I heard a really good litmus test for career shift timing.

If when you leave, it doesn’t feel bittersweet, you’ve stayed too long.

I love that it honors the fact that even when you know the change is the right thing for you, it will still be hard. There are people you’ll miss. Projects you’ll leave unfinished. A reputation that earned you respect and flexibility.

And yet, even with all of these gems in place within your current situation, there’s a nudge to move on. It’s hard to explain to your people AND also it grows to the point of being tough to ignore.

As I share with my clients, exploring your next move DOES NOT mean you’re quitting tomorrow. It simply means, you’re open to something new and you’re willing to take the steps to figure out what it is.

A thoughtful process includes getting clear on WHAT YOU WANT instead of responding to all the boring job descriptions YOU THINK YOU CAN DO. You must start inward to find the role that is on your terms, based on your priorities.

So how do you know if it’s the right time to start this process? I ask potential clients these three questions to see if they’re ready.

1. Are you hungry for something new (a company, different type of work, level of impact, company culture, way of working)?

2. Are you open to a period of time where you are exploring, where you don’t have all the answers right away?

3. Are you ready to make your needs, dreams, aspirations a priority--like truly making some time for yourself and this process each week? Hot tip: It doesn’t have to be A LOT of time. Even with 1-2 hours a week, you can make progress and gain momentum.

If you answered yes, to all of these questions...what are you waiting for? Let’s talk!

I’m now offering a 6-month, Career Transition 1:1 Coaching option that combines 1:1 Coaching Sessions and access to my online course, the Career Command Process. This online course is comprised of video modules, worksheets, and prompts - my Career Command Crew Members are RAVING about these resources. I’m thrilled to be able to bring my most powerful tools and private coaching together for one transformational program.

Only 5 spots are available for this new Career Transition 1:1 Coaching program so grab yours now!

Learn more about the program and feel free to schedule a call.

I’ve been talking to many women lately who know they’re ready for a change, but they’re worried…

They won’t be able to figure out what they want.

It will be hard on their families.

They’ll walk away from things they like in their roles and never find them again.

They’re not good at change.

I know these thoughts intimately.

This is where I was before I made my own career transition. All of these thoughts compounded my feeling of hopelessness.

They were the beliefs that made me want to prioritize my partner’s career. He seemed to have more momentum, so why not focus energies on helping him thrive while I simply maintained a career that kept us afloat financially?

In all of this overwhelm of being a working parent to two small children, there was a kernel of agency that began as an itch, moved into an ache, and then grew to flood my body with despair.

I wanted more.

And I was embarrassed to admit it.

Instead, I focused on my gratitude for two healthy children, a partner who loved me, and just enough money to live the lifestyle we wanted to live (though it didn’t feel that way at the time).

But even with all the goodness in my life, I wanted to have something of my own. To contribute to the world in some way. To wake up energized by my work and my impact.

I wanted all of that, but I didn’t know how to get through the stuckness to have it. That stuck, lost woman was and is a part of me and she was trying to get my attention. One of the most powerful ways I’ve learned to tap into what she wants over the years is to connect with her directly, to see her, to believe her.

I show her love with words, with letters that give her a space to want what she wants. At the beginning of my transition, I wrote a forgiveness letter to myself, an exercise that I now include in my career pathing process with clients. While the original version is in some journal somewhere that was no doubt, Marie Kondo’ed, here’s how I remember it so you know how to write your own letter if you so choose. You know I like to give homework!

Dear 30-something Rachel,

I’m sorry I’ve been ignoring you. You’ve been sending me signals with tears, overwhelm, boredom, tantrums, mindless eating, and insatiable devouring of the Twilight trilogy. You want more in your career, but you don’t believe you’re capable of anything else. I’m so sorry you feel that way. I’m sorry I let you believe that. We’ve survived unimaginable things together and we haven’t made it through these tragedies so you can live an “it’s fine” life. No fucking way. I want you to know, I’m listening now. We may not know what it is that’s next, but I’m open to believing there is something else and that our dreams are worth exploring.

Love,

Almost 40-year old Rachel

PS. Are you really going to make me run a fucking marathon to figure this out? Well, I’m signed up, so here goes.

Now that I’m 47 as of last week (happy belated birthday to me!) I am present to the power of addressing the hurt parts of me with compassion. I can acknowledge their pain instead of beating them into submission. Yes, I’m resilient, but I don’t always have to be surviving something. I want to be thriving.

I encourage you to write your own Career Love Letter. In this practice, you can create a space to forgive and acknowledge yourself and trust the nudges you’re getting to go for more.

I’d love to hear how it goes. Feel free to write back to this email or set up a time for a clarity call if you’re ready to honor your curiosity for what’s next.

Sign Up for a 30 Minute Complimentary Call Here!

As I typically do during summer, I’m taking some extra time to think...and also absorb a fairly ridiculous number of podcasts.

I have a 30 minute walk to my new office (which I love--more on that another time) so I fill that time with the treat of podcasts. Sometimes they relate to my work and sometimes not, but I’m constantly brimming with new insights, inspiration and some audible laughter that tends to make some heads turn on my commute.

It’s made me think (yet again) about starting my own podcast about women and careers, envisioning what we want to feel in our work and creating it in our lives. What do you think?

While you’re waiting for me to put this crazy dream into action, here are some of my recommendations for summer listening:

We Can Do Hard Things - Glennon Doyle
Episode 10 - Our Bodies: Why are we at war with them and can we ever make peace?
Episode 6 - Overwhelm: Is our exhaustion a sign that we’re CareTicking time bombs?

How I Built This - With Guy Raz
Filmmaker Ava Duvernay

In Support Of (on Armchair Expert podcast feed) with Kristen Bell and Monica Padman
Episode 3 - Oprah Winfrey

The Ezra Klein Show
Critical Race Theory, Comic Books and the Power of Public Schools (with Eve Ewing)

Conan O’Brien Needs A Friend
Kathryn Hahn
Daniel Radcliffe

Wild and Holy Money with Megan Hale
Episode 38 - Healing Transgenerational Money Stories
Episode 33 - The 5 Love Languages of Money

If you’re still hoping to find more creativity, calm and ease in your career this year...it's possible! And hopefully you will continue to build in podcast listening time.

Feel free to reach out for a chat. While I’ve closed the latest cohort of Career Command, I will be opening the doors again this fall...and I still have a few 1:1 coaching spots available.

Sign Up for a 30 Minute Complimentary Call Here!

As a business owner, I am grateful that I am in charge of my time, when I rest and how and when I make my money. 

Yet, this concept has not and does not come easy for me. It’s something I must continue to remind myself. 

Part of this process is in investigating...where the hell did I come up with my beliefs about money, about career, about wealth? Are these beliefs relevant for my life and the time in which I’m currently living? Are these beliefs serving me for the life I’m creating?

According to my serial entrepreneur father, you always have the ability to make a lot of money when you’re doing the thing you’re best at, on your own terms. Check...this one is working for me. 

That said, he also believed, if you have it, you can and should spend it...even if you don’t have it in hand yet. This one has taken some time to unravel...and over the past six years I’ve become grounded in the reality of my money, stewarding it in directions that are in synch with my values and planning for expenses rather than spending beyond my means.  

On the flip side, most of my parenting team—my aunt and both grandparents subscribed to the, “hard work will build you enough money to survive plus a few extra’s that should only be bought on sale” mantra. This meant after growing up very poor, they spent years in stressful and unfulfilling jobs to have enough for their families. Career was a means to an end and not an outlet for satisfaction or creativity. 

As I dig deeper into these questions, the answers make me uncomfortable and also they build my awareness of whose stories I’m using to define my path. At this point in my adult life, I’m more than capable of writing my own beliefs about money and career that may be different from those passed on by my family and also those of my friends with different life experiences and different goals. 

The more I learn about my relationship to money, the more curious I get about how this is impacting the women I serve. How’s it driving their career choices and decisions? 

That’s why I’m excited to host Money Mindset Coach, Rose Wu, as our July Guest Expert in my Career Command Membership on July 14th at 8 PM! Rose is a money coach who helps people create healthy, stable, and trustworthy relationships with money. She’ll show you how to release your emotional baggage with money so you can openly receive abundant wealth.

If you’re in a job search or career transition, looking for community, tools and a roadmap in your search—and you’ve been considering the Career Command Membership, join now so you can attend this transformative evening unpacking all that’s holding you back in your relationship to money. Making it, saving it and enjoying what you have instead of fearing what you don’t. 

Here’s how to join Career Command: www.rachelbgarrett.com/career-command

Last week I was on a call with a potential client when she told me a story that made my day...correction...my month. With her permission, I’m sharing today...mostly because it gave me the warm and fuzzies and also because it reminded me...yet again...the power of the pitch.

Her husband was in one of my Elevator Pitch Workshops a couple of months ago. I remember him because he was the only man. He was engaged, curious gracious...my kind of guy. Apparently, his wife was listening in the background and took a few mental notes.

After the session, they chose a Friday night to put their toddler to bed early. They opened a bottle of wine, sat down on the couch with their respective laptops and used my Nail Your Elevator Pitch Workbook to create their pitches. They then sent their pitches to each other, provided feedback and finished their vino feeling both accomplished and supported.

I stopped her here to ask, "Wait...so you’re saying you had a Pitch Date?"

I mean, how did she know my love language is Elevator Pitch?

She then continued to tell me her husband got a new job using his pitch and she is moving on to the second round of an interview process for her dream job after using hers. As you can imagine, this coach was/is feeling all the feels on this one. It’s working!

Crafting a pitch is not just about the words or getting the interview or even the job. It’s about discovering the confidence to know who you are and the freedom to share it with the world, unapologetically.

With that mission in mind, I’m excited to continue supporting women who are returning to work with a free Pitch and Networking Session TOMORROW!

Register Now!

On June 30, 2021, 5:30pm - 7:00 pm CUP in partnership with Bank of America will host CUP Connections Part II Women in Financial Leadership Talking About Beginning Again - Returning to Work.

Moderator:
Shirley Lamm

Speakers:
Rose Marie Blackwood, CFA (she/her)
Sheila Peluso
Sonnia Thomas Shields
Regina S.

Leadership Coach & Power Half-Hour Structured Networking Session Moderated by:
Rachel Garrett, ACC, CPC

I’m so honored to be collaborating with these accomplished leaders in this powerful event.
Join us and register here!

For more information on how I can support you in your career transition or job search, reply to this email or reach out at rachel@rachelbgarrett.com.

I was talking to a friend who was leaving his company of ten years for a new exciting gig.

He was recruited for the new role and yet was thoughtful about whether it was the right move for him and his family in this moment.

After a thorough review, he actively chose...

Uncertainty. Trust. Curiosity.

He chose his intuition and hunger to learn above a need for sameness and safety.

He chose adventure, possibilities, growth, a yearning to broaden his impact, a call to do the work he was meant to do.

This is the perspective of change that often is lost in job searches and career transitions.

Instead, we focus on failure. We find a way to make ourselves wrong.

I’m no longer happy in my role AND I’m supposed to have this figured out by now.

It’s my fault that I don’t love my "good on paper" job.

My boss is being an asshole because of the mistakes I’m making.

We must change the change conversation right now.

Moving towards change is moving towards your needs, your priorities. It’s choosing you.

Whether it’s in my 1:1 Coaching or Career Command Membership—this is the work I’m here to do.

I will help you choose you.

I create a safe space where we honor the self-respect it takes to make a change while providing the career-pathing tools to go after what you want—all within a community of women who are also choosing themselves.

If you’re ready to re-think your next change, to drop the shame and explore what’s possible when you trust yourself—sign up for a 30-min complimentary call.

Let’s work together to help you find the freedom and confidence on the other side of choosing you.

Are you finding it as exhausting as I am to emerge from your cocoon and be in the world with other humans again?

I’m drawing boundaries in places I didn’t know you could have them because I must protect my energy at all costs. I don’t have a lot of it right now. And there’s a world of women who need help with their careers. Stat.

I’m hungry to get to work AND I must reconnect in a way that feels energizing for me.

My approach is to be:

✔️ Honest – I’m going to be me, and I don’t have the time or desire to be anything but.

✔️ Imperfect – I can’t pretend that I remember all the subtleties of living in the collective. How quickly we forget!

✔️ Curious – Truly being in the moment and learning about that person in front of me. I'm a nerd when it comes to understanding new people.

✔️ Boundaried – Saying no to intro’s and connections that feel like should’s. No thank you.

What does it look like for you?

If you feel like you need to shift how you’re re-engaging or you need a kick in the butt to get out there at all, come learn and be you with us!

Our next Career Command Networking Event is on the 24th at 12pm ET, so, if you...

• Identify as female or non-binary

• Are hoping to make a career transition in the next year

• Or you're currently bumbling about social gatherings like you forgot how to be in the world. I see you, friend.

Register at rachelbgarrett.com/networking

Most of the women in my Career Command Membership, 1:1 coaching programs and in my community in general are in a spectrum of career transitions. They range from feeling the tug that they should do something different to actively working a job search to returning to careers after taking time to care for families.

When I dive into conversations with them, there’s one feeling that comes up again and again.

Shame.

They think:

I should be farther along by this point in my life and career.

There’s something wrong with me for not having “the answer” yet.

Everybody else has found their own perfect path.

I’m defective because I can’t make my current path work.

When in reality, they’re on the edge of discovering their power.

Change is the stand you take for yourself. The acknowledgment that you are worth having something different. The thing you truly want.

Here are the 3 Truths About Transitions I share with clients so they can move out of the shame that is keeping them stuck and into the possibilities that are waiting for them.

1. Every single fulfilling career includes transitions.
It’s as simple as that. Change is a constant variable in life so it makes sense that careers would be rife with twists and turns to match it. Having a fulfilling career does not mean every moment is fun or easy. Careers that feel true to who you are, include taking risks, figuring out the hard parts, learning, growing, and building the resilience skills to weather the next change. Because it will be upon you before you know it!

2. Your transition means you are advocating for yourself (if you make it mean that.)
Whether you chose this transition or you’re reacting to a life moment, this is your opportunity to ask yourself, “What do I want?” It’s your time to resist the traditional formulas we are sold that promise success if we remain on one path. You can share this moment with confidence and pride in the agency you have over your life, or you can stay in shame. The story you tell about your transition is your choice.

3. Most (and not all) of your people will support you during your transition.
Some of your people will support you in your transition and some won’t. A few of the people who don’t support you are not actually your people. Recognize that and act accordingly. While others who don’t support you truly do love you but can’t get around their own fear. There’s no need to cut them out completely but know that you don’t need to share the updates on your transition with these people. Conversely, you MUST talk to your advocates, your supporters, your ride or die people through this moment. You need them and the more you can share with them, the more they can help you!

When you’re living these truths during a moment of change, know that the quickest way out of shame is seeing for yourself that you are not alone. The women in my Career Command Membership are floored when they realize—wow—all of these ambitious, inspiring women are going through what I am, and I would NEVER think the things about them that I’m currently thinking about myself. Choose power during this change and find the people who will help you continue to fuel it in yourself.