Happen To Your Career | Career Transition, Career Changes, Figure Out What You Want, Jobs, Strengths, Starting Businesses

A career change isn’t permanent—no matter how much time and effort you’ve invested. After transitioning from academia to a research role, Michal Balass realized within nine months that it wasn’t the perfect fit. In this “Where Are They Now?” episode, she shares how the lessons and self-discovery from her first career change made the second one into the federal government smoother, faster, and far more aligned.   What you’ll learn Why your first career change is often the hardest—and how it prepares you for future pivots How to rebrand your skills so employers see your value—even in a new industry The role of relationship-building and casual conversations in uncovering opportunities Strategies for tailoring your resume to pass strict application reviews (including for federal jobs) How to recognize early signs you’ve outgrown a role before you get stuck How clarity, self-awareness, and intentional networking opened doors she didn’t know existed    Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach

She had the PhD, the career, the stability—then parenthood changed everything. This episode dives into Michal’s bold career change after parenthood and how she stopped living on autopilot.   What you’ll learn What to do when your career no longer fits the person you’re becoming Why your job title isn’t your identity—and how to separate the two How becoming a parent reveals what really matters The most common internal roadblocks that hold people back from change What makes leaving a stable career so hard (hint: it’s not just the paycheck) How Michal’s “success” story didn’t feel like her own   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Cou

You’re not stuck because you lack ambition—you’re stuck because something big has shifted. How Burnout, Breakups, and Babies Trigger Career Change. In this episode, Scott walks through 3 of the 16 powerful life events—what we call Career Change Catalysts—that often trigger career transformation. You’ll hear real stories from people who faced burnout, identity shifts, and quiet career misalignment… and how they used those moments to find more meaningful, purpose-driven work. If you’ve felt “off” in your career lately or stayed in a role longer than you should have, this episode will help you recognize the signs—and move forward with intention.   What you’ll learn How to use Career Change Catalysts to propel you into a career that truly fits (and how to recognize the opportunities) The early signs of career misalignment before burnout or health issues hit Why “comfort” can keep you stuck longer than fear The 3 most common life events that lead to career change Why chasing a “better job” doesn’t always lead to

What if quitting isn’t the answer? Jill’s journey proves that experimenting with your career while still employed can create powerful ripple effects and open new possibilities. What you’ll learn Why job searching might be the least important part of a career change How to use career experiments to unlock clarity and confidence without quitting right away The powerful ripple effect of taking just one bold step How Jill turned conversations with strangers into a brand-new life   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation   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,

What happens when burnout, a toxic work environment, and an unaligned life all hit at once? For Jackie, the answer was a bold, full-life transformation. She left a toxic job, ended a long-term relationship, and made a career change that finally felt aligned with her values, her energy, and her purpose.   What you’ll learn How to identify when a “better” job still isn’t the right one How to recognize when burnout is a sign of deeper misalignment What it takes to make a courageous career change and build a life that fits   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!   Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out! Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers dis

The way you communicate could be the reason you're stuck, OR the reason you get ahead. Charles Duhigg shares the Supercommunicator framework that helps you nail interviews, lead better meetings, and have the career-defining conversations that actually get results.   What you’ll learn How to shift from “saying the right thing” to actually connecting How top performers approach important conversations differently How your communication style could be holding you back (and how to fix it) How to connect deeper and be heard in any conversation How small changes in how you speak can lead to big results   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini

What happens when career growth pulls you away from the work that you actually love? Dan Ruley’s career transition story is a powerful reminder that true success starts when you reconnect with what matters most, even if that means going back to what your 10-year-old self always knew (just not in the way you’d imagine)   What You’ll Learn Will stepping down from a high-ranking role can lead to greater career satisfaction for you? How Dan turned an unexpected job loss into the best career opportunity of his lifetime How success in a role doesn't always equal fulfillment—and what to do about it What if your biggest career shake-up is actually your greatest opportunity? How to transform an unexpected job loss into a launchpad What to do when outward success no longer feels satisfying   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more

Your strengths aren't just what you're good at—they're your career compass. When you ignore your signature strengths, even great opportunities become draining. Discover how one IO psychologist used her strengths to break free from the "great opportunity trap" and find work that truly energizes her.   What you’ll learn Why your signature strengths should guide your career experiments and decisions How to get valuable feedback from friends and family about your natural talents The difference between skills you can do versus strengths that energize you   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out! Career Change Guide -

Tired of sending dozens of applications into the void with no response? The real problem isn't your resume or the job market, it's that most people use job boards like slot machines, hoping to get lucky. Discover how one person went from months of rejected applications to landing their dream job in just one week by changing their entire approach to job searching (and how you can too!) Don’t forget to check out our previous episode on how you can build your own “Ideal Career Profile”.   What you’ll learn How spending months on unclear applications wastes time you could use identifying your ideal role Why doing internal work before job board surfing transforms your entire job search strategy The specific steps to examine past experiences and identify what truly energizes you at work   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more

Thinking about returning to work after a career break, but feeling paralyzed by the gap on your resume? After years in a demanding executive role, Caroline found herself burned out, unfulfilled, and wondering if this was really “success.” Find out how she gave herself permission to walk away, take a two-year career break, and rebuild a work life that finally fits her life and her values.   What you’ll learn How to translate 17 years of experience into compelling value propositions when returning from a career break The counterintuitive strategy of stating exactly what you want instead of apologizing for your career hiatus How to leverage assessment tools like StrengthsFinder to rebuild confidence and articulate your unique strengths   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!   Wa

Maybe you have a “great job” where you’ve been extremely successful. But does any of that matter if you dread going to work? Nope, you’re not ungrateful if you feel this way. When your career no longer aligns with your life, it's often because your identity has become too tightly wound around your job title, creating what feels like an inescapable trap. Learn how Karen stepped away from her all-encompassing job as a Dean and redesigned her career and life to find true fulfillment (and how you can do the same!)   What you’ll learn How successful people often struggle most with career change because their entire identity becomes tied to their role How to use life design principles to make work serve your life instead of consuming it How to use the Ideal Career Profile to separate who you are from what you do for work Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happ

As human beings, when we get stuck, we tend to focus on one thing that we latch onto as the “reason” why. Or one thing that if we could only do, it would solve all of our problems.  It’s never just one thing. It’s always more nuanced than that.  There is one thing that is very clear though. The reasons why you think you’re stuck and the reasons why you’re actually stuck, are two completely different things.   To binge-listen to more career happiness success stories (and career hacks), find all the podcasts at https://happentoyourcareer.com/podcast  Or tell us more about your personal career situation and schedule a conversation with our team go to https://happentoyourcareer.com/schedule-htyc to learn how we can best help! 

Have you ever heard of career coaches use a ranking system for career change difficulty? As the difficulty goes up, these career coaches would have you believe it’s impossible… except it’s not. I’ve talked to career experts and career coaches that will try to talk you out of it.  It’s difficult to imagine how career changes actually work without starting over if you’ve never done it yourself.  So, in today’s episode, we’re revealing the 4 most common ways that people change careers (without starting over).   To binge-listen to more career happiness success stories (and career hacks), find all the podcasts at https://happentoyourcareer.com/podcast  Or tell us more about your personal career situation and schedule a conversation with our team go to https://happentoyourcareer.com/schedule-htyc to learn how we can best help!

Are your skills transferable to your dream career? Many people don’t believe that their skills can apply to the career they are desiring to move into. People tend to put their skills and experience into boxes and can’t see how the skills of one box can apply to another box. The truth, though, is that most of your skills and experience CAN transfer, even if you don’t yet know what your dream career is.  We’ve developed an entire process to do this. Want to know how? Listen immediately (press play already) and learn all the things!      To binge-listen to more career happiness success stories (and career hacks), find all the podcasts at https://happentoyourcareer.com/podcast  Or tell us more about your personal career situation and schedule a conversation with our team go to https://happentoyourcareer.com/schedule-htyc to learn how we can best help! 

Wondering if you have to choose between another degree and staying in the comfortably-miserable job you’re in right now? There’s a third option: A more unconventional way to get unstuck without starting over from the bottom. It uses the experience you have in your career while allowing you to find a role that you love. What is this unconventional approach?  Listen to the first episode in our 4 part series: How to Get Unstuck (Without Starting Over) to find out.   To binge-listen to more career happiness success stories (and career hacks), find all the podcasts at https://happentoyourcareer.com/podcast  Or tell us more about your personal career situation and schedule a conversation with our team go to https://happentoyourcareer.com/schedule-htyc to learn how we can best help! 

Feel trapped by decades of success in a career that no longer fulfills you? This episode challenges everything you think you know about career change at 50, featuring three professionals who found fulfillment without throwing away decades of expertise. You'll discover whether you need a complete pivot or strategic shift, and how to make the transition while managing real-life responsibilities.   What you’ll learn How to recognize whether you need a complete career change or strategic shift within your current field Why career change at 50 and beyond is actually advantaged by your decades of experience, not limited by it How to overcome the "skills transfer myth" and identify which of your abilities translate to new roles   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!   Want to chat w

Society calls a career change during your 40s a midlife crisis, but society is often wrong :) In this episode, you'll hear from five professionals who made successful career transitions in their 40s, proving that this decade offers unique advantages for creating work that truly fits who you've become. Discover why exhaustion and family responsibilities don't have to stop you, and learn the specific strategies that turned their "midlife crises" into career breakthroughs.   What you’ll learn Why career change in 40s is actually the optimal time, not the worst time, to make a transition How to overcome the exhaustion and time constraints that make change feel impossible when juggling family responsibilities The truth about why your skills and experience make you more valuable, not less competitive, in your 40s   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyo

Ever felt like your specialized career has become a prison - that you're "too far in" to do anything else? Criminal prosecutor Jenna felt exactly the same way, convinced her legal background would only lead to more litigation roles that no longer fit her life as a new mother. But what happened next challenges everything we believe about specialized careers and transferable skills - within six weeks of her career transition, she was promoted, proving that expertise isn't a limitation, it's an advantage waiting to be reframed.   What you’ll learn How the stories you tell yourself about being "too specialized" create artificial career limitations How to reframe specialized skills so they become advantages in completely different industries When prioritizing your life circumstances over career success can lead to unexpected professional growth   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible

The biggest career networking myth says to "tell everyone you're looking" - but that rarely works unless you do this one crucial thing. Travis discovered this game-changing approach and transformed his career by focusing on strategic conversations instead of collecting random connections. In this episode, he shares how embracing "awkward connections" helped him transition from cabinet making to his dream job in playground design - without ever submitting his resume online.   What you’ll learn Why the common advice “tell everyone you're looking for a job” rarely works (and what to ask instead to get actual results) The counterintuitive approach that helped Travis land his dream job without ever submitting a resume online How to evaluate job offers beyond salary to find roles that truly fulfill your entire life, not just your career   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order

Feeling stuck in career transition uncertainty? When scientist Edna quit her unfulfilling job without another lined up, she used her analytical skills to collect strengths feedback from 25 colleagues worldwide. This episode reveals how understanding her core strengths helped her navigate uncertainty to find the perfect innovation leadership role. What you’ll learn How to use a strengths exercise to validate your talents and career direction Why understanding your core values is crucial for finding the right cultural fit in career change Techniques for pushing through the inevitable "crisis of doubt" that happens during career transitions   Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here! Want to chat with someone on the team about your situation? Schedule a conversation   Free Resources