Tag: In the flow
She Quit Her Teaching Job to Become a Coach, Author and…Teacher
Many people take a winding path when they quit their jobs to do something more meaningful. I’ve written about my own journey that took a number of unexpected turns before I began my consulting business.
It might run in the family! My sister, Kristen Sutich, left her long-time job as a kindergarten teacher in the summer of 2013. She became a certified coach, starting a business that focuses on clients with grief issues and or parents of young school children.
Those areas might overlap – I know plenty of kids who give their parents grief!
While Kristen launched her coaching business, she wrote a book of tips for parents of children who are starting kindergarten. She knew that a published book would be useful in many ways: the hard copies are something tangible she can give to clients, authoring the book demonstrates her credibility as a subject-matter-expert, and it is one more way that she can reach prospective customers.
Then, just before publishing the book she decided to start teaching at a preschool near her. She was drawn to their creative approach, started as a substitute, and quickly became a staff member.
If you had asked her in July of 2013 if she thought she would be teaching preschool a year and a half later, she would have said no – she just quit her kindergarten teaching job!
Yet, by following her interests and building on her experience, Kristen now enjoys teaching preschool, giving book readings and growing her business by connecting with people who may need her coaching services. These three roles complement and add value to each other.
If you’re leaving your current employment soon or have recently started a new career path, keep an eye out for unexpected routes. Once you start putting your time and focus on what brings meaning and enjoyment to your life, you may discover opportunities that you wouldn’t have thought of before. Opportunities that lead you closer to your happiest career yet.
P.S. You can purchase The Kindergarten Toolkit for Parents on Amazon. It manages to be cute, interesting and helpful all at the same time.
How I Got From There to Here
When I first decided that I needed to leave my corporate job for my health and happiness, I didn’t know what else I would do for a living. It was the summer of 2012, and while recovering from a series of cold and flu’s, I read several of Martha Beck’s books. Most notably, Finding Your Way in a Wild New World, that I link to on my Resources page (I receive a small commission for items purchased through this link and appreciate them very much!). The book helped me broaden my thinking and to expect to discover little hints and nudges that would point me towards my next career.
I also did a series of mind mapping exercises. I took blank paper and markers and wrote words that described what I valued, what I enjoyed, and what I was good at. Then I drew lines to connect the words and phrases that had something in common with each other. What I discovered surprised me – I was very interested in ambiguous problems, and doggedly researching clues and analyzing my findings until I had a resolution. And then I liked to write up my results in a report. As I considered what I’d learned from Martha Beck’s books and looked at my mind maps, I thought the obvious conclusion was that I should be a detective. More specifically, a Private Investigator.
All the pieces lined up: I wanted to focus deeply on finding the truth and the details in missing persons cases, skip-tracing people who failed to show up for court dates, and run background checks. The results of which I could package into neatly organized reports for my clients.
I was so certain that this was my next career move that I got certified to work as a PI, wrote a business plan, took a human footprint tracking course, and registered a domain name for my future investigation business: Truth and Details.
As I completed more and more of the items in my plan to quit my job, I decided that immediately after quitting I would spend a month in writing classes at Boulder’s Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics before launching my PI business. Then in the weeks before heading out to Colorado, a former colleague and I decided to start a real estate investment company that would democratize the way people invested in rental properties.
Suddenly, the PI business was on hold: I could start that at any time. I wanted to immerse myself in writing for a month and then when I got home, to bring this new business idea to life. The writing classes were great. The real estate business didn’t take off. I still believe in the concept, but it would have been a risky, long-term investment and I needed income.
So I turned to consulting, which I always thought of as a backup plan. It turns out that I love consulting, and use many of the skills that attracted me to investigation work. I like to unravel clients’ problems, analyze data, formulate solutions, and wrap everything up in a tidy report-out of results.
I did not transition into the business I planned on in 2012, but taking those steps gave me the confidence and preparation I needed to get to where I am now: in a satisfying career that aligns with my interests and skills. It is interesting that my company name and values remained the same: providing clients the truth and details they need to achieve their objectives.
I Quit My Job and the Universe Approved
I’m a practical person. When I decided to quit my corporate job, I was methodical in my process. I made a plan to start my own business. I created checklists of tasks to prepare financially and to complete major milestones at work. I thought it would take about nine months to cross the last item off my list and then I would quit.
As I got closer and closer to the end of my list, I became happier and happier. I reclaimed my power. I was no longer afraid of layoffs or being penalized for speaking up for myself and what was right for the business. I mean, what were they going to do, fire me? Then I would have been eligible for unemployment benefits, so I felt like I couldn’t lose.
I wanted do something significant right after quitting and before diving back into business since it might be the only time in my working life between full-time jobs. I liked writing and decided to enroll in Naropa University’s Summer Writing Program, whose version of an English department is called The Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics. Perfect. I started reading Kerouac’s On the Road and downloaded a countdown app to my smartphone to mark the days until I “hit the road with Jack”.
Then it was time to put in my notice, say my goodbyes, and start my new life. I was on fire! I felt like a bird that had been freed from a cage that it didn’t even know it was in. Events fell into place so smoothly that a divine presence seemed to be guiding my way. For example, I think I manifested a Dodge Challenger. Really. I don’t care very much about cars, but thought the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard was cool. I had to take my Subaru into the repair shop for a few days, and asked the rental agency if they had any Challengers to loan. And they did. What are the odds? Usually they only allow requests for the class of car, but this time I got the exact make and model that I wanted: a shiny, red, 2013 Challenger.
I thought it would be fun for a few days and then I’d go back to my practical Subaru. But this muscle car symbolized the excitement I felt about the potential my future held – and it was really fun to drive. So I looked around for used Challengers and didn’t find any in my price range. But I did find the exact car that I was driving advertised as a loss leader at the dealership nearest me. The one car I wanted was on sale. And now it’s mine!
My entire summer was like this – just magical. On the drive to Colorado, I’d stop at a motel for the night and the receptionist would tell me, “Oh, we only have a suite left. But I can give it to you for the price of our standard room.” Or the café would make too much chai and give me an extra cup for free.
Once I arrived at Naropa, I loved my classes, my student apartment, Boulder, and the talented new friends I made. The Beat poet’s experimental approach was liberating and my creativity exploded with ideas for poetry and non-fiction. One class assignment was to write the outline for a book, which became the basis for my self-help manuscript that is now a 50,000 page rough draft.
Once I decided to leave my job, it was as if the Universe said, “Yes, this is the path you are supposed to be on.” Life became easy and fun in ways that I hadn’t experienced before. Since then, I’ve had ups and downs adjusting to a radically changed lifestyle. But now I know what it feels like to be in the flow of life and am constantly making adjustments to stay where the magic is. The Universe approves.
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