In this conversation with Chris we get deep into how:

• Take off some of the pressure by learning the difference between a startup and an income generating project.
• Learn how a side hustle is different from being a full blown entrepreneur.
• There is nothing wrong with you if you don’t want to quit your job tomorrow and take a big risk to start your own thing. You have other options.
• Not everyone is meant to be an entrepreneur but that doesn’t mean you can’t have your own thing on the side.
• Learn how to decide what kind of side hustle is right for you.
• How you can use your power of observation and curiosity to find possible side hustles that fit you.
• Learn the steps to identify and execute an effective side hustle.
• Learn how to truly identify and get specific with your ideal customer.

I remember in 2006 I had just been fired from a job that I hated.

I was pretty determined to not have to go back to “just another job” where I would spend my days just waiting for the weekend as I grinded it out in meetings that had no meaning to me.

So I began learning everything I could about people who get well paid AND love their work. Let’s call these people “Happy High Achievers”

One of the things that I observed right away is that Happy High Achievers don’t often get jobs by traditional means. When you’re outside and looking in it almost seems random. It’s not though.

It also doesn’t have anything to do with applying 200 plus times on Indeed or LinkedIn.

So how do they do it?

Well we’ve talked in the past about the importance of prioritizing what you want. That’s step 1, you must understand where you’re going to make it easier to get there. That said Happy High Achievers realize that people hire other people (not companies and not computers) which means that the very biggest short cut to finding work that fits you (or even getting positions created for you) is through relationships.

Now over the years I personally have found the very fastest way to begin a relationship with someone else isn’t networking events (and it definitely isn’t speed networking!) It’s also not social media.

Instead it’s through something far easier: introductions.

THE MOST POWERFUL RELATIONSHIP BUILDING HACK YOU ALREADY HAVE IN YOUR TOOLBOX

ABOUT EMILIE ARIES

Emilie Aries is the Founder and CEO of Bossed Up, an organization that promotes a program that helps thousands of women step into their own power as the boss of their lives and careers.

After having fought career burnout herself, Emilie made it her mission to share her experience and continue to educate women on how to craft happy, healthy, and sustainable career paths that focus on preventing burnout by providing support to help women navigate pivot points in their careers and lives.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

• You’ll learn the 3 core variables to help fight burn out
• We discuss how breaking away from “the norm” and changing your mindset will help you see and value your self-worth
• Why we should all stop chasing those “merit badges” if we want to truly thrive in our careers and prevent burn out
• Investing in yourself and why you should ALWAYS put your oxygen mask on first!
  • The power of saying, “No.”

• Learn why it’s important to be authentic and honest during the interview process and how it can put you a step above the rest.
• How can hard conversations lead to better opportunities?
• Learn how defining the lifestyle you want and including that want into your job search can make all the difference.
• The fear of money may be holding you back from making a change. Learn how to overcome that fear and get clear on your money situation.
• Could staying in your current situation actually be costing you money? Listen and we will tell you how to find out.
• Maybe that great accomplishment shouldn’t be on your resume - Learn what should and shouldn’t be on your resume when making an industry switch.
• Hear how not taking yourself too seriously and joking around can lead to more connections and more opportunities.
• Find out how interviews can not only help you learn about a particular job but can help you define what kind of environment you will truly excel in.

What if you could have a system to rely on to make all your important decisions?

My friend Pete Mockaitis and I had a great conversation on the podcast today about how our decisions and needs evolve over time, and he shared a decision-making framework with two critical questions you can use as “mental weightlifting” to help make smart decisions faster.

I love his framework because it allows you to be less reactive and more intentional and proactive, which is very helpful in all areas of life (not just career stuff). I’d love to hear what you think, too!

Let me tell you about a great problem to have -- and a question that came from one of our students inside of Career Change Bootcamp, our signature program.

Laura said:  

“I'm really interested in a particular company, and I've now spoken to four people who work there. I've gotten really good at being genuinely interested in learning about roles and companies without actually "asking" anything...But now I want the job... so how do I graciously and not awkwardly shift the conversation from tell me about what you do, to... you should hire me because?”

Curious to know the answer? Or, have a hypothesis of your own?

Find out the exact strategy I recommended for Laura in today’s episode of the podcast.

• How to make potential  employers  feel like they are making the decision to hire you without any selling on your part.
• How to go from researching and exploring a company that you think is a right fit to getting hired.
• Learn how trust and relationship building are the foundations for landing your dream job.
• Understand how humans don’t make objective choices based off of resumes but instead on knowing, liking, and trusting you.
• How important it is to be a partner with the company and people you are seeking out because it makes the decision a shared responsibility and gives it weight.
• Move from being a job seeker to the researcher, the interviewer, and a partner in the process.

• Walk through the four questions you must ask yourself before giving yourself permission to make a substantial life change and leave the work that doesn’t fit you.

• How to determine if you can make a clean getaway or if it’s time to find a bridge job to get you where you want to go.
• Find out what can happen if you jump right into an opportunity just because it’s there without first doing the work to figure out what you want.
• How taking a sabbatical, if you can endure it financially, can lead you to the right next steps.
• How to get past the fear that you will just be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.
• When is it okay to leave your job with nothing else lined up?
• Learn how much time you should budget to allow you to find your next opportunity that is the right fit.
• Learn about a bridge job and whether it’s a good step for you.

Today’s guest, Dan Cumberland, is a former youth pastor who suffered what he described as a “theological breakdown” early in his career. The power of suggestion took him down a career path that never quite fit him, but seemed right at the time.

(Can you relate?)

In his journey to get back on a path that matched his personality, Dan researched and developed his philosophy behind fulfilling career pathing and founded The Meaning Movement, a business and podcast where he helps folks with this kind of stuff every day.

In this episode of the podcast, we go really really deep into how...:

• The voices from parents, friends, family, and others in your life shape who you are and what you do -- and what to do about it.
• Language decisions and how you describe experiences can shape that experience and your future thoughts around it. (And why the power of suggestion can be so crippling in career pathing!)
• Your love of finding the best pizza can guide you to a deeper underlying theme in your quest for meaning.
• To define your dream job (using the four Ps framework) to discover work that’s more meaningful to you.

Aaaaaand...I’m back!

I hope you enjoyed last week’s message from Lisa and Josh to celebrate our 200th episode of the podcast.

(I still cannot believe it’s already been four years of podcasting. We covered a lot of ground in those episodes!!!)

And don’t worry: there are still plenty of topics that we could do 200 (or more) episodes on.

For example: do you recognize any of yourself in this story?

“If you are someone who is a rule follower, a successful person, we are brought up in these systems and taught if you do the right things, do well in school, pick the right major, follow all these steps then you will be happy. The world doesn’t work like that. It’s like this big insight that hits you. I felt like I had done everything right and ticked all the boxes. Went to skill, got my undergrad degree, top of my class, and got my masters, ready to conquer the world. I took a job with a salary that was less than I could live and commute on. I was commuting back and forth to New York City two hours, each day, to a job that was not a fit for me at all. It was a small environment in a room with three other people, not a lot of autonomy, but I intellectualized it away instead of listening to what I knew about myself - that I needed a high degree of being self-directed in my work.

“I was giving my life, time, power, and energy away. I sat there and was so burnt out - physically, mentally, emotionally. A hair-trigger event could set me off. One piece of bad feedback, a surprise email. I was so low anything could send me into that tailspin. That was my lightbulb moment of saying ‘this is not who I am,’ and that person deep down, that kid that was ambitious filled with hope and positivity and being so excited about the world ahead of me spoke up and said, ‘This is no longer acceptable. You have to start making changes.’ I had to look at all the ways I had let my identity, power and self-worth get wrapped up in someone else approving of me. My boss or sending someone my work, I had become so dependent on my work to make me feel good that I sacrificed everything else. My friendships, relationships, my body. I had to make changes.“ - Melody Wilding

If anything about this experience resonated with you -- and you’re ready to re-claim your own power in your work and life -- then I’m ridiculously excited to share this week’s podcast episode, #201 with Melody Wilding.

Melody is a licensed clinical social worker and career coach who is an expert on the mindset and psychology behind successful careers, and knows that taking a hard look at your life and deciding what you need to say “yes” to and what you need to say “no” to makes all the difference.

In this episode, you will learn...:

• How to have difficult conversations to establish (or re-establish) boundaries and gain control over your life

• How deciding who to bring into your life makes you happier...and more profitable

...and so much more!

Today marks the 200th episode of the Happen to Your Career podcast.

Can you believe it? (We hardly can!)

Scott started the podcast 4 years ago, back when he was also working in a corporate job that he liked well enough...but wasn’t his dream.

He had a WAY bigger vision for what he wanted to create in his life, and how he wanted to help people.

So when you’ve heard him talk about how to transition and optimize your life from good to great on this podcast each week for the past four years(!), he’s not just spewing some BS he read that morning on a career site. He’s lived it.

And, so have the people whose lives he’s touched.

(Maybe you’re one of them?)

Josh and I rounded up some of the people who have been an important part of HTYC back from the very beginning (people like Scott’s wife Alyssa, their kiddos MacKenzie, Camden, and Grayson, and HTYC co-founder Mark Sieverkropp).

Then I grabbed some of the people whose lives have changed because of HTYC, including past coaching clients and team members like Erica, Mike, Tracey, Josh, Kirby, and Jacqui.

I asked them each three simple questions:

1. Where was your life before you encountered Scott?
2. What impact did Scott and HTYC have on your life?
3. What's different about your future because of HTYC?

And their answers Blew. Us. All. Away. So Josh and I wanted to share them with you.

If you’ve been curious about what it’s like to get to know Scott personally -- or to get to work with him -- this episode is a must listen.

Do you want to have an answer to the “What do you do?” question that’s as powerful as that one?

If you do, you can start by asking yourself the question: “what am I on this earth to do right now?”

Give the question some time to percolate in your brain, and then grab paper and pen to start capturing the ideas and language that come to mind for you.

Or, if your brain feels slower than a semi truck with completely flat tires trying to deliver a shipment of molasses, you’re not alone -- and you probably should listen to today’s podcast episode.

Today’s guest, Maxie McCoy, uses this very question to shape how she introduces herself and explains her work. She’s a career inspiration expert who focuses on helping you tap into your own confidence and gifts to go kick some serious butt in the world.

Maxie has confidently navigated quite a few twists and turns along her professional path: going from college athletics to broadcast journalism, to growing one of the highest traffic women’s career and personal finance sites, to launching her own business as a writer, speaker and inspiration to create a life you’re jazzed about living.

We’re busting all the myths about confidence and giving you tactical tips on how to develop stronger self-belief today on the podcast with Maxie McCoy.

Listen to today’s episode to hear her guidance on…:

• The strategic relationship building tactics she used to get a position at ESPN
• Trusting your gut and make a career move that’s off the “planned” path
• How to avoid living like you’re in a disaster or crisis (even when it might feel like it)
• Cultivating the confidence to put yourself in positions to have serendipity start happening for you

Today’s episode is like a shot of confidence adrenaline right in your arm.

It’s powerful stuff, especially if you choose to follow the steps we outline in the blog post and downloadable worksheet.

One thing I’ve noticed after coaching for years is that the way you do one thing in your life is usually a sign of how you do everything.

Let me explain: if you put perfectionistic pressure on yourself to pick out your one right career path, you might also put that pressure on yourself to find your perfect, flawless (unicorn) romantic partner, to be the perfect friend, or improve your fitness by being perfect when you work out. (Maybe something super technical and detail-oriented like ballet or Olympic weightlifting...if you can get over your fears of not being perfect so that you can even start!)

Or if you’re afraid of losing out on options in your life, you might be too scared to commit to one career path or job, so you stay stuck in one you don’t like, because unhappiness feels safer than uncertainty of taking away future possibilities. You might be the one who goes out on dates with a ton of people but never wants to initiate the DTR (define-the-relationship) conversation and end up tied down. Or you might be the person who wants to eat at every new restaurant as soon as it opens, so you’ll know all the different culinary options that your city provides.  

The way you do things isn’t necessarily a bad thing -- in fact, it can be a secret hint about your strengths hiding in your personality and habits.   

You can see this secret strength concept beautifully illustrated in today’s podcast with Angela Wagner. The way Angela does work the the way Angela does life is an example of who she is. She started out her career in the high-powered advertising world, but was seeking to feel grounded outside of work, so she started working at a gym on the side.

Her decision to lean into opportunities that helped her stay active while relieving stress led her to creating community through becoming a yoga teacher...which led her to creating her own yoga studio...which led her to her getting training in yoga life coaching

Creating community for individuals ready to put down their baggage and seek soulful stress relief is Angela’s through-line. It’s how (and WHY) she does everything.

Have you ever heard of Soccer Tots?

In 2011 I hadn’t either.

It’s where you take little kids and they jump through hula hoops, run around cones, occasionally kick a soccer ball and sort of attempt to listen to their frazzled looking teacher. (Think; Pre Soccer)

I was supposed to leave midday on a flight for work and it didn’t make sense for me to go to the office so Alyssa suggested that I come watch Soccer tots.

I showed up at 10am in the middle of the day, not at all knowing what to expect.

One of my kids kicked a goal in the cones that were set up over 20 feet wide which made it nearly impossible for them to miss

He turned and saw that I was there in the room and started shrieking with excitement!

“Daddy did you see me get a goal” (He looked so happy!)

It was right then that I realized I HAD to figure out a way to be able to have the flexibility in my work to be able to be around.

NOT just for the big things in life (school musicals, family birthdays and weddings), but also the little things too!

I hadn’t realized what I was missing out on.

After that I became fascinated by the possibility of working remotely.

That was years ago and since then I’ve negotiated flexible and remote work for myself and helped many other people get jobs or change careers that allow them to work remotely!

We’ve had a lot of people come to us in the last few years that are also interested in doing the exact same thing.

For this reason we brought on Adda Birnir, the CEO of SkillCrush.com, to discuss remote work on the podcast. Not only does her company work entirely remotely but also they teach people (especially women) to code (which is one profession that is incredibly flexible)

If you want to learn how to make remote work possible for you check out this blog post and the podcast here!

On the podcast today, we talked about…

• What it’s like to work in a remote workforce
• The lack of diversity and representation in the tech industry
• How couples negotiate the dynamic between career and relationship
• The factors that set up a remote team for success...or disaster
• Adda’s favorite secret vacation spot in Iceland

(We covered a lot of ground.)

Plus in this blog post we go through step by step the process we use to help clients get to remote and flexible work in their current jobs OR new careers!

So, true story: almost everyone on my team here at Happen to Your Career is an introvert.

(Myself included!)

Which is kind of surprising for a company that teaches people all about how to use relationship-building and presentation skills to create new opportunities in your professional life, right?

Well, contrary to popular belief, we introverts aren’t completely socially anxious and hiding ourselves away in a closet somewhere. (Most of the time.)

We (and I’m sure you, or people you know) have learned the skills to gracefully survive in a socially-oriented world while still creating space for our “me” time.

But one of the things that can feel the hardest for introverts is also one of the ones that makes conversations the most fulfilling.

The vulnerability of putting yourself out there (whether you’re an introvert or extravert) is part of what creates deep, meaningful, awesome connection.

And connection is why we’re all here, isn’t it?

If you agree, you’re going to love this week’s podcast on vulnerability and how to connect with anyone with AJ Harbinger of The Art of Charm.

I think this episode has the most value per minute of any podcast I’ve ever recorded, so if you are a person who loves self-development and wants to be a better conversationalist, you’ve gotta take a listen.

I consider myself to be pretty good at striking up conversations, and I found myself taking tons of mental notes.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• How to use vulnerability as your stealth superpower
• The 3 phases of connection: an analytical framework for creating emotional interaction (yes, really)
• How your past, present and future create the stories we tell ourselves -- and share with the world

Ever thought about becoming a coach? If so, press play immediately on this episode where Scott Barlow welcomes back Marc Mawhinney, the founder of Natural Born Coaches program and podcast, where he helps coaches create real, profitable (and real profitable!) businesses.

On this episode, you’ll learn how Marc got into coaching (and the books that have been his biggest inspiration), how building a business is a bit like being a modern-day caveman, how to ensure you’re not getting paid in meatballs, and how to know when (or if) you need a coaching certification.

Being in love with the dream of calling yourself a coach can be very different from truly having a passion for the day-to-day life of being one.

For example, how much do you enjoy sales conversations? Working for yourself is an eat-what-you-kill kind of job, so you’re going to spend time bringing in coaching clients so you can keep the lights on and pay the bills.

And, how much time out of your week would you estimate you’ll be on the phone with coaching clients? Whatever you’re guessing, guess again and listen to Marc to hear about what it was like for him (and for Scott) in building their coaching businesses.

Karenina Jahnigen

Writing like a Pro in the business world seems like a huge undertaking that is easier said than done.

Luckily, we have Danny H. Rubin as our guest today.

Danny Rubin is “THE writing guy.” Danny has studied communications since college and has worked as a TV News Reporter and Consultant and has come back around to what he loves most, which is writing. He uses his greatest strength to teach practical writing instruction for the business world. From writing to apply for jobs to writing to start a business from scratch, Danny offers his writing advice as the writing expert in the business world.

One of the key takeaways from the episode is viewing the job search as an expectations game where employers are going to expect you to do X, but you’re going to learn how to do Y.

Why, you ask? Well, while everyone else is doing X, you’re going to put that little bit of extra effort it takes to do Y. This is your opportunity to do something another way to stand out from the crowd of job-seekers.

All Y is, is a change in the way that you think about what you’re writing. We have all been so conditioned to write a resume and cover letter the same way. So, a hiring manager is going to expect that same template from every candidate.

But, Danny is here to walk you through a process that will show you how to go about writing those pieces in a smarter, more strategic way.

You will see more results when you know how to be interesting when describing yourself in your stories. Your writing should highlight details of your experience that will enhance your overall platform.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the power of telling YOUR story of success in your cover letter. Danny will help you learn how to write to command attention, prove your ability, and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

What You Will Learn

• The importance of brevity – Why keeping your writing short and concise is imperative in business communications
• The importance of writing differently and how to stand out in your writing to get noticed and open doors
• How to write a powerful Linkedin Profile
• How to apply for a job when a company isn’t even hiring

Are you the kind of person who wants a job that aligns with what you value or what you’re interested in? Or better yet, do you want to feel like you’re meant to do work that has the ability to leave the world a little bit better, and makes you feel fulfilled?

As high performers, people like you and I are always looking for ways to improve ourselves and our situations. We want to take what we’ve got, maximize it to its full potential, and follow our life’s purpose.

That’s why I’m excited to share Jessica Williams’ story with you today as my guest on the podcast.

Jessica is the founder of the company called The Superwoman Project that does everything from writing, speaking, and coaching to support the advancement of women into positions of power within their careers.

It took her a little bit of adventuring -- and a lotta bit of reflection -- to answer the questions of what she was meant to being doing and how she could make a more meaningful impact with her work.

In the episode, she shares how she discovered her passion and calling to guide women through their professional development.

Whether you are in the midst of following your calling or have no idea what it is yet, take a listen to today’s episode, How to Find Your Career Calling and Own Your Purpose with Jessica Williams. We’ll get into:

• The step-by-step process to figure out “your calling”
• Actions to take to become clear in the direction of your career and own your path
• Tactical tips on how to transition out of a job to pursue your deeper career calling

If you’re ready to align your career with your life’s purpose, don’t miss this episode.

The art of life crafting.

Ever heard of it?

It's about defining what you want in your life, taking that vision, and prioritizing where you put your energy and effort to achieve those goals.

Simple enough, right?

You'd be surprised how many people don't take advantage of the benefits that life crafting can bring into their lives.

Not only will it open doors to everything that is possible for you, but it will also provide a framework to get to the life you want.

Now, let's take a moment and think about what it is that you would like to have in your life.

Think about it this way, in a perfect world, what does your life look like?

In terms of your career, where would you be working? What would you be doing? How does your work impact your personal life?

Life crafting allows you to design your career goals and manage how your career aligns with your overall life goals.

In order to get comfortable with the idea of life crafting, we'll take a look at what may be holding you back from intentionally designing a life you’d be in love with and how to move forward in achieving your career goals to better fit that life you've designed.

As High-Performers, we like to make sure we have the majority of our bases covered before we dive head-first into the deep-end of our career change.

But, sometimes we find challenges where we least expect them.

When we look at career change, we know that taking on this big life change requires a great amount of time, energy, financial planning, and a solid support system to lean on when the career change process becomes overwhelming.

One of the least-talked about topics of career change is our current and ongoing support system.

Today, we have Rebecca Maddox as a guest on our podcast.

Listen in as she shares her challenges in finding the right way to communicate with her support system as she took on her cross-country career change.

Learn ways you can navigate your relationships in order to remain authentic to yourself and your career goals. 

So many questions that plague people that have decided to take the bull by the horns and make a career change for themselves.

The ups and downs that they encounter before they make the official jump to a new job position, organization, industry, or business venture are sometimes glossed over once they find success.

But, people that find that success as they transition to a new stage in their career know all too well the hard work, the endless days and nights they were kept awake at night, and the energy it took to put in the work to get where they are today.

One of those people is Cesar Ponce de Leon.

We had the pleasure of working with him as he took on the challenge to move from his previous job in legal affairs to a role at an organization that spoke more to his heart and true life calling.

Cesar ran into a few stumbling blocks along the way, but with the right tools and resources he was able to find success in his career transition.

His story of hard work and non-stop effort is one to take note of, so we've put together an outline of his biggest challenges and the process that he followed to guide him through to reach his career goals.

Check it out!

In your ideal world, what does your life look like? What kind of work would you be doing?

What is stopping you from achieving that now?

Seriously, what is stopping you?

Here’s a hint: NOTHING IS STOPPING US FROM MOVING TOWARD OUR GOALS, VISIONS, LIVES WE DREAM OF…
…well, except for ourselves.

There’s this interesting concept about “learned permission-seeking.”

We’ve been conditioned by parents, teachers, and society to ask for permission to do things.

Now when it comes to change, as adults, we still wait for that permission to make a change.

We look for someone to give us permission or validate our choice to try a new hobby, go back to school, quit a steady job to start our own businesses, flip career paths, or create any type of change within our lives.

Permission stops so many people from moving forward.

Oftentimes, we find ourselves in these situations where we seem stuck because nobody has given us the green light to proceed with our actions — which is crazy, since these are our own lives we are talking about (!).

But, there are ways to create that permission for yourself to be more, do more, and achieve more of your goals.

Check out the episode to hear more about how you can start giving yourself the permission you need to start living a life you love with MJ Fitzpatrick.

Have you noticed any reoccurring themes in your life?

These themes can range from the habits you form, the hobbies you enjoy, the work you choose, the tasks you hate, the type of people you surround yourself with, and so on.

Just stop and think for a moment.

Does anything stand out?

The patterns and themes that appear in your life are little nuggets of gold that you shouldn’t hastily push aside when you’re looking to make any big life changes, like a career transition.

As much as we emphasize how digging deeper into your own patterns in your career and life is the first piece of research you need to do before you start down the career change road, we know that sometimes it is hard to accept those patterns for what they truly are.

Just ask our guest, Matthew Toy, who avoided accepting what everyone else around him knew about how big of an impact his own passion for practicing yoga had on his life.

Fast forward to now, and you’ll find Matt teaching and practicing Man Yoga (yoga for men) at the Berkeley Yoga Center, re-educating people on what the practice of yoga really is through his Instagram, as well as at events. He is also the co-founder of a bakery.

With a full life, yoga practice, and career, Matt is now able to look back, reflect, and share his path on how accepting his own life patterns led him to where he is now.

Whoever said that hard work and perseverance doesn’t pay off sure didn’t meet Tanya.

What Tanya Malcolm Revell did when she was looking to make her big career change was no easy feat.

Besides being an American looking for work that fit her in London, Tanya is also a Career Change Bootcamp alum and our guest for this installment of our most recent CCB success story.

After experiencing the overwhelm of career burnout from her previous positions and frustration with the job search overseas, Tanya found HTYC, enrolled in Bootcamp, put in the hard work, built strategic relationships, and persevered even after some unanswered phone calls and emails to land her dream job.

Curious how she did it?

Check out the episode and blog to learn:
- The steps in the CCB process that will properly position you during your career transition
- The unexpected benefits of putting yourself out there and networking
- How looking at the positive, rather than getting stuck on the negative, is instrumental in helping you keep perspective on your career goals

When it comes to your career transition, it’s not information you’re lacking. In fact, it can feel like there’s an overabundance of data and research on anything and everything out there, thanks to the interwebs.

Here’s the trick: it’s how you organize and use the information you’ve collected over your lifetime that matters.

Jenny Blake, our guest on today’s podcast, figured out how to use her information when she was in a place that you may be able to relate to: she was stuck...trying to figure out what was next in her career.

She’d left college to work at a startup, then left the startup to work at Google, and had just left a job at Google to go out on her own as an author.

She had become the girl that was known for leaving things.

She wondered who she was, how she could have an impact, and what she could build through work that was meaningful. She was struggling to make a breakthrough from all of her career analysis, and she felt completely stuck.

For Jenny, as someone scanning the horizon for her next career possibilities, she realized that all she needed to do was ground herself in her strengths and take a look at what was already working for her.

Career change is about making the connection between the strengths you have right where you are -- and the possible paths towards where you want to go.

And, like Jenny did, you can design tiny experiments to take the pressure off yourself to get the answer to what your next career could be. Stepping back and looking at all of the information about yourself that you’ve gathered from past experiences will guide you through your own career exploration process.

Take a moment to listen to today’s episode, Successfully Pivot Your Career with Jenny Blake, to learn:

• How you can stop holding yourself back from your career change
• How and why creating an Ideal Day Map for yourself will help you see the success you envision for yourself
• Why you don’t always need a mentor...sometimes, you need a “friendtor” (friend + mentor)

Be sure to head over to the blog to learn more about the importance of the “scanning” process during your career change -- and get some new ideas on how you can move forward!

Want to know how to stop trying to combine everything together and start strategically pulling out the pieces of your past and your strengths that will serve you well in your future career?

That’s exactly what we cover in today’s podcast with Avery Roth, one of our All Star Career Coaches and our resident “Strategist” You’ll get to learn all about how she’s done this for herself in this podcast, (before she joined HTYC she got her start in finance then became an aspiring photographer, then changed to a startup strategist).

If you ever get a chance to work with Avery, you’ll quickly find that one of the great things about Avery is the way she uses her own career journey to help dig deeper into her client’s career and business goals in a methodical way to reign in their focus to achieve their ideal results. 

In the episode, Avery teaches you:

• Where to start to find a role and organization that fits your values, needs, skills, and knowledge
• The benefits of building off of your prior work and life experiences to create your career profile
• How analyzing the patterns and trends of the things you enjoy will help narrow down the next steps in your career change

Head on over to the blog and listen the podcast to learn how to find the next step to your career change.

Sure.

Feeling safe and at ease is great and all, but what goals have you ever achieved by staying in your comfort zone??

We’re willing to bet on not many at all.

Nobody ever achieves much by staying in their comfort zone.

WHY?

Well, achieving goals requires you to aim for something just a little bit out of your reach.

Having a goal makes you look forward to something attainable that may not be in your comfort zone (at the moment).

The question of how and when to reach out of our comfort zones comes up.

When it comes to career change, more likely than not you’ll be faced with the choice to break out of your comfort zone to progress down a new path that may be full of unknowns.

You can look at your career change in one of two ways:

1. An exciting opportunity to experience something new and grow your skills and knowledge
2. A big unknown that causes you to feel uncomfortable with the wonder of the what ifs that lead you to revert back and settle in your current job situation

But, the benefits of getting comfortable with feeling uncomfortable far outweigh staying in the little bubble of your comfort zone.

Today, Andy Molinsky - an expert on behavior in the business world and author of the new book, Reach: A New Strategy to Help You Step Outside of Your Comfort Zone, Rise to the Challenge, and Build Confidence, joins us on the podcast. He shares insight on:

• The 5 key challenges underlying our avoidance tendencies when it comes to uncomfortable situations
• How to overcome these challenges to achieve your career change goals
• The surprising discoveries you make about yourself as you continue to face your fears by stepping out of your comfort zone

Listen to my chat with Andy on how to Reach Out of Your Comfort Zone to learn the steps you can take to develop a framework to get comfortable turning whatever you are most afraid of doing and positioning yourself to achieve your goals in your career and life.

There's been a lot of talk recently about resilience.

You know what goes hand-in-hand with resilience?

Obstacles....to overcome.

Struggles....to work through.

Mental roadblocks....to disengage.

We've all experienced setbacks in life, but it's about how we react to them that makes the difference between reaching our goals or letting them fall by the wayside.

When it comes to career change, many people, including High Performers, are bound to stumble on a few things before ultimately reaching their new career.

Now, how is your career transition going?

Is it going nowhere fast?

It was for Sarah Hawkins. That is until she asked for help (when she knew that she needed it!).

Sarah Hawkins -- our guest on today’s podcast and Career Change Bootcamp Alumni, just landed her dream job (that she didn’t even know that she wanted!) as the Operations Coordinator of CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates for Children).

She joins us as our featured success story from our Career Change Bootcamp program.

Check out the podcast to hear Sarah’s story as it explains Why High Performers Aren’t Afraid to Ask for Help and how the CCB program helped steer her in the right direction to land her dream job with an organization and a cause that she was excited about and to negotiate salary for the first time ever.

Most people dread the job application process as they try and stand out in a sea of people who are just as qualified and just as hungry to make it through the first portion of the process: the weeding out phase.

Surprisingly, even the “most skilled” people struggle to get their foot in the door when applying for jobs.

But, there is a little population of the workforce that usually doesn’t have that problem. This group of people are the High Performers – the people who get the early promotions, the big raises, and the exceptional treatment.

While the rest of the world goes into the job application process with the mindset of getting the job, high performers go into the process with the mindset of using this phase to collect as much information about the job, the organization, and the culture of the organization to determine if this is a good fit for them.

Wondering how you can get results like High Performers do?

On today’s podcast, we tackle:

• Why even some of the most skilled professionals still struggle with the hiring process
• How you can do to position yourself to stand out among the competition
• The 3 key principles that you can apply to your own job application process to immediately get the results you want

What are you waiting for, listen to JOB APPLICATIONS: How to Get Results to learn more about and how to follow the High Performer route and get noticed by the hiring manager today!

Have you ever been so excited about a new project or goal that you’ve set for yourself that you just can’t wait to start?

You sit and visualize yourself going through the motions of the process, checking off all the boxes on your to-do list, and finally you check off that last task, then you bask in the feeling of victory after you’ve achieved your accomplishment.

That entire process, the drive and determination, the movement forward, that feeling of accomplishment…that is what it means to be unhackable.

To be unhackable means to close the gap that exists between your ideas and the implementation of your ideas.

It means building yourself up to become an unstoppable force that reaches goals.

Take that philosophy and apply it to the process of your career transition and you become unhackable by eliminating all of the obstacles that stop you from reaching your dream career.

What drives many people to career change is the idea that there is a big potential for something more than what they’ve got going on in their career right now.

But sometimes even people with the strongest mindsets, get hacked.

There are a handful (maybe more than a handful) of things that stop people dead in their tracks as they begin their journey into a new career.

But just like computer systems have software that work to prevent getting hacked, there are ways for you to be proactive in becoming unhackable.

Listen in as Kary Oberbrunner dives into how to become unhackable: http://www.happentoyourcareer.com/177

Multipotentialite.
Multi-passionate.
Scanner.
Renaissance Person.
Generalist.
Multipod.

Whichever term you favor, the meaning behind it is what’s important.

According to our guest (and coiner of the term), Emilie Wapnick, a multipotentialite is a person that doesn’t have “one true calling the way that specialists do.”

While having the drive to learn new things and master new skills is a fantastic quality and strength to have while job searching, a lot of multi-passionate people struggle with finding a career that “fits” them because they have such a wide range of interests. This makes it hard to narrow down a specific career, since there are so many choices out there that they can thrive in.

She stopped by the podcast to share her insight and strategies on how multipotentialites can approach their career search while combining their most-valued passions to create a happy (income-earning) life.

Listen to the episode to learn more about how you can take your Jack/Jill-of-All-Trade superpowers to the next level of your career.

When you don’t know what career path you want to take, the process of getting started can be paralyzing. Just thinking about a career change can cause stress, anxiety, frustration, and fear. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure of what your next step should be, you’re in the right place.

What you’ll learn 

• How to test drive potential career paths 
• How to figure out your ideal role and your next job title 
• Tips for your career search if you are feeling stuck in a career that’s not meeting your expectations
• How to use your network for personalized career change advice 

Have career change questions or want to make an introduction? Email scott@happentoyourcareer.com 

Free Resources

What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out! 

Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.

Related Episodes

1. Designing Career Experiments and Testing New Careers - 6 Ways to get Reassurance that your new career is right for you (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)
2. Changing Careers (When You Don’t Know Your Next Job Title) (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)

In today's podcast, Add Value, Grow Your Career, Michael Bigelow - a results-driven energy engineer and HTYC coaching client, stops by to share his experience of his own job transition and his biggest takeaways from successfully applying through remote job searches.

Michael elaborates on the career-centric "value-adds" that make the difference in getting a job offer or going back to the drawing board.

Listen here!

Many people think that they want to start a business.

It's been a dream in the back of their mind.

They've fantasized about what it would be like and how they will be in control of their lives and not have a boss telling them what to do.

They want to be in control of their own schedule and their own income.

All of that sounds really great, but is starting a business something that would actually be good for you or is it just better as a dream?

We've put together a set of questions to ask yourself about what you really want, so you can decide if you want to actually start a business.

In today's podcast, 173 How to Know if You Should Start a Business, Mark Sieverkropp, a great friend of mine and of HTYC (Fun fact: Mark helped get my business off the ground), joins me in answering these questions.

If you're leaning toward starting your own business now or have that in your plans in the future, make sure you take a listen to find out more to see if starting a business is right for you.

Mark and I will guide you on how to answer:

1. What do you really want out of starting a business?
2. Are you more interested in actually starting the business or simply running or operating a business?
3. Do you have anything right now that is actually stopping you from starting a business?
4. Are you willing to go the long haul? Are you willing to commit to this for the long run?

Check it out!

Whether you are currently in a job that no longer satisfies your needs, or if you are just looking to move yourself into another industry to better your career, or if you want to start your own business, your mental energy is key in finding the time and space to make that change for yourself.

You may be thinking, "Yes, but how and where do I even find that extra energy to make a career change, if I'm EXHAUSTED by the end of my day from my current job??"

If you're serious about changing careers, you need to make finding the time to create that energy to sustain you through this transition process. You need to ease your mental stress to focus on more important paths - like your career change.

Listen to the episode to learn the 3 things you can do now to jump start your energy to prioritize finding the time to put your career change plans into motion.

172 Time & Energy and Your Career Change

Your life's work. It's quite an intimidating thing to think about.

When you look back to your younger years, what do you remember wanting to be when you "grew up"?

Is that the job that you are currently doing?

Sometimes when we look back to those days of innocence, we find where our passion lies.

Half of figuring out your own career transition is looking back at all of your life's experiences and determining what you are naturally good at. What you're known for doing really well by those people that surround you.

Today, our guest Yuri Kruman shares his personal experience in figuring out his own life's work. From trying to please his family's wishes on what they thought would bring him much success, to getting "kicked-out" of grad school, and finally to doing what it is that he is most passionate about in life.

Yuri discusses ways to find out what your natural role is to help you translate that natural ability to a new career.

171 Figuring Out Your Life's Work with Yuri Kruman

Losing a job, going through a career-existential crisis, or even if you've made the conscious decision to make a career change on your own terms, are all BIG LIFE CHANGES.

In any type of life change, it is important to be aware of the effects these changes may have on your health and wellness.

BIG life changes, especially if they are unexpected- like a job loss, can bring on an overwhelming amount of stress. It may feel like the world is turning upside down on you and when you're in it, you might not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. But, it's there. Believe me, it is there.

Today, Dr. Phil Carson, a registered Pharmacist and practitioner in alternative, holistic medicines and therapies, joins the show to share his story about the stress he experienced through losing his job, starting a business, losing that business, the growing debt that came with it, and how he was able to come out of it with high spirits.

He also goes on to share tips on how to manage that stress that comes along with big life changes and ways to identify when you need to seek more help.

Check it out: 170 Navigating Through the Stress with Dr. Phil Carson

Question: What is your definition of success?

Is it the size of your paycheck?
Enjoying what you do?
Is it the impact you make in other people’s lives?

Maybe it is having the freedom to start and leave work whenever you please?

Whatever your definition of success is, do you know how you’re going to achieve it?

Some people may have an idea, but most of us don’t.

Most of us follow the system and hope to progress accordingly.

But, is that really the most efficient way to achieve the success we have in mind?

Probably not.

That’s kind of where Regan Hillyer found herself after following the systematic path of going to school to major in architecture and being asked to look into her future as an architect 20 years into her career. She was not happy about what she saw in her future, so she changed her path.

She did a lot of soul-searching and decided to be proactive about her future by working on herself first.

Regan now helps others with personal development by teaching them how to set their own “success mindset” to build their online empire with their personal brand.

In the podcast, Regan shares how to be more proactive about your success by incorporating a more solid way to realize your vision of success.

Listen in!

Check out the blog at 169 Rewiring Your Mindset for Success with Regan Hillyer

Many of us start our careers thinking that these fancy job titles sound amazing. But, more often than not, we don't stop to think if these jobs actually fit who we are as people or the lifestyle we truly want to live out.

Finding that ideal role at the perfect company that fits our core strengths and values isn't an easy task.

At HTYC, we try and help guide you to a career that fits you. The only thing we ask of you is for you to understand that:

• It is going to take a little digging into yourself to find this ideal career
• How much you put into the thought process (that we'll layout for you), will likely effect the results you get in your "job search"
• This process isn't magic and it will not produce immediate results
• Your genuine participation is necessary

Listen to the podcast as Scott outlines the steps you need to take to do the whole career change/job search process differently to achieve that happy, healthy work-life integration that people talk about enjoying so much.

For the step-by-step process that will show you how you can find that career that fits your everyday-life needs, check out: 168 Careers: How to Do It Differently with Scott Anthony Barlow

We get sent A LOT of questions about how we get from having a job- that we either hate or one that no longer meets our career ambitions, to landing a job or getting on the “right” career path that will make us happier in our lives.

Today Gia Ganesh joins the conversation. Gia is our newest HTYC career coach and like many people that listen to the HTYC podcast, she didn’t always have her career figured out.

If you take a look at Gia’s resume, it’s quite impressive. She boasts two Masters degrees and began her career in the corporate space of Technology Project Management and moved on to Management Consulting before finally realizing that she thrived in a place that let her help people develop their full potential in work and life.

Now, Gia is working full-time as a Career Strategist and coach who works with high-achievers to help them identify and lead fulfilling personal and professional lives.

In today's podcast, Gia answers a couple of questions from the HTYC audience and shares why doing your research and collecting your very own data points is one of the key elements that will lead you to finding out how to pursue your next career.

Check out: HTYC Episode 167

It's really easy to get caught up in the corporate trap.

Some folks may feel stuck during that process of climbing the corporate ladder, before they realize that they are built to be more of an entrepreneur than someone that is trying to make it in the corporate world.

Many entrepreneurs (actually even those that don't have an entrepreneurial bone in their body) want to be able to use what they're good at with whatever they decide to do with their businesses/careers.

If you're anything like Ace Chapman, our guest today, and you have an eye for opportunity and the understanding of what is right for you and your lifestyle, listen to the episode and learn how you can build out your vision and straight-line to your goals.

Building on Business with Ace Chapman

Have you ever thought about starting a new business, but don't know where to begin because you don't have the time between your full-time job and your other personal obligations, like spending time with your family?

Today, we revisit a past episode that features a former client and now great friend of HTYC, Olivia Gamber. Olivia shares her story of how she took her side business and grew it into a full-time business career.

Also in the podcast, Olivia and Scott discuss some of the biggest takeaways they have learned when they decided to grow each of their businesses. The discussion gets into everything from how to make the time to focus on building your side business, to becoming a business owner, and to how to validate your business as a real way to replace the income you bring in from your current job.

If you want to learn what first-time business mistakes to avoid when you start up, listen here!

Many people dream of living and working abroad. And if it's not the dream of living and working abroad, it's the dream of having the freedom to do such a thing.

It's an unconventional life, but when has HTYC ever been about following the unspoken "norm" of society?

We thrive on new ideas and breaking out of the mold of what we like to call "the traditional path of success." And we support you in following that unconventional way of thinking!

Scott and Alyssa Barlow have just recently returned home (to Washington state) from a 6-week stint of living (and working!) abroad.

Today's show features their experience of bringing their family to Europe.

Scott and Alyssa share the challenges they encountered with not only trying to take in as much of the European experience as possible, but as business owners, they had to do their fair share of work, while trying to balance their family life.

In the podcast, they chat about their biggest takeaways of their work experience abroad and share their thoughts on why you may want to consider working abroad.

Listen here!
Working Abroad with Scott and Alyssa Barlow

Have you found yourself asking the same question about how in the world you can not only make money doing what you love, but also how you can find the time to do all of that while having a life outside of the work you love?

Kathy Fettke has the answer and the experience to share how you can start taking the first steps into the direction that will achieve those goals.

In this episode, she also wants to simplify the process, so you don't make the same mistakes that she has made while learning to make passive income herself.

Some of her tips include:
- Don't jump into anything that you know anytnothing about
- Understand the basics
- Learn everything you can - especially the fundamentals
- Get your advice from someone that is doing what you want to do

Listen as she shares ways people can create a space for themselves to make it possible to live life the way they want to with the the people that love the most!

http://www.happentoyourcareer.com/163

Have you ever experienced career burn out?

It seems like now more than ever, we are living in this “burn out culture” where we are working more hours while our productivity has become stagnant.

According to today’s guest, Emilie Aries, many of us are experiencing more career burn out because we are “not prioritizing efficiency for hours in and hours out” and we have begun “operating in a timid workplace environment where our self-worth is intrinsically connected to our product.”

Becoming more intentional in how you spend your time and who you spend it with is key in the maintenance in self-care.

“Happier, healthier people are more focused and more productive.”

In today’s episode, Emilie shares her thoughts on how your personal decisions and choices amount to your collective decisions and choices. She also goes into the core values that helped her transform her career and life from a place of burn out to the much more happy and much more productive place in her career and life that she is at now.

Listen here: Fight Career Burn Out and Get Intentional in Your Career

Passion can be defined in many ways in relation to your career.

Christie Mims, the founder of the Revolutionary Club, a Forbes Top 100 website for your career, wants people to separate their passion from their job.

According to Christie, in the grander scale of things, passion plays a bigger part in your career than you think.

So, what is passion?

Passion is two part. It's your interest and engagement.

Passion is your North Star and your job is fueled by your passion.

Basically, passion is who you are and your job is how you express that passion.

Finding your passion takes a little bit of courage in order to get off the beaten career path and embrace who you are and what motivates you to do good work.

In the podcast, Christie shares how to find your passion and how to turn that into a career that you love.

Listen here!

Turning Your Passion Into Your Career with Christie Mims

Many people are often conditioned to follow a traditional path of success.

After college, you get an internship. That internship turns into a job. Then you work your way to the top of your firm or gain success in a specialty.

You do all of the work that lines up with that job title that you've been aiming for since your freshman year of college.

That was the plan for our guest, Lindsay Moroney. She "planned" to go to college for pre-med, until she took an art history class that derailed her from that clear path to success. It was in that decision to ditch pre-med and follow her passion for art history that led her to her current position as the Vice President of Strategy and Operations for The Muse.

Listen as Lindsay shares how to redefine your own path to success and how being authentic with herself and following her what made her happy has led her to this particular point in her life and career where she is thriving.

http://www.happentoyourcareer.com/160

Writing like a Pro in the business world seems like a huge undertaking that is easier said than done.

Luckily, we have Danny H. Rubin as our guest today.

Danny Rubin is “THE writing guy.” Danny has studied communications since college and has worked as a TV News Reporter and Consultant and has come back around to what he loves most, which is writing. He uses his greatest strength to teach practical writing instruction for the business world. From writing to apply for jobs to writing to start a business from scratch, Danny offers his writing advice as the writing expert in the business world.

We have all been so conditioned to write a resume and cover letter the same way. So, a hiring manager is going to expect that same template from every candidate.

But, Danny is here to walk you through a process that will show you how to go about writing those pieces in a smarter, more strategic way.

Listen to the podcast to learn more about the power of telling YOUR story of success in your cover letter. Danny will help you learn how to write to command attention, prove your ability, and leave a lasting impression on the reader.

http://www.happentoyourcareer.com/159