized and friendly gringos. There are a variety of hikes of different difficulties available to interesting spots and ceremonial grounds.

[21:23] The rainy season runs from June through October with about 30″ of rain. It only rains at night. The rest of the year is pretty dry. How long will it stay a Paradise? There are lots of folks moving there, so it’s hard to say.

[22:03] The Millers are living on about $2,500 a month. Mrs. Miller turns 65 in September and they have just enrolled her in Medicare and Social Security, over the phone with the U.S. Consulate in Guadalajara. They could have done it online. They are maintaining a U.S. address in Austin.

[22:42] Both Marc and Mrs. Miller have changed. Their stress levels are way down. They are learning Spanish slowly. Almost every establishment they visit speaks some English, so it’s easy to get by with only English.

[23:06] Marc asks gringos in Mexico. “Will you go back?” For many, and for Marc and Mrs. Miller, they just don’t see themselves going back.

[23:22] Marc counts it a big benefit that he doesn’t get TV in Ajijic, especially not cable news! Marc subscribes to the Austin American-Statesman newspaper and Apple News on his iPad. Being a news junkie, Marc has turned a lot of the news off.

[23:45] The Millers are happier and healthier. They are associating with the local population more and more. They are surrounded by businesses and restaurants. They have American friends who have been in Ajijic for years. They all lose weight because they walk everywhere.

[24:23] If you live like the locals, eat like the locals, and transport like the locals, you’ll live longer, healthier, happier lives. If you want to live like a gringo, you can, and packaged food is available, but it is more expensive, and not as healthy.

[25:16] A lot of expats, particularly the Canadians, come for the winter, from December to April. During Holy Week, there was a huge shift this year with all the Canadians disappearing and many Guadalajarans moving into their vacation homes.

[26:20] April and May is the hottest time of the year. It gets up to 90° and 65° at night. The humidity is 10% to 20%. Marc always wears a hat and long sleeves to protect from burning.

[27:13] The Millers know how much money they are spending. Last week they drove into Guadalajara to go to Home Depot and Costco. Costco carries American products that aren’t available elsewhere in Mexico. They sell VitaMix, a favorite of Marc’s.

[27:58] The Millers are making a trip back to Austin for the book tour and combining that with a trip to New Jersey for Marc’s 45th high school reunion. On this trip, the Millers plan to empty their storage room. Except for the condo they are renting out, this will free them up from their ties to Austin.

[28:28] With Mrs. Miller on Medicare, she will not need health insurance in the States, but Marc will buy a temporary health insurance policy for about $7.00 a day. Mrs. Miller already has doctor’s appointments set up. The medicine she takes for thyroid is only available in the U.S. She gets a year’s prescription at a time. Other expats do the same.

[29:18] To learn more about the medical aspects of being an expat, please listen to this podcast episode: CareerPivot.com/Episode-131. To learn about the financial challenges and the technology, please see these blog posts: How to Move Abroad — Banking and Making my Business Location-Independent.

[30:08] Marc does not plan to move back to the States until he is on Medicare, more than a year-and-a-half from now if he ever moves back.

[30:31] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. If you have any questions for him, please leave a comment at the show notes at CareerPivot.com/episode-142.

[30:46] The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. The community has moved on to the next phase where community members who have experienced success get to share their successes and teach others.

[31:04] This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else out. They have been hovering at about 50 members for a while. Members are experiencing successes like going back to work, starting new businesses — even someone buying a franchise. Some leave the community when they’ve found success, while others stay.

[31:26] Their legacy stays with the community as they have built an extensive library of forum entries and discussions. Marc will be publishing shortly testimonials of what they got from being part of this community. There are successes in just about every week.

[31:52] Marc is recruiting members for the next cohort. If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.

[32:03] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[32:22] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[32:39] Please come back next week, when Marc interviews Russ Eanes on his journey of getting lost and finding a direction.

[35:30] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-142.

[33:00] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app. Marc will add to this list soon as he is finding new places to listen!

Aug 19, 2019

Kerry Hannon is a nationally-recognized expert and strategist on career transitions, entrepreneurship, personal finance, and retirement. She is a frequent TV and radio commentator and is a sought-after keynote speaker at conferences across the country. Kerry has dedicated her work to making a difference in people’s lives to give them confidence and the tools to succeed personally, professionally, and financially. She offers her audience and readers a can-do expert’s advice on the best ways to empower themselves. She has spent more than two decades covering all aspects of career, business, and personal finance and is a columnist, editor, and writer for the nation’s leading companies, including the New York Times, Forbes, Money, U.S. News & World Report, and USA Today. Kerry’s work also regularly appears on Kiplinger’s Finance and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:05] Marc welcomes you to Episode 141 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot is the sponsor of this podcast; CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.

[1:34] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[1:54] Marc and his co-author Susan Lahey are working on the final draft of Repurpose Your Career, Third Edition. If you’d like to get some pre-release chapters, go to CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam and you’ll receive the chapters Marc has already released and updates on the launch.

[2:17] Marc plans a soft launch of the book on Thursday, September 12, followed by both a virtual and a real book tour starting Monday, September 16. Marc has already recorded many podcast guest appearances, some of which have already been published. Go to CareerPivot.com/launch you’ll find all the links of all the podcasts.
[2:52] Marc will be in Austin the week of September 22nd, the New Jersey area the week of September 29th, and D.C., the following week. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners.

[3:04] Marc has two events planned for Austin and four in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Marc will then have a meet-and-greet in D.C. You can find the events on CareerPivot.com/launch.

[3:17] Next week will be a one-year reflection on being an expat. Marc and his wife have lived in Ajijic for about a year. They will reflect on what they have learned and how they have changed in the last year.

[3:39] This week, Marc interviews Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life

[3:53] Marc introduces Kerry and welcomes Kerry to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[5:23] Kerry was a guest on the podcast almost three years ago and that episode, Careerpivot.com/episode-6, still gets 30 or 40 downloads a month!

[5:47] A number of years ago, Kerry wrote, What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job, after traveling the country for three years meeting with people who had shifted to completely different jobs after working 20 to 30 years in one field. Most of them started small businesses in their second act. Kerry loved their spirit.

[6:25] Kerry started recognizing a trend in people over 40 starting their own businesses. Kerry wanted to share their stories. She also saw studies showing that people over 50 are the fastest-growing demographic of entrepreneurs in the U.S. and globally.

[6:57] Women, in particular, are starting businesses in the second half of life. With longevity growing, we are going to see more people starting businesses later in life.

[7:16] In the book, Never Too Old to Get Rich, Kerry profiles 20 winning entrepreneurs, because we learn from winners. She presents their stories, challenges, and rewards, and gives readers a playbook of actions for how to accomplish similar successes.

[7:41] Part 1 of the book is about turning a passion into a business. Sometimes hobbies are better as hobbies but studies show that people who can turn their passion into a business are often more successful than other entrepreneurs. They know their customer; they are their customer.

[9:00] Kerry interviewed people who started businesses in filmmaking, coffee, scooters, woodworking, and more, all building on passions. Kerry shares some stories about them.

[12:14] Part 2 of What’s Next deals with building a winning Senior-Junior partnership. There is a great synergy in building a business “that has legs,” not for the next five years, but for the next 20 years or more. You have the experience and the network of someone who’s been through it, and the tech skills and enthusiasm of youth.

[13:25] One of Kerry’s favorite stories from the book is about a mother-daughter team, Bergen and Morgen Giordani, who started One Hot Cookie with their cookie-baking skills and built retail outlets in Ohio and Pennsylvania. They are now franchising.

[14:18] The daughter is the expert at social marketing and store design. The mother is the big-picture business planner. The mom kept her full-time job for a long time before stepping all the way into the business.

[15:56] In this section, Kerry has a story about Paul Tasner, who has been a guest on the podcast in CareerPivot.com/episode-125. Paul started his company PulpWorks in San Francisco and paired up with somebody a couple of decades younger than him.

[17:21] When you make a shift to being your own boss, you need to do an inner MRI to find your skills, weaknesses, and strengths. Look for others who can partner with you and balance you in launching your business. It’s understanding who you are and what it is you truly want to do and what you can do.

[18:00] Part 3 of the book is the path to social entrepreneurship. Kerry found that at this point in their lives, many people may have experienced a health crisis or a loss, or may be wondering if there is more to life than what they have done. They wonder how they want to make a difference to the world.

[18:47] Social entrepreneurs have a vision of making the world a better place by using their skill sets to launch a nonprofit or something that has the ability to touch lives. Kerry shares a couple of examples. One, Jamal Joseph, started a nonprofit, IMPACT Repertory Theater, in NYC. Kerry met him through Encore.org.

[19:28] Jamal started this group to help young people in Harlem find a purpose through repertory performance and encouragement to study, to find a way out of poverty to succeed.

[19:57] Another example is Bernadette’s House, an after-school program for disadvantaged girls, started by Carol Nash in Baltimore.

[20:33] Doug Rauch, former President at Trader Joes, went to Harvard’s Advanced Leadership Initiative to learn to solve big social problems. He went on to start Daily Table in the Boston area to provide food at a lower cost. Marc compares food supply practices in Mexico and the U.S.

[22:33] besides the Harvard Advanced Leadership Initiative, other schools are offering similar initiatives to urge people to start in social entrepreneurship. Stanford, Notre Dame, and the University of Texas are a few schools offering such initiatives.

[23:33] Daily Table offers cooking classes for people who are not accustomed to healthy foods.

[24:01] Part 4 of the book is Winning Strategies for Female Entrepreneurs. Female entrepreneurs are the fastest-growing cadre of entrepreneurs, world-wide. Women make good entrepreneurs and also good investors for a few reasons. Women do their homework. They take their time when they launch a business. They are idealists.

[24:53] By laying this groundwork, women set themselves up for success. Women are willing to start a business as a side gig, keeping their full-time job. Women have the ability to understand where their weaknesses are. They admit it and ask for help. They ask for directions. Women often partner up with other women who can fill in the gaps.

[25:29] Women tend to be very collaborative. Entrepreneurship is a team sport. Women understand that entrepreneurship is a marathon and not a sprint. Women are patient.

[26:04] Rachel Roth started Opera Nuts in New York, combining her love of nuts and opera. Now she sells them online as well. It’s a true passion for Rachel. She was able to find tech help at Senior Planet classes in entrepreneurship and tech and from young tech mentors.

[28:04] Ginny Corbett started a healthy juice business, Salud Juicery, in Pittsburgh, after going to school to learn about nutrition related to eating issues.

[29:49] Kerry wants people to walk away with a message of hope, possibilities, dreams, and knowing that it is never too late to start doing work around your passion. Every person Kerry profiled told her about the inner richness of doing work they love, with people they love, that has meaning in the world.

[30:49] Marc recalls an earlier podcast guest, on CareerPivot.com/episode-127, author Andrew Scott, author of The Hundred-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity and author of the article “Is 75 the New 65? How the Definition of Aging is Changing” on Next Avenue. What are you going to do with your extra 10 years?

[31:50] The importance of working at this stage of life is it fulfills us, it may be a financial necessity or safety net. At 60, you have at least 15 more years ahead of you where you could do something totally different. You might need to add some more skills, by apprenticing, moonlighting, or volunteering before you launch on a new path.

[32:32] There’s no ideal starting point; you just need to get started. Marc plans to work until he’s 90!

[32:48] You can learn more about Kerry at KerryHannon.com, on Twitter at @KerryHannon, on Facebook at @KerryHannon and LinkedIn at Kerry Hannon. Kerry would love to hear from you and hear your entrepreneurial stories!

[33:23] Marc thanks Kerry for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[33:29] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Kerry is passionate about helping our community who are in the second half of life. Marc hopes everyone is inspired by her latest book.

[33:40] The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. The community has moved on to the next phase where community members who have experienced success get to share their successes and teach others.

[33:57] This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else out. They have been hovering at about 50 members for a while. Members are experiencing successes like going back to work, starting new businesses — even someone buying a franchise. Some leave the community when they’ve found success, while others stay.

[34:19] Their legacy stays with the community as they have built an extensive library of forum entries and discussions. Marc will be publishing shortly testimonials of what they got from being part of this community.

[34:34] Marc is recruiting members for the next cohort. If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community.

[34:45] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[35:07] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[35:25] Please come back next week, when Marc reflects on the last year of being an expat.

[35:30] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast. You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-141.

[35:45] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app. Marc will add to this list soon!

Aug 12, 2019

Alexander Buschek has been an IT professional for many years. He is passionate about digital transformation and the opportunities it will give businesses — especially SMBs. He is convinced that every business has to embrace digital transformation in one way or another, in order to survive. The sooner a business starts its digital transformation, the better. To support this process, spread awareness, and share experiences, he started The Digital Transformation Blog.

Alexander was, at the time of this interview, the CIO of Cherry GmbH, well known for their excellent keyboards and MX switches, who hired him because of his profound knowledge of digital transformation and digitalization. Alexander has since moved on to Gartner Group, where he is Senior Director, Analyst of Midsize Enterprises.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:19] Marc welcomes you to Episode 140 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot is the sponsor of this podcast; CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.

[1:48] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[2:07] Marc has released five chapters of the next edition of Repurpose Your Career to the Repurpose Your Career review team. Sign up to be part of the review team at CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam.

[2:22] You will receive new chapters as they become available. Marc is looking for honest feedback and would love to get an honest review on Amazon.com after the book is released.

[2:32] Marc plans to release the book in mid-September and do both a virtual and a real book tour. Marc has already recorded multiple podcast guest appearances, some of which have already been published. Go to CareerPivot.com/launch you’ll find all the links of all the podcast episodes.
[2:57] Marc will be in Austin the week of September 22nd, the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area the week of September 29th, and D.C., the following week. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners. 

[3:09] Marc has many events planned. You can find them on CareerPivot.com/launch.

[3:20] Next week, Marc will interview Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life.

[3:30] This week will be an encore episode from Episode 72, when he interviewed Alexander Buschek. Marc finishes the episode with a short update discussion that he recorded last week with Alexander. Marc shares Alexander’s biography.

[4:51] Marc introduces Alexander. Alexander talks about being desperate, looking for a job before working with Marc. He sent applications everywhere and didn’t get answers. He also had a difficult bio, being self-employed for more than 24 years, then became the CIO of one of his customers. He decided he needed help and he found Marc.

[5:58] Marc started Alexander through the rebranding process. Alexander shares the roadmap he followed.

[6:06] The first step for Alexander was the Birkman assessment to find out who he was; what were his strengths and weaknesses. He learned new things about himself. Marc encouraged him to have a blog, videos, and write a book. He’s still working on the book.

[7:00] The roadmap was about getting to know himself and writing a white paper, as a preliminary for the blog. Then he started writing the blog and became the thought leader in digital transformation. Then his visibility started. People asked him to speak at conferences, which was a great experience for him.

[7:34] Marc frequently told Alexander to be bold. At first, Alexander didn’t see himself as bold. Then he found out that he was bold. He was not reluctant to speak up and do the things he thought were necessary.

[8:24] Marc was blown away by Alexander’s resume. Alexander didn’t see himself as a hot commodity, however. He had to learn to understand his achievements and tell people about his experience.

[9:38] Alexander’s white paper was about cloud technology. He had been working with InFor ERP systems and they wanted to access the Cloud. In Germany, many were reluctant to even look into it. So he thought, at least he needed to look into it. He figured out that cloud technology is the future.

[11:05] Alexander used Dragon Naturally Speaking (Now Nuance Dragon) to write. You just talk and you see it written in Word. It was very helpful. This is an easy way to write a blog post if you write the way you speak.

[12:22] While Alexander was networking as the CIO of Protego he approached Autodesk to ask if CAD systems could be based in the cloud. Autodesk invited him to the Hannover Fair to look at how it was being used at the time, including Fusion 360.

[13:18] After a conversation with one of the managers there, they invited Alexander to be part of a panel discussion by the Financial Times in Berlin in cooperation with Autodesk.

[13:36] The panel was on digital transformation, in English. Alexander used it for his blog with great success. He found that personal branding is making sure people get the impression of you that you want them to have.

[14:40] After being on the Financial Times panel, Alexander started writing his blog posts. He spoke at another event for Autodesk. His speaking career snowballed.

[15:53] Alexander spent the Christmas holidays in 2016, shooting videos about digital transformation, based on his conference presentations. Headhunters started to approach him. He expanded his LinkedIn network significantly.

[17:32] Doing videos helped Alexander’s presentation skills a lot.

[19:20] Making a video requires one hour or more of effort for every minute of finished video. Alexander explains his process for making a video.

[20:46] Alexander is proudest of getting his new job. It is a challenging job. He is proud that he was asked, rather than sending in his application. He branded himself doing what he loved to do and showing his expertise, with the goal of getting a new job.

[21:41] Alexander was passionate about digital transformation. His previous job had given him no opportunity in that area. It is present or will be present in every company. Alexander became an expert on it, after a lot of work. If you want to rebrand your life, there is no way around a lot of hard work with a lot of discipline.

[24:21] Alexander credits Marc with inspiring him to push forward, in steps. Marc gave Alexander small steps, such as a whitepaper, a blog, and videos, to do one at a time that really kept him going. The next step is to write the book.

[25:54] Alexander’s advice to anyone who wants to rebrand themselves: You can do it! However, you need to be patient and put a lot of effort into it. With the effort comes success. Be bold. Be patient. Get some advice and get a job coach. Reading a book alone does not usually provide the motivation.

[28:25] Alexander looked off into the future and positioned himself in a niche of digital transformation for SMBs. Alexander can be reached at DigitalTransformationBlog.com. Alexander answers comments. Or email Alexander at Alex@Buschek.info.

[29:37] Marc hopes Alexander has inspired listeners to be bold!

[30:12] Alexander first contacted Marc by LinkedIn after reading Marc’s book, Personal Branding for Baby Boomers: What It Is, How to Manage It, and Why It's No Longer Optional. When Alexander contacted Marc, he had 70 LinkedIn contacts; today he has 1,200 or so.

[30:57] Marc brings Alexander back on the podcast for an update interview. Alexander started as the CIO at Cherry at the beginning of 2018. He had previously been interviewed four times to be an IT Analyst at Gartner. Recently, the Gartner recruiter sent Alexander a LinkedIn message asking if he was still interested in a position.

[32:57] Alexander had wanted to work for Gartner in the first place, so he was happy to meet with them. After a series of interviews and a two-hour writing exercise, on his way back to the airport, he got an email (he was in a limousine, not driving) from Gartner congratulating him on getting the position.

[34:32] Since March 1st, Alexander is a Senior Director Analyst for Mid-Sized Enterprises. Alexander helps MSE CIOs make the right decisions when it comes to digital business transformation and cloud strategy. He feels very comfortable in this job. He also writes research notes on leadership.

[35:51] Marc thanks Alexander for being on the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Alexander invites you to contact him for advice on rebranding or digital transformation. Alexander’s path was hard work and really rewarding. Reach him at Alexander Buschek on LinkedIn.

[36:52] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Alexander was a real joy for Marc to work with a few years ago. He continues to prosper in his career. He took a lot of risks and did a lot of hard work to rebrand himself.

[37:08] The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. The community has moved on to the next phase where community members who have experienced success get to share their successes and teach others.

[37:26] This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else out. Marc is recruiting members for the next cohort.
[37:33] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[37:47] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[38:09] This Fall, the community is moving out of the beta phase into full production.

[38:20] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[38:39] Please come back next week, when Marc will interview Kerry Hannon, author of Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life.

[38:48] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[38:52] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-140

[38:59] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

Aug 5, 2019

In this chapter, Marc explains the meaning and importance of strategic relationships and gives instructions on how to create, build, and cultivate them. Marc categorizes the people you should have in your tribe, and how you can fill the missing spaces in your tribe. Marc recommends you have a tribe of 100 to 150 people. He gives recommendations for strengthening relationships by giving value more than asking for help. He gives a plan for reaching out to new connections and what you should talk about with them. Listen in for your playbook for building strategic relationships.

 

Key Takeaways:

[1:17] Marc welcomes you to Episode 139 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Career Pivot is the sponsor of this podcast; CareerPivot.com is one of the very few websites dedicated to those of us in the second half of life and our careers. Check out the blog and the other resources delivered to you, free of charge.

[1:46] If you are enjoying this podcast, please share it with other like-minded souls. Subscribe on CareerPivot.com, iTunes, or any of the other apps that supply podcasts. Share it on social media or just tell your neighbors and colleagues. The more people Marc reaches, the more people he can help.

[2:05] Marc has released five chapters of the next edition of Repurpose Your Career to the Repurpose Your Career review team. Sign up to be part of the review team at CareerPivot.com/RYCTeam.

[2:20] You will receive new chapters as they become available. Marc plans to release just one more chapter before releasing the book. Marc is looking for honest feedback and would love to get an honest review on Amazon.com after the book is released.

[2:36] Marc plans to release the book in mid-September and do both a virtual and a real book tour. Marc has already recorded multiple podcast guest appearances, three of which have already been published.
[2:49] Marc was interviewed on the iRelaunch podcast, the Not Old, Better Show podcast, and the As We Get Older podcast.

[3:06] Marc will be in Austin the week of September 22nd, the New Jersey/Pennsylvania area the week of September 29th, and D.C., the following week. Marc would love to meet his readers and listeners.

[3:18] Marc has two events planned in Austin, four in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and is working on a few more. He doesn’t have anything scheduled for the D.C. area, but will probably do a meet-and-greet there.

[3:30] Reach out to Marc at Podcasts@CareerPivot.com if you’d be willing to give Marc some advice on venues or groups who’d be interested in hosting an event.

[3:39] Next week, Marc will be do an encore episode from when he interviewed Alexander Buschek. Marc finishes the episode with a short update discussion that he recorded last week with Alexander.

[3:53] This week, Marc will read the preview chapter from Repurpose Your Career: Playbook for Building Strategic Relationships. Marc hopes you will enjoy it!

[4:09] Strategic networking does not happen at networking events. People build strategic relationships after events, when they meet one-on-one and get to know each other and find common ground.

[4:44] With whom should you build strategic relationships? The first are connectors — people who know a lot of people and enjoy connecting them. They are always introducing people to each other, in person, or by email or social media. Marc is a connector.

[5:15] Don’t wear out your relationship by relying too much on one connector. You need several connectors in your network. Connectors create connections for many people who matter to them, not just for you. They will expect you to help people they introduce to you. Be sure to provide help as well as receiving it.

[5:53] The recruiter is a special class of connector. Recruiters are very busy. They are ‘people people.’ When you engage with them, do so with a purpose that you have stated clearly to them.

[6:13] Mentors guide you. As a Boomer, Marc started his career at IBM in the 1970s. He knew he needed people who could advise him about his career, who knew their business, and were not ‘jerks.’ Seek out people you can learn from and cultivate formal mentoring relationships. Marc now has multiple mentors in different subject areas.

[6:52] Look for industry or company experts. Be very selective in choosing whom in your industry or company you need to know. Make sure they know who you are and what value you bring to the table. You do not need to form a bond with them, but you need to be on their radar screen.

[7:14] Marc shares an example from a client who escaped downsizing by seeking advice from a person of importance at his company. They had had a working relationship for several years.

[7:45] Peers may need your help. Seek them out. It’s important to help others and expect nothing in return. Be that person people know they can turn to when they need help.

[8:03] Locate the LinkedIn profile of someone you know who could be part of your tribe. You may want to build a spreadsheet and categorize each contact: Connectors, Mentors, Company of Industry Experts, and Peers.

[8:20] It may take you a week or more to think of very person and categorize them. It will give you an idea about the strength of your network and how to build it strategically. What role does everyone play in your success? What strategic relationships are missing? What are the categories or skill areas where you need more people?

[8:58] Make a list of people you would like to meet. Who in your network knows them well enough to make an introduction? Marc always wants an introduction to a new connection. In sales, this is a warm lead.

[9:13] Strategic networking means building your tribe. Do you have a tribe — people you can go to for a favor and expect it to be granted? Dig through your email contacts, LinkedIn connections and Facebook friends. Identify people you’d feel comfortable asking for help.

[9:34] This may be a short list. This is not people who would help you move. It might just be getting together for a coffee to discuss strategies for infiltrating a company you want to target for employment. Not everyone is in your tribe. You may have thousands of followers or connections, but how many of them do you really know?

[10:02] The number of relationships you can maintain is known as Dunbar’s Number. It is around 150. That number turns up often in our society. The Amish break up communities when they reach 150.

[10:34] Your tribe are people who understand what you’re aiming for and are in your corner. If they meet someone who needs what you’re offering, they’ll make an introduction. They want to know how it’s going in your life, career, or job hunt. They’re not being polite. They will also turn to you when they need help, advice, or a referral.

[11:01] A tribe is like a barn-raising, where you show up with your tools to help a neighbor build his barn, knowing he’ll show up to help you build yours. Marc recalls struggling with being a novice high school math teacher after being an expert in his field.

[11:33] Every three weeks Marc sent an email to a list of about 100, documenting his experiences and difficulties. His readers looked forward to his emails and gave encouraging feedback. Marc received lots of advice and help, but more importantly, he received love and support. He would not have made it through the year without his tribe.

[12:14] If you don’t have 100 people in your tribe, you have work to do! If there is an area where you have few connections, leverage your network to help you develop strategic relationships. Once you have an introduction, schedule a coffee meeting, or a phone call. If you make one outreach a week, your tribe will grow naturally.

[12:45] You have to cultivate your tribe like a garden. Occasionally, you will weed it of people with whom you have no connection. You will water it, when there’s no rain. You may need to apply fertilizer. You can’t neglect it. It needs regular ‘TLC.’ It needs to be part of the way you think and live or it will wither.

[13:16] One of the easiest ways to provide TLC for your tribe is to stay in touch. At least once a month, Marc looks through his contacts to find someone he has not heard from recently. He sends an email message to check in with them and see how they are and shares his news. He asks for a meeting over coffee. He usually gets a friendly reply.

[14:09] Cultivating is all about building relationships. Messages are helpful but there’s no substitute for a face-to-face meeting where you get to shake hands and read body language. Marc likes coffee meetings first thing in the morning. Sometimes Marc meets a new contact for a morning walk instead of coffee. What time works for you?

[14:44] Schedule regular times to meet face-to-face with someone in your network. Make it a habit.

[14:51] When you meet, make sure you are building a relationship rather than killing it. People frequently make one of three mistakes: spending all the time talking about themselves, asking questions that the other person isn’t comfortable answering, or squandering the meeting and forgetting their primary objectives.

[15:18] How you present yourself furthers your personal brand. If you make one of the three mistakes, you show your personal brand to be self-centered, unprofessional, or scattered. If you are focused, clear, and appropriate, that’s what the person you meet is going to remember.

[15:41] Marc gives an example of looking for a position. After doing your homework on the company and getting an introduction to Natalie, the person in charge of the position, ask her for AIR — Advice, Insights, and Recommendation. Marc explains simply how to do this and how you could direct the conversation with very open-ended questions.

[17:06] In your meeting, talk about yourself only when asked. This is all about building a relationship. Asking for advice, insight, and recommendations is a great way to initiate and cultivate a lasting relationship.

[17:24] You have not asked for help to get a job. You have asked for help to understand the organization, and for further networking opportunities. You are networking to build relationships, not to find a job. The opportunity to interview for a position will come later, after you have established relationships.

[17:45] Natalie will likely introduce you to at least one person, if you made it clear you are interested in her insight and perspective. You can then ask for AIR from each person Natalie introduced you to. When each of these meetings is complete, send Natalie an email and let her know how it went and if you received more introductions.

[18:16] People love to know they are helping and that the time they spent with you had some value. They also appreciate knowing that you’re grateful and recognize the time and effort they contributed to your career search.

[18:30] If a position opens up at a hot startup, Natalie will think of you if you’ve made a favorable impression. She might even call you before the position is posted. That is how Marc was hired at his last two tech startup jobs.

[18:46] Include recruiters in your tribe. Recruiters like dealing with people, and like helping people. In general, they are very nice people. They change jobs frequently with the ups and downs of the economy. They are the first to be laid off when things get bad and the first to be hired when things turn around.

[19:20] Recruiters connect with almost everyone in the organization. They carry those connections from company to company. They have large networks. A recruiter is often the person between you and the hiring manager. You want to share your personal brand with recruiters.

[19:40] When you locate a company that looks like a good potential employer for your services, you should go to a LinkedIn search, and look on the title field for recruiter, talent, talent acquisition, human resources, or HR. Identify recruiters and send them connection requests that state why you want to connect.

[20:21] Marc gives a sample connection request.

[20:40] In your invitation to connect, ask if you could set up a time to talk about the organization.

[20:50] The recruiter will likely respond by looking at your profile, accept your invitation to connect, which will put you as 2nd connections to their network, and, if they like your profile, they will reach out to you for a short email or phone conversation. They may forward you on to the recruiter that handles the positions you are looking for.

[21:46] If they don’t connect, try another recruiter at the same company. If the recruiter does connect, call them. Marc shares suggestions for what to say when you call. Be persistent. Repeat this procedure in a few days if you don’t get a response.

[22:22] If you connect, but you never hear from them, send them an email or a LinkedIn message. Recruiters need you as much as you need them. They are looking for referrals. When you talk to them, always be polite and courteous. Always complete the conversation asking how you can help them.

[22:43] Recruiters move around. Keep track of their career moves on LinkedIn. Be helpful to them when you’re not looking for the next gig. Marc stresses that building long-term relationships with recruiters will pay long-term dividends.

[23:03] Marc’s last tip about recruiters: Recruiters usually use a company email address on LinkedIn. From their address you can see how the company formats email addresses, i.e., jane.doe@company.com or jdoe@company.com. This helps you guess the addresses of other employees you might want to contact.

[23:28] Make strategic networking part of your career strategy. Are you ready to cultivate and manage that relationship strategically? If you strategically manage your network, and cultivate the right relationships, you will stay employed at a company where you want to be for the rest of your career.

[23:49] You now have a playbook for strategic networking. Are you ready to execute the plays? Action steps: Make a spreadsheet of people you consider to be in your tribe. How many are connectors, peers, industry experts, or recruiters?

[24:06] Are you missing anyone from your tribe? Begin connecting with people from the categories where you’re missing connections. Cultivate your tribe by working to build relationships. Schedule times each week to reach out to the people in your tribe and ask how they are. Offer help or ask to meet for coffee or a walk.

[24:29] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode.

[24:31] The Career Pivot Membership Community continues to help the approximately 50 members who are participating in the Beta phase of this project to grow and thrive. The community has moved on to the next phase where community members who have experienced success get to share their successes and teach others.

[24:48] This is a community where everyone is there to help everyone else out. Marc is recruiting members for the next cohort.
[24:55] If you are interested in the endeavor and would like to be put on the waiting list, please go to CareerPivot.com/Community. When you sign up you’ll receive information about the community as it evolves.

[25:08] Those who are in these initial cohorts set the direction. This is a paid membership community with group coaching and special content. More importantly, it’s a community where you can seek help. Please go to CareerPivot.com/Community to learn more.

[25:29] This Fall, the community is moving out of the beta phase into full production.

[25:34] Marc invites you to connect with him on LinkedIn.com/in/mrmiller. Just include in the connection request that you listen to this podcast. You can look for Career Pivot on Facebook, LinkedIn, or @CareerPivot on Twitter.

[25:52] Please come back next week, when Marc will have Alexander Buschek back on.

[25:57] Marc thanks you for listening to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.

[26:01] You will find the show notes for this episode at CareerPivot.com/episode-139

[26:09] Please hop over to CareerPivot.com and subscribe to get updates on this podcast and all the other happenings at Career Pivot. You can also subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, the Google Podcasts app, Podbean, the Overcast app, or the Spotify app.

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