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Podcast Show Notes
Today I want to talk about a subject that is completely swept under the rug when it comes to job or career pivot. And that is the emotional effect of pivoting your career path.
If you listened to Episode #11. My one unexpected joy from 2019 that could bring you more clarity…
I shared how at the beginning of 2019 I made a big decision to shake up my business priorities to put my personal brand marketing business front and center and move my direct sales business in the back burner.
I had mentioned that I was now investing in myself in the business I built from scratch instead of putting all of my energy into a direct sales business and team that I couldn’t control the income from and my passion for was dissolving.
When you start living in your purpose – you can easily tell when things don’t align to your lane.
Big Changes since that episode 11
o to update you from that episode which was taped five months ago I’ve taken a further step in that direction and sold the direct sales business I had grown for almost eight years.
It’s been a month since the sale of that business and even though I know to my core I’m on the right path God keeps nudging me to be on … there is a bit of a mourning process that happens that no one talks about.
And even though I wasn’t fired or let go from a job – leaving this position that I had been in for a significant amount of time is an emotional loss even if you are excited, like I am, to be moving on to greater opportunities.
So today I wanted to give you my experience so far with the transition. So that in the case you may pivot your career someday you’ll know you are not alone when you feel these things during and after that transition.
Some of these emotions were on the same day – some were felt on different weeks after the pivot… but they are there and they are real.
Luckily I did have other colleagues going through a similar transition so leaning on each was super valuable.
The first emotional effect was LOSS
So the first emotional effect was loss… when I left my direct sales business it was on my terms and my time with that company was, for the most part, a great experience.
I gained a great deal of fulfillment and professional growth from my time with that company and achieved many trips, titles, and new friendships because of it.
So to step away from it does leave you with this hole inside for a bit – like a real loss… not compared to death but there is a mourning period where you do a lot of reflecting on the good times and experience you had with the company and the people in it.
Since I did sell my business and handed it over to someone else to run … there was also that sense of jealously and sadness that you feel.
[interact id=”5e84c1c1906aef0014d02264″ type=”quiz”]The next emotional effect was GUILT
Then when all that emotion comes rolling in then you feel guilt… like I was leaving my team behind.
And even though it was a business decision – and not a personal one – there’s still this bit of guilt that comes over you.
- Did I do enough to create the success they deserve?
- What could I have done differently?
- Did I fail them?
- Am I letting them down by leaving the team to someone else?
But in this time I really had to dig into why I sold the business in the first place.
I believe that company was the stepping stone to get me to where I am to go next… it wasn’t the end of my story.
God dropped our team into my life so I could learn something from each of them.
I know that I wasn’t the perfect leader and I am totally OK with that.
At times I allowed accolades to control my actions. I let titles and “things” get in the way of what really mattered – which is PEOPLE.
But in the end I did what I thought was I supposed to do.
It turns out – I should’ve kept to my core beliefs and NOT cared what others wanted me to do.
I’ve learned thousands of lessons from the last 8 years that will make me a better person leading into my next 8 years.
Staying in my lane
God has shown me over and over the last two years that my brand and business building skills can help so many more people and it was time to expand my business and do just that.
Pivot my story as I stay in my lane.
By being one foot in and one foot out of that direct sales company and more specifically the team we had built – I was in a sense …holding my self back from my true potential.
I never want to say “I’ll never do anything else”… because I don’t know what God has planned for me. And this was an example of this.
When I started with that company back in 2012 I had no intention of ever selling my business… why would I sell a business I worked so hard to build and recruit for? … but when my heart kept leading me away from it – I knew I needed to pivot and let it go.
Another emotional effect felt was anger
One of the emotions that I’ve also felt with this career pivot was anger. And maybe a better word would be disappointment toward the actions of different people in the organization.
We know there will always be people who don’t understand your decisions and this is definitely true when you leave a company as I did. There were several people who proclaim they put people first and care about you. But you come to, unfortunately, realize that it’s just a front,
They put you first when you are helping them advance – but when that’s not the case anymore and you aren’t making decisions based on their success… they go radio silent.
That’s a hard one to swallow. People who you thought you’d be friends with no matter what job or company you are with – decide to ditch you.
But again – only you get to set your limits and your life – other people are not allowed to do that.
So yes in a sense they were limiting me and more reason for me to leave.
In my experience, they were leaders within the organization but this type of disappointment can come from a spouse, best friend, peers, employees, teammates, industry leaders, or anyone who your ear listens to.
As Ryan LeStrange says “You didn’t do anything to them… You just grew beyond the limit they set for you and that got them so mad. They forgot that only God sets the limits.”
So knowing that I was following where God wanted me to go and where I felt comfortable moving into – I can forgive very easily.
But I can see how some can hold on to this anger a lot longer than I did. But it is a process.
Some emotions I never felt
But a few emotions I never felt was regret, worry, or feel like I losing my identity by leaving… Again, because I had centered my brand around who I was as Kristin Korn I wasn’t confined to that one company. That was something I took very seriously a few years ago and because of that never felt like I was losing who people knew me as.
I was a part of that company but it’s not who I was.
I was and am more than that company. And I feel like along the way I’ve positioned myself that way.
Change is never easy
Change is never easy – but I believe it’s the only way we grow into who we are to become. And even though emotional effects of loss, guilt, anger, worry, regret, and loss of identity may happen – never lose track of who you are meant to become.
To Recap
Maybe this is all a healing process for me… but as I wrap up this episode… Do not ever let one person’s post, or one person’s happiness after you’re gone, or one person’s ANYTHING get you out the lane that God has built for you already. I’m not about to let my influence go to waste and you shouldn’t either.
Another episode you may enjoy is “EP 25: BECOME A SECRET SANTA WHEN IT COMES TO CONTENT VALIDATION“
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