You need a career translation!

Sometimes it could feel ominous to go, oh, career transition, it’s so big. And the way I see it is, it’s really career translation. You’re translating your gifts, your talents, your skills and your interests. It might be into another industry, it might be another culture, might be another position.

So good to be here, Ryan. Thank you so much for inviting me, and I’m really excited for today’s talk. Really psyched.

I love it, and it’s such a great metaphor, because I talk a lot about courage, and it takes courage to seek a job, and especially to be really aligned with right livelihood. And it takes something. So it’s a beautiful metaphor, thank you for that.

Yeah, no, that’s a great question, thank you for asking. You know, I kind of feel like paths are sort of like puppies at the pound, they pick you more than you pick them. And the two paths that came to me very early in life was creative arts and transformational arts. And what I mean by that is personal growth, human development. It was not unusual for my parents to philosophize around the dinner table or the breakfast nook, of breaking down human behavior, why we do what we do. My mom would always give my dad incredible advice, he could never figure it out, and he’d say, you’re right, kiddo.

So I came into the world with the lens of really being fascinated by human behavior, why we do what we do. Why does person A have all these challenges and they use it to totally reinvent their lives, and why does person B stay stuck, small, scared and stuck? And what is that, what are those missing links? So I became very fascinated. But I’ve also been fascinated by performing, so my early career is as an actress, standup comic, one woman show, solo artist, arts educator and storyteller. And I was also a medical massage therapist, health practitioner.

And what happened was, after a while I realized that show business really wasn’t for me. It’s a hard career. I mean, I got some nice momentum, but I loved what I call edutaining. I loved educating, like conflating educating with entertainment. And so I started to talk to my clients and I said, hey, there’s this thing, this was many years ago, this thing called coaching. And they were like, what is coaching? And I was like, well, you take somebody from where they are, you identify their strengths, their challenges, where they want to go, you help them carve a road map, so to speak, and address the obstacles along the way, and just support them until they meet their goals. And every single one of them said, oh, you’ve been doing that with me for the last 15 years, you’ve just been throwing in the medical massage treatment. And we started to laugh.

And so then I eventually transitioned into coaching. I got a tremendous amount of training, from whole life to career transition to relationships for singles and couples, and also some gender work. Because I feel like when somebody comes to me, they’re not just coming to look for a career or a job, they’re a whole person, and you have to really address them, for lack of a better word, holistically. So if somebody’s coming to me and they’re super skilled and very accomplished, but they have tremendous anxiety around change, we have to address the belief systems that are fostering the anxiety as we’re helping them on their career trajectory. So that’s really always my approach. I do a lot of executive leadership and career coaching, but I like to address the person as a whole, holistically. Yeah, so I hope I answered your question.

So I know you’re a big fan of metaphors, and so am I. So you know when you go to the grocery store and you’re ravenous, you’re going to end up with a bucket load of Little Debbie bars and maybe a head of lettuce if you’re lucky, right? So you’re not going to come from what I call the chooser energy, you’re going to come from reactivity.

So I would say the first moment to think about a career coach is when you’re getting anything from creative crankiness to divine restlessness. You know there’s a shelf life to your current position. It could be either the ceiling is there, you’re not going to develop past a certain area, maybe appreciation, maybe there’s a different facet of the industry that you’re more intrigued by. I always encourage people to really listen to where their thoughts are. Are they feeling a certain level of, like, same old same old when they’re going to work?

So to do it preemptively, when you’re starting to feel that inkling, even if you feel like, hm, it’s the beginning of 2025, by early 2026 I might want to be in another position. Now some people might go, wow, that’s way too ahead, but not really. Not if you want to network, not if you want to change industries, because you’re going to be coming from a chooser energy. And I know that you interview a lot of recruiters and people, I’m sure, who interview potential candidates. Nothing is more appealing than somebody who’s coming from being a chooser. You feel it, their countenance, the moment they walk in.

So if you can do it as a preventative while you’re still in the work, because if you have a runway you can say, okay, what projects at work do I want to take on in this next six to nine months, so that if and when I leave, that’s three more things to add to my CV, this is a whole selection of new skills that I’ve acquired.

Yeah, it’s a good question. My client base, well, I work with a lot of people in tech and finance. I coach a lot of people in tech and finance, but also some in healthcare, founders and entrepreneurs. So I would say I tend to attract clients who are what I call a little like scrappy, for lack of a better word. They’re up to a big game. They don’t want their work to have to be the whole center of their life, but they want to be doing work that’s meaningful to them, that they can really grow. They’re not somebody who’s just going to phone it in.

Yeah, several of my clients are serial entrepreneurs, and they are always in the what’s next mode, right? So even if their business is thriving, they want to scale. And the biggest thing that comes up for them is, how do I uplevel my team so I can maybe be just in the BD, business development part, or I can be the name and the face and do high level vision, but I can move on to my next business that I want to develop? Or how do I scale it so that if and when I choose to sell the business?

A lot of it is really about team development. They really know that their wealth is in their team, and the more they can really invest in them as a leader and their team as a leader, everybody wins. Because let’s face facts, the three things over and over, whether it’s Inc. or Fast Company, is really, an employee, are they being treated well, do they feel appreciated, are they compensated, and is there career development? So the best investment for founders, entrepreneurs, is developing and investing in yourself and your team. But yeah, I work with a lot of people in tech who are on staff as well.

Absolutely, mid, senior level, absolutely. A coach can see things that you don’t see. So I’m going to kind of focus on the tech industry a little bit, and software. One of the things I coach a lot on are people who are basically introverts by nature. A lot of them are ICs, individual contributors, and they’re either mid or senior level, and they want to just hunker down and do the work. But the truth is, for them to elevate they need much greater visibility within the company. If they want to be a leader, they need to be seen as a leader.

And so I always joke with them, you don’t have to be an extrovert if you’re an introvert, but just more like your Broadway self, your more heightened energy. Who are you going to, on the executive leadership team, who are you going to forge relationships with? How can you bring more visibility to yourself as a leader, but also your team? That’s a very big thing in tech and finance and software. I see people are more internal. The comment I get a lot is, I’d much rather be a CTO than a CEO, because they want to be behind the scenes, that’s who they are. So that’s a big piece, in addition to leadership development, but also people who are looking for the next position for them.

Oh, I really appreciate that.

Well, thank you for mentioning my Lois-ism, which stands for lessons, opportunities, insights and solutions. Say that three times fast.

And career translation. What I find is, when people, like you said, it’s a hero’s journey, it takes something, you have to be willing to be in a territory of unknown for a while. And so sometimes it could feel ominous to go, oh, career transition, it’s so big. And the way I see it is, it’s really career translation. You’re translating your gifts, your talents, your skills and your interests. It might be into another industry, it might be another culture, it might be another position. Somehow when you think of it as translation, well, let me just ask you, Ryan, just hearing the difference between career transition and career translation, how does that immediately land for you?

Right, active versus passive. I have a great story, if you don’t mind me sharing, about how I came upon that concept. I was at one of my client’s baby showers, and this is a great example. She started with me on career translation, and once that got handled she was like, okay, now I want to meet my life partner, and I was like, cool. And we did relationship coaching and she met her husband and she got married.

And I was at the actual bridal shower, and I was eating the cake. And you know, most of those cakes that look gorgeous taste like cardboard with calories, but this cake was delicious. I said, wow, this cake is amazing, it looks beautiful and tastes amazing. This woman next to me said, oh, thanks, I baked it. I was like, really? And she said, yeah, I bake milestone occasion cakes. And I said, what was your background? She said, I was a nuclear physicist. And I was like, whoa. I said, that is totally different, you totally shifted gears. And she said, no, they’re both chemistry. And I went, wow. And she said, they’re ratios, they’re experimentation, they’re exploring. I said, yes, but in one laboratory it’s a lot more dangerous than the other. And then she said, depends which bridezilla you’re dealing with.

But that really rocked my world. I was like, here are two totally seemingly disparate, but she was like, no, it’s chemistry. And I went, wow. So to start peeling away the layers, and start to pay attention to what are those things that give you your sparkle, that jazz you up, that all of a sudden you lose all track of time. I’m not talking about doom scrolling, but you know, you really all of a sudden you’re just naturally engaged in it, people come to you for it. Start collecting those breadcrumbs along the way.

I’m really glad you brought that up, I feel passionate about that. And this is why it’s always important to look for a career coach when you’re still being in chooser mode, where you feel like, I have to leave yesterday, because you’ll make choices that you most likely will later regret.

So often. Case in point, one of my clients, he felt that he needed to change industries, and he was like, I hate it, I’m burnt out, they’re nasty, they’re this, they’re that. And I said okay. And I said, well, tell me what you really like to do. And we went through, I mean obviously it’s a whole process I take them through, and I said, you know, it’s interesting, because it’s very similar to what you’re already doing. And I said, and all the things that you said you hated was really about the culture and not about your actual responsibilities. And he went, oh my gosh, you’re right. And I said, why don’t you go culture shopping versus career shopping? And he said, how do I do that?

And in my book I outline it’s sort of a continuum of, like, wholesome, a scrappy culture, you know, all highly competitive, all the way to toxic, which you want to avoid like the plague. And I said, let’s talk about what some of your core values are. How have you felt appreciated in your life, even if you haven’t felt that way professionally? How do you feel appreciated personally? What are your core values? What are skills that you really want to develop? And I said to him, before you start applying for jobs, why don’t you just have some informational interviews with their competitors, you know, or people in the industry, your wish list?

So he put together a wish list of his top three, and he got an offer at the top, his number one choice. And he came to me, and I think it’s really important, he came a little like, I think I’m not sure I’m going to take it. I said, why, it’s your number one choice? He said, well, it’s a lateral position and I only got like a 15% pay rise. I said, but how did you feel in the interview? And I had him ask very pointed questions, because he could be a chooser. And he said, no, I felt totally comfortable, I felt like they really got me. And I said, why wouldn’t you want to take that position? And he took the position, and within two months they were inviting him into all the senior level leadership meetings. And he was like, well, I’m not at that position. They’re like, you have 15 years of experience, you’re on the cutting edge in ways that we don’t know, we need your value. And it was really clear that within the next six to nine months he was going to be promoted to a much higher position. So often we’re looking for a change in our culture versus career, so I think it’s a very important distinction.

Oh, thank you.

Absolutely, yeah, it’s a really good question. Some people come to me for different things. Some people come for career transition, some people career translations, some people are coming, they’re not advocating enough for themselves at work and they want to be promoted but they’re not being seen as promotable, or there’s a ceiling. So people come to me for a myriad of ways, public speaking, how to be able to be more articulate when public speaking.

So the first thing is, I have a discovery call. If we’re not a fit, I don’t want to waste their money and my time. So we really identify what are the goals. Sometimes people have no idea what’s next for them in the career, sometimes they have an idea of what they want but they’re not sure how to get it, and sometimes it’s sort of a little bit of a mixture. So we chart out the course. I have them do a very robust questionnaire, and usually when people do my whole career translation program it’s really like 13 sessions, but sometimes we can look at, after the questionnaire, what are the core areas. So they may say, gee, I’m not great at networking, or I don’t have as much clarity of my positioning, I’m not as skilled in networking. So from there we really assess what the program looks like.

But we start right away, usually I have people jump into what’s not working in their career, and let’s move from, people are so much clearer on what they hate versus what they like sometimes. So we look at, okay, what are some specific actions you can take in real time, and then we look at some beliefs that might be stopping them. A big piece of the curriculum is having informational meetings to find out is that industry even a good one for you, so I make certain suggestions how to reach out on LinkedIn.

When it comes to CV, this is where you folks are the absolute consummate experts. I will look at the overall, I certainly don’t do a deep dive, again we have to look at keywords, but I’ll also look at how specific they are with their accomplishments. Are they being loosey-goosey? Are there some metrics they can add? I’ll look at a resume, and I’m sure your service probably does your own version of this, any words that are tentative, may, perhaps, can, those, rule it out. Make sure the objective of the role statement is very clear and concise. And then we’ll look at, like, who’s in their support system to rally with, how are they using LinkedIn, and of course networking.

And the big thing is structure. If you’re currently employed, how are you going to structure your what’s next for you? Is it two hours a day, three days a week? I mean, are you going to wait till you’re exhausted on a Friday night? It’s not going to happen. We look at how can you set yourself up powerfully for that next step. How many, you know, more tactical, how many coffee dates do you need, and how can you network with people even if you don’t think they’re in the industry? Doesn’t somebody know, you know, six degrees of separation, right? How do you start tapping back into your network? I find that people really do want to help, you just have to help them to help you. Be specific what you’re looking for. So I mean, I gave you a whole big bucket of the type of trajectory we take, but that’s what I do a lot in my career coaching.

Yeah, it’s a great question. One of my Lois-isms is, move from criticism to curiosity. So it’s very easy, when we’re doing something that’s really uncomfortable, for it to be awkward and uncomfortable, and just allow for a learning curve. So be gentle on yourself. I think go slow to go fast, set some really reasonable goals for yourself. I think it’s a lot easier to go to people who you already have a relationship, you know, like and trust.

But I think it’s important to be specific what you’re looking for, and even if you are at a juncture where you can’t be specific, you can just give them three or four skills that you are really good at that you want to develop more. So sometimes, let’s say you want to transition to project management, you know somebody is in a firm that has project managers, hey, I’m fascinated by project management, I may think about transitioning to it, I’d love to have an informational call. People love to feel like they’re an expert and to be heard, and that they have an expertise that’s valuable.

I was actually talking about this today with a CFO that I coach, and we talked about how the social piece is really easy for them, but then transitioning it back to business. And I said, you know, if you create a rapport with somebody on a personal level, that’s golden. So I think rather than make it about work right away, and of course it’s germane to the situation, but I think just being naturally interested in people. So there’s different types of networking. I think networking, being specific, the type of associations you’re networking, or the type of events. I think just being really interested in the person is nine tenths of it.

If there’s a shared common, you know, they start talking, rather than, you know, where are you from or what do you do. I mean, those are okay questions, but I think you can ask really intriguing questions, which is, oh, what part of this association piques your interest, or have you been a member of the association? Just something. I’m all about compliments, so if they’re wearing a really cool tie, oh my God, I love that tie, where did you get it? You oh yeah, I went to Italy. Oh my god, did you gelato your way through? You know, just finding ways to create kind of a spirit of sympatico. And I know that not everybody is extroverted, but I think finding common ways of just connecting, and I think being interested versus feeling like you have to be interesting. So finding questions to ask people about, it could be myriad of things, it could be about the event, it could be, what are some of your favorite hobbies?

And when it comes to LinkedIn, I mean, you gave me a great opening. You said, I’ve been watching, it was really, because most of the time on LinkedIn we get a lot of spam, and you said, I’ve been tracking your posts, and you cited the specific posts, you gave a great example. Okay, and this is what we’re up to, I think you’d be a great guest, are you interested? If you said the whole, I do a podcast on rah rah rah. So yeah.

Yeah, you could have said, I do a podcast, if you want, and I might still reach out, but it wasn’t as much as like, hey, I really enjoyed your post about. That’s another one, be specific.

Did you end up circling back to them?

But it’s in the back of your head.

Right, yeah, exactly. Oh, I think the other thing about networking, do we have another minute on that? Because I just, thoughtful comments on LinkedIn. So I had met this woman who headed up a boutique training company years ago, and met her at a conference, lost touch with her, and I saw that she had her son, bring your son to work day. And there’s nothing wrong with this, but the comments were like, oh you look so beautiful, oh what a handsome son, and I’m like, who cares?

And so I sent a message, I said, what a powerful message for the next generation of young men, that they have a mom that is both an equal nurturer and powerhouse at the same time. Thank you for sending that message to other, you know, female professionals and young men entering the workplace. And she wrote, thank you so much. And I meant it, it wasn’t disingenuous. So LinkedIn’s amazing, it’s a treasure chest. Like, write thoughtful comments that are going to pique people’s curiosity. And she took a meeting with me the very next week. And then when we met she went, oh yes, I remember, conference years ago, and we worked together.

Absolutely, yeah. People notice when it’s the know, like and trust factor. People notice when you’ve taken the extra time. You know, another great tool is reposting, and you can bring it back to something that is germane in your own life. You could just repost, and that’s great too, I’m always grateful when people repost my content. But you can add a thoughtful response of why this post resonated so much for you. People appreciate that.

Yeah, that’s a really great question. Many journals have been filled with that question. I think the biggest thing is, I love my work, I’m passionate, I love doing my work a lot more than getting work. So it’s always a dance around marketing, and I always have to find ways, I really appreciate what you’re saying about LinkedIn, I always have to find a way to make marketing authentic for me, and making relationships. I’m not going to be somebody who’s going to send out 400 messages, you know, and spam people, and people go, oh, it’s a numbers game, it’s a numbers game. And it’s like, that doesn’t bode well with me.

So I think it’s always balancing, and especially when things start to get super busy, which I’ve been very busy, but you still have to focus on marketing. I think that is the biggest thing, is when you’re doing the work you still have to make sure to market. I think also messaging is really important. And because I am neurospicy, I think it’s, have you heard neurospicy? No? It’s like neurodiverse but it’s more eclectic than that. So I heard this term and I loved it, because I love neurospicy, it’s so much more fun.

And so I have to make sure that I’m not taken over by big shiny object, you know, like I’m focusing on this in my business when somebody’s coming to me with LinkedIn going, you know, you’ll have 30,000 da da da. I’m like, wait, Lois, what lane? I have a Lois-ism: stay in the Lois lane, it’s the quickest way to a super life. You know, because not bad, thank you, but a bump. So I think that those are some of the challenges. What are some of yours? Am I allowed to turn the microscope, mic rather, and microscope, whichever way you say it?

Big shiny object, creatives. It’s very much about being a creative, you see the potential in so many things. And yeah, great, right, thanks for sharing that. And you’re in a band, that’s very cool.

Okay, I’m going to have to come see you.

Brooklyn, Manhattan, all over the place?

Yeah, all right, my ear plugs too, because you’re loud.

Okay, for sure. I like those eardrums, I like to keep them.

I think start early, don’t wait till you’re feeling, oh my gosh, I got to get out. And I would say go slow to go fast. Don’t overwhelm yourself. Some of us have velvet handcuffs or burlap handcuffs, and if it feels daunting, I would say just be consistent. It could be, I’m going to start doing four coffee dates a month, I’m going to start doing some research on this industry. Be consistent. Consistency over intensity. And do your best not to overwhelm yourself, and don’t go it alone. Slow and steady wins the race.

Absolutely, with all your wits. Exactly, insanity.

Oh yeah, no, thanks for asking. Obviously I’m on LinkedIn. My website is www.loisbarth.com. My book is Courage to Sparkle, I like a little, I’m a little bling bling today, a little bling bling light, the audacious guide to creating a life that lights you up. You can get that on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and myriad. And if you have any specific questions, you can always email me at lois@loisbarth.com.

I’d love to hear from you.

Yeah, take care, bye bye.