Second Act Success Career Podcast
Season 1 - Create a Contingency Plan Before Your Change Careers (Podcast Workshop Series Day 4) | Ep #133
Episode - #133
Host: Shannon Russell
Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

[00:00:00] Shannon Russell: Do you ever feel like you need some support as you plan for your next career move? Then I invite you to join my membership, the Career Clarity Collective. Inside, you'll have access to a community of like minded women. You'll also take part in weekly group coaching calls with me. Plus, you'll get a monthly masterclass lesson and a resource to help you start plotting your career pivot.

Head over to secondactsuccess.co/membership to enroll. Or grab the link in the show notes below. I'll see you inside the collective.

Okay. All right.

[00:00:33] Shannon Russell: Hey, my friend, welcome to day four of my five-part podcast workshop series.

All week, we have been talking about five ways that you can make a fearless career change over 40.

If you are just joining me. Be sure to jump back to episode one 30 and listen to the series from the beginning. Every day, we talk about a different topic, a different way that you can work towards a career change, fearlessly and [00:01:00] confidently.

On this episode, we are going to talk about contingency plans and being flexible when it comes to moving towards the career or business that you really want.

Making a change working towards a new career, trying to start a business. We have big goals, but sometimes it's important to be flexible as we are planning

it's also important to have a contingency plan just in case.

[00:01:26] Shannon Russell: Hey, you, are you feeling stuck, desperate for a career change or thinking of starting a business, but you're just not sure how to make your first move? I'm television producer turned career coach, Shannon Russell, and this is the Second Act Success Career Podcast. This is where you will not only get the career advice you've been craving, but you'll get tips from career and business experts.

along with inspiration from others who have made a career transition to find second act success. Let's get started.

[00:02:00] Welcome back to the Second Act Success Career Podcast. I'm your host career transition, coach Shannon Russell. I'm so happy you're here joining me for day four of this series, I hope you've enjoyed days one through three, and I promise the last two days are not going to disappoint.

We'll be tackling the importance of it being flexible and having a contingency plan in place. So that you are prepared for any obstacles and bumps in the road that you may hit on your road to second act success.

Let me remind you about the free workbook that accompanies this podcast workshop series. You can grab it at secondactsuccess.co/fearless.

The workbook is a tool for you to utilize.

As you listen to all five episodes, it really is a way for you to jot down your notes, your ideas. It gives you question prompts. Resources. So go check that out. Head over to secondactsuccess.co/fearless. And you'll also be put on my list to receive access to [00:03:00] our live Q and a session happening on Thursday, April 25th at 1:00 PM Eastern time. If you can't make it live, or if you're listening to this later, don't worry.

Once you're on my list, you will get the replay sent directly to you. Okay. It is time to get into the topic of the day contingency planning and flexibility. We all know that planning a career pivot is a big feat. It is something challenging. It is definitely an obstacle that we have to overcome to get from where we are now to where we want to be. And the concept of really finding resilience and knowing that we are controlling our narrative, we are navigating our career.

We also want to make sure though that as we are taking the steps, we are doing the research, we are networking and making those contacts getting our resume together. Perfecting our LinkedIn. All of these things that we are doing to prepare us. , to make that move forward [00:04:00] to getting that new job to opening that business, to writing that book, whatever the second act in your life looks like. You are planning, you are getting everything ready to make your move. But it is important to always think about any potential challenges or setbacks that may happen On your road to achieve your goal.

So that is where the idea of having resilience comes from.

We are planning. We are getting everything together. We are going to nail this pivot. But then something happens and it stalls us. The idea here is that you get yourself into that mindset, that you are resilient and you know what? You are already resilient because you are planning the second act.

You are planning this move to find that work that will fulfill you. So there is a lot of resilience in you already, but now just so you can start thinking about. What if this happens?

Oh, what if that happens? And to know that, you know what. [00:05:00] I am resilient. I am going to take that challenge. I'm going to conquer it and move on to the next. Just exploring that concept of being resilient. And getting yourself in that mind frame that not everything will work out perfectly and you're going to be up for whatever challenges are in your way. I'd love to share a couple of examples of clients of mine who have hit roadblocks in their transition from their first act to their second act. And how they've overcome those obstacles.

One client of mine was planning her escape from her nine to five banking job. She wanted to open up her own salon. She was very into doing hair and nails and into the beauty world.

And that has been something that she always did on the side.

But she realized that she wanted to be an entrepreneur. She wanted to open up her own salon and she was ready to leave the nine to five corporate grind in banking to do so. As she was preparing, she [00:06:00] got her business entity all set up.

She found her location.

She was in talks with the landlord and she found out that she wasn't getting the loan that she needed. That was a huge setback

and it took an emotional toll on her because she was not expecting that. It was definitely a challenge. She was on a schedule. She had a landlord she was talking with. This was a situation where she had to pivot very quickly to figure out how she was going to get the money, to pay the deposit. And get her store up and running really, what she wanted to do at that point was just secure that location.

She had found.

What she could have done is said, okay, this is not going to work out. This is a sign from above that I should give up. I should stick with my nine to five. But no. She thought about her options. the bank had said that they would give her a smaller loan and she really needed a more significant loan.

So she said, okay, I'm going to accept the smaller loan that you're willing to give [00:07:00] me. And I'm going to figure out the next part. It was when she started talking to someone that she worked with at her banking job. That manager at her company. Really loved, but she was setting out to do. She was kind of a confidant friend to this person and she said, I love what you're going to do. Let me invest in your business. my client was in tears. So surprised, shocked because the idea of getting an investor was never. In her mind. She was planning on doing it all through the bank.

Then she started thinking, okay, what would an investor situation look like? She had some talks. She drew up some paperwork and she got her money. She not only got her money to open up her salon. But she had an investor who was a friend, a coworker at the time.

And a confidant. This person had already run a family business and they knew what it takes to open up a brick and mortar.

And [00:08:00] so now my client had. This extra mentor to help her in this transition, to opening this business. It really was a blessing in disguise for her that this happened, I think, in so many ways, because she was able to. Get the money she needed via the bank and this investor and open up her salon she actually ended up staying at her nine to five corporate job longer than she planned. Because she had been really weary of the money in the financial side of things after this occurred. So she ended up working a little bit longer while she was building up the salon and getting things set up.

She was able to have her weekly paycheck coming in, which was great. she was able to really save that money. Because she wanted that extra security.

She wanted that extra income. In the beginning because she wanted to be prepared for any obstacles that came again down the road. So I hope that story shows you a little bit about, these obstacles that can come out of nowhere and you can either fold and close [00:09:00] up and get rid of that dream.

Or you can say, okay, what else can I do now? You might not be as lucky as finding a friend coworker investor. To help you, but just to give you that idea of thinking about what you're doing in this resilient way. And how these obstacles can come up. And what you would do in that scenario. You can start thinking ahead of what would happen if. X Y and Z. It just gets your mind thinking kind of in a way that we don't always want to, because we don't want to think about things, not going our way.

I wanted to share this. As not a naysayer, but as someone who is just giving you all of the options so that you can have a little part of your brain. That knows that these setbacks could occur.

So you can start thinking about what would you do if one of these scenarios happened to you while you were on your journey towards your next act? So Start thinking about how resilient you really are.

Okay.

Next, let's talk about [00:10:00] exploring what it is that you are moving into. We have discussed this in episodes prior to this week about really doing your research and knowing what you are moving into. I'd like to bring it up again right now,

I think it's important when we talk about flexibility.

If you are doing your research and you find, oh, that role, I'm really interested in it. I love the company. I like their values. I would have a lot more creativity. It seems like the perfect career path for me. However, there are a couple of things that I'm not so sure about. During this exploratory phase. You can research and really decide if you want to be flexible and still continue to move into that role.

Knowing there are a couple of things that maybe don't fit into that perfect picture. Of what this next career move would look like. So you can get all that information in front of you and then decide how flexible you want to be. And if you are being flexible and you're saying that the pros outweigh the [00:11:00] cons in this role, then you can move forward, happily alone, but it's just great to have all of that knowledge

and explore this industry, this role that you're moving into, the more, you know, the better prepared you are.

Okay.

Now it's time to talk about the financial safety net. We talked about this in episode 1 31. So if you are worried about the money aspect of a career change, I highly suggest you go back and listen to episode 1 31, where we dive into all things, money and finances, and really building that safety net so that you feel secure as you move from your first act to your second act.

Having your financial safety net intact. Ready to go before you make this move towards a new career path should be a priority. You want to ensure that you have that financial security in place to support you during that transition period. So in case you decide to leave your current job for the new job and the new job doesn't work [00:12:00] out, we don't often talk about that scenario, but that's an important one to discuss.

You could get to that new job and realize within a few weeks that this is not what you want. It's not a great fit. And now you are either stuck there. Or you leave that job and now you have nowhere to go. If you have that safety net set up, you can have that little bit of wiggle room. When you figure out your next step. You want to make sure that you can support yourself for whatever may come. Either while you're still looking for that new role, or if you get to that new role and something doesn't pan out.

This is where the flexibility comes in because you don't have control if things don't happen, let's say you move to a new company. You're ecstatic. It's the dream role that you've been looking for? And then three months later, there are massive layoffs. Or six months later and the company goes under. Or 12 months later and the company [00:13:00] is sold. And you're out of a job. Ideally, you want to have saved enough money. To cover your living expenses for several months or even a year, if you can, just to alleviate any financial stress this way, you know, you have that money saved up. In case anything goes wrong.

Mhm.

Side hustles and part-time work consulting work is another great way of giving yourself that flexibility as you transition to a new opportunity. I having side projects, you are having that income flow into your bank account while you're figuring out your main role of work, you can also have part-time work lined up consultancy, work, lined up where you can kind of work on the side while you're transitioning into your new role. If you're starting a business that takes a long time to get up off the ground.

So you can definitely still do part-time work side projects. Even side hustles that bring [00:14:00] in that passive income so that, you know, you have something going on while you're figuring out what your main career move is going to be. Or while you are building your business. These are things to consider having in place, if you can, because that is just another contingency plan.

That is another backup option to keep you up and running,

and to feel secure about the money that is coming into your bank account.

One former client of mine was building her Etsy shop. She was doing great. She had lots of sales and then there was a lull. And she was a little worried about this law she was trying to market and promote, and that was her sole business. And she realized that she needed a little bit more money to come in, just so she could feel a little bit more confident because she was starting to doubt herself.

So she said, I'm going to get a chill job. And I love the idea of this. I keep hearing about it on Tik TOK lately, about the idea of having a chill job,

where you going, you work for your shift and then you shut it down and you go [00:15:00] home.

You're not invested in the job. So you know what she did. She went and got a part-time job at target. And she loved it. working, talking to people, getting out there, mentioning her business whenever she could. And It gave her that confidence knowing that she did have money coming in from both her business and this part-time job. And it allowed. And I think it really took a lot of the stress off of her knowing that her business would grow in time.

We were working on really marketing this business and promoting it and getting it out there. And it was doing really well. It just wasn't enough to be a full-time income for her. So this part-time job really helps supplement that and it made the process of being a small business owner, feel a little bit more doable I was so proud of her. even when her business really did start taking off a little bit more, she continued that part-time job.

And I think she was there. Up until maybe six months ago or so. She liked it and it [00:16:00] was just, really ended up being a perfect contingency plan for her at that point.

Part-time jobs side hustles, side projects. Consulting contracting freelance work of any kind is really just a great option to have in your back pocket, , to give you that flexibility and really have that backup plan in place. If you need it.

Mhm.

Now if you are listening and thinking, well, I don't have a part-time job. I don't have consulting or contracting work that I can do. I don't have my safety net. I'm not sure how I'm going to build this contingency plan. Let's talk about it. These backup plans. Are really put in place to make you feel comfortable about this transition.

It's very unique. It's very individual to you. So if you are moving from your nine to five job to opening a business, you have to think about the different obstacles or challenges or hiccups that can happen in that transition. Maybe [00:17:00] you research online and find blog articles of what other people have gone through with these hiccups.

If you have a friend who launched a business, maybe you can take them out to coffee or get on the phone and ask them about some of the hiccups that they noticed when they opened their business.

If you are transitioning from one role that you've been at for 20 years, and now you're leaping into a different role and you don't have as much experience, maybe you want to find someone who has done a similar transition and ask them what they experienced in that move. You can look online, you can listen to podcasts books about what other people have encountered.

You can also just think in your head worst case scenario, what could happen? I move, I realized I was bait and switched. The job is not what I wanted. What do I do now? You change careers. You're let go a few months later. What do you do?

You get an offer from a new company, you quit your job. And before you're [00:18:00] about to start, they say, I'm so sorry. The job is no longer available. And you've left your other job. What do you do?

You're launching your first business. You're crazy excited. You tell everyone and you hear crickets. What do you do? There are so many different scenarios that can happen. That again, we don't want to think about, but I strongly suggest you do start thinking about these scenarios that could happen in your situation. And what you would do about them.

What can you put in place now? That would make, having to deal with that situation a little easier down the road, if it does occur.

When I first opened my brick and mortar business for the franchise that I own. I was told that construction and everything will be done and ready by September 30th. September 30th came around. It was not ready. October 30th came around. It was not ready. So All of my promotion to advertise that my business was opening by whatever the date was that I had set. I [00:19:00] was not going to happen.

Definitely a setback. I was not expecting because I had never opened a brick and mortar store before. I had to shuffle things around. I had to reschedule, I had to remark it, all of my promotions, and I decided that I was going to wait until they were completely out before I set our grand opening.

It was a lot of. Okay, I'm in it. The thing happened and now I have to figure it out.

I didn't have a contingency plan. I didn't know what I didn't know. I was flexible though. I had no choice, but to be flexible.

But I do wish I was a little more prepared for these issues ahead of time.

My point, being talked to people, start thinking worst case scenario in your head, which is something I usually suggest that you do not do. But for right now, for this podcast episode, I want you to think about the worst case scenarios. And how you would handle it. I'd rather you think about this now, then six months down the road, when [00:20:00] something happens, when the challenge occurs and then you're freaking out.

So let's just start thinking about it now and start putting a plan in place. A flexible plan so that you can roll with it and keep moving.

Okay.

Again, my friend. You are here. You're listening to this podcast. You are interested. And changing things up. You're interested in starting something new, trying something new, getting out of your comfort zone. And so you're already flexible. You're already excited and ready to make a move.

I suggest you stay adaptable and you stay open-minded throughout this career change process. Be willing to adjust your goals along the way. I know that things don't always happen exactly how we plan them in our heads and be ready. Have your strategies ready to go for when there are those hiccups and be ready to navigate unforeseen challenges and know that. On your career journey.

It really [00:21:00] is that it's a road getting you from where you are now to where you want to be, and you want to be able to navigate that road. You don't have GPS. You don't have a map to get you there. You are planning those steps. You are deciding where you're going, where your stops are. And where you'll eventually end up. Stay, open-minded get your mindset ready to go and know that as long as you are flexible, your career transition will happen.

Okay.

All right.

That is it for part four of this five part podcast series.

I hope you are starting to feel a little more fearless when it comes to making a career change. No matter what age you are over 40, over 30, over 60, whatever it is, I hope you are feeling fearless, confident, and ready to go. Now if you haven't already go over to secondactsuccess.co/fearless.

Download the workbook that accompanies this podcast workshop series. You [00:22:00] can also get on my list to have access to our Q and a session that is happening today. Live on zoom at 1:00 PM Eastern time.

I will be back tomorrow with part five of our series. And it's all about leaping with confidence and I cannot wait.

Thank you for listening. Make it a great day. My friend.

[00:22:20] Shannon Russell: Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to Second Act Success. To view show notes from this episode, visit secondactsuccess.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell and this is Second Act Success.