In Part 3 of this series, Marc covers the second feedback session with Juan for his personality assessment.
[1:40] Marc welcomes you to Episode 88 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast (the intro of which he is recording inside his closet in Ajijic) and invites you to share this podcast with others. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues so Marc can help more people.
[2:31] Next week’s episode is an interesting interview with Jeanne Yocum. Jeanne has been self-employed as a public relations consultant and ghostwriter for over 30 years. This Spring, Jeanne published her first solo book, The Self-Employment Survival Guide: Proven Strategies to Succeed as Your Own Boss. This book really resonated with Marc.
[2:58] This week is the third episode of the four-part series “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Juan is in his mid-fifties, a former school teacher, technology trainer and educator, adjunct professor, and multipotentialite. Juan is figuring out what is next.
[3:19] If you have not listened to the first two parts of this series, please stop now and listen to Episode 83 and Episode 84 before listening to this third part. You will find all the reports for the series to download at Careerpivot.com/Juan. Marc added more reports for this Episode 88.
[4:00] Marc has already gotten feedback from a number of people about how this series resonates with them.
[4:09] Marc introduces Juan. This episode is the second feedback session for Juan.
[4:17] Juan reports on his homework from the first feedback session. Juan recalls the stress of leaving a union teaching position to going to a freelance situation, and what that meant to him. The security and convenience of benefits are alluring but Juan felt unchallenged and stagnant in a protected job.
[6:01] Juan learned a lot about his personality and natural predispositions in the first feedback session. He says the Birkman Assessment was on the spot. Juan wants to be high-challenged. He was happy doing freelancing. He enjoyed traveling a lot.
[7:37] Marc introduces the Preferred Work Styles (PWS) report. This covers Juan’s natural management style, how he fits into the corporate work environment, social adaptability and social responsibilities, and how Juan makes decisions.
[8:40] Juan is a global conceptual thinker.
[9:03] Juan’s knowledge specialist rank is 7/10. This is common for Marc’s clientele. Juan reads the knowledge specialist description. Juan leads by example.
[9:59] Juan ranks 3/10 in directive management. Juan reads the description. Juan doesn’t lead by telling.
[11:00] Juan ranks 2/10 in delegative management. Juan is not interested in a VP or CIO position.
[12:37] In the PWS document, Juan’s work motivation is ranked at 2/10. He needs to see value in his work to get motivated. Just having work is not motivation enough.
[13:59] Marc shares an example of someone who goes crazy with assignments given without explaining their purpose. Marc and Juan apply the rating to Juan’s experience in the public school system. Juan needs work he believes in.
[15:57] Juans ranks 4/10 in corporate adaptability. Juan reads the description for the level of commitment to the organization. Someone with a score of 3 or lower does not participate in organizational politics. Juan was proud to work for the organizations where he was given a lot of freedom and flexibility.
[1718] Juan identifies more with the good managers he has had than with the corporations where they worked.
[18:55] Juan ranks 7/10 in self-development. Juan reads the description. A rank of 7 shows he learns a job best in a structured onboarding process. Being left on his own is uncomfortable for him.
[21:26] Juan ranks 6/10 in social adaptability. This is about his opinions of other people in general, relating to trust. A low-trust individual would make a good policeman. A high-trust individual tends to get burned. Marc always recommends, in a new job situation, regardless of your trust ranking, to find ways to let people earn your trust.
[23:36] Juan ranks 5/10 in social responsibility. He is right in the middle. Juan reads the description. A rank of five and above shows a willingness to go along with the rules and conform to social expectations. Juan was a good corporate citizen. Juan, as a Latin-American, has bucked the traditional cultural trend to marry and have a family.
[28:00] Juan ranks 5/10 in public contact and 6/10 in detail. Juan reads the public contact and detail descriptions. Being in the middle of both areas means Juan doesn’t want to be around people all the time, but some time is good.
[29:45] Juan ranks 7/10 global and 4/10 linear. Juan reads the global and linear descriptions. Juan follows a relational and holistic approach to solve problems. Low-middle linear means Juan is not mostly logical but uses intuition as well. He thinks big. By contrast, Marc is a 10 linear. For Marc, everything is a process.
[30:37] Juan ranks 8/10 conceptual and 3/10 concrete. Juan reads the descriptions. Conceptual utilizes abstract information, experience, intuition, and knowledge to find fresh solutions. Concrete uses analysis and facts to solve problems. Juan prefers to use intuition and experience before facts.
[31:24] In combinations of problem-solving, Juan is a conceptual global thinker. Juan reads the description. Juan is a strategic thinker and is comfortable with ambiguity. He is open to new ideas and will consider all facets of an issue before taking action. His approach is more intuitive than fact-based.
[32:10] The priority of a conceptual global thinker is to make sure a problem has been fully identified and defined. Then they move to take action to solve the problem. Juan sees this as 100% on-target.
[32:41] Marc gives Juan some homework to use this as a framework to consider how he solves problems and find three problems he solved at work and three problems he solved in his personal life and report back to Marc how he did it. Marc wants Juan to be able to see a pattern and explain it.
[33:07] Marc is a linear concrete thinker. A linear concrete thinker and a conceptual global thinker can either complement each other or “kill” one another. They think very differently. Marc asks Juan to observe how his own brain works. If he can explain that in a job interview the hiring manager will have a better idea if Juan will fit in.
[34:03] One of the big problems a hiring manager has is thinking everyone thinks like them. We are all different.
[34:48] The Birkman Map Summary shows what Juan likes to do. “You may like to innovate or create, plan how to do things, consider the future, create new approaches, and look at things theoretically.”
[35:21] Juan self-describes as “You prefer to be enthusiastic and flexible, assertive and competitive, logical and objective, energetic, direct, and open.”
[35:43] In the next feedback session, Marc will discuss in detail with Juan his stress report and how he wants to be treated. In short, Juan wants people to show they appreciate him, are interested in his feelings, as well as logic, give him time for complex decisions, give him time alone or with one or two others, and not overschedule him.
[36:18] Marc observes that Juan wants to be around a small number of people he likes and who like him. He doesn’t want to be rushed on decisions. He wants some alone time and wants to manage his own schedule.
[36:39] Marc points out that how Juan behaves and how he wants to be treated are very different. Juan is a closet introvert. He has learned to behave differently because he is expected to.
[37:06] Last, are Juan’s primary stress behaviors. Marc gives Juan an assignment to cut them out and place them where he will see them frequently. If he catches them early, he can change the behavior. Juan’s stress behaviors are withdrawing, fatigue, indecisiveness, pessimism, over-sensitivity to criticism.
[37:49] Juan recognizes withdrawing as a career pattern after completing an assignment or being laid off. He also recognizes fatigue in the office, and indecisiveness while a freelancer.
[38:48] Marc gives Juan a homework assignment to translate 8-15 of the usual behavior phrases into ‘Juan-talk,’ figure out his problem-solving style, and fill out a career reflection worksheet about the times he was the happiest with his boss, his team, and when he felt valued, with the right level of activity.
[40:16] When Juan understands what are the best conditions for him, and what are the worst conditions, he can run to the good stuff, instead of running from the bad stuff. Marc just wants Juan to make sure he doesn’t go back to a bad circumstance. If he stays a freelancer he has fewer constraints; if he goes to teaching he has security.
[41:26] Marc talks about relapsing and uses himself as an example. He went back to something — a tech startup — that was familiar. It wasn’t healthy for him.
[42:05] Juan tells how grateful he is for Marc’s insight and helping him find the right course.
[42:33] Marc describes why Juan, being a multipotentialite, has bounced around in his career. He thought with enough education he would be recession-proof. He wanted to do something different every few years. In his mid-fifties, with no clear direction, the goal is to steer to a path of success.
[44:38] Check back next week, when Marc will interview Jeanne Yocum.
The Self-Employment Survival Guide: Proven Strategies to Succeed as Your Own Boss, by Jeanne Yocum
CareerPivot.com/Episode-83 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-84 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
Reports used in the Feedback Session with Juan Doe
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has five initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. They are guiding him on what to build. He will start recruiting members for the sixth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, branding sessions and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-88 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
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To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Marc revisits his interview with career pivoter Mike O’Krent. Mike O’Krent, Founder of LifeStories Alive, LLC, specializes in making personal history videos for families that value their heritage. They create family heirlooms in video — digitally mastered records of life stories with personal accounts, photos, and mementos of family history. Marc has known Mike for 10-plus years, and it has been fascinating, watching him grow his very unique business. Marc and Mike discuss what Mike did in the first half of life, why he quit without a plan, the life-changing experience of interviewing Holocaust, or Shoah, survivors, and, the nudge from a business coach that set him on the second half of life.
Marc thinks you’ll find Mike’s story quite fascinating; Marc got emotional listening to it again. Listen in to get inspiration for your own career pivot.
[1:49] Marc welcomes you to Episode 87 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with others. The larger the audience he can reach, the more people he can help. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[2:23] Marc’s original plan was to share Part 3 of “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” But he is delaying that for a week. Today’s episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 7, Marc’s interview with Mike O’Krent.
[2:39] Marc introduces the episode. If you hear any thumping, Marc is in Mexico, and there is construction going on around the area. You can hear about Marc’s drive to Mexico in Episode 86.
[3:52] Marc and Mike start the interview.
[4:14] In the first half of life, Mike was in retail floor coverings, in his grandfather’s business in San Antonio, Texas. He started his own carpeting business in Austin in ’98, but sold it in ’04, without an idea what to do next.
[5:11] In the early days, Mike and his grandfather went to markets in Chicago and Dallas, where 200-plus carpet mills vied for their business. By the time Mike sold his business, there were three carpet mills left. The negotiation and the fun had gone.
[5:55] Mike gives an overview of what he does in his company, Life Stories Alive, LLC.
[6:38] In 1995, Mike was volunteering for the Jewish Federation of San Antonio, visiting schools and teaching about the Holocaust. Steven Spielberg was filming Schindler’s List, in Poland, and survivors were coming up and saying they have a story they want to tell.
[7:03] Spielberg wanted to preserve their stories. He started The Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation. He set a goal of capturing 50,000 survivors’ stories, worldwide, and ended up with 52,000, in 39 languages.
[7:32] The foundation asked the Jewish Federation of San Antonio if they had someone to volunteer for training to interview local survivors. Mike jumped at the chance. He learned the process of interviewing people for their history. He interviewed survivors from ’96 to 2000 — it was one of the most fascinating experiences of his life.
[8:43] So, Mike had the process, and he loved the interviews, but then they were over in 2000. When he sold his carpeting business, he went to Administaff and worked, until he realized the corporate world was not for him. He still had no plan.
[10:38] Through his wife, Mike found a good business coach, who gave him an exercise: make a list of everything you’ve done, that 1) you liked and 2) you thought you did well. Exclude activities that don’t meet both tests. The next week Mike read a list of 20-25 things to the coach.
[11:54] The coach picked up on Mike’s excitement over the Holocaust interviews and asked him to talk about it. When Mike finished, the coach asked, can you make a business doing something like that? The lightbulb went on, and Mike was on his way. He planned for the resources he would need to get started.
[13:22] Marc shares how body language is a clue to your passion. A coach sitting across from you can see better what interests you than you can when you talk to them because they see your excitement through your body language.
[14:01] Mike got his first client, Bill, through his wife. Bill was a bank officer with a strong corporate background. Mike did his video for free, as a test. When he saw it, Bill called his connections and said, “You need to do business with Mike,” and handed Mike the phone! That’s how he got his first clients.
[15:44] The technology has changed. Mike started with videotapes, then DVDs, now he can upload a life story to the cloud or use other delivery methods. No matter the technology, there has always been and there will always be a way to do a life story.
[16:44] Besides personal life stories, Mike has done documentaries for businesses and nonprofits. These stories pull in customers, or donations, with their emotional appeal. When you can see the faces and the expression, that pulls the heartstrings.
[18:31] Mike had thought to franchise his business. He refers back to the franchise-type model Steven Spielberg used to capture 52,000 stories all over the world. If only Mike could duplicate himself — he has all the other processes down!
[19:30] Mike feels very fulfilled by the individual interviews he does and keeping himself productive and busy.
[19:51] Mike does only the interviewing. Videography, lighting, and sound, are hired out to professionals who accompany him, so Mike can focus on listening intently to the interviewee with no distractions. The editing is also hired out to professionals.
[22:05] Marc wants solopreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs to realize they don’t have to do it all. Let the experts make you look good.
[22:50] Mike has done alright with word of mouth but is now moving to a marketing professional.
[24:55] Marc recaps Mike’s experience, common to most second-half-of-life pivoters. There was an idea to do something but no action was taken. After a period of years, there was a trigger get started. Finally, there came the realization that things do not turn out exactly as planned and there is a need for nimbleness to meet market needs.
[27:52] Marc’s last thoughts: Mike has taken a different path that most of us wouldn’t think would be very practical. But he has made it work.
[29:20] Check back next week for Part 3 of “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?”
Careerpivot.com/Episode-83 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?”
Careerpivot.com/Episode-7 “Mike Made an Amazing Career Pivot…”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-86 “Marc Miller and His Wife are Expatriating to Mexico”
“How to Move Abroad and Take Your Job with You — Part IV”
Careerpivot.com/Episode-6 “How to Prepare, Get Fit, and ... Shift ... with Kerry Hannon”
Website: Life Stories Alive
Email: MOKrent@LifeStoriesAlive.com
Phone (512) 431-8166
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc has accepted five initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. He is recruiting members for the sixth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. Ask to be put on the waiting list. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, branding sessions, and most importantly, a community where you can seek help. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist for the next cohort at CareerPivot.com/Community.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-87 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Marc shares with the audience more about his upcoming move to Mexico and how the move is progressing.
[1:29] Marc welcomes you to Episode 86 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with others. The more people he can reach, the more people he can help. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[2:05] Next week’s episode should be part three of a four-part series called “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” But it’s not recorded yet, so if it’s not ready, Marc will play an encore interview of one of his favorite career pivoters, Mike O’Krent.
[2:27] This week’s episode will be about driving to Mexico in the last week of June. You may hear a difference in the audio. Marc is recording in Mexico, in a house just outside of Ajijic. Listen for potential bird songs, barking dogs, or who knows what else?
[2:56] On June 20th Marc and his wife packed the car to prepare for leaving on the morning of the 21st. There wasn’t room to take the slow cooker or the blender. This was emotionally jarring for Mrs. Miller but just another problem to solve for Marc.
[3:44] Marc’s son works for the Navy; his daughter-in-law works for the Department of Defense. They warned Marc that this was a dangerous drive. Marc had hired a driver from Ajijic, so he was not worried. Around 11:00 a.m. they started driving to Laredo. Halfway there, Rex, the cat had a panic attack. Eventually, he curled up at Marc’s feet.
[5:05] They arrived in Laredo and had a room at the La Quinta on I-35. Marc confirmed with JP, their driver in Mexico, which bridge to take from Laredo across the border. There were five choices.
[5:57] Crossing the bridge, they pulled into the customs line to declare their cats. Nobody asked to see Marc’s documents. As they pulled away, they met with JP, and he took them to the immigration building. Marc would not have found it without a guide. One immigration building served all five bridges crossing from Laredo.
[7:05] Leaving the cats in the car, Marc and his wife started filling out immigration paperwork. There were multiple places to go to complete the process. There is a tax of 533 pesos to enter Mexico or about $25.00. Then they needed a Temporary Import Permit for the car. That was convoluted and they had to pay to copy their papers.
[8:23] From the time the Millers crossed the bridge to the time they were processed through was about one hour. They started driving to Matehuala, about the halfway point to Ajijic. Periodically, Marc would take a screenshot of Google Maps to text to his son, so he would not worry.
[8:58] The entire trip was taken over toll-roads. It happens that the State Department approves of the same route Marc took. Every expat they had met assured them of its safety. There were trucks and more trucks, mostly going to the U.S. When Marc had crossed the border, the lines coming North were much longer than those going South.
[10:01] It was convoluted to cross the border. Marc would not have figured it out without help. About 30 miles in, you run into the formal immigration office. You can’t go through it if you missed going through immigration at the border. There is a lot of daily border crossing just for shopping that never gets more than a few miles from the border.
[10:52] Marc has not added up the tolls yet but estimates that in two days, the tolls exceeded $100. The roads were very good. There were cows and horses in the medians and side of the road. It’s free grazing. Don’t drive at night or you might hit a cow or horse.
[11:55] Central Mexico is gorgeous. It is high desert. As you climb the hills, you will get caught behind overloaded trucks going very slowly. They stayed at Las Palmas in Matehuala. Las Palmas is pet-friendly and it has a good restaurant.
[13:40] Saturday morning, they departed for Ajijic. About halfway there, they stopped at a rest stop. JP was listening to Mexico playing Korea in the World Cup Games. But, he turned the car off, left the air conditioner and the radio on at the rest stop. The battery died. JP flagged down someone to give them a jump. Everyone carries them in Mexico.
[15:27] They arrived in Ajijic in the late afternoon. After settling in, they went shopping for a blender at WalMart and a slow cooker at a dollar store on the square in Ajijic. Since then, they have bought a WiFi extender, a cat tree, and other items they couldn’t fit in the car on the way down.
[16:28] Chapala is about a mile from Riberas del Pillas, the mostly expat community where Marc is staying. They are renting a one-bedroom 800 square foot house for $620 a month. They went to Chapala for market day. Marc bought one Kilo of strawberries for 25 pesos, or $1.25. Fresh whole chickens are inexpensive.
[17:30] See Marc’s blog post about the business aspects of working remotely in Mexico. The internet is not the best; he is in an AT&T dead spot between two towers. He is working through the problems.
[18:17] They are settled in. Marc recorded this episode on July 3rd. They have been in Ajijic a little over a week. The cats are settled in. They will stay for 12 weeks. They need a long-term rental for later this year.
[18:54] Marc explains why he hired a driver from Laredo to Ajijic. He has been in the wrong place at the wrong time in other countries more than once. He was in China for the SARS epidemic and also for the spy plane scandal in 2004. Other occasions made him glad to have local support. The level of stress was reduced greatly by a driver.
[19:53] JP proved to be good for conversation as well about things related to Mexico and the U.S. One topic was how the end of NAFTA caused a huge spike in Mexican gas prices at the pump. Marc noticed gas prices are about twice what he was paying in the U.S. High fructose corn syrup and American foods are causing an obesity epidemic.
[21:43] As more expats come to the North Shore of Lake Chapala, they drive prices up for housing and rental. Local Mexicans are being priced out. This is similar to what’s happening where Marc lives in Austin, Texas.
[22:07] Look for more on Marc’s move to Mexico in the coming weeks. Marc is getting feedback that people are enjoying hearing the processes of his move. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments for this podcast. Marc will do an episode on his move about once a month.
[24:19] Check back next week, when Marc will either air the third part of “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” or the episode recorded with Mike O’Krent.
Running a Business in Ajijic Mexico
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has accepted five initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. They are guiding him on what to build. He is recruiting members for the sixth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-86 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Marc shares with the audience how he got to where he is today as a coach, author, and podcast host. He gives case studies from some of his clients and suggestions for action.
[:57] Marc welcomes you to Episode 85 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with others. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:34] Last week’s episode was part two of a four-part series called “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Marc will return to that series in a couple of weeks.
[1:45] Next week’s episode will cover Marc’s and his wife’s driving to Mexico the last week of June. It will be the next of a series about becoming an expat in Mexico and taking Career Pivot with him.
[1:57] This episode comes from when Denise King interviewed Marc during the “Escape the Corporate World Now” Summit.
[2:07] Denise, the host, welcomes the audience to “Escape the Corporate World Now Summit” and introduces her guest, Marc Miller. Marc gives his bio — he is a Baby Boomer, raised to be an employee of a company that would take care of him for 30-40 years. They ‘moved his cheese,’ and it didn’t happen.
[3:20] Marc graduated in the mid-to-late 70’s with an engineering degree and went to work for IBM. After 22 years of ‘wandering’ from area to area at IBM, they cut his pension plan. He left to work for a successful tech startup that was quickly acquired by Lucent.
[4:34] On July 11, 2002, Marc had a bicycling accident going downhill on a blind turn. He crashed head-first into a vehicle going uphill at about his speed. He broke or dislocated several bones but had no internal or brain injuries. In three days, he was on crutches. In 10 weeks, he was on a bike. In four months, he was flying to China, into the bird flu.
[5:43] Marc wondered why he was doing that. His first tech startup left him debt-free and mortgage-free, even after he had put his son through college. He was grateful that his accident gave him more time with his son. After four years at school, his son came back and listened to Marc.
[7:06] The year after his accident, Marc laid himself off and got his Math teaching certificate. Then he went to teach high school math. He devotes a chapter of his book to this experience. He wasn’t the best fit for the job and it wasn’t a good fit for him. Years of teaching adults had not prepared him for teaching high school.
[7:56] Next, Marc moved to fund-raising for the Jewish Community Center in Austin. That was an interesting experience, but not for him. He relapsed into working for a tech startup. Logitech bought them and it “got really, really ugly, really, really fast.” He timed his resignation to get the optimal financial reward.
[9:15] That’s when Marc started Career Pivot, primarily because he had changed careers seven times, using a process for change. That process is a pivot, changing from position to position in incremental steps.
[9:57] You can either change a business skill or switch industries using the same skill. It doesn’t work well to try a new skill in a different industry. Marc gives a case study of a successful pivot done over years.
[11:58] When Marc came out of teaching and went back to a startup he was feeling lost. He watched his friends still at IBM and other companies who were being spat out in their early 50s, and they were totally lost. Marc joined the board of LaunchPad Job Club and wondered who was helping his generation.
[12:42] When Marc started at the startup LifeSize, the great recession of 2008 hit. He searched for career books or a career website for Baby Boomers. Marc found nothing. Marc hired a student intern to do some Boomer research. Boomers were expected to retire. State pensions are in debt. Most Boomers will not retire.
[14:21] Marc wants to work on his terms at something he loves. He launched the Career Pivot Brand in 2012 because nobody else was addressing this problem. Even still, a Google search today shows Career Pivot to be the only site focused on Boomer careers.
[15:58] For hundreds of years new technologies have replaced old technologies in a form of creative destruction. It used to talk 50 years, now it happens quickly. Think what the iPhone has done to cellular and what Amazon has done to retail.
[17:10] Marc has a creative destruction workshop he gives. He explains how to stay ahead of the creative destruction. Your growth will be funded by you. No one’s going to take care of you, anymore. You have to stay on top of things.
[19:59] In the corporate world we play roles. If we do it long enough, we believe the role. Marc explained how he behaves as an extrovert, because it pays, even though it exhausts him.
[21:13] Marc uses the Birkman Assessment for clients one-on-one, to poke them while assessing them. The assessment shows not only how you behave in an area, but how you want to be treated in that area.
[21:49] Marc describes case studies of structured anarchists. They love order, so long as it is their order. They are good at fixing stuff. Then they want to move on to something else.
[23:49] Marc continues explaining how the Birkman Assessment analyzes your worst and best times in your career. Then it covers your needs. The idea is to get you very self-aware about what you want.
[24:41] Our environment and who we work with are more important than what the job is. If it’s the right environment, it probably will be a job you want to do.
[26:26] Marc suggested to one client to go find a problem to solve. The problems he solves will lead him in the direction he wants to go. What drives you? What gets you up in the morning?
[27:37] Most Boomers need to find something they want to go do, with a financial element to it. There’s a balance between what you want to do, and what society will pay you for. Marc does not think anyone would pay him to be in a band.
[28:55] Quiet, by Susan Cain talks about restored niches. Some people need to exercise, some pick up a book to read, or write or draw something.
[3108] Marc opens how much the Birkman Assessment revealed about him. Marc is very, very low-change. Don’t interrupt him, and don’t get in the way of his schedule. Marc had to make some changes.
[31.59] Birkman’s category of “organizational focus” helped Marc to understand his personality compared to other people. Marc has a client he describes as a square peg because his scores are so different from others.
[32:58] Denise relates to not fitting in. Her mother was an artist, and her father was an investment banker. Denise sees that there was no combining those two roles in one job.
[33:54] Technology has created a lot of activities. For instance, recording a podcast. That was not widely available a decade ago. PCs, the internet, and telecommunication are easily affordable. Be open to new roles that were never available.
[35:12] Marc’s parting words: You need to keep an open mind. You need to know who you are. For those born in the 50s and 60s, there is a ton of data (based on life experiences). When have you been happy at work, and why? What didn’t you like to do, and why? Don’t repeat familiar experiences of the past. Run to a role, not away from it.
[36.06] Marc presents some free offers of content from CareerPivot.com.
[36:51] Marc says you can either walk off a cliff, let someone push you off the cliff, or best yet, plan the trip and wear a parachute. Plan your career.
[39:39] Check back next week, when Marc will air the episode recorded during their trip to Ajijic, Mexico.
Jewish Community Center of Austin
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has four initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. They are guiding him on what to build. He is recruiting members for the fifth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-85 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In Part 2 of this series, Marc covers the second half of a feedback session with Juan about his personality assessment.
[1:12] Marc welcomes you to Episode 84 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with others. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:40] Last week’s episode was part one of a four-part series called “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Juan is in his mid-fifties, a former school teacher, technology trainer, adjunct professor, and multipotentialite. Juan is trying to figure out what is next.
[2:04] This episode covers the second half of the first feedback session Marc held with Juan. If you haven’t listened to the first half of the feedback session, please stop and listen to it on episode 83, presented last week, before listening to the rest of this episode.
[2:13] You will find all the reports used in this four-episode series at CareerPivot.com/Juan. You may pause the podcast now to download the reports.
[2:27] After today’s episode, Marc will take a two-week break in the “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” series, first, with an interview with Denise King and then a report on the Miller family’s pivot to Mexico. Then Marc will present Parts Three and Four of this series, “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?”
[3:00] Marc directs Juan to the organizational piece of the Birkman Assessment. First comes Juan’s attention to detail. Juan is systematic and process-driven. He likes an environment that’s predictable. He values policies and rules. Juan doesn’t do well in chaos. He is reassured by having a predictable income and stressed without one.
[5:52] Juan’s causes of stress are, pressure to change his plan of action, and too much attention to details. Juan’s stress reactions are a de-emphasis on systems and being over-controlling.
[6:34] Juan’s assertiveness score: positions of command and control appeal to Juan. Juan is satisfied by giving and carrying out definite, clear-cut directions. Juan organizes, initiates, and carries out his own activities and the activities of others. Juan is self-assertive, enjoys directing others, and seeks to influence and excel.
[7:46] Marc notes that Juan’s emotional side probably gives him a softer touch in dealing with people, even when being direct.
[8:24] Juan needs to know that authority is being exercised in a fair and effective manner. Both the dictator boss and the weak boss will drive Juan “crazy.”
[9:34] Juan responds adversely to people who are extreme in handling authority. He will either back off or become argumentative.
[10:10] Restlessness, or seeking varied activities, is the next trait discussed. Juan is always ready to start new things and enjoys handling a variety of task at the same time. Juan’s assets are adaptability, responsiveness, and attentiveness. Juan tends very much to be a catalyst to change. He is easy to stimulate, flexible, and attentive.
[11:33] Juan’s surroundings should provide a balance of variety and novelty with ample opportunity for him to change his activities. He left school because it was monotonous and devoid of anything creative.
[12:58] Juan may find it more and more difficult to discipline himself as changes are imposed upon him. His strengths are related to the extent to which he has control over his daily routine.
[14:33] Juan is resistant to abrupt change and annoyed at delays.
[15:08] The next topic is time management and decision-making. Juan is energetic, enthusiastic, and vigorous. His natural high energy level leads him to take on many activities and projects, making it easy to neglect rest and relaxation. For optimum performance, he needs time for re-energizing.
[16:55] In Juan’s career, he has found himself at full steam and going at high power until he was exhausted and needed to take a break now and then. His high incentive score leads him to compete for the reward. Marc asks him to read Quiet, by Susan Cain. Susan comes up with the idea for restorative niches. This is a tip for introverts.
[18:30] Juan should schedule in restorative niches, or ten-minute breaks he can take during the day to do a quick activity he enjoys.
[19:38] Marc talks about how, at conferences, he took breaks away from the group, and even went out for dinner by himself.
[21:05] In hurried situations where Juan does not have the opportunity to think through a process, he is likely to feel rushed and less-effective. He likes to consider all the possibilities. It took him a month to buy a laptop. He describes making the decision.
[24:50] Juan worries about his decision-making about big decisions.
[25:35] Situations that require quick and decisive action make Juan feel hurried and rushed. Making decisions when he is not ready is very stressful for him.
[26:42] Juan’s stress reactions are over-concern for consequences, postponing decisions, and anxiety. He can procrastinate.
[27:04] Marc gives Juan an assignment. Juan needs to remember events when he went into stress and analyze them. What was stressing him? Then he wants Juan to put these into 8-15 statements and distill them into a narrative about himself.
[28:24] Marc explains that Juan can perform this exercise with any of the assessments using the strengths finder.
[28:48] The next feedback session (in three weeks) will cover Juan’s preferred management workstyles, how he fits in the corporate workstyle, how he fits in society, and how he makes decisions.
[29:57] Juan is a global conceptual thinker. He is creative in his decision-making. The more you understand how you think, the more you will see how other people think differently. Marc talks about the next assignment. Juan needs to consider three problems he solved in his personal life and three problems he solved at work.
[31:21] Juan will do his homework and then schedule his next session with Marc. Marc wants Juan to be able to explain his decision-making process to potential employers. Meanwhile, he is learning classroom education is not for him.
[32:12] In a couple of months, we will do this again with Sarah. Sarah is a creative who has managed to stuff her creative streak in her career. She is a square peg.
[34:10] Check back next week, when Marc will air the interview when Denise King interviewed Marc during the “Escape the Corporate World, Now” summit.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-83 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-84 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
Reports used in the Feedback Session with Juan Doe
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking, by Susan Cain
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has four initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. They are guiding him on what to build. He will start recruiting members for the fifth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-84 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In Part 1 of this series, Marc covers the first half of a feedback session with Juan about his personality assessment. The second half of the feedback session will be in next week’s episode.
[1:20] Marc welcomes you to Episode 83 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:48] This begins a four-part series called “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Juan is in his mid-fifties, a former school teacher, technology trainer, adjunct professor, and multipotentialite. Juan is trying to figure out what is next. This episode is the first half of the first feedback session Marc held with Juan. You will hear the second half next week.
[2:16] You will find all the reports used in this four-episode series at CareerPivot.com/Juan. You may pause the podcast now to download the reports. Or you could listen to the episode, download the reports, and listen to it again.
[2:36] Marc will take a two-week break after Episode Two of this series, then he will be back with an interview and then a report on the Miller family’s pivot to Mexico before the Parts Three and Four episodes of this series, “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Marc will later do a similar series with “Sarah.”
[3:02] Marc thanks Juan for being willing to share his Birkman Assessment with the audience. Juan talks about his background. He attended a community college, a state university, and then earned a Master’s degree. He saw education as an insurance policy that would make him lay-off proof. He has changed his mind about that.
[4:51] Juan has been an educator, a computer technology trainer, a financial education trainer, a public school teacher, and taught at a college and a university. He didn’t want to follow the rigid path of his father who worked 40 years at a steel mill.
[6:00] Marc points out that a school teacher has a rigid schedule. Juan does not want to return to teaching school if he has other options.
[6:44] Marc starts to go into the Birkman Assessment with Juan. Juan’s ego is fed externally. He needs people around him for support. He needs a tribe. He worries and thinks a lot before making big decisions.
[7:29] Juan gives his first reaction to reading the personality assessment. He had never taken an assessment and he found it to be insightful and revealing.
[8:27] Marc promises Juan more clarity as they explore the report. First comes the Signature Summary. At the top, there are Birkman Components. For each component there is a Usual Behavior number and a Needs number. The first number is how Juan describes his behavior. The second number is how Juan wants to be treated.
[8:55] Juan follows the normative pattern but has some big gaps. His Social Energy shows he is a closet introvert. His Self-Consciousness score shows he wants people to treat him with respect — more than he treats them. His Thought score shows he considers himself a quick thinker but big decisions are painful for him.
[9:39] In a number of areas, Juan throws off a false persona. In some areas it is real. Juan “looks like” a teacher.
[10:03] Next is Birkman Interests. Juan’s numbers indicate he has a wide variety of interests. The Birkman Map of his usual behavior shows that Juan wants to be treated differently than his behavior and interests indicate. He has learned to behave like an introvert. Marc relates to that.
[11:11] Next Marc covers the Birkman Interests page. Numbers above 90 refer to ‘must-haves.’ Juan has only one area above 90: Literary. He loves to read books on business, biographies, history, science, spiritual topics, sociology, nature. He reads at least an hour a day for enjoyment, relaxation, and education.
[12:21] Marc recommends taking a 15-minute book break when Juan gets stressed. Juan also likes writing on a blog or for a copy. He journals a few lines every day. Marc notes that you can’t always get paid for writing. The next highest area is Scientific. Juan likes figuring things out in research. He lists a few interests.
[15:02] Juan also has a high Musical number. He gives a few of his musical interests. Juan has a moderately high Technical number. He likes solving problems.
[15:57] Juan has a lot of categories in the middle: Administrative, Artistic, Persuasive, Outdoors, Social Service. Numerical is his lowest number. Most of Juan’s interest are in the middle range. Every few years in Juan’s career he has gotten bored and moved on.
[17:21] Marc describes Juan as a multipotentialite. Ten to fifteen percent of the population fits this category. They are generalists. Corporate America values specialists, not generalists.
[18:07] Marc goes to the Behavioral Matrix for three areas: Interpersonal, Organizational and Time Management/Planning (decision making). Marc compares Juan’s numbers with the median numbers.
[19:38] The first topic is Self-Consciousness and sensitivity when dealing with others. Juan’s usual behaviors are Frank, Direct, and Matter-of-Fact. His score is a six compared to the median score of 25. His Needs are to be treated with more respect than he treats others. If he is berated, it bothers him.
[22:21] Juan's needs are not obvious from his usual behavior. It is easy for others to mistakenly assume he needs to be treated in a frank and direct manner. His feelings may be hurt, on occasion. He wears his emotions.
[23:31] Juan’s Stress Reactions are Embarrassment, Shyness, and Oversensitivity. As a child he enjoyed being alone, reading, and working by himself.
[25:07] Juan’s Social Energy is that he is generally pleasant, outgoing, and at ease and comfortable in group activities. His warm manner helps him meet people easily, which is good in social situations. Juan’s Usual Behaviors are Sociable, Communicative, and At Ease in Groups. His Social number is 98 against the median of 75.
[25:30] Juan’s Needs: his high Social number conceals Juan's need to spend time alone or in the company of one or two significant individuals. He has learned how to behave socially but it consumes a lot of his energy. When he networks it has to be for a specific interest.
[27:38] Continuous pressure to be in social situations can upset his sense of well-being. Without sufficient time to himself, Juan is likely to become withdrawn, possible to a surprising extent.
[28:30] Marc recommends that Juan should bracket recharge time before and after a networking event to be alone. Marc gives an example from his own experience.
[30:36] Juan reads the Possible Stress Reactions: withdrawal, tendency to ignore groups, impatience. Juan agrees. That is one of the reasons Juan is looking at a career transition.
[31:07] Emotional Energy is the next area. Juan is open and comfortable with expressing emotion. Juan prefers not to get too involved in the emotional problems of other people and finds it important to keep the facts in sight. At the same time Juan has a genuine understanding and sympathy for people’s feelings.
[31:34] Juan’s Usual Behaviors are objective yet warm, sympathetic yet practical. Juan’s number is 51 against the median of 25. For a male, he is pretty emotional. He talks about how he relates in difficult emotional situations.
[32:26] Juan’s Needs number is 82. His Needs are that he functions best in surroundings that allow him and others to express and work out their emotional responses. He needs to feel that others are aware of his feelings and value them. He wants to feel significant and valued.
[33:11] As Juan looks back, he sees his career has tilted more toward female-dominated career areas. Marc says this is where men who are emotional will do better. Marc compared this to “Tim’s” experience. Tim and Juan both want people to outwardly care about them.
[35:59] Juan’s causes of stress: when Juan thinks others are overlooking his feelings, he tends to overemphasize the importance of his feelings and become dispirited. Juan’s Stress Reactions are becoming overly sensitive, loss of objectivity, and strong discouragement.
[36:48] Juan’s usual behaviors in Drive for Personal Rewards are being competitive and business-like and he values what will promote immediate purposes and objectives. Juan enjoys personal competition and finds bargaining stimulating and desirable.
[37:05] Juan is competitive, resourceful, and opportunity-minded. This behavior is not typical of an educator. Juan’s needs are very typical of an educator.
[38:10] Juan needs an environment that encourages individual performance and motivates people with individual incentives. It is important to Juan that personal efforts and achievements are continually recognized and rewarded. He wants people to notice his good work. The education system is not oriented around recognizing educators.
[39:18] Marc says that for people who have a high need to feel valued, there are six motivators for them, the mission (non-profits or military), public recognition, the bonus check, and the pat on the back from your boss, your team, or your client.
[39:57] Marc gives Juan an assignment to get clear about what he wants. He needs to reflect back on when he has been the happiest, when he has felt the most valued, and what they did to make him feel that way. People want to be rewarded in their own way. The only way to communicate that to your boss is to go ask for it.
[40:54] Marc shares when he received no client feedback, vs. ‘Wow!’ client feedback.
[42:02] Juan’s causes of stress: his basic attitudes cause him to put his own interests above the interests of others, without being fully aware of it. People who are too trusting and idealistic annoy Juan. He sees them as phony. Juan’s stress reactions are to act self-protectively, become materialistic, and be self-promoting.
[43:59] Non-profits and schools, which tend to be very idealistic, are not great long-term environments for Juan. Juan has just realized they are not a good match for his personality.
[43:25] Marc’s last thoughts: Juan, as a multipotentialite, bounced around in his career, doing something different, every few years. Now in his mid-fifties, with no obvious direction, Marc will attempt to steer Juan to the path to success.
[45:06] Check back next week, when Marc will finish the first feedback session with Juan.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-83 “Can Juan Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on the iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has four initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life. They are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fifth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-83 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Marti Konstant reviews core principles of agile thinking. She focuses on what she learned from her body of research and how it applies to people at any stage of their career and life but especially to those who are set in their ways and need a new way to see the world. Listen in for an exciting and purposeful conversation on agility!
[:56] Marc welcomes you to Episode 82 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:25] Several episodes back, Marc asked for volunteers for the “Can You Repurpose Your Career” series. Marc worked with Tim in episodes 48-51.
[1:38] Marc has selected two volunteers — Juan, a 55-year old former school teacher, who’s trying to figure out what is next, and Sarah, a marketer who is a square peg. Sarah is in her early fifties and Marc will help her figure what the future may hold. Each of these will comprise of three or four episodes spread out over several months.
[2:06] Marc wants you to see how some personalities have difficulty fitting in today’s workplace. Teachers, if they’ve taught for many years, they struggle to find their place in the traditional workplace. They don’t quite feel they fit in, but don’t know why. Marc will explore where they fit in and where they are misinterpreted.
[2:48] In this week’s episode, Marc interviews Marti Konstant, author of Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change Will Inspire Your Life’s Work. Marti is a workplace futurist with an agile mindset. She is a career growth analyst, author, speaker, and Founder of the Agile Careerist Project.
[3:13] Marti’s career path includes artist, designer, brand developer, entrepreneur, technology marketing executive, investor, and a 2nd half of life career pivoter.
[3:26] Marc welcomes Marti to the Repurpose Your Career podcast.
[4:22] Marti talks about a career detour that started early in her life with diagnoses of skeletal diseases that put her in a full-body brace for her high-school years. What it did was taught Marti the value of true friends, and gave her focus on her schoolwork. She learned to adapt to a life of near-immobility.
[7:39] Marc relates to that, as he recalls rupturing the L4-L5 disk in his back and being bed-bound for four months.
[8:36] Marti started as a graphic designer, then ran a B-2-B business with a partner. The next third of her career, Marti migrated into marketing. She got an MBA and worked for growth-stage technology companies. When she was Chief Marketer at a company, it was sold to a Fortune 100 company. She had been working towards that success.
[11:41] Observing engineers, she took their agile production techniques of breaking things into smaller pieces and collaborating on projects, and applied those methods to the marketing business. She learned about formal project management and cites the way it was used to put a man on the moon.
[13:06] In 2012 Marti worked with a group of global marketers to apply agile methods to the marketing process. They came up with an agile marketing manifesto.
[13:49] Marketing was modestly different from engineering, so the agile method principles had to be adjusted. Marti started thinking about adjusting some of the principles of agile methods to the management of one’s own career. In 2012, the world was reeling from the global financial crisis. People were not adapting to the changes.
[14:50] There was downsizing and organizations became efficient. People became consultants who did not want to be consultants. Marti thought the world needed agile methods to adapt to changes.
[16:00] Marti reviews “lean” methods — test a product; get market feedback; change the product according to the feedback. It is a subset of agile thinking. Marti put up some LinkedIn Slideshare pieces that were 12-15 slides long, based on 20 interviews she had conducted and they got thousands of views and hundreds of downloads.
[17:00] Marti adjusted her interview process and did about 120 interviews of one-third Millennials, one-third Gen-Xers and one-third Boomers. Then she hired a marketing research firm to survey mid-careerists between the ages of 35 to early 50s. Marti learned many things through this project.
[17:45] Marti’s big ‘aha’ was that every individual is skewed more towards being set in their ways or agile. Marti found that people who were adaptable and responded to change were able to advance, be happier in their jobs and had the mindset that they didn’t have to worry about things like recessions.
[19:14] The career agility model starts with the design-thinking phase of life, when we’re exploring and refining what we want to do. We should never let the design-thinking phase of our life end. Then we determine at some point what our strengths, likes, and dislikes are. We enter the career hypothesis phase.
[20:30] You graduate from school or a program, or you learn it on your own, and then you start your career. Marti found that 80% of the people who were interviewed got the job they could get — not that perfect job. Sometimes they ended up in completely unexpected roles. The first job very often impacted their career trajectory.
[21:06] The model covers things like having a project mindset, A-B testing your career, the concept of an idea zone (similar to a backlog that software engineers use where they nurture ideas for the next generation of their product), activating the feedback squad of mentors, colleagues, advisors and “learning from dead people.”
[22:05] Life and work aren’t about one thing. We are more productive when we explore on the side things unrelated to our core industry or interest. This helps us in the way that we solve problems. Parallel pursuits can be side gigs or freelance work. Meanwhile, optimize your career brand.
[22:46] Similar to the five stages of grieving, you don’t have to do the steps of the agility model in order. Many of the most successful agile careerists went through all or most of the steps.
[23:08] Marti talks about the project mindset. View your career as a series of projects rather than as one big thing. A project generates excitement. It has a foreseeable beginning, middle and end. When something gets too protracted, it get boring. The ideal segment of time today for a role is about two to three years.
[24:46] The project mindset is pretty intriguing because one of the biggest problems we have in our workplace today is lack of engagement. A large percent of disengaged workers are actively negative.
[25:15] Marti talks about optimizing the areas of creativity, growth, and happiness. If you are optimizing on these three fronts, you are in the right role and in the zone but it’s always important to think about what’s next.
[25:45] Seth Godin proposed the concept of life as a series of projects. Seth started in corporate. Now he takes each of his book ideas, creates a project of it, gets a sponsor, and does workshops around it. Each book project is focused on helping people to be more productive and successful. Marti talks about debriefing and tweaking the project.
[27:05] Marc relates his experience of his expected linear career on graduation in 1978. This was the steadfast mindset. Marc talks about the creative destruction of the iPhone and other innovations. Marc has people in his community who are stuck because they want to do things that don’t exist anymore.
[28:52] If you don’t adapt, you will be left behind. Marti refers to Joseph Schumpeter’s theory of creative destruction. Today the destruction is accelerating. The half-life of an education is now less than five years. Agility thinking is not age-specific. Integrate agility into thinking or you will leave a lot of opportunities and rich experiences on the table.
[31:49] You never really know what you’re walking into. When Marti started this project five years ago, she had just sold her company, was consulting, traveling to Silicon Valley, and doing this research on the side. She didn’t know why she was doing it or where it would lead but she was curious and couldn’t drop it.
[32:43] She started to ask how she could use this body of work to help people and mitigate some of the pain and suffering they go through in managing their career. She devised models and workshops. She helped people develop career brand maps. She built tools useful in a webinar or an interview. She knew it couldn’t be about her opinion.
[34:07] Marti provides exercises at the end of each book chapter similar to the types of things she would cover in a workshop to help people with tools of agility. Marti believes people of any age can learn this and learn to optimize their creativity, growth, and happiness. Marti wants to mitigate the technology overwhelm.
[35:04] Marti’s last bit of advice: pick out a hobby or something that challenges you in a way that is exciting for you. Do something on the side that will be useful for you in the future. This isn’t a quick fix. You might find something that could be a parallel track for you and you could find yourself jumping a lane in the near future.”
[36:00] In light of chaos theory, Marc recommends you randomly try stuff. “Go take a dart and throw it against the wall and see what it hits.”
[36:37] Marti cites Tina Seelig of Stanford: “Experiences lead to passions, not the other way around.” Marti says that is a golden nugget. The reality is testing, experimentation, and measuring to find what you like. Give yourself permission to try new things.
[40:27] Check back next week, when Marc starts the “Can Juan Repurpose His Career?” Series.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-49 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-50 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 3”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-51 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 4”
Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol S. Dweck
CareerPivot.com/Episode-20 with Elizabeth Rabaey
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Get more information and sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and he is onboarding the fourth cohort. They are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fifth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-82 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode Marc and Mark address questions about pivoting from installer to instructor, re-entering the workforce as a trainer after years of raising a family, and transitioning from IT consultant to full-time CIO.
[1:01] Marc welcomes you to Episode 81 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:34] Next week’s show Marc interviews Marti Konstant, author of Activate Your Agile Career: How Responding to Change Will Inspire Your Life’s Work. Marti is a workplace futurist with an agile mindset. She is a career growth analyst, author, speaker, and Founder of the Agile Careerist Project.
[1:57] Marti has been an artist, designer, brand developer, entrepreneur, technology marketing executive, investor, and a 2nd half of life career pivoter.
[2:11] This week is the Q&A episode, with Mark Anthony Dyson of The Voice of Job Seekers podcast. Marc welcomes Mark to help answer listener questions.
[2:51] Q1: I am a 61-year-old floor installer. The products change every year the installation is different. I come up with ways to install each product as it comes out. Because of the weight I cannot physically keep this up. What can I do?
[3:30] A1: Flooring installation is easier for a younger person than a 60-year-old. Marc suggests doing YouTube videos. Marc found some DIY floor installing videos with a million views. The installer could have someone record the installation on an iPhone. Mark wonders if he needs immediate cash flow because video is a long path to income.
[7:32] Mark suggests podcasts, consulting, and training. He could be a source of referrals to other installers for a fee. He could teach installers at retailers like Home Depot. The main thing is to get out of the physical aspect of the installation. SCORE is a source of new business consultation for free.
[10:58] Marc recommends the Small Business Development Center near Austin, and many places around the country. Listen to Episode 77 to learn more.
[11:20] Q2: After years of corporate training, I took time off to raise my daughter. She is graduating HS in two weeks and I am ready to get back to training. A few of my challenges: I haven’t used much of the new technology since 2008; I haven’t spoken in front of an audience or worked since 2009. Not sure where to begin.
[11:50] A2: Mark knew the person and went in-depth with them. Some of the technologies haven’t changed a lot, such as Microsoft Office. What has changed is the way you are going to market yourself. Use social media for business.
[14:47] Marc has experience with the world of training, until 2011. He suggests looking at all the want ads, and seeing what tools they requesting. Some examples are Captivate, Articulate, Storyline. They could pick one and learn it to gain experience. These are not hard tools if you understand instructional design.
[15:34] Then you can start saying, “I’m translating curriculum development online.” Listen to the last episode where Marc interviewed Carol Fishman Cohen who runs iRelaunch. Employers are more interested that you have the fire to learn the new technology than being completely up-to-date on it. You have to stretch yourself.
[16:36] Mark reminds the listener that there is marketing and PR to do to get in front of the right eyes, especially if you’ve been out of the market for years. You’ve got to be doing something and displaying some relevancy. Try Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and other online learning sources. The cost is worth it.
[18:59] Q3: I am 65 and I have been an IT consultant/interim CIO for the last 25 years. I want to finish my career as a CIO at a small-to-medium-sized business. I cannot convince people I am worth the risk. I have worked in so many industries that people say I do not have the necessary experience and I get passed over. What should I do?
[19:29] A3: Marc told him to reach out to all the people he has consulted for over the years. These are his weak ties. He needs to methodically reconnect with each one and ask, “I’m looking for some advice. What do you think I should do?” Mark suggests narrowing it to one industry where he can demonstrate he has knowledge.
[23:51] He needs to update his resume. It shows jobs back to the ‘70s. No one in the technology world cares about anything before 2010. Technology changes every year. Relationships change too. Keep relationships current. Focus on one field. He must be a master of something, at age 65.
[27:26] Check back next week, when Marc interviews Agile Careerist Marti Konstant.
Mike O’Krent, Life Stories Alive
Repurpose Your Career Episode 7 with Mike O’Krent
Joe Harper and the Small Business Development Center
Repurpose Your Career Episode 77 with Joe Harper
Repurpose Your Career Episode 80 with Carol Fishman Cohen
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has four initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fifth cohort. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-81 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Carol Fishman Cohen presents her view of bringing people (especially women) back into the workplace after a career break and what the importance is of experience in leadership.
[:55] Marc welcomes you to Episode 80 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:19] Next week’s show is the Q&A episode, with Mark Anthony Dyson of the Voice of Jobseekers podcast. Together, Marc and Mark will answer listener questions.
[1:29] In this week’s episode, Marc interviews Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of IRelaunch. IRelaunch is the leader in career re-entry programming. IRelaunch works directly with nearly 40 Blue Chip companies to develop, pilot, source for, present in, and publicize re-entry internship programs and hiring.
[2:14] Marc welcomes Carol. Carol is the host of 3, 2, 1, Relaunch podcast. Marc feels their audiences intersect, so he invited Carol on the show. Carol reviews how she started iReLaunch, after a career break of 11 years while she raised her family.
[4:08] iReLaunch is the pioneering company ‘in this space’ and Carol feels like the grandmother.
[4:46] iReLaunch provides tools and resources for individuals in all stages of relaunching their career, at companies from over 50 people to over 1,000 people. Companies engage with this pool through mid-career paid internships and direct open hiring, even without a career re-entry program.
[5:33] iReLaunch does this with return-to-work programs, internships, workshopped based or companies that want to hire people who are returning after a career break. They do conferences and events, working with companies individually or in groups, and products like the iReLaunch Road Map, an online product.
[6:08] iReLaunch engages with ReLaunchers directly through iReLaunch Return to Work Conferences, held 22 times at Stanford and Columbia since 2008 with over 6,400 people attending so far. The conferences are promoted through alumni associations. 70% of attendees have graduate degrees. 100% of attendees have bachelor’s degrees.
[7:37] 93% of attendees at these conferences historically have been female, but the most recent conference may have had up to 12% male. As more men take career breaks for family leave, Carol expects to see more men attend.
[8:37] 70% of the people who attend these conferences have had 10 years of work experience before their career breaks. 70% of attendees are interested in returning to full-time jobs. 30% are looking for either an entrepreneurial venture or a reduced hours arrangement.
[9:04] 84% of Millennials are expecting a career break of four weeks or longer at some point, according to Manpower research. Carol gives some detail.
[11:10] People are retiring later, and those in retirement are interested in unretiring.
[11:43] Originally iReLaunch was focusing solely on women. Now they are focusing on all ReLaunchers. Paid internships are a good way to try out a worker.
[13:15] Carol takes a look at the history of the Relaunch movement and paid internships. Once the program was up and running, companies could see how beneficial it was and how experienced and engaged the new interns are.
[14:50] There has to be a sense of urgency about women in mid-to-senior leadership positions.
[15:37] With the success of company internships for ReLaunchers, Carol looked toward the Technical field for growth. Carol had a STEM Reentry Task Force in mind. The Society of Women Engineers partnered with iReLaunch to support it. The initiative now includes 20 global companies piloting a formal return to work for technical people.
[17:27] One of the missions of iReLaunch is to spotlight success stories, so companies can shape their expectations based on good experiences.
[18:01] People returning to technology after a break of some years have to be willing to throw themselves into continuing education to keep up. This pathway back with some formal updating is a total, viable pathway with as lot of success.
[19:33] The typical age range of people who are reentering with iReLaunch is between 50 and 60. They need to become subject matter experts all over again, reading all the latest thinking in the field and following the top experts. See Episode 72 with Alexander Buschek. Write a whitepaper! Be bold!
[24:45] The vision for iReLaunch: At a future point in time recruiters and employers don’t attach risk to hiring people who are returning from a career break.
[28:01] Wall Street is now seeking programs to get STEM workers back.
[29:35] The caliber of the people who are in these programs is high. Between 50-100% of them are being hired when the program is complete.
[32:23] Check back next week, when Marc and Mark Anthony Dyson will answer your questions.
iReLaunch Return to Work Conference
The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, by Lynda Gratton & Andrew Scott
How to Get Back to Work After a Career Break. TED talk
CareerPivot.com/Episode-72 with Alexander Buschek
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-80 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc covers the steps of relocating abroad and securing the resources for safe and healthy living for his family while running his business full-time.
[1:14] Marc welcomes you to Episode 79 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:46] Next week, Marc will interview Carol Fishman Cohen, CEO and Co-Founder of IRelaunch. IRelaunch is the leader in career re-entry programming. IRelaunch works directly with 40 Blue Chip companies to develop, pilot, source for, present in, and publicize re-entry internship programs and hiring, focusing on those with career breaks.
[2:28] In this episode, Marc will talk about the next steps the Millers will be taking in becoming expats in Mexico. But first, Marc announces plans for another “Can You Repurpose Your Career?” series, similar to Episodes 48-51 from October 2017.
[2:57] If you would like to go through this process anonymously with Marc on the podcast, please email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
[3:12] For his new listeners, Marc reviews the purpose for his family’s planned move to Mexico. For the last year, Marc has been chronicling his experiences relating to the move. Marc blogs about it on his website and covers it in his podcast. Listen to episodes 55, 66, and 74 for background.
[4:19] Marc’s expat journey began back in October 2016 when he received the 50% rate increase for his Blue Cross/Blue Shield health insurance. Marc and his wife are both in their 60s and self-employed. The Affordable Care Act was not affordable for them, but it did allow them to get insurance. Then came the election and uncertainty about the ACA.
[5:16] At the same time, Marc’s sales pipeline completely dried up. By the first half of 2017, Marc’s business was off 60%. Marc and his wife focused on what they could control. Over the years, they had talked about becoming expats, so they decided to do that.
[5:57] In the Spring of 2017, they visited San Miguel de Allende, in Mexico. On a trip to Cuenca, Ecuador, Marc’s wife collapsed. Back in the U.S., she went into the hospital. The bills were expensive. Marc started his community membership website then.
[6:30] They made their first trip to Ajijic, Mexico on Lake Chapala, the largest lake in Mexico, close to the Guadalajara airport. Guadalajara is the second largest city in Mexico. There are many convenient flights there. You can do just fine in Ajijic without learning Spanish.
[7:50] Marc posted a question on the Chapala.com web board looking for an endocrinologist. Within 48 hours he had 28 responses.
[8:08] In March, Marc and his wife rented a garage apartment in Ajijic for four weeks. This was $825 for the four weeks. It was close to the main square and the farmers’ market. Their goal was to travel there and behave like they were living there. In four weeks, Marc had lost three pounds with no formal exercising. The food was healthy.
[10:06] Marc talks about the next steps. Marc’s wife leaves her job at the end of May, after 15 years. She’s been making $25K working two days a week.
[11:11] Marc and his wife want to keep their taxable income this year under $61K. One dollar over that means they would not get ACA tax credits. Your healthcare options for retiring pre-Medicare are getting pretty ugly.
[12:15] Marc’s next step is to meet with a Medicare consultant. Medicare does you no good outside the states, but you get a big penalty if you don’t apply at age 65.
[12:37] Marc is canceling all their mail catalog subscriptions and magazines. They will rent a house from the end of June through the end of September, halfway between Ajijic and Chapala.You can’t just drive across the border. You need a TIP, or temporary import permit, and your title. You also need Mexican car liability insurance.
[14:38] This time they will drive down with a hired driver.
[15:32] Marc will probably sell their second car. They are making Mexican doctors appointments before they leave. They are getting some documents certified, like their marriage certificate.
[16:29] They will bring their cats with them. Pets need an international form signed by the vet within 10 days before you hit the border. They have Marc’s mother’s ashes in an urn and they’re not sure what to do with them.
[19:14] Don’t drive at night in Mexico.
[19:48] Marc talks about the doctor’s appointments they will have. He also talks about setting up a long-term apartment rental for the next trip in January.
[20:39] Marc will dispose of just about everything when they get back to the States, and put a few things in storage. They will meet again with their Medicare consultant. They will meet with tax lawyers and CPAs to make sure everything is in order. They need to learn what kind of Visa they will need.
[21:49] Schwab has a really good money market fund where they refund all out-of-country ATM fees. They also need to establish an Austin-based mailing address. This allows Marc to maintain his Austin-based business. Marc describes the services of a mailbox company.
[22:50] Marc’s plans are to be in Ajijic on January 2019.
[22:58] Marc notes the tax implications of being out of the country most of the year and how much money you can earn abroad before it is taxed.
[23:45] Go to the show notes and leave Marc a comment or question and he will get back to you.
[24:02] Marc’s goal is to be out of the country for 12 months next year, except for return visits. They will continue to explore various cities and areas of Mexico, Panama, Belize and Costa Rica.
[26:23] Check back next week, when Marc will interview Carol Fishman Cohen CEO and Co-Founder of IRelaunch.
“How to Move Abroad and Take Your Job with You”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-49 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-50 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 3”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-51 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 4”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-55 “Why The Millers are Moving to Mexico and How They Will Do It!”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-66 “Marc Miller Examines His Uncertainty About Moving to Mexico”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-74 “Marc Miller’s Journey from Procrastinating Introvert to Enthusiastic Expat”
Blue Cross Blue Shield
“When Uncertainty Strikes, Focus on What You Can Control.”
Roger Whitney: Retirement Answer Man Podcast Episodes 212, 213, 214
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-79 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Jonathan Rauch, a Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institute in Washington, is the author of six books and many articles on public policy, culture, and government. He is the contributing editor of The Atlantic, and recipient of the 2005 National Magazine Award, the magazine industry’s equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize. His latest book is The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50.
[1:08] Marc welcomes you to episode 78 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:39] Next week, Marc will discuss the next steps the Millers will be taking in their move to Mexico planned for early 2019.
[1:48] In this episode, Marc interviews Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50. Before the interview, Marc announces plans for another “Can You Repurpose Your Career?” series, similar to Episodes 48-51 from October 2017.
[2:20] If you would like to go through this process anonymously with Marc on the podcast, please email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
[2:49] Marc gives an introduction for Jonathan Rauch and welcomes him to the podcast.
[3:39] How do you measure happiness? How satisfied are you with your life?
[4:22] Since the 1950s, millions of people in virtually every country have been surveyed about how contented they are with what’s going on in their lives. People are reliable in gauging their happiness. There is amazingly good data on life satisfaction.
[4:43] What is the U-shaped happiness curve? Jonathan explains what the data means. As we age, our outlook changes. We cope with stress better. We focus more on family relationships. We feel more contented.
[8:37] What is the difference between a mid-life reboot and a mid-life crisis? Jonathan tells a personal story about his own dissatisfaction in his mid-forties. In his book, Jonathan shares stories from many people he interviewed. The experience is normal but it is not something to confront alone.
[11:05] Marc refers to Episode #075, with Dr. Joel Dobbs, who climbed the ladder of success, to find it was against the wrong building. Jonathan talks about the mid-life feedback trap. Find out where your unhappiness originates before making a change you won’t like. (It might not be the building that makes you unhappy.)
[12:54] Jonathan endorses the idea of a career pivot for the second half of life. We should expect to want change. As we get older, we age out of the standard ambition and we age into mentorship and giving back.
[13:30] Jonathan likes the CareerPivot concept. You keep one foot on the ground. Marc looks back at his seven career changes by half-steps.
[15:55] Society is not prepared to adapt to our 20 additional years of active life on the upswing of the U-Curve. There needs to be social and institutional change.
[17:42] Marc has no intention of retiring.
[18:03] What everybody wants is freedom. They all know they need to keep working, but it’s probably not punching in and out for a paycheck.
[18:32] Jonathan suggests institutional and intellectual changes that would help, such as different workplace roles not working toward advancement. People don’t want to retire, become pathetic, and then die. Change the way we think of elders.
[22:04] Marc talks about an interview he had last year where the discussion turned to the kinds of work we will do in our 70s, and how we need to start preparing for those roles in our 50s.
[23:24] Jonathan’s book looks at the Transition Network of professional women age 50 and up who help women coming along behind them to prepare for repurposing their lives. It’s so much easier to transition with a support network.
[23:54] Marc has an interview coming up with Carol Fishman Cohen, the CEO of IRelaunch. They help people who have big career gaps.
[24:34] What about people who want to have everything continue as is? Portfolio careers are becoming normal. Many jobs are going away. There is not a job that is not affected by technological changes of the present and future.
[26:32] If you’re a highly-successful, achievement-oriented person; life has been good to you, you’ve hit mid-life and you can’t figure out why you’re dissatisfied, don’t be alarmed or ashamed. There is nothing wrong with you. You are preparing for more satisfaction than you have known before. The best thing to do is wait it out.
[27:28] This is a ‘we’ issue, not just a ‘me’ issue. There is likely somebody in your life right now who is going through the trough of the U-Curve. Be the support for someone going through it.
[28:54] Marc really enjoyed this book and learned a lot about his own life. Marc highly recommends this book to you.
[30:51] Check back next week, when Marc will be talking about next steps in their move to Mexico.
The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, by Jonathan Rauch
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-49 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-50 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 3”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-51 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 4”
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-78 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc interviews Joe Harper during a webinar originally held for the CareerPivot community membership site. Listen in to learn how you can apply the resources of your field SBD Center in all stages of your business, but especially as you prepare to start and grow it.
[1:00] Marc welcomes you to episode 77 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:18] Next week, Marc interviews Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, the Executive Director of The Texas State Small Business Development Center. The episode will address how people grow happier in the second half of life.
[1:51] Marc announces plans for another “Can You Repurpose Your Career?” series, similar to Episodes 48-51 from October 2017. If you would like to go through this process anonymously, with Marc on the podcast, please email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
[2:02] This week’s episode is the audio portion of a webinar Marc did with Joe Harper, the Executive Director of the Texas State Small Business Development Center. This webinar was given for the CareerPivot community membership site on how to utilize your Small Business Development Center, the hidden gem in almost every community.
[3:16] Marc introduces Joe Harper who directs the webinar.
[3:45] Joe gives the background of the Small Business Development Centers. There are over 1,100 centers in 64 states and U.S. territories starting in the early 1980s. There are 4,000 advisers in their team, nationwide.
[4:45] The SBD program provides technical assistance in the form of mentorship and training to businesses from the idea stage to the high-growth stage. Most of the focus is on businesses in the idea stage, from concept to credit.
[6:48] An adviser helps you design a strategy for executing the launch of your business, and the expansion and long-term growth of your business, up to a plan for exiting the business at the right time. Joe once tried to give his business to his son. His son declined the opportunity.
[8:03] Joe explains the mission and goals of the SBDCs. They track numbers of jobs they help create, help save and expand, the number of business they help create, and capital infusion. In the Austin area, their capital impact is about $75 million, annually.
[9:15] Joe talks about the SBDC’s role in matching a business’s financial projections and their business plan. There is planning where the money will come from, how you will use it, and how you will repay it. Sources for capital are discussed. Different programs exist for businesses at different stages.
[11:52] Joe introduces the program of the lean canvas or the nine building blocks of the business model developed by Dr. Osterwalder to predict accurately the success of your business plan and help you develop your pro forma or financial projections. Managing the cash is key.
[15:16] SBDC advisers look at three things in terms of a business’s ability to grow: 1. Do they have a willingness to grow? 2. Do they have experience in what growth looks like? 3. Do they have the capacity to grow internally and externally?
[16:24] The transition into a high-growth company usually comes with the realization that there will be awkward decisions about changing staff.
[18:01] In an online business, your digital footprint is your business. SBDC advisers spend a lot of time working with business owners on their social media strategy, websites, and tools to develop online customer relationships and understanding what customer needs and expectations are going to be. What is their value proposition?
[20:20] How do you find your nearest Small Business Development Center? Look at ASDBC.org. Find your lead center. They will direct you to your local field center. The local centers are also listed on the SBA.gov website. Different field centers will have different areas of technology or business expertise. One SBCD can refer you to another.
[22:46] The whole focus is on what’s best for the client.
[22:58] The businesses SBDC helps are for profit. Nonprofits can get help from SCORE.
[23:44] A new client of the SBDC is first advised about their business idea. There is help for every level, from ideation to exit. Some SBDCs have certified business valuators.
[28:10] Joe talks about taxes and regulations that are being pulled off the books. The new tax law allows certain assets to be expensed in the first year. Caution: an expense is not a depreciation. Joe talks about tax mitigation vs. growth and value.
[32:37] What about positioning yourself as a business as an author? It is difficult to measure the economic return on the taxpayer investment in an author or other one-person small businesses.
[30:42] Mark tells how he has researched optimum job titles through Google. Make it a relevant title for the future, not for today, or for the past. Don’t say MSDOS programmer.
[37:04] Marc invites you to check back next week to hear him interview Jonathan Rauch, author of The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-48 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 1”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-49 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 2”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-50 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 3”
CareerPivot.com/Episode-51 “Can Tim Repurpose His Career? Part 4”
Austin Small Business Development Center
The Business Model Canvas developed by Dr. Alexander Osterwalder
ASBDC.org listing every SBDC in the country.
The Happiness Curve: Why Life Gets Better After 50, by Jonathan Rauch
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, mastermind groups, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-77 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc works with his friend and fellow podcaster Mark Anthony Dyson to answer the questions on the minds of listeners of both their shows. Along the way, they share stories about themselves and others.
[:48] Marc welcomes you to episode 76 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. Marc invites you to share this podcast with like-minded souls. Please subscribe, share it on social media, write an honest iTunes review, or tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:18] Next week, Marc teams up with Joe Harper, the Executive Director of The Texas State Small Business Development Center. The episode will be the audio portion of a webinar they did together for the Career Pivot community on how to use your Small Business Development Center — a free, hidden gem in many U.S. communities.
[2:02] This week’s show is the Q&A episode, with Mark Anthony Dyson of the Voice of Jobseekers podcast. Together, Marc and Mark answer listener questions. To get your question on a show click on the Contact Me button at CareerPivot.com or use the voicemail tab on the right side to record your question to play on the show.
[2:36] Marc welcomes Mark Anthony Dyson. Both host’s shows made the Mac’s List Top Career Podcasts list. They discuss Marc’s episode with Alexander Buschek and Marc’s pivots that led to CareerPivot.com.
[4:59] Q1: How do you break out of a job search rut?I’ve been on the job hunt for more than a year. I felt like I’ve tried everything with various resume formats, networking, industry associations, cold-calling and Toastmasters and I’ve had three final interviews with no offers. Would love your input, James from Akron.
[5:37] A1: Mark answers this question. The listener’s name is not a traditional American name. There may be bias involved. Mark also knows this listener never followed up after his interviews. Mark coaches people always to follow up with a thank you. Even send a card. Mark gives an example.
[8:43] Marc says, "be a polite pest."
[8:59] Marc shares an example of one client who was put through eight hours of interviewing without a lunch break and then was told two of the interviewers thought he couldn’t keep up. The interviewer liked him, though, and put him in line for a different position. If you don’t ask, no one will tell you.
[10:48] Give gift cards also to ones who give you referrals. You want to be memorable.
[11:10] Q2: I’m under a lot of stress at work. At the same time, I’m looking for a new job and not getting anywhere. I’m thinking of quitting, getting healthy, and striking out on my job search. What do you think? Do you have any suggestions?
[11:30] A2: This client came to Marc a year-and-a-half ago. She was seriously stressed and threatening to bring charges against her boss for bullying. Marc suggested she go on disability leave. With a psychiatrist, she worked for three months on her mental health.
[12:14] When she came back, she was in a lot better shape than when she left. She also had learned what her boss’s triggering points were. She had learned methods for releasing her own stress and she took breaks to exercise. She’s getting close to finding that next job.
[13:20] Marc has had a couple of different client’s who’ve been able to go out on Disability and really focus on their health while maintaining their insurance benefits. Mark stresses getting the support of HR, especially if they know your manager has a tendency to drive people out because of his ways.
[14:44] Mark tells of a situation with the largest law office in the world, that he left because of horrific stress. Tell your spouse before you leave, though.
[18:23] Q3: I worked for a family business for so many years. So many jobs want references that aren’t family members. How do I reconcile no having references?
[21:12] A3: Mark gives examples of ways to leverage your management experience and good people for references you have had contact with over the years for the work you have done in a family business.
[23:37] Q4: I’m working on updating my LinkedIn profile and looking at the profiles of others who have jobs like mine. They all look so different. I’m confused on how to go about updating my LinkedIn profile. Can you give me some hints or guidelines?
[23:59] A4: There is no right way to write a LinkedIn profile. Think first, “What message do I want to deliver?” Do you want the kind of job you have now, or are you looking for something very different? Think about your hero image, your backdrop image, and your current job title, as well as of jobs you have had in the past.
[27:42] Marc discusses Alexander Buschek and how he moved in media towards digital transformation. Lean toward the career you want. Marc talks about one of the members of his online community and how he’s pruning his old connections and growing new ones in his preferred field.
[30:42] Mark tells how he has researched optimum job titles through Google. Make it a relevant title for the future, not for today, or for the past. Don’t say MSDOS programmer.
[32:14] Mark explains a hack to find titles through a Google search targeted toward LinkedIn. Marc has changed his title from Senior Training Manager to Senior Learning and Development Manager. That’s the trending title.
[34:29] Listen to Mark’s The Voice of JobSeekers, twice a month.
[36:26] Marc invites you to check back next week to hear Joe Harper talk about how to leverage your Small Business Development Center.
The Texas State Small Business Development Center
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-76 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc interviews Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs is an experienced life sciences executive, with over thirty years of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has served in a variety of senior leadership roles in information technology, as well as general management, clinical research, regulatory affairs, post-marketing surveillance, academia, and consulting. Dr. Dobbs has served as a member of top-tier executive teams of dynamic organizations, in startup, rapid-growth, turn-around, merger, integration, and change phases.
He currently serves as the Executive-in-Residence at the University of Alabama Birmingham's Collat School of Business, where he also directs the school's office of innovation and entrepreneurship, teaches, and works with entrepreneurs within the UAB environment and the greater Birmingham business community to help them develop and grow their business. He is also the CEO of the Compass Talent Management Group, LLC, a consulting firm that assists organizations with the identification and development of key talent with designing organization strategies and structures to maximize their ability to compete in the business world of today and tomorrow. Marc and Joel discuss several topics, including Joel’s intentionally varied first half of his life, some of the triggers that started his pursuit of goals for the second half of his life, and how giving back through mentoring, from his extensive experience, is so gratifying.
[:54] Marc welcomes you to episode 75 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast. 75 episodes make a year-and-a-half. Marc invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:39] Next week, Marc will team up with Mark Anthony Dyson of The Voice of Jobseekers podcast for a Q&A episode to answer some listener questions.
[1:52] This week’s episode is from the archives. It is an encore interview of Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs was Marc’s first interview with a person who had made a career pivot in the second half of life. It was one of the best stories because Dr. Dobbs planned out his transition. Marc hopes you enjoy this episode!
[2:15] Marc welcomes Dr. Joel Dobbs.
[2:40] Joel majored in Chemistry, went to pharmacy school, and got a doctorate. He followed a purposefully varied career path, in three phases, until he retired five years ago. He was with GlaxoSmithKline when it was just Glaxo. In his time there it went from a startup to $3.5 billion a year. He helped the various business units develop.
[6:34] Another company recruited him and he spent the last 15 years of his career as a CIO — a completely unplanned path — until he retired five years ago. That was the first half of his career. Marc calls this a portfolio career or “a lot of different stuff.”
[7:44] Today Joel is a business school professor at UAB Collat School of Business. He also runs a leadership consulting business, teaching from the multitude of mistakes he has made over the first half of his life. He finds it tremendously gratifying.
[9:16] In his late 40s, Joel started considering his life’s impact. Around 50, he read Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford, and it set his path.
[11:11] The halftime of your life is a period to ask: how do I turn the second half of my life into one that leverages my success, but focuses on significance?
[11:42] Joel began really thinking about what did he want to do next? Was his ladder of success leaning against the wrong building?
[13:52] Joel was very interested in his company’s offer of a voluntary retirement when they extended it to executives. He talks about consulting work he did, and other companies that recruited him. He wrote the job description for one of them. He also attended The Halftime Institute, which changed his view of life.
[16:00] Joel put together in a notebook his plan for the second half of his life. He looked for opportunities to test concepts about working.
[21:16] Marc comments on how Joel drove his career agenda. He knew when to move on and he left, always with the goal in mind.
[22:03] If you know what you want to do, and you're able to answer that clearly, concisely, and decisively, you'd be surprised how often you get to do that.
[22:19] Spend time thinking about the perfect life and writing it down. That very act sensitizes you to opportunity.
[22:54] When Joel checked his ‘perfect life’ list after years, how much had he achieved?
[24:45] Intentional achievement takes clarity. Usually, clarity does not come overnight.
[26:50] Marc’s final thoughts: Dr. Dobbs was very purposeful in planning out his second half of life.
[28:11] Marc invites you to check back next week when Mark Anthony Dyson and Marc answer listener questions.
Stevens Institute of Technology
UAB Collat School of Business.
Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance, by Bob Buford
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-75 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc narrates the challenges of relocating abroad and securing the resources for safe and healthy living for his family while running his business full-time.
[:49] Marc welcomes you to episode 74 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:23] Next week, Marc goes to the archives for an encore interview of Dr. Joel Dobbs. Dr. Dobbs was Marc’s first interview with a person who had made a career pivot in the second half of life. It was one of the best stories because Dr. Dobbs planned out his transition. With so many new listeners, 99% of the audience will not have heard it.
[1:58] This week, Marc discusses issues of being an introvert and how they relate to his current experiences in Mexico. A lot of Marc’s experiences in Mexico directly relate to challenges we all face in managing our careers in the second half of life. Marc is recording in Mexico a few days before returning from his month-long exploration.
[2:26] Marc and his wife arrived in Ajijic, Mexico on March 14. They had arranged to rent a one-bedroom garage apartment for about $825 for four weeks. The apartment was small but adequate and the technology was fine. They are four blocks from the main square and a block-and-a-half from the lake. Gustavo, their host, has been wonderful.
[3:21] The apartment was right next door to Gustavo’s mother’s house, where his sister takes care of their elderly mother. It’s a great way to experience Mexico. Marc wanted to explore what it was like to live in Mexico, not vacation there.
[4:05] They started their investigation to find necessary resources, including chiropractors, a dentist, a barber, an endocrinologist, and health insurance. Marc lists the resources they found. They fulfilled everything on their list except for securing healthcare. The agent they found never followed up with them. They still have options.
[6:37] When the Millers arrived on a Wednesday morning, the first thing they did was go to the Wednesday farmers’ market. The market was large and a few blocks from their apartment. They also found two other markets close at hand. It took a few days to find all the stores they wanted and their favorite restaurants.
[8:09] It is easy to eat healthy in Mexico with plentiful and inexpensive fruits and vegetables.
[8:57] It took about a week to get settled in. That first week Marc didn’t want to search. He was learning Spanish. His introversion started to kick in. Too much talking to people wears on Marc, especially to non-English speakers. He found it easier to speak face-to-face though, instead of on the phone.
[10:19] Marc explains how he will use technology in Mexico. On his first trip, he found the DSL connection wasn’t very good. This time the socket where his DSL modem was plugged in lost electricity, but when he plugged into another socket it was good. There are fewer available sockets on walls.
[12:27] Electricity in Ajijic is not as reliable as most in the U.S. expect it to be. Marc talks about his international AT&T mobile phone plan, and the reliability of service. In the first couple of weeks his calls dropped but in the next couple of weeks, they stayed connected.
[12:58] Voice and data quality are good. Marc’s next destination may not have the same service, with 3G service.
[13:28] Marc tells about how a Church had generators on hand for their Passion Play, and the electricity went out less than an hour before the program.
[14:57] It took Marc about 10 days to settle in while continuing to run his business. Then they started exploring. They walked about eight miles a day. They rented a car from a local agency for two weeks, but they didn’t use it that much. After two weeks Marc hadn’t found his resources yet.
[16:50] Eventually, under pressure of time, Marc stopped putting it off and started making contacts.
[17:24] In the first two weeks Marc and his wife hit all the open air markets.Marc describes the markets and what they sell. Some cater to locals, and some to “gringos.” They rode bikes to the farther market. Marc, being 6’4”, didn’t find the right-sized bike. Transportation is inexpensive. A lot of expats do without a car and prefer to walk.
[20:13] After two weeks, Marc was still procrastinating. He decided not to call people but to go down to their offices to visit them. He visited a dentist, clinics, chiropractors, and started getting traction on getting things done.
[21:27] There are restaurants that support the expat community and there are restaurants for the local community, as well as the street vendors. Do not eat raw fruit, but bring it home and soak it in an iodine bath for about 15 minutes before eating it. It takes a while for your body to get used to the local bacteria.
[23:27] Marc said once he got started his research, he made real progress. After three weeks he started thinking about home.
[24:40] Marc and his wife are starting to plan their next trip, to stay for three months. They will drive from Austin on a three-day journey. They have hired a driver to take them from Laredo to Ajijic. They will take their cats with them and rent a one-bedroom house for about $600 a month, out of town.
[25:22] Marc says he got a lot of advice from others to hire a driver who knows the area. It costs about $500 for the driver. Their driver supports the expat community with this service.
[26:38] Marc has found a rhythm to running his business from Mexico. He is able to set boundaries on himself to prevent himself from working too much. Mexico is gorgeous; the people are great and family-oriented and friendly.
[27:45] Sounds in Ajijic are so different. Windows stay open day and night. There is no road noise at night, just dead silence. There is no heating or air conditioning. Marc wakes up to birds singing and the sounds of horses on the cobblestone streets.
[29:12] Marc went to the Chapala marketplace just to experience the sounds and the smells. It is very different from Austin.
[29:33] If you have any questions about Marc’s experiences, please make a comment on the Show Notes. Maybe Marc will write a book about it.
[29:51] You cannot just bring a car into Mexico. You need a temporary import permit. You can only bring a car manufactured in a NAFTA country. You have to take it back out. You need Mexico car insurance while there.
[30:38] Bringing the cats is part of the experimentation. There are lots of pet stores that cater to expats.
[30:59] Marc hopes you enjoyed this. He took his anxieties about being an introvert and worked around them.
[32:38] Check back next week for Marc’s interview with Joel Dobbs.
Pablo’s Grocery store in Ajijic
San Antonio Tlayacapa Jalisco Mexico
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon. The book is selling 150 to 200 copies a month, so thank you to readers!
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-74 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
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In this episode, Marc is the guest, and answers a variety of career questions by Richard Eisenberg on Next Avenue. Richard asks Marc about his pivots, his advice for potential first-time pivoters, and his future plans.
[1:06] Marc welcomes you to episode 73 of the Repurpose Your Career podcast and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:36] Next week, Marc will discuss some issues of being an introvert and a square peg and how they relate to his current experiences in Mexico. A lot of Marc’s experiences in Mexico directly relate to some of the challenges we all face in managing our careers in the second half of life.
[1:55] This week, Marc plays an interview from the Next Avenue podcast. NextAvenue.org is the PBS website for the Baby Boomer generation, where grownups keep growing. Marc was interviewed on episode 3 about making career pivots after 50.
[2:15] Richard Eisenberg of Next Avenue introduces Marc Miller and asks Marc what a career pivot is. Marc talks about the need to maintain an income into the sixties. Marc is on his seventh career. He calls changing careers by half steps pivoting. In each new change he has carried something forward from an earlier job, including a relationship.
[3:18] The idea is to make incremental changes to get to where you want. It’s much easier to make planned incremental changes. It’s really difficult to maintain that smoothness of income when you make radical changes. Most of us like incremental changes.
[4:00] Marc talks about his pivots, starting at IBM in the late 1970s. He lists the variety of jobs he held at IBM. He left IBM in 2000 to work for a successful tech startup. Meanwhile, he was still consulting, and could go back to IBM if he wanted.
[5:04] Richard comments that having a Plan B is a good idea for most people, in case the career pivot doesn’t work out as planned. Marc made three or four pivots within IBM.
[5:22] On July 11, 2002, Marc had a near-fatal bicycle accident. In his recovery time he made the decision to go teach high school math. He considered that training engineers for 20 years in 40 countries had prepared him to teach math in an inner-city high school. After two years teaching two years, he needed to move on to another pivot.
[6:16] After teaching, Marc felt lost. He wanted to do nonprofit fundraising. He ended up at the Jewish Community Center of Austin. What he learned was he can’t work for a nonprofit.
[7:04] Marc went back to a tech startup in December of 2007. It was financially a good decision but personally a bad decision. He also served on the board of Launchpad Job Club. In 2009 he saw many people wiped out by the Great Recession, while his tech startup was fine. That’s when Marc started his research on career pivots.
[7:46] Marc talks about his experiences with career pivoting. When he started CareerPivot it took him 18 months to stop waking up in the night worried about income. He kept reminding himself that being an entrepreneur is a marathon, not a sprint.
[8:32] Marc discusses “Why Three Career Failures Were Good for Me,” a column he contributed to Next Avenue. Boomers were raised believing that failure was not an option. Millennials embrace failure, as long as they learn something from every failure.
[9:12] Richard asks how to plan a career pivot. Marc says to first know thyself. Start talking to trusted advisors about what you think you might want to do. Get feedback from others about who you are and what you’re good at. Check with work associates and personal friends. There will be some words that will surprise you.
[11:35] What are some of the biggest mistakes people make when they try to switch fields in the second half of life? Marc gives an example.
[12:44] What if your current field is a disaster area? You are branded in your career both by your business acumen and by your industry. Career pivots come primarily by repurposing one of those areas. Marc discusses episode 20 for an example.
[14:04] Figure out what your transferable skills are. Make incremental steps, using your network of support.
[15:30] Marc explains weak ties and cultivating your tribe. People who know you socially also know people you don’t know. Ask for referrals. Marc mentions your kids’ friends parents. Marc shares a case study where a client landed a new job at age 59 through an old work associate after being laid off.
[16:44] Marc describes your tribe as being up to 150 people that you can go to and expect a positive result when you ask for a favor. Make it an easy favor. If you want something, you need to ask for it.
[17:28] Marc advises how to get the most from LinkedIn and other social media. You want to construct your LinkedIn profile so you are found. The more people you connect to, the better. Facebook lets people know how you are doing.
[18:59] Marc and his wife are planning to move out of Austin, Texas to Mexico. He is being very methodical in his planning. He explains how he is doing it. Relocation and pivoting are inter-related. Marc is moving his business to an online model.
[20:34] Marc talks about his partnership with NextAvenue.org, and invites you to visit their site and listen to their podcast.
[46:03] Marc’s final thoughts: Look at yourself. Make sure you really know who you are. Get out of your own head. Work with a coach, spouse, or friend.
Jewish Community Center Austin
Why Three Career Failures Were Good for Me
Repurpose Your Career/Episode 20 with Elizabeth Rabaey
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Ask to be put on the waiting list to join a cohort. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-73 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
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 a digital transformation blog. Today he is 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. Until January 2018, he was the CDO and CIO of Braunschweiger Flammenfilter GmbH, an international valve manufacturing company that employs more than 500 people in several locations worldwide. His main responsibility was the overall digitalization and IT development for the entire PROTEGO® Group. Before joining PROTEGO®, he worked as an entrepreneur consulting SMBs about their IT strategies, providing external project management and overseeing various IT projects, including ERP and CAD implementation and migration. Working with many SMBs gave him a deep understanding of this market.
[1:18] Marc welcomes you to Episode 72 and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:47] This week, Marc interviews Alexander Buschek, who is the poster child for someone who completely rebranded himself to become a digital transformation thought leader.
[2:00] Last week was the monthly Q&A episode. If you’d like to submit a question to be answered on this podcast, just go to CareerPivot.com, and click on the Contact Me link to submit a question by email, or click on the Send Voicemail tab on the right side of the screen to submit your question by voice. Marc will play your question in the episode.
[2:27] Next week’s episode will be Marc’s interview on the Next Avenue podcast. NextAvenue.org is the PBS website for the Baby Boomer generation. Marc was interviewed on Episode 3 about making career pivots.
[2:44] Marc reads Alexander’s bio.
[4:30] Marc introduces Alexander. Alexander talks about looking for a new 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.
[5:34] Marc started Alexander through the rebranding process. Alexander shares the roadmap he followed.
[5:45] The first step 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.
[6:38] The roadmap was 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.
[7:13] Marc frequently told Alexander to be bold. At first, Alexander didn’t see himself as bold. Then he found out he was. He was not reluctant to speak up and do the things he thought were necessary.
[8:03] 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.
[9:16] Alexander’s white paper was about cloud technology. 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.
[10:31] Alexander used Dragon Naturally Speaking to write. You just talk and you see it written in Word. It was very helpful.
[11:55] 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 look at how it was being used at the time, including Fusion 360. After talking with a manager there, they invited him to be part of a panel discussion in Berlin.
[13:15] The panel was on digital transformation, in English. Alexander used it for his blog with great success. Personal branding is making sure people get the impression of you that you want them to have.
[14:13] After being on the Financial Times panel, Alexander started writing his blog posts. He spoke at another event for Autodesk. It snowballed from there.
[15:29] 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.
[17:18] Doing videos helped Alexander’s presentation skills a lot.
[18:49] Making a video requires one hour or more of effort for every minute of finished video.
[20:14] Alexander is proudest of getting his new job that is challenging. 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.
[21:17] 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. There is no way around hard work with a lot of discipline.
[22:21] Alexander credits Marc with inspiring him to push forward, not just because he needed a job but because he loved the field.
[22:23] Digital transformation is so present these days, but so few people understand it.
[23:37] The first positive feedback from Alexander’s white paper was very helpful. Marc gave Alexander small steps to do one at a time that really kept him going. The next step is to write the book.
[25:25] Alexander’s advice: you can do it, however, you need to be patient and put a lot of effort into it. With the effort comes the success. Be bold. Get some advice and get a jobs coach. Reading a book alone does not usually provide the motivation. Be patient.
[28:08] Alexander looked off into the future and positioned himself in a niche with SMBs.
[29:13] Marc hopes Alexander has inspired listeners to be bold!
[30:05] Alexander first contacted Marc by LinkedIn after reading Personal Branding for Baby Boomers: What It Is, How to Manage It, and Why It's No Longer Optional. When he contacted Marc he had 70 LinkedIn contacts; today he has 1,200 or so.
[30:29] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Alexander proves that with dedication and hard work you can create a professional brand that will get you where you want to go.
[32:08] Check back next week for Marc’s interview on NextAvenue.org.
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-72 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
This week’s questions are on using current skills in a part-time role, finding your philanthropic passion, and whether you should certify as a scrum master. Listen for insight.
[:51] Marc welcomes you to Episode 71 and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:18] This week is a Questions & Answers episode. Submit your questions at CareerPivot.com on the ‘Contact Me’ link. Email, or send voicemail to Marc. Marc may play your question on the podcast.
[1:45] Next week, Marc will interview Alexander Buschek, who completely rebranded himself to become a digital transformation thought leader. Alexander is a former client of Marc’s. Marc recorded the episode right before he left for Mexico. Marc is recording the intro and outro in Ajijic, Mexico.
[2:29] Marc asks his ‘sidekick’ Elizabeth Rabaey to introduce herself and the Questions & Answers.
[3:18] Q1: How do I translate my current job skills as an IT project manager into a second career that gives me more time to give back by working ad hoc or part-time? I would prefer to work outside the corporate world. I like animals, the fitness industry, and would consider teaching. What do you think?
[3:47] A1: For most people, Marc would throw out the teaching piece. If you think you’re going to teach and have time, you’re probably smoking something and inhaling. Teaching is incredibly time-consuming. Project management skills are transferable to other positions. Test drive some of these organizations.
[4:22] Marc has a former client who test-drove Best Friends animal rescue organization recently. She volunteered for seven days over the holidays. Volunteer somewhere you think you would like to work.
[5:09] Q2: Homelessness, illiteracy, education, and conservation — what cause really matters most to you when you graduate from being a reactive giver to a more thoughtful and strategic giver? It isn’t always easy to connect with a cause that stirs your soul. How do I find my philanthropic passion?
[5:34] A2: This question was posed to Marc by the folks at GivingCityAustin.org in an interview. Marc talks about Courtney Clark, a multi-time cancer survivor. Courtney is very passionate about cancer survivorship. She speaks of it; she has written books on it. But what are you passionate about if nothing has ever happened to you?
[6:27] Marc says, you’ve just got to go try stuff. Marc uses Elizabeth as an example. He told her just to go try stuff. She tried jewelry making, oil painting, and other things until she found what was right for her.
[8:08] A former client of Marc’s went to Best Friends and remembered that she liked horses. So she cleaned barns and did a number of things she remembered enjoying as a kid. Try various things.
[10:20] Q3: I am a certified Salesforce administrator. Currently, I am volunteering my time with a couple of nonprofits to gain experience. I see a lot of conversations about a scrum, and I am considering becoming a scrum master to further my education and increase my employment opportunities. What do you think?
[10:42] A3: A scrum master is a project manager. A scrum master is promoted as being neutral as to area of expertise. No one really believes that. Hiring Managers want industry-specific expertise. If you are not in software development, no one is going to care. Marc shares a case study of a woman who is scrum master certified.
[12:28] The woman got interviews but never got hired. She needed a software background in order to be considered. You need to get expertise in the area where you want to be hired. A scrum master is focused largely around agile software development.
[12:50] Marc has seen over and over people with project management experience getting certified in a skill and trying to break into a new industry. It doesn’t work.
[13:24] Becoming a scrum master is between $1,000 and $1,500 and it is probably not worth it, just to have it. Before you start pursuing a certification, talk to some people (not to the certificate issuer) about whether it makes sense.
[13:56] Marc invites anyone having questions they would like Marc to answer on the show to please submit them at CareerPivot.com or email Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
[14:20] When this episode airs, Marc and his wife will be in Ajijic, Mexico. He is currently looking for dentists, chiropractors, and endocrinologists.
[14:58] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. Next week will be a regular-length episode.
[16:26] Listen next week for Marc’s interview with Alexander Buschek.
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has three initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the fourth cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-71 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Barbara Weibel is the owner of HoleInTheDonut.com travel blog. Barbara is a travel blogger with an incredibly inspiring reinvention story. Marc felt inspired after listening to her story and hopes you will, too. Listen in to see how her career works.
[:44] Marc welcomes you to Episode 70 and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:16] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. The first in the series is an interview with an expert. Two weeks ago, Marc interviewed Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick, co-authors of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code.
[1:42] Last week, Marc interviewed Kelsey and Matt Moore, owners of Coolworks.com, the Mecca of seasonal jobs at places like the U.S. National Park Service. This week, Marc interviews interview Barbara Weibel, owner of HoleInTheDonut.com travel blog. Barbara is a travel blogger with an incredibly inspiring reinvention story.
[2:06] March and April episodes may vary a bit, as Marc and his wife leave for Mexico on March 14 for four weeks as they are exploring the possibilities and working on all of the uncertainties. Marc will record several episodes in Ajijic, Mexico.
[2:30] The last week in the series is a Q&A episode.
[2:33] Marc introduces Barbara Weibel.
[3:06] Barbara owns and publishes Hole in the Donut Cultural Travel, generally ranked among the top 100 travel blogs in the world. Barbara worked in corporate jobs for 36 years and can honestly say that she hated that life. She was never comfortable with the politics and the stresses. She put her nose to the grindstone preparing for retirement.
[4:05] Barbara has about a 10-year attention span. She needs a new challenge all the time. She was a great problem-solver. She would take a company that was not doing very well and restructure it to be successful. About five years in, she was stressed out but stayed because of the money. Eventually, she would leave, until the next job.
[5:51] Barbara shares her career path, starting in sales, moving into management, owning a PR firm, marketing major malls, marketing a chemical recycling company. When the chemical company went bankrupt, Barbara moved to the Caribbean and opened a couple of small businesses there. She has done a lot of different things.
[7:13] Nothing she had done had brought her happiness. Then she got Lyme Disease. It took five years before a definitive diagnosis when it was chronic Lyme Disease. She developed neurological deficits. She took antibiotics for six weeks and was very ill. She examined her life and found it lacking. She wished for something to do with passion.
[9:37] In this six-week period, she recalled childhood joys of photography, reading National Geographic, and writing and editing for her school newspaper. She has taken adventurous travels from the time she was old enough to go on her own. She realized photography, writing, and travel are her true passions.
[11:02] She promised herself that if she could get better, she would walk away from everything. At the time, she was managing broker for a group of real estate offices. She told her boss if she could get well in a year, she would give up her job and go traveling. She found a naturopath for her Lyme Disease and in a year, she was well.
[13:03] With multiple properties she owned, she had about $14K mortgage payments every month. She was tempted to go back to work but realized she would not be happy.
[13:26] Barbara closed up her house and bought a six-month around-the-world ticket. She made a list of the 17 countries she had always wanted to visit. People discouraged her. This was in 2006, before blogs were known. She actually did the blog primarily so her father and family could keep up with her adventures. He was scared for her.
[14:22] After the six-month trip, Barbara came back for her niece’s wedding. At that time only about 1,200 people were reading the blog. She spent the next two-and-a-half years building up the traffic on the blog. She was supporting herself by freelance writing. She also managed to sell her home, so there was some money from that.
[15:30] By November 2009, Barbara was traveling so much that having a permanent base no longer made sense. She went on the road full-time, up until December 2017.
[16:00] Blogging was emerging as an important vehicle. People start their travel investigation on the internet. Barbara had started early, positioning herself to become one of the top travel bloggers in the world. She was selling text-link ads, making enough to stay in dorms and hostels around the world. Google, by the way, put an end to that.
[18:20] Barbara needed a new income stream. She had 25-to-30 thousand people a month reading her blog. 85% of them are new every month. That was not a big enough audience to attract advertisers to the site. The next big thing was sponsored content or native advertising. Barbara didn’t want that. Her writing is engaging storytelling.
[20:37] Barbara made the decision to stay true to herself, and stick with the literate first-person narrative writing. Over the years, Google has come to like her style. In the eyes of Google, her blog has gained great authority, which means it is highly ranked.
[21:15] Marc points out that this was not an overnight success. Barbara recognizes her writing has improved over the years. It’s continually evolving.
[22:28] The new model of sponsored blogging is to accept brokered ads on their sites. Barbara refuses to accept ads and popups. She will will not lessen the quality and integrity of her blog. She is free to pick and choose what she does, as she took Social Security at age 62. She is 66, now.
[25:31] Barbara has been spending months in Thailand each year. She fell in love with the country on her first visit. She has visited 94 countries and she can’t find anything better than Thailand. She no longer feels physically fit to travel full-time.
[27:17] Barbara says she is doing more at 66 than a lot of people she knows who are in their 40s. But she needed to have a base again. She rents a one-bedroom apartment on the sixth floor of a condo in Chiang Mai, Thailand. She has a mountain view with beautiful sunsets. She’ll travel five months and stay in the apartment for seven months.
[28:41] Barbara talks about living on Social Security and what the cost of living is in Thailand. She can afford it.
[29:39] Because Barbara doesn’t sell ads, her income stream is minimal. She gets offers for press trips, sponsored by cities and countries. Most travel writers and publications accept these, with the notable exception of Condé Nast.
[31:15] Barbara is taking a two-week land-and-sea trip in Greece with Collette Tours later in May. At the first part of May she will work with Ethio Travel and Tours on a two-week tour around Ethiopia. She doesn’t do a lot of press tours, unless it’s to a place she really wants to visit, from a reputable company. She’ll do two or three a year.
[32:06] Barbara has done this all throughout her 11 years of blogging. This is one of the tricks to maximize money coming in. The blogger is paid to travel. Barbara puts it in writing that the travel agency does not have any right to review or change her writing. They don’t get to see it before it’s published. She will write the truth about the trip.
[34:36] Barbara will not accept a per diem because it is a conflict of interest to write something negative after she has been paid to write. When something falls apart, she will write about it. Most of the time, things go very well.
[35:00] Barbara talks about other content bloggers provide.
[35:35] Barbara talks about how things turned out, compared to what she planned. It’s about the same, except for how much work it is! Tweets, Instagram come after culling a day’s worth of photos. Then there is the email to answer, blog updates, and finally, research and writing. On average, Barbara sleeps four-to-five hours a night touring.
[37:57] Barbara tells people it’s never too late. If you can visualize, down to the smallest detail, what you want your life to be, then you can create that life. She is proof of that. She reinvents herself as many times as needed.
[38:40] Barbara talks about her mission, discovered during her year of recovery. We are one human family.
[41:47] Marc hopes you are inspired to follow your dreams!
[42:50] Check back next week, when Marc will answer your questions!
Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code, by Marcia LaReau
and Neil Patrick
HoleInTheDonut.com Named for when she felt empty inside before finding her calling.
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the third cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-70 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Coolworks is a website that is focused on jobs in great places. The site has been around for 23 years. It launched in 1995 from the Tower Ranger Station in Yellowstone National Park, and ever since then, its focus and mission has been to connect employers in destination locations with adventurous job seekers that are looking to take on a different type of career or maybe just have a brief adventure and everything in-between.
Matt learned about Coolworks long before he became a part of it. Matt grew up in North Carolina and got a degree in business but on graduating he wasn’t excited about traditional banking or finance roles. He had more of an entrepreneurial spirit. He wanted to take some time before jumping into a career to find something he was excited about. He went out West to find a job somewhere in the Rocky Mountains. He found Coolworks, found a job in Grand Tetons National Park, and it really changed the trajectory of his life. That seasonal job turned into a short career in hospitality that led to Matt and Kelcy meeting. She hired him for the position. Kelcy had also found jobs through Coolworks. They started traveling together and Kelcy began to work for Coolworks. Matt joined the team a little bit later.
Kelcy was at a crossroads. She was 21 and had used up the resources her parents had set aside for her to pursue higher ed. She either needed to get a loan or to leave school. She decided to take time to evaluate what she wanted to do. She stumbled upon the Coolworks website. She had had a cousin who worked in Wyoming. That’s how she learned about the subculture environment that exists around seasonal jobs. On the website, she found a job in a wonderful little spot in Grand Teton National Park. She took a front desk agent position for six months. Then she was promoted to an HR Assistant position, which was a year-round position that allowed her to work and live in one of the most beautiful places in the world. After a year, she was HR Manager. She lived in the Tetons for just about six years. She hired thousands of people over that time, including Matt Moore. She calls it a full circle adventure. It is a great resource that puts a pretty powerful “magic wand” into each of our own hands to choose and make our own destiny. It has charted the course of Matt’s and Kelcy’s lives. Without a college degree, Kelcy received workplace training for a career in HR that she had never imagined she would be interested in. It’s a very powerful opportunity and potential for folks to do something different. Maybe that balloons into something couldn’t really ever have imagined.
[:44] Marc welcomes you to the episode and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:11] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. The first in the series is an interview with an expert. Last week, Marc interviewed Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick, co-authors of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code.
[1:31] This episode is a special interview with Kelcy Fowler and Matt Moore, owners of Coolworks.com, the Mecca of seasonal jobs at places like the U.S. National Park Service and other cool places. Next will be an interview with Barbara Weibel, owner of HoleInTheDonut.com travel blog. She has an inspiring reinvention story.
[1:59] March and April episodes may vary a bit, as Marc and his wife leave for Mexico on March 14 for four weeks as they are exploring the possibilities and working on all of the uncertainties. Marc will record several episodes in Ajijic, Mexico.
[2:23] The last week in the series is a Q&A episode.
[2:28] Marc introduces Kelcy Fowler and Matt Moore. They begin by telling their story so Marc does not read their bios.
[8:17] Kelcy and Matt are not the first Millennials on the podcast. Marc also interviewed Taylor Pearson who wrote the book End of Jobs. This podcast is focused on people in the second half of life. Marc asks what Kelcy and Matt would like Marc’s audience to know about Coolworks.
[8:39] The opportunities on Coolworks are for individuals at every stage in life. We get a lot of questions from folks in the second half of life that are really interested in the potential of these positions and opportunities. People of all ages use Coolworks.
[9:22] Recruiters at these locations are thrilled to get applications from folks in the second half of life. Some are in retirement, some are looking to change careers. Those candidates show up, they have a great work ethic, they do their job, they’re reliable. They have the opportunity to be mentors to younger employees. They add diversity.
[10:26] Kelcy says from her HR experience, it’s really important for people to know they will be wanted, valued, appreciated, and celebrated. They will be able to form incredible relationships across generations. Kelcy lists a few of the locations available.
[12:08] Marc tells of summer jobs he had growing up in New Jersey working for Manpower and the variety of people he met.
[12:39] Kelcy speaks of the wide variety of jobs available on Coolworks. A large portion of the employers is in the hospitality and tourism realm. There are all sorts of wonderful industries focused on guest services. The one qualifier is to be in a great place.
[14:39] Every employer that posts on the site goes through a screening and registration process first to make sure it’s a good fit.
[15:00] A few years ago, a person posted for a personal assistant to manage their administrative affairs sailing around the world on a sailboat for a year.
[16:04] For a more gritty and unique opportunity, there are positions in Alaska at fish processing plants or canneries. They make great overtime working hard in a short season Marc notes the North Dakota sugar beet harvest has similar conditions.
[17:21] Matt says people in the second half of life are eligible for the majority of these jobs. Recruiters welcome people in the second half of life for reliability and their work ethic. Some of the younger generation are still learning. People in the second half of life bring life experience.
[18:46] We see a lot of Boomers and a lot of Millennials striking up great friendships, working alongside one another and really gaining some wonderful value from that relationship.
[19:38] Boomers were raised to get an employment resume. Millennials work for a college resume. Most Millennials don’t get a job until after high school or college.
[20:41] Kelcy talks about housing options. It is different at every property. Just ask the questions you need to know. For people in the second half of life, RVs are popular, but there are diverse options.Right now it’s a job seeker’s market and there are so many opportunities available. Make sure you get the right fit.
[23:37] The unemployment rate is low. Matt says this is definitely the most difficult recruiting year they have seen in over a decade. There’s just a very limited supply of labor.
[24:34] Matt says if your thinking about seasonal employment at all, just go for it. Over 20% of the traffic on the site is from people in the second half of life. Sometimes people hesitate because they think they won’t be hired. Matt invites you to reach out if there are any concerns you have.
[27:25] Coolworks just published an 80-page e-book with a supplement workbook that answers questions and helps people educate themselves, written by Susan Shain.
[28:35] Kelcy says most people on the site are flying solo. It’s very intimidating to pick up your life and move to a new state where you will not only work, but also live alongside your coworkers. Making the journey is very much worth it. Whatever’s holding you back, reach out and drop Coolworks a note.
[31:24] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode and are now ready to try seasonal work in someplace great.
[32:24] Check back next week when Marc interviews Barbara Weibel. It is one of the most inspiring interviews Marc has done for this podcast.
Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code, by Marcia LaReau
and Neil Patrick
The End of Jobs: Money, Meaning and Freedom Without the 9-to-5, by Taylor Pearson
Nomad Land: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century, by Jessica Bruder
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the third cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-69 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Marcia Lareau’s career has included five career changes, including college music professor, software QA analyst, project manager, learning technologist, and corporate trainer. Throughout, she studied employee selection, integration, and evaluation. Her research on hiring practices includes up-to-date trends throughout U.S. industries. After three lay-off experiences, Marcia started Forward Motion with a mission to increase job seeker success, reduce time-to-employment, teach principles of career management. Marcia holds a bachelor’s degree from Iowa State University, A Master’s degree from Northwestern University, and a Ph.d. from Ohio State University.
After graduating in business at university, Neil Patrick initially worked for Wilkinson Sword. He then joined Standard Chartered Bank, where he spent the next ten years. From international corporations, Neil just moved to the world of startups. In 1997, he was head-hunted to be marketing director for a U.S. financial business expanding into the UK, FirstPlus from Dallas Texas. The U.S. parent went into Chapter 11 in 1998 but Neil and his Co-Directors saved the company by selling it to Woolwich Building Society, which, within two years, was itself bought by Barclays Bank. By 2005, the picture had become like Groundhog Day. Neil agreed to leave and become a sleeping partner in the firm. He desired a fresh challenge although he had no idea what this would be. This was the start of the third phase of his career. This coincided with the social media revolution. Neil looked at how businesses were using social media, and thought, more often than not, making a mess of it. One of the first things he did was set up a blog, 40PlusCareerGuru. This blog now has over a half-a-million hits. His online profile brought him into contact with small business owners all over the world. These new relationships formed were the basis of his diverse client base.
This is how he and Marcia met and led to joining forces to write the book, Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code. Neil lives in a forest in Wales, which is no sensible place for a marketing consultant to live, but the internet pretty much solves that problem.
[:44] Marc welcomes you to the episode and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:13] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. The first in the series is an interview with an expert. In this episode, Marc interviews Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick, co-authors of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code.
[1:31] Next will be a special interview with Kelsey and Matt Moore, owners of Coolworks, the Mecca of seasonal jobs at places like the U.S. National Park Service and other cool places. Marc is working on interviews with travel bloggers and other exciting guests. If you know any who have repurposed their career, please tell Marc.
[2:03] March episodes may vary a bit, as Marc and his wife leave for Mexico on March 14, for four weeks as they are exploring the possibilities and working on all of the uncertainties. Marc will record four episodes in Ajijic, Mexico.
[2:29] The third in the series is a topic Marc chooses. The last in the series is a Q&A episode.
[2:34] Marc reads the bios for Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick.
[5:23] Marc welcomes Neil Patrick and Marcia LaReau. Neil spent 15 years in large corporates, then became director of a financial firm that wants to come into Europe, beginning his involvement with business startups. He finally recognized he wanted to work for himself, which he has done for the last 10 years.
[6:30] Marcia is a career bouncer. She started as a professor of music, orchestra conductor and composer. That industry has ‘closed down.” and Marcia had to find a new role. She moved into corporate training, which she calls ‘rehearsal.’ She promoted herself as a project manager based on her experience managing concerts.
[7:18] Marcia found a job as a project manager in the corporate world. Every few years she got laid off, and after a while she got tired of it. In a period of so many layoffs, executives she had worked with came to her asking for help finding a good job. So, she started Forward Motion, 11 years ago.
[7:44] Marcia says, like Neil, she is grateful for all the places she has been and all the people that have helped her learn.
[7:52] Neil and Marcia started thinking about writing a book together based on the quickening pace of change in the world and the lack of mainstream information about managing careers in a changing environment.
[8:43] Neil notes two groups who are affected by changed conditions: Millennials and Boomers. Boomers, due to losses in 2008, are looking to work longer than expected.
[9:11] People between the Boomers and the Millennials are also looking at changes due to the shifting nature of employment contracts and the move to the gig economy.
[9:30] Neil says the book is for everybody who really wants to try and sustain a career and income in a world that is changing incredibly quickly.
[9:52] Marcia explains her reason for writing the book. Her background was in the nonprofit musical performance arts. In 2001, the reinsurance industry died, and with it, support for arts programs. She also recognized that Millennials have low wages, on average. As they will own the workforce for decades, what happens to the tax base?
[10:47] Knowing she couldn’t get to everybody as a consultant to help them plan ahead and even sustain the U.S. economy, she went to writing a book about it. She felt the urgency of helping all demographics prepare for a changing future of limited options.
[11:44] The book is not just to help people today, but to be evergreen, to show how to manage the change, and adapt that change to have continual revenue.
[12:12] Unemployment numbers hide some facts. Some people have three jobs and still can’t make ends meet. Unemployment is down, but so is household income. The book teaches how to understand the revenue stream. Many people are not included in the official 4.1% unemployment figure.
[13:37] In Austin, TX, where the advertised unemployment rate is under 4%, the unemployment rate for over age 50 is actually over 12%. The Atlantic rated Austin as one of the worst places to be old and unemployed.
[14:00] Neil notes that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is much more transparent than the data controlled by the UK Office for National Statistics. In the UK, everyone self-employed is considered employed, even with little or no real income. Levels of income growth in the UK and in the U.S. are incredibly sluggish.
[15:51] Marcia comments on zero-hour contracts. She has a friend who will work from 14 hours in a week to zero hours in a week, and she is counted as employed. This skews the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
[16:25] Marc talks about Austin’s very bifurcated job market, with a lot of low-end service jobs, and high-end jobs, but not a lot in-between.
[16:53] Automation technology and Artificial Intelligence are eliminating some jobs and generating others. Some people are not aware of skills they have that are applicable. People have to adapt and manage their skill sets and their networks to access the jobs that are and will be available. That is part of the reason for the book.
[18:04] Marcia cites a study that says three out of four jobs today are at risk, in the U.S., from technology that already exists. That doesn’t mean there aren’t other jobs coming through.
[18:20] Neil talks about the gig economy, or the fluid workforce. This is a transition from permanent employment to a large number of relatively short-term engagements. How do people sustain a decent living? Not as an Uber driver. One trend is intermediation, with a middleman between the employer and the worker. It is brokering of work.
[20:10] One of the essential things is for people to figure out how they can engage in the fluid workforce but keep the middleman out so they can negotiate terms and prices and choose what to do and what not to do.
[20:40] The future of jobs is people are going to have to be managers of their own careers and gigs even if they are employed. People are changing jobs every 2.5 to 3.5 years. Above 55 the time at a job is even shorter.
[22:13] Firms used to sustain a domestic workforce. That is rarely true today, as far as manufacturing is concerned.
[23:19] Boomers grew up believing they would stay at a company for their career. Job requirements change so quickly that a five-year plan doesn’t work. People are responsible to update their own skills for the workforce of the future.
[24:19] The company is no longer responsible for your career. Be on the lookout for ways to develop. Keep yourself trained and skilled. It is at your cost to become trained in skills that will not immediately become obsolete.
[25:12] The six engines of change show which jobs are coming up and which are going away. The first three are choices firms are making: globalization/offshoring, technology, and disruptive business models. The second set are changes outside the firms: educational/institutional change, aging demographics, and financial and fiscal policy.
[26:23] Some offshoring is returning to domestic production in both the U.S. and the UK. Some globalization occurs from companies outside the U.S. starting project management groups in the U.S. to help bridge gaps for clients they have in the U.S.
[27:06] At any job you have, make good friends with someone in the IT unit to understand what projects are coming, and what kinds of opportunities will come with them.
[28:16] Disruptive business models replace job-heavy business sectors with job-light organizations. This feeds the shift to the fluid workforce. For example, Uber has completely disrupted the taxi industry but employs just 12,000 globally. Marc notes that Uber, Lyft, and Airbnb are platform companies, not employers.
[30:01] The sooner people stop thinking of themselves as employees, and start thinking about earning a living, the more successful they will be. Marcia finds in her focus groups and Millennial clients that they still want a secure job, not a flexible gig.
[30:51] Some disruption comes from startups replacing other startups. Company A learned to grow your skin in the lab, over three weeks, to graft onto your burns. Company B learned to grow to grow your T-cells that could be sprayed onto your third-degree burns and replace your skin in three days. Company A becomes obsolete.
[32:00] Marc talks about uncertainty that causes lots of stress. Most of us want to know what’s coming. It took Marc 18 months to stop worrying about a paycheck when he started his own business.
[33:25] Millennials were taught they would have a career or job waiting after college. That has disintegrated. They are angry and disenfranchised. Marc says Millennials who graduated before the Great Recession are in better shape than those who graduated after (2009-2013).
[34:29] What are the most important things to understand and do after reading the book? Marcia says, 1. Don’t abandon hope or fear change. 2. Do have a plan and put it into action. Change and manage it as you go each year. 3. Do have a backup plan even if you have a job.
[35:22] Neil says, careers used to be relatively straight-lined and predictable. Everyone now is on a twisting road. Going around corners is easier and less frightening if you know where they are taking you. Neil, Marcia, and Marc are all in the gig economy and make their own way in the world without an employer. Neil will not return to a “job.”
[37:06] Marcia wants every reader not just to have a plan and manage what’s coming ahead but to know how to read the jobs market, understand where jobs are disappearing and where jobs are coming through and that they need to prepare and they know how to prepare and save for their retirement as well.
[37:50] Neil says the subtitle of the book is about cracking the code to career. The code is opaque, and the book provides transparency.
[39:10] Marc highly recommends everyone pick up a copy of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code. Marc adds that everyone from his online community tells him they want freedom to work when, where, and how they want.
[41:46] Check back next week when Marc interviews Kelsey and Matt Moore, owners of CoolWorks.com.
Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code, by Marcia LaReau
and Neil Patrick
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
UK Office for National Statistics
40pluscareerguru.blogspot.co.uk
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes app, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the third cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn, blogging, and book publishing training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a unique paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-68 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
In this episode, Marc answers questions with his trusty sidekick, Elizabeth Rabaey. You can learn about her career pivots in Episode 020. Listen in to this episode for insight on targeting a job appropriate to your age, dealing with your employer finding your side gigs, and ethical treatment of multiple employers competing for your services.
[:44] Marc welcomes you to the episode and invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:14] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. This episode is the Mailbag or Q&A episode. Next, Marc will interview Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick, co-authors of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code.
[1:36] The next week, Kelsey and Matt Moore, owners of Coolworks, which is basically the Mecca of seasonal jobs, at places like the U.S. National Park Service and other cool places. Marc is working on a couple of interviews with travel bloggers and other interesting and exciting interviews.
[1:56] Marc introduces ‘trusty sidekick,’ Elizabeth Rabaey. Marc interviewed Elizabeth on Episode 20. Elizabeth encourages you to listen to her episode for details.
[2:59] Q1: I am pursuing a position as a third-party recruiter in a specialized market of which I have intimate knowledge. The hiring company has a 12-week training program for all new hires. The base pay is very low, but the commission structure can be lucrative. I submitted my resume but have not heard back. What should I do?
[3:27] A1: This is a typical ‘churn and burn’ position for young people who are not expected to stick around for long. You are not their target hire. Marc relates this to when he applied to teach high school math as a teacher over age 40. They wanted a younger person. Marc suggests moving on to something else.
[5:06] Look up Marc’s post, “Are You Discouraged Pursuing Millennial Job Opportunities.” Pursue something else.
[5:42] Q2: I am working on a consulting side gig to move to in a year. I do not want my current employer to find out. Should I put it on my LinkedIn profile?
[5:50] A2: First, determine the risk. If you put it on LinkedIn and your employer finds it, are they going to fire you? Are they going to be unhappy? Are they going to be OK with it? As long as you’re not competing, they may not be happy, but… First determine if they will fire you for doing this, then don’t put it on LinkedIn.
[6:35] Second, before you put it on your LinkedIn profile, figure out what’s the story you are going to tell them when they do find it. Marc tells about some side gigs he did when he worked at IBM. When he was discovered, IBM was not happy and told him to stop.
[7:17] Third, if you do put it on your LinkedIn profile in current jobs, make sure it is second or possibly third on your list of current jobs. The default is the first item, but immediately move it below your full-time job. Marc just moved Repurpose Your Career podcast host to his third current job. That way, it doesn’t come up in the header.
[8:59] The key piece here is to make sure you have ‘a story’ to tell your employer when they discover your side job.
[10:12] Marc was talking to an employee of a large technology company recently who wanted to retire in a year and move into real estate investing — and wanted to put that on LinkedIn but didn’t want the company to know he was retiring in a year. Honesty is the best policy. Make sure you have your story straight.
[11:07] Elizabeth points out that you’d better be ready to make the jump financially if your employer decides they don’t want to keep you around because of your side gig. Marc says that side gigs are becoming more common. All you have to do is figure out if it competes with your current position. It is especially common for older workers.
[11:47] Q3: I have interviewed with several companies and I’m about to get an offer for a pretty good position but I’m also interviewing with another company next week that I think I want more. How should I handle this?
[12:01] A3: These are good times! Marc gives a case study of navigating two potential positions. First, say nothing until you have a formal offer. Second, with the formal offer in hand, find out how long they will give you to respond.
[13:00] Third, go to the second company and tell them you have a really good offer in-hand. Ask if they can speed up the interview process; if you are ‘attractive enough,’ they will. Don’t do anything until you have the first offer in-hand on paper or DocuSign. There is still room to negotiate the offer if it is not just what you want.
[13:46] Marc returns to the case study. The second potential employer sped up the process to one week. They did not, in the end, make an offer, but as they were prompt, the interviews did not interfere with his accepting the position from the first company. The applicant renegotiated the original offer with the first company.
[14:09] The key piece is that no one’s working for you. A headhunter is being paid by the employer, not by you. Be careful with them. As you draw out the first offer, make sure you treat them fairly and don’t drag them along. Make sure no one is deceived. Once you have that first offer, others will speed it up if you are an attractive candidate.
[15:06] Marc says we live in good times. He has had, in the last year, multiple clients who’ve gotten multiple offers. It’s kind of nice, being loved! Marc has also had several clients who’ve gotten five-figure signing bonuses, in their 50s!
[16:10] It’s all about making sure you have that first offer in-hand and it is official. You don’t do anything until you have it in-hand.
[16:22] Marc says those were good questions. If anyone in the audience has a question for Marc and Elizabeth, please go to the contact form on CareerPivot.com or send a question to Podcast@CareerPivot.com, and Marc will get back and add it to the queue, or respond to the email if you are subscribed to the podcast or the CareerPivot blog.
[17:03] Marc hopes you enjoyed this episode. He leaves his closing words.
[18:30] Check back next week when Marc interviews Marcia LaReau and Neil Patrick, co-authors of Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code.
Careermageddon: Cracking the 21st Century Career Code, by Marcia LaReau
and Neil Patrick
CareerPivot.com/Episode-20 with Elizabeth Rabaey
Are You Discouraged Pursuing Millennial Job Opportunities
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the third cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn and blogging training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things. Beta groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
CareerPivot.com/Episode-67 Show Notes for this episode.
Please subscribe at CareerPivot.com to get updates on all the other happenings at Career Pivot. Marc publishes a blog with Show Notes every Tuesday morning. If you subscribe to the Career Pivots blog, every Sunday you will receive the Career Pivot Insights email, which includes a link to this podcast.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Uncertainty is stressful. Marc Miller describes the process of planning, preparing, and waiting to move to Mexico and how uncertainty manifests itself in the process.
Listen in for ideas on preparing for major changes in your life.
Key Takeaways:
[:44] Marc welcomes you to the episode and announces that downloads continue to exceed his expectations. Marc invites you to share this episode with like-minded souls. Please subscribe wherever you listen to this podcast, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[1:25] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. This month, the series is out of the normal order. Two weeks ago, in Episode 64, Marc interviewed Camille Knight, a logical creative who married her love for data and creativity into making beautiful Tableau dashboards for executives. She transitioned in her fifties.
[1:58] Last week, in Episode 65, Marc interviewed Hannah Morgan of Career Sherpa fame. Hannah started in the career space right before the Great Recession. Marc interviewed her about job searching in 2007, in the present day, and about her projections for 2028. It’s a really good episode.
[2:32] The third in the series is a topic of Marc’s choosing. This week it is an episode about uncertainty and FOMO or fear of missing out. This affects Marc and other people about to make a major change. Marc’s major change is his planned move to Mexico.
[2:49] The last episode in the series is the Mailbag episode where he answers your questions with Elizabeth Rabaey.
[2:54] Marc introduces the episode, a discussion of what’s going through his head around his to move to Mexico.
[3:02] Marc was driving to a workshop in Dallas the previous weekend and was listening to the Freakonomics podcast -- “An Egghead’s View of the Superbowl.” On offense the players knows the play. The defense is always on their toes, not knowing what is going to happen.
[3:34] Stephen Dubner, the host, said a lot of social science research tells us that uncertainty is exhausting. We make really poor decisions under uncertainty. Marc has been going through a lot of uncertainty for about the last year-and-a-half, and it is exhausting.
[4:02] Marc retells how he decided to move. Listen to Episode 55 to hear the full story. Around October of 2016, Marc’s health insurance bill went up by 50% and he didn’t know what to do about it. They got on the Healthcare.gov site and found a plan, but things were really uncomfortable. Then came the election of President Trump.
[4:51] Worrying about healthcare insurance created a lot of uncertainty. Marc and his wife decided that they would start exploring leaving the country. Mrs. Miller is just over a year away from Medicare, while Marc is several years away from it. They are both self-employed and they were worried.
[5:14] In 2017, the Millers spent $25,000 on Health Insurance and Healthcare, and they didn’t reach their deductible. In 2018, it is worse. In 2017, they spent a lot of time exploring options for moving and spent some time in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico. Mrs. Miller had health issues there, but she neglected to follow up with a doctor.
[5:57] Several months later, the Millers went to Cuenca, Ecuador, at 8,000 ft. elevation and Quito, at 9,000 ft. Mrs. Miller crashed. They came home early and she was admitted to the hospital. Her condition is being resolved, but they have uncertainty. Meanwhile, Marc’s business went down 60% in the first half of 2017.
[6:44] Marc attributes the drop in business to uncertainty about the current U.S. president and what the government will do. Marc has a strong dislike for both U.S. major political parties, and the current president. Marc is affected by all the uncertainty.
[7:12] Marc has decided to move forward with what he was going to do. They started making plans, and the next step was to visit Ajijic, Mexico, outside Guadalajara. They made the decision that Ajijic would be the place where they would start their expat life. It may turn out to be their final destination.
[8:02] The Millers will spend a month at Ajijic starting in the middle of March, shopping for doctors, insurance and rental property. They found an Airbnb one-bedroom condo to rent for a month at $800. They will come back and then move down, probably semi-permanently, in June or July.
[8:41] Marc started wondering if he was making the right decision. They started getting rid of things like books. They’ve already down-sized in 2009, from 1,700 square feet house to a 1,000 square foot condo. Now they have to start getting rid of important stuff.
[9:10] First thing to go will be George, a massive, 8-foot-tall, 45-year-old ponytail palm on the third floor balcony. The YMCA will probably take that. Next is Marc’s mother’s furniture and her unburied urn. The next question is what to do with the cats. It is all uncomfortable for the Millers.
[10:50] They want to move in phases, as they did when they moved into the condo. It looks like they will delay renting out their condo. They will go for three months and then come back. Mrs. Miller will retire from her job at that point. Marc worries what he will miss out. If they don’t rent out the condo they will be out the rent money.
[11:30] The Millers are uncertain about what rental properties will be available when they move down to Mexico. The visit in March is to take care of some of the uncertainty by finding a place for June. When they went in October of 2017 they took care of a lot of the uncertainty.
[11:58] Marc has a lot of clients and listeners who have a tremendous amount of uncertainty about change. We don’t know what to do and that makes it very uncomfortable. Marc lists some uncertainties for the Millers. Episode 40 was about walking into an unknown world when Marc left a corporation to teach high school math.
[13:17] All of the process of becoming a high school teacher was incredibly anxiety-provoking. No one wants to tell how you get hired to teach high school.
[13:41] Marc realizes now that all the uncertainty he felt before he started teaching contributed greatly to his anxiety. After two years Marc decided he could no longer teach high school math and he took nine months to figure out what was next. More anxiety. It was one of the few times in Marc’s career he was lost with no idea what to do next.
[14:11] Marc went through a whole variety of behaviors and feelings popped up. Many of you listeners who are trying to figure out what’s next are feeling the same thing.
[14:24] How much of this anxiety, the problems you run into, is caused by uncertainty? Make a list of things you don’t know that you will investigate. Marc bought a book on cats, including how to move them. Learn to manage your uncertainty.
[15:12] Marc’s final thoughts: What are you uncertain about? How can you manage that? How can you ‘not make stuff up’?
[16:06] The Career Pivot community website is in production. This is the only online community anywhere in the world focused on job seekers in the second half of life. Marc is now soliciting people for the third cohort. Join the waiting list at the link.
[17:17] Check back next week when Marc will answer listener questions.
Mentioned in This Episode:
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is now available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals for the third cohort who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn and blogging training. Marc is bringing someone in to guide members on how to write a book. The next topic will be business formation and there will be lots of other things.. Groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
CareerPivot.com/Episode-66 Show Notes for this episode.
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Hannah Morgan is a speaker, author, and founder of CareerSherpa.net. She serves as a guide to today’s job search, delivering no-nonsense, actionable advice for job seekers. Hannah’s experience in human resources, outplacement services, workplace development, and career services equip her with a 360-degree perspective of job search topics.
Recognized by media and career professionals as an advocate for job seekers, Hannah speaks and writes about using social media, personal branding, and other modern strategies to help job seekers take control of their job search. Hannah is frequently quoted in local and national publications and she writes a weekly column for the U.S. News & World Report. Hannah is the author of The Infographic Resume.
Listen in for trends in job search you need to know.
[:44] Marc welcomes you to the episode and announces the download numbers for January. They are almost double the numbers of three months ago. He appreciates the great feedback from listeners and hopes to continue to meet your expectations of a podcast that inspires.
[1:20] Marc has lined up a travel blogger and hopes to interview the owners of Collworks.com, a website that connects people with work in parks and great outdoor destinations. Marc is working on a number of other great guests.
[1:50] If you enjoy this podcast, Marc invites you to share it with friends, subscribe to it at CareerPivot.com or iTunes, share it on social media, and tell your neighbors and colleagues.
[2:13] Marc gives an overview of the podcast series. This month the series will be out of the normal order. Last week Marc interviewed Camille Knight, a logical creative who married her love for data and creativity into making beautiful Tableau dashboards for executives. She transitioned in her fifties.
[2:40] Next episode is an interview with an expert. That is usually the first episode of the series. This week, Marc will interview Hannah Morgan of Career Sherpa fame. Hannah started in the career space right before the Great Recession. Marc will interview her about job searching in 2007, in the present day, and about her projections for 2028.
[3:10] The third in the series is a topic of Marc’s choosing. He is thinking about an episode about FOMO or fear of missing out. This affects Marc and other people about to make a major change. Marc’s major change is his planned move to Mexico.
[3:29] The last episode in the series is the Mailbag episode where he answers listener’s questions with Elizabeth Rabaey. Last week’s episode was the Mailbag.
[3:34] Marc introduces the episode and reads Hannah’s bio.
[4:40] Marc welcomes Hannah. She calls herself an introvert who loves nothing better than just hanging out by herself at home, or carting one of her two teenage sons to Lacrosse, football, or other sports-related activity.
[6:12] Hannah started in the career business over a decade ago. Marc ‘rewinds time’ to 2007 to ask about job search then. There was no LinkedIn. Networks were the focus and job seekers had to rely on often out-of-date email addresses and phone numbers to build networks. It was almost impossible to find the names of people in companies.
[7:27] Networking was incredibly different. There were still a lot of jobs being posted in the newspaper. People were still sending resumes by hard copy or fax. Marc remembers faxing resumes.
[8:14] We really have seen a lot of change since 2007, making things better and easier for job search. Job seekers used to bring 20 copies of their resume to a job fair. A lot of money was spent on good resume paper with matching envelopes. Then there were printing, word processing, and typesetting costs.
[9:21] Marc talks about joining LinkedIn in 2006 and working with Indeed and Jobvite. Things have changed in twelve years, and where you are in the country impacts how quickly local companies embraced the changes in recruiting methods. In some areas, until a few years ago, you may have been emailing your resume to individual people.
[10:52] Marc jumps forward to 2018. What has changed? At the end of 2017 and early in 2018 a couple of things changed. We’re starting to see the job market be in the job seeker’s favor because of the extremely low unemployment. Employers are doing more to attract candidates. They are putting job centers on their websites.
[12:37] The majority of job seeker and companies have embraced LinkedIn as the primary spot to be seen and found. Applicant tracking systems are everywhere. Companies are realizing the value of company employee referrals.
[13:18] Marc recalls the interview with Gary O’Neal (in Episode 58) and the anecdote about a company with 1,300 resumes in their tracking system, all of which were being ignored. People were hired by emailed resumes and referrals.
[14:33] Some companies are implementing chatbots that will make it easier for people to get through the application process.
[15:44] Some of the biggest problems in hiring today are inadequate screening processes for applicants and resumes, so a lot of good people don’t make the cut, there’s a communication gap, where job seekers don’t know how to prove to employers they have what the employer is seeking.
[16:49] The resume is the primary document, even on LinkedIn. In order for your resume to be attractive to an employer, they have to understand what you’re talking about. Candidates have not been taught how to write a good resume or promote themselves.
[17:41] Employers don’t know how to write accurate job descriptions. They ask for everything, whether they need it or not. They also don’t know how to write about salary.
There’s a lot of salary information on the internet, and much of it is GIGO. Garbage in, garbage out.
[19:50] Job titles are meaningless now. Titles vary from company to company. LinkedIn just published their most promising jobs for 2018. The top job is Engagement Manager. Would you know what that job is? It could be a few different things. What about Customer Success Manager? It depends on the company.
[22:17] Marc has a client who wants to move from consultant to employee, for insurance benefits. Marc suggests he look on LinkedIn for people with specific job titles and ask them what they do.
[22:54] Hannah tells job seekers that everyone in a job transition is looking for a new career. The job they had at their last company no longer exists. It requires a major shift in thinking. It’s really about getting good at talking about the things that you did well. Marc has clients whose jobs disappeared in under five years.
[24:20] Marc had a director-level job seeker in engineering interviewing at a company similar to his previous employer but they couldn’t understand each other as they were using different terminologies. He didn’t get the job. Learn the language of your target company.
[25:26] Hannah would like employers to do more to simplify their recruiting language, and explaining their recruitment process to applicants.
[26:28] Marc jumps forward to the year 2028 and asks what has changed? Hannah predicts that will still be a lot of job seeking and hiring, and there will still be a large communication gap between employers and candidates.
[27:05] Hannah hopes that changing jobs will have become easier by candidates building relationships with companies before jobs become open. This could be done with an online talent pipeline. The companies could provide ambassadors to the online communities.
[28:07] Hannah suggests the resume should be replaced with a simple chronological work history. From that and the conversations and some other form of evaluation will be the interview process.
[29:37] The career lattice is the new norm. The career ladder is out. People don’t always want to be a boss, they may want a different challenge, and they go from place to place in the company or outside. Companies that only want a ladder climber may be eliminating good candidates. More and more people are moving laterally.
[30:44] The gig economy has been growing. It allows additional freedom to do things that would have been hard to do in a company. The only problem is health benefits tied to employers. To keep our economy growing, we have to allow people flexibility.
[33:03] Marc refers to Unretirement, by Chris Farrell, and the looming worker shortage as Boomers retire. Employers will have to bring back older workers. HR departments have a natural bias against flexibility for older workers.
[36:01] Boomers want to stay employed another five or ten years, maybe for less money and more flexibility. Millennials are the next largest group. They don’t want 9-to-5 jobs. Employers are going to have to listen to their largest employee groups and provide flexibility.
[36:46] Marc talks about moving to Mexico, and the tax implications. He has done a lot of research. He is taking his job virtually.
[37:18] Marc jumps back to 2018. What is the most important thought from this conversation? Hannah says that change is the norm. We all have to adapt and understand change and be willing to flex. Understand where you fit in today’s world of work, what you want, and what you are good at doing. Find a way to use that.
[38:58] Marc’s last thought. He likes Hannah’s comment that change is the new norm. We all have to stay nimble. Think about that.
[39:29] The Career Pivot community website is alive and in production. This is the only online community anywhere in the world focused on job seekers in the second half of life. Marc is now soliciting people for the third cohort. Join the waiting list at the link.
[40:54] Check back next week when Marc discusses FOMO and how it’s affecting his thinking.
U.S. News & World Report — Hannah Morgan
Email Hannah at HMorgan@CareerSherpa.net
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is now available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon. Marc will be giving away one or more free copies of the audio version — follow his directions in this episode.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has two initial cohorts of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn and blogging training. The next topic will be business formation. Groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
CareerPivot.com/Episode-65 Show Notes for this episode.
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android
Camille is a logical creative. She is the confluence of creativity and mathematics. Camille grew up as a gymnast, dancer, ice skater, singer, and photographer, while, at the same time, was a member of the Mathematics Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta. She spent much of her career focusing on the analytical side of herself because that’s what the world was willing to pay her for. Over the last few years, she turned herself into a Tableau developer, where she gets to create beautiful, understandable business dashboards. She now gets to activate both sides of her brain and get paid pretty darn well for it. This was not an easy journey for Camille and there were some pretty painful patches for her, which we do not discuss on purpose. But she has persevered and moved on.
[:56] Marc welcomes you to the episode and gives an overview of the podcast series. This month the series will be out of the normal order. This week Marc will interview Camille Knight, a logical creative who married her love for data and creativity into making beautiful Tableau dashboards for executives. She transitioned in her fifties.
[1:27] Next episode will be an interview with an expert. That is usually the first episode of the series. Marc will interview Hannah Morgan of Career Sherpa fame. Hannah started in the career space right before the Great Recession. Marc will interview her about job searching in 2007, in the present day, and about her projections for 2028.
[2:03] The third in the series is a topic of Marc’s choosing. He is thinking about an episode about FOMO or fear of missing out. This affects Marc and other people about to make a major change. Marc’s major change is his planned move to Mexico.
[2:22] The last episode in the series is the Mailbag episode where he answers listener’s questions with Elizabeth Rabaey. Last week’s episode was the Mailbag.
[2:33] Marc introduces the episode and reads Camille’s bio.
[3:38] Marc welcomes Camille. Camille grew up encouraged to express herself through the arts and athletics — drawing, writing, gymnastics, dance, competitive ice skating, and singing. She decided on business marketing major for a practical career. She was already good at math. Her Math score was the highest on her SAT. She attended UT.
[5:35] When Camille graduated, in the mid-eighties, the economy was “down in the dumps” and everybody was struggling to find a job. She wound up in an administrative position for the U.S. Senate. It was a great opportunity to learn about our government but it was not a creative job so she returned to school as an applied voice major.
[6:34] Camille spent six years as a professional singer. Then she came back to Austin. She worked a series of administrative jobs and was invited to apply for a business analyst job. She liked the idea and went back to school for a business analyst course at ACC. It made sense and she took to it like a duck to water.
[7:31] She thought she had discovered what she was meant to be doing all along. Then she took the project management professional training course and the sequel course. She started to feel that was her direction to follow. She went to work by contract at VMWare. She liked the freedom to work for a time and become a subject matter expert.
[8:52] While Camille was working in one contract job, her world changed again, in 2015, when she found Tableau Desktop. For many years she had been a power user of Excel. Using Tableau was love at first sight. It allowed Camille to be creative with numbers and to tell the story in a visual way. It married the two sides of her brain.
[9:47] Tableau is a data visualization tool that allows you to create various different kinds of charts using data to tell the story. Any news article that has a gorgeous chart probably uses Tableau. Camille likes to able to create something really quickly. The beautiful charts can help executives make business decisions.
[10:48] It was satisfying for Camille to marry the two sides of her brain. She took a two-day course in Tableau, took a certification exam at the Tableau Conference and became a Tableau Qualified Associate.
[11:40] For the last couple of years, Camille has been using Tableau to inform executive decision makers about the performance of several organizations in the healthcare sector. This work requires using mathematics to create the information needed from the data she is given, coloring each point according to the signals in the chart.
[12:53] Camille feels like she has found her niche. Using Tableau comes naturally to her. She was not really happy just doing pure administrative work.
[13:33] Camille had a BA certificate and a PMP certification. She enjoyed Business Analysis, but she was not very interested in being a Project Management Professional, as the work was word-focused. Analysis, reporting, and dashboarding was where she wanted to work. She could use the PMP skills in scheduling her workflow, however.
[15:50] Camille just went through a lot of interviews. One came out of nowhere. She went into the interview feeling she had nothing to lose, and she was just herself. It was a great interview and she got the position. She was asked to talk to a sales consultant at Tableau. When she did, she learned that she was a content developer.
[18:36] Camille had been nervous about the meeting but walked out realizing she was smarter than she thought. The nervousness came from ‘MSU.’ That confidence set her up for a good interview with the end user.
[19:32] Camille never imagined herself in such a job. She is also concerned about retirement, but she likes to work, so she is considering soft retirement. She doesn’t want to stop working. She would like the freedom to take four-to-six weeks off in the summer and option to work 20 hours a week, and take a break between contracts.
[20:43] Camille thinks this next job is a real positive step toward a flexible work schedule. She had had no idea she could make that happen.
[21:03] Camille’s job search has taken five years. Things didn’t quite turn out the way she planned. She hit Tableau at a very good time, when there are no experts. It’s too new. Camille gravitated to it and sucked it up. She dug in deep.
[21:50] Camille would advise job searchers to keep trying. Trying new things, trying to learn, trying just one more job interview. Doors didn’t open immediately for her.
[22:53] Camille used to be Marc’s neighbor. He has known her through unemployment, hard times, her BA certificate. He encouraged her to take a contract job. The first job they just hired her quickly over the phone. Camille likes the freedom of contracting. She won’t take six weeks off, but she might take a few weeks, and it won’t be a problem.
[24:09] Marc says everybody in his online community wants freedom to choose how hard they work, where they work, and when they work. For many in the second half of life that becomes really important but it is not available with full-time employment.
[24:34] Marc is really proud of Camille. She thanks him for all his help along the way.
[25:10] Camille is a survivor and continues to pursue her dreams. She started her new job last week and this is just another step in the journey.
[25:49] Marc explains how he will select the listener who will receive a copy of the audio version of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life.
[26:06] By the time this episode airs Marc will have the second cohort of 10 members for the online paid membership community. This is the only online community anywhere in the world for job seekers in the second half of life. Marc is now soliciting people for the third cohort.
[27:42] Check back next week when Marc will interview Hannah Morgan.
Please pick up a copy of Repurpose Your Career: A Practical Guide for the 2nd Half of Life, by Marc Miller and Susan Lahey. The paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats are available now. When you have completed reading the book, Marc would very much appreciate your leaving an honest review on Amazon.com. The audio version of the book is now available on iTunes, Audible, and Amazon. Marc will be giving away one or more free copies of the audio version — follow his directions in this episode.
Marc has the paid membership community running on the CareerPivot.com website. The website is alive and in production. Marc is contacting people on the waitlist. Sign up for the waitlist at CareerPivot.com/Community. Marc has an initial cohort of 10 members in the second half of life and they are guiding him on what to build. He is looking for individuals who are motivated to take action and give Marc input on what he should produce next. He’s currently working on LinkedIn and blogging training. Groups will be brought in 10 at a time. This is a paid membership community where Marc will offer group coaching, special content, and a community where you can seek help.
Please take a moment — go to iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play, or Spotify through the Spotify app. Give this podcast an honest 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.
Email Marc at Podcast@CareerPivot.com.
Contact Marc, and ask questions at Careerpivot.com/contact-me
CareerPivot.com/Episode-64 Show Notes for this episode.
You can find Show Notes at Careerpivot.com/repurpose-career-podcast.
To subscribe from an iPhone: CareerPivot.com/iTunes
To subscribe from an Android: CareerPivot.com/Android