462: Pivoting To A Career That Fits When Your Priorities Change

Haley details how she shifted into a more flexible role for her family without jeopardizing her career’s momentum.

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Guest

Haley Stomp, Fractional CMO

After climbing the corporate ladder as a marketing executive, Haley realized it was time for a change when her home life and work life were no longer meshing.

on this episode

Aligning your career with your priorities can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. 

After 10 years as a high level marketing professional, Haley wanted to let her foot off the gas. She wanted a career that was more flexible for her family, but she was fearful a career pivot would jeopardize the experience and success she had gained over the past decade as a marketing executive. 

Learn how Haley made a career change to a role that aligned with her priorities (without derailing her career trajectory!)

What you’ll learn

  • How to know when it’s time to leave your long-term career (even if it’s going well!)
  • The importance of giving yourself permission to get out of your career comfort zone
  • How to align each phase of your life with your career
  • The benefits of taking small steps toward your ideal career 
  • Why you need a personal board of advisors
  • The importance of being selective and waiting for the right offer 

Success Stories

Getting clear on what I wanted helped me to recognize how perfect this opportunity was when it came along and the choice to switch was a no-brainer. Thanks for doing the work you do!

Austin Marlar, Frontend Developer, United States/Canada

Thank you both for inspiring me to always ask, "Why NOT me?" and stick to my values for what I want for my life. I couldn't be happier and more excited for this new life!

Lisa Schulter, Special Projects Manager, United States/Canada

After working many years in aerospace as a Manufacturing Engineer, I wanted to move into a Program Manager role without ever holding a PM title or certification. Scott and HTYC helped me to showcase my relevant strengths and made me feel confident and prepared for the interview stage. I landed the Project Manager job I was seeking even though there were qualified internal candidates available. I was able to avoid a disruptive family move and am loving my new position.

Andrew Gagnon, Project Manager, United States/Canada

The role is meeting my expectations… totally owning the marketing function. And luckily the founder/president is always forward-looking – he just presented us a huge strategy doc for the next year. So there will be an opportunity for us to grow beyond our initial audience, which is great. I applied (against conventional wisdom!) and went through a lengthy interview process. I did use the resume/cover letter chapter quite a bit to customize what I used to respond to the ad. I also found that using the Interview chapter was super helpful in formulating “SBO” oriented responses, and I even used some of them in the interview. Having those “case study” type responses was really helpful and I believe cemented my candidacy. BTW – they hired me completely over Skype and phone! I never met anyone from my company (in person) until last week at a conference.

Erica Fourrette, Marketing Director

Haley Stomp 00:01
I had been in a role for about 10 years and we had done amazing things. I had built a team, we had grown the business, so much success, so much fun, but I was at that point where it was more about maintaining an incremental growth. And I was ready, I was hungry for that next thing to challenge me.

Introduction 00:23
This is the Happen To Your Career podcast, with Scott Anthony Barlow. We help you stop doing work that doesn't fit you, figure out what does and make it happen. We help you define the work that's unapologetically you, and then go get it. If you're ready to make a change, keep listening. Here's Scott. Here's Scott. Here's Scott.

Scott Anthony Barlow 00:48
When my youngest son Grayson was born, I remember a shift that took place for me internally, and it went something like this. In my head, it sounded like, "Okay, I now have three small kids at home, and I am at work or commuting like 60, sometimes many more hours a week. And when I'm not there, I'm stressing about work. So something's gotta give, something's got to change." Now, this is similar to what happens for a lot of people. And maybe it's bringing a new child into the world. Maybe it's your favorite coworker find a new job. Something happens externally, where you decide it's time for a priority change, a priority shift. And making that decision alone can seem life changing, but it can also be kind of terrifying. It can seem like, "Okay, I want to leave. I want something new, but has my entire career, all my degrees, my experience, all the time it took to get here, has that been for nothing?

Haley Stomp 01:54
I mean, my job was my identity. So I had to figure out who was I without this job and what did I want to do. And there was some work for me to understand that, just because I left that role, I didn't leave all of my strengths behind. And I didn't leave, you know, who I was behind. All of that was still me.

Scott Anthony Barlow 02:15
That's Haley Stomp. And as you'll hear in just a little bit, Haley received her degree in chemical engineering, and later pivoted to marketing. She has now accumulated a lot of experience and is currently a fractional chief marketing officer. And just as importantly, if not more importantly, a mom. Haley realized it was time for another career pivot when her priorities begin shifting from her home life and work life, and they were no longer matching. I want you to take a listen in the conversation that I have with her, because you're going to hear how Haley came to terms with leaving the company that she had been at for well over a decade. And what it took for her to figure out what she wanted her career to look like, and how it could truly fit to the rest of her life. Here she is talking about where her career started.

Haley Stomp 03:11
Yeah, I've made a couple of big pivots during my career. So I graduated with a chemical engineering degree. And I went into engineering in a food production company. So I know how to make a lot of different things, breakfast, cereal, fruit, snacks, and cake and all kinds of stuff. So that was exciting. I did that for several years. And then I made a transition from that company to a different company. And when I switched to that job, I started my master's to get my MBA. And during my... when I was getting my degree at night, I started shifting from manufacturing into R&D and project management. And that gave me a whole view of all the different functions in a business. And I realized that marketing was having a lot of fun. They were getting to go do stuff and get out of the manufacturing plant. And so as I was finishing my degree, I tailored my classes to the marketing end. So by the time I got done with my master's, I had been eyeing a marketing job within the same company. I moved into that role. That was a big change for me to go from being an engineer to being charged marketing. And...

Scott Anthony Barlow 04:24
Okay, hold on. Let me ask you about that then. So was that really a case of where you're looking at other people in marketing and be like, "that looks like they get to have all the fun." Or were there other elements there that caused you to say, "Hey, I think I want to lean more towards marketing." Tell me about that.

Haley Stomp 04:42
Yeah, I mean, it was both. I was working on really important projects, but I literally bought a manure spreading truck for a project I was working on. I was working with sulfuric acid, which was dangerous. I was getting called in the middle of the night because pumps weren't running. So I'm doing all of these things that were interesting and exciting and I love the science and I loved that I was doing it. But I was seeing this business side, and people were getting to make big strategic decisions and get outside of those walls of the plant and go places and see people and do things. And I really wanted to be a part of the action.

Scott Anthony Barlow 05:17
Is that part of the... I've gotten to know you a little bit over the last year and a half. And one thing that has become very evident to me is, those strategic decisions are something that you are very good at. I'm curious, though, where you started to realize and recognize that, one, that was fun for you. Because it sounds like that was part of what you were alluding to. And then two, that that was something that you were or had the potential to be great at.

Haley Stomp 05:48
You know, I took a bridge role in between engineering and marketing, it was a project manager role. In that project manager role, I could take my project manager skills as an engineer and see all the potential problems, and I got to understand all the functions. And the thing I really liked doing, I got to report to the leadership team on how our project was doing. I get to tell them, "Here's where the problems are, here's where we need money, here's what's going well." And I loved that part of it, trying to direct the decisions and figure out and basically negotiate on the things that I think needed to happen so we could hit the goal. But that role was really, I think, where I discovered my love of being in that position.

Scott Anthony Barlow 06:30
So how did that influence then some of the changes that you made after that?

Haley Stomp 06:34
Yeah, so I applied for a marketing role when I graduated and moved out of the project manager role. Got the marketing role. And a couple months into this role, I had a presentation in Belgium. I got to fly to Belgium and give this presentation. And one of the leaders in the company approached me and she said, "Hey, we want to go work with this company in China. And we need somebody to launch this product for us globally, would you be interested?" I was like, "I know nothing about the product. I've never been to China. But yes."

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:05
Sure. That sounds great. Let's do it.

Haley Stomp 07:08
Yeah, and I mean, it was one of those sliding door moments for me where I just took a leap and just did it. It was probably the biggest pivot of my career to go do that, because it pushed me out of my comfort zone. And it just sent me down this track that was really eye opening and developing and changing on what I was going to be doing.

Scott Anthony Barlow 07:29
What were some of the biggest learnings out of that experience? Living outside your comfort zone.

Haley Stomp 07:38
I learned I couldn't be afraid to fly when you have to get on a 13 hour flight. You have to get over that in a hurry. You know, I think the main thing I learned is that I could do so much more than I gave myself credit for. I mean, I went to Asia by myself for a whole month. And I was also pretty scrappy, and you know, the big learning, I think, when you leave your culture and start working within other cultures, it's just how similar you are. And it was about building those relationships and understanding where people were coming from and building that team. And, you know, they're my teammates, like, a person that sits in the same town as me, they're the same as that in terms of our relationship and what we needed to do together.

Scott Anthony Barlow 08:19
I'm also curious, then, what caused you... after you started making these changes, recognizing what you enjoyed more, and then moving up the ladder with this organization, what were the pieces that caused you to recognize that you no longer wanted to move in the same path?

Haley Stomp 08:37
Yeah, I mean, I think my priorities shifted a little bit. I went through, you know, when I didn't have kids, I was doing a lot of this exciting climbing and traveling and all of that. And then when you start to have to balance, you know, a marriage and kids and all of this stuff, you just have to reprioritize a little bit. So I think it was that balancing act was definitely, you know, a reason to shift and think about how am I going to do all of this. And I think too, I've always had a project mindset. So as an engineer, you could be a process engineer, project engineer, I tended to be a project engineer. I wanted to start in an end date. And I wanted to see that. And then I wanted to move on to the next thing. And so I think there were a couple points where I was like, "Alright, I feel like I've gotten this to a good point, I need the next thing."

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:27
I need this project to be over and move on to a different.

Haley Stomp 09:30
Right. For the next one. Because this is more about maintaining, and more incremental growth, where I was looking maybe for some of those opportunities to make those big shifts.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:40
So that's really fascinating. I think even that mindset of having a project outlook, and I found that that can be really helpful for people because when we're in a...what was the name of the last role you're at?

Haley Stomp 09:54
Senior Vice President of Global Marketing.

Scott Anthony Barlow 09:56
Yeah. When you're in, you know, that type of role where you're Senior Vice President of Global Marketing, it's perpetual, like, it just...it goes on. It is not necessarily something that unless you are treating it as a project with open and close and, you know, maybe even experimental type mindset, then it is perpetual. And I think that in itself creates a lot of challenges when other things start to change in your life, like, you describe, "hey, you know, I was married and had kids and there became other different priorities that started to become very important as well. And when something's perpetual or non-project, then it's harder I found to even think about, like, stepping away or changing the landscape or moving on to the next project or whatever." So I'm curious what that was like for you and whether you found the same experience, or what advice you might give to someone who's in that situation.

Haley Stomp 10:55
You know, I think one of the big learnings I've had in the last couple of years is that there are phases in life. You know, you go to college, and your eyes on the prize. I'm gonna get my degree, I'm gonna get this job, I'm focused on my career. And oh, by the way, I want to get married and have kids, but I'm focused on my career, focused on my career, and you're kind of going through your 20s. And even for me, I would say, my early 30s, like, this was all just going to work out. And I think the last couple of years, I really realized that, look, I'm in a different phase now. There was an article recently that I ran across where it talked about the three phases of a woman's career, and it was so helpful to say, "Oh, wait, this is normal. There are phases in a career. And as I'm getting older, as the things in my life priorities are changing, it's okay. It's normal that your career is going to look different along these phases." And that you're not just going to put the gas down 100% until you die, I mean, it's okay to kind of work everything together. And maybe that was the realization that this phase of my life needs to all fit together or stack together. It doesn't have to be– my career is driving everything and I'll try to fit everything in there. It's more like– how do I make this phase of my life ideal with all of the factors that are in it? So, you know, on your project versus perpetual, I think it was about giving myself permission to say, "I get to design the space on how it works for me, instead of just following along the career trajectory and hoping everything else fits in."

Scott Anthony Barlow 12:34
That makes a lot of sense. What made you finally decide that I'm going to make a career change from that role, that situation, that organization? What took place that caused you to decide?

Haley Stomp 12:50
Yeah, so two years before I left, I had been in a role for about 10 years, and we had done amazing things. I had built a team, we had grown the business, so much success, so much fun, but I was at that point, like, I was talking about that project versus perpetual where it was more about maintaining an incremental growth. And I was hungry for that next thing to challenge me.

Scott Anthony Barlow 13:12
That all the project.

Haley Stomp 13:13
I was ready. And so I was at a decision point internally in the company to... do I look outside, or do I look for something internal. And timing worked out really well for me to try this global role to go back to the global role. And putting my Superwoman cape on, I was going to spend half the time out of the country and do this amazing job. At the same time, my kids were starting to need more from me in terms of activities and eating and whatever it was, you know. So I think it was a little bit of a perfect storm in terms of it was the ultimate challenge. I tried to...I think about, like, watching the Olympics, and different dives have different difficulty ratings. I feel like I stepped into, like, "Okay, the highest difficulty rating. So if I perform it here, I should get a really good score, because the difficulty rating of everything I'm trying to do at once is pretty high." But I mean, I grew so much in those two years. And that was such a good experience. And it was a good decision to make that move, but COVID hit, and I think, holding all the balls that we had going in the air at the same time, COVID was finally the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of trying to keep all of these things moving at the same time, and it was just not sustainable.

Scott Anthony Barlow 14:34
What was the final thing? If you remember. If there was one thing that caused you to say, "Okay, this is I'm making the change."

Haley Stomp 14:44
I remember the day that I was like, alright, something's got to change. I was on a conference call. And I'd been on several conference calls and you know, I'd been really trying to keep it all going. And I just dropped off the call, and I got in my car–I left work, I got in my car, and I drove to my parents house. And I just said, "Look, I don't know if I can go back to work tomorrow, like, how am I going to get up tomorrow? I have all these things that need to be done. I need to talk about this." And so in the bucolic small town, Iowa way, we went to an apple orchard and bought some apples, we had a nice dinner, we talked about it. And the next morning, I got up, I called into the next conference call and drove home while I was on the call, and was like, "Alright, I'm gonna get through this. But I've made a decision that I need to make a change. And I need to figure out how to do that." So my project manager hat was going to go back on and say, you know, "What's my action that I need to take to get out of this place?" And I didn't mention this before. But earlier in my career, I had another moment where I was like, "things were not going well, I need to leave." And I gave myself, at that point, I gave myself three months, I said, "I'm doing this for three months, and I'm going to make it work. And if in three months, I haven't fixed it, then I will make a decision." And luckily, at that point, three months later, it was all going great. But in that pivot point in 2020, I just... I could feel that I needed to upset the applecart in an even bigger way to make it better.

Scott Anthony Barlow 16:24
After you made that decision, do you remember what it felt like at that point in time? What did that feel like?

Haley Stomp 16:31
Honestly, relief. I had a sense of relief, like, "Okay, I've made a decision." And I think, you know, I've noticed that a lot along the way. And Mo and I have talked about that, too, that... he told me "action brings clarity", and making the decision one way or another is such a relief, and it may not be the right decision, but man, just making that decision feels good. And it's like, alright, I made this decision. Now I can start moving on whatever plan is following that decision.

Scott Anthony Barlow 17:01
That is amazing. I also have felt that. And now actually, strangely, I use that as an indicator for whether or not I felt like making the right decision for me. If I'm getting some of those sense, same senses and feelings after I've made that decision that helps validate it. That said, though, I'm curious, what advice would you give to people who are in those same sorts of situations who are trying to make those types of decisions for themselves? Because it's hard.

Haley Stomp 17:31
You know, it's really hard. And I think so much about this. And I think from some of my other friends and contacts, too. I wish that I had a coach while I was still at my last job. I wish I had hired a career coach while I'm just within my company trying to make decisions and it's lonely at the top. And the farther you move up in a company, especially when you've been there for a while, people have seen you at different levels. And so when you get to the top, it's hard to find the right people to admit that you're not sure what to do, or you need help. And so you have to build that network. And yes, you build it within. But I absolutely think building it outside of where you're at is so helpful. And you know, when I left, I made a huge effort to build my personal board of advisors. And I had, I mean, I joined a women's networking group, I have Happen To Your Career, we have the Happen To Your Career group. Outside of that, I had my therapist, I had my friend who wanted help marketing, she started her life coaching business, so we were trading hour for hour. And then I had some other people that I... I just made a list, like, these are the people that are going to support me. But if I look back, I wish...I'm like, "Man, I would have enjoyed work more before if I would have done some of those things earlier. If I had worked harder to put that together." I just want to tell any HR person out there, any manager out there, help your people get that network, because it would be so beneficial.

Scott Anthony Barlow 17:38
[19:00] It creates a much healthier place to operate from is how I've always thought about it. As opposed to not having that network and having all those questions, like, should I be doing this? Should I not be doing this? Is this right for my career? Is this...like all the million things that go through and I've experienced the same thing, the further up you go in any organization, no matter what size it is, small or large, it definitely becomes far more challenging to find people to where you can talk through things like that, and it's still appropriate and productive and useful for the other people as well and yourself.

Haley Stomp 19:39
Yeah, and you know, we put a lot of pressure on people's managers, but I think finding a mentor is helpful, but the thing I liked about having a coach is, that person is dedicated to helping me. And, you know, in my case, Mo was seeing all kinds of other people in similar positions and so it was really helpful to hear, "Oh, you know, luckily there are a lot of other case studies and other people where we can draw information and draw experience from" and that was very helpful for me too.

Scott Anthony Barlow 20:08
You're the third person I've talked to today, that is... No, but seriously, though, like all joking aside, I can completely appreciate where that is very helpful. Because if it's normalized, whatever it is, whatever we're talking about, whatever type of challenge, if it's normalized, that alleviates some of the feelings of craziness, or whatever else, you know, other people might feel, I'm not even sure what to call that feeling, honestly.

Haley Stomp 20:36
I think there's so much responsibility. As a leader, you're trying to be there for your people, and you're showing strength, and you're showing resilience and all of those things. But it doesn't mean you wouldn't benefit from somehow, you know, or somebody to talk through these things with. And from the female perspective, when you work with a lot of males, sometimes it can be intimidating or hard to say, "Hey, I don't know what to do here, because you're already trying to look like you know what you're doing." So that was another factor sometimes, too is, "can I find another female who's like 10 years older than me to just kind of tell me how it's going? What do I need to do?" You know.

Scott Anthony Barlow 21:14
Yeah. When you look back, after you made that decision to make a change, and then as you started exploring what your next steps would look like, what was most challenging? Or what surprised you along the way?

Haley Stomp 21:32
I had to, I mean, my job was my identity. So I had to figure out who was I without this job? And what did I want to do? And there was some work for me to understand that, just because I left that role, I didn't leave all of my strengths behind. And I didn't leave you know who I was behind. All of that was still me. I could take that with me. And then I just needed to look for the next place to apply it. So I think it was an unraveling that idea of, you know, am I a failure for leaving this role? Was it because I couldn't handle it? Was there something wrong with me that I couldn't do this? And kind of getting to the point where, "no, that's absolutely not the case." And I think there was also a really positive feeling the day that I posted on LinkedIn that I had left that role. So many industry contacts had complimented the work I had done to that point. And I think that was all learning to say, "All right, I did this for a really long time. I've banked all this, this is my experience, and no one can take it from me. And I don't need to feel bad about making this decision for myself. It's okay, it's good." And again, life has phases, you make these changes, you don't have to stay at the same place your whole career. And sometimes it's okay to do that for yourself.

Scott Anthony Barlow 22:56
Why do you think that's so hard for so many of us?

Haley Stomp 23:00
Well, I mean, it's safe and comfortable and you know what you're doing, you've got that structure, you know, the bad and the good already, you don't have to learn that. And you have your network, and you have all of that, I think it's scary to let it all go. And just kind of be out there by yourself. And I think that's really hard. And the other thing, you know, when you're a manager, you don't want to leave your people, you feel bad about, "oh, I don't want to..."

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:26
That sense of responsibility. Yes, pervasive.

Haley Stomp 23:29
Yes. And then you have to remind yourself that look, any of these people could leave tomorrow. You have to be kind of selfish. And it can be hard to be selfish about those things when you've been trained to be in a leadership role, where your main job is to help develop people and to help your team, you know, to say, "Alright, I need to be selfish about what I need" especially after surviving the pandemic together, it can be really hard to just say, "All right, I gotta do this for me."

Scott Anthony Barlow 23:57
Yeah. So let's talk about that for just a second. I think that's really fascinating that you use the word selfish there, because I would argue that changing pieces so that you can make sure that you're taken care of, as well as taking care of your kids, your family, it's probably not actually that selfish, but it definitely feels selfish. I jokingly and seriously use that word a lot. I'm like, "go ahead and be selfish, like for a minute." But what do you think for you that feels selfish to where we need to use that word? Because you're not a selfish person. You're the furthest thing from selfish person that I can think of. Still, though, it feels that way. So tell me about that.

Haley Stomp 24:41
I will tell you, it doesn't feel that way anymore.

Scott Anthony Barlow 24:43
That's great.

Haley Stomp 24:44
Yes, I think at the time because you spend so much time building these things and you're so committed, you know, maybe we take so much out of the success and the things that we're able to do. It's really tangible. The rewards of working and doing that are very tangible. You get paid. You see you get praised. You see the results on a budget, on a sales sheet. You can really touch and feel those, the success of what you're doing. And so it's a very tangible way to see that what you're doing matters. It's not always tangible to see that I made chicken for my kids, and they're super happy. That's not...

Scott Anthony Barlow 25:25
Sometimes they're not super happy.

Haley Stomp 25:28
Yeah, actually, I guess they don't really like my cooking. But I think we tie so much of our worth into that and who we are into that. And, you know, and especially me, being a female in a more male dominated area for so long, being a first generation college student, I mean, I remember thinking at some point, I'm done. I don't have to prove anything to anybody else anymore. Like, I'm done, I can be done with that. And now it's about what works for me in this part of my life. And I only have eight more years till my kids go to college. And what do I want that next eight years to look like?

Scott Anthony Barlow 26:03
Yeah, we've definitely had that conversation many times over. Ours like, there's only this much time for this, for the kids, for... And that is definitely a driving force for me as well. I am also really curious, you said, "Hey, I don't feel that way anymore. I don't feel like it is selfish in the same way that I did at the time." What changed for you and what did you have to do for yourself, in order to get to that point to be able to look at it differently?

Haley Stomp 26:36
Well, I started writing, and I think that was helpful. I also think when I finally started talking to other people about other jobs, and explaining my experience, the reaction I would get with sometimes surprising. You know, when you're at the same place for so long, and you're always pushing and being pushed, and doing things, you don't actually realize maybe, you don't appreciate everything you've done, not everybody spinned up all the countries I've been to, not everybody's done the things I've done, but it's hard to realize that when you're in it. And so I think when I started looking at other opportunities and talking to other people, it was nice to see their reaction to, oh, you know, and just realize that, alright, there is value without this company, there's value without my title. My experiences here, I'm very comfortable and confident in what I have done. And so I think it was just starting to reach out and look at other positions and realize and be able to compare all those years, and what all that experience looks like, compared to other potential roles. And also just honestly, just talking to other people who have done it, listening to the podcast, I mean, you have so many good examples of nothing fell apart when they quit and found the next thing. Every one of those is this...

Scott Anthony Barlow 27:50
Life's going on. Crazy isn't it? Like, life still went on.

Haley Stomp 27:54
Alright, that was a huge thing for me like, oh, it's cool. If I don't leave the country for a month, guess what, I still have cool things to do. There's people to meet, life is going on, all around me outside of where I was at. And I just... I needed to actually see it to believe it.

Scott Anthony Barlow 28:11
Okay, let's go all the way back to when you made that decision. And you were maybe even just before that decision, maybe the month prior to that, because we have a lot of people that are listening to the podcast that are in that place right now. And they are considering, "Hey, do I stay? Do I go? If I went, what would that look like? What does the world is?" All the things that you know, having been there, run through all these crazy things that run through your mind. And also some of the not so crazy ones, too. And you don't necessarily know which ones or which. But what advice would you give to that person who's in that place? Who's trying to decide, you know, should I make a career change? If so, what does that look like? What does a better life or better career look like for me? What is extraordinary look like?

Haley Stomp 29:01
Yeah, I mean, well, if they're listening to the podcast, that's a great start. Because for me, it was just so helpful to hear other people make that decision and come out okay on the other side, that was really helpful. And I still have it up in front of me, on my board, the ideal career profile, like writing down here is what I want it to look like. And then you could even, you know, what I ended up doing was I made a spreadsheet with here all the things I want, here all the opportunities, and I would score it, and it would give me a really quantitative objective look at this. I mean, people could do that where they're currently at too, to see what was missing. You know, when I when I used to coach my team members, I'd be like, "Alright, you're not happy where you're at, but can we design something internally first? Can we look at that?" But I mean, honestly, I hate to be a broken record, but hire a coach. Go get yourself a career coach.

Scott Anthony Barlow 29:58
It's says so much easier. I very much have been in the camp over and over again. And my identity used to be built on, I can figure this out myself, like very, very much strong, like my dad is a wonderful, really wonderful role model. And also, he's the type of guy who just figured out like, never pay for anything. So that was what I grew up with. And well, in some cases, I'm still releasing that. And it's just, there are many things in life, it's just harder or impossible to do on your own. So I really appreciate that advice, not just because we have a team of coaches working with people all over the world.

Haley Stomp 30:36
Well, and I think, I mean, it's really daunting when you haven't updated your resume, or really been on LinkedIn, because you've been happy for a long time, or when you haven't done any of those things, it's so overwhelming to think about, I don't even know where to find a person to help me or how to do this. And so a couple years ago, I found somebody to help me rewrite my LinkedIn and my resume, just in case, you know, and I found Happen To Your Career by Googling, you know, and I was like, and I compared it with a few other things and less like, this one feels good. But I just kind of had to take some leaps of faith to find some of those resources. Because when you have to start, you have to start somewhere, I think that's the thing.

Scott Anthony Barlow 31:18
One last fun fact before we go. I feel really fortunate that I get to interact with a lot of our clients, not all of our clients, but you and I got to meet along the way. And that doesn't necessarily happen for everyone. But then later on, we actually talked about a role here at Happen To Your Career, which is something that doesn't happen all the time at all. And what was really cool, you mentioned your ideal career profile, which you said, "Hey, I still have up" and your ideal career profile, you know, helped us realize that what we were talking about at the time, it just honestly was not the right opportunity for you. And I think that that is so cool. And evidence of like, hey, that working and you staying in line with what is true for you.

Haley Stomp 32:02
Yeah, I think that was so helpful. And you know, there were a lot of times along the journey where I was like, I should take this job, you know, or I should take these jobs because I should get a job. And it was... it took a lot of patience and willpower and practice to say no to things that weren't right.

Scott Anthony Barlow 32:19
That's so hard.

Haley Stomp 32:20
Yeah. But as I went along, it got a little easier. But there are definitely points where I was like, I should probably just take this job. And I'm glad I didn't do that.

Scott Anthony Barlow 32:31
Well, kudos to you because I know how hard that is. And we've seen that same challenge with, at this point, thousands of people. And that is no easy feat. And it says something about the work that you did to get up to that point to where you could see that, yes, it feels like I should take this. But no, I shouldn't. Because it conflicts with all of my other priorities and what I hold dear and what is important to me in the next opportunity. So nice job.

Scott Anthony Barlow 33:03
Many of the stories that you've heard on the podcast are from listeners that have decided they wanted to take action, and taking the first step of having a conversation with our team to try and figure out how we can help. And if you want to implement what you have heard, and you want to completely change your life and your career, then let's figure out how we can help. So here's what I would suggest, just open your phone right now and open your email app. And I'm going to give you my personal email address, scott@happentoyourcareer.com just email me and put 'Conversation' in the subject line. And then when you do that, I'll introduce you to the right person on our team. And you can have a conversation with us, we'll try and understand your goals and what you want to accomplish in your career no matter where you're at. And we can figure out the very best way that we can help you and your situation. So open up right now and send me an email with 'Conversation' in the subject line; scott@happentoyourcareer.com.

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:08
Hey, I hope you loved this episode. Thanks so much for listening. And if this has been helpful, then please share this podcast with your friends, with your family, with your co-workers that badly need it. Here's a sneak peek into what we have coming up in store for you next week.

Speaker 3 34:26
The price tags are just made up. Somebody writes a price on your job the day before you walk in to talk about it. And whether you negotiate or not is a choice you get to make.

Scott Anthony Barlow 34:39
Let's time travel into the future for just a moment. It's a few months down the road, you've been working on a career change, finding the right organization, determining what matters most to you, all the things, you've been doing that for months now and your commitment has paid off. You've just received an offer from the organization that you want to work with very most, it's pretty much a wonderful fit all the way around. Okay, so you finish popping some champagne, you do some happy dancing, it's now time to negotiate. You might be thinking, "What? Negotiate and risk losing this amazing offer?" And that's so commonly the response. Or even if you're willing to negotiate, so many people think that it is a struggle, and it is something that they don't want to do, and it's undesirable. I want you to think about it like this, receiving that offer means, out of every single person that was considered for position they want you. Now, the balls in your court. So how do you propel yourself for that conversation? How do you make this amazing offer actually everything including on the finance side, including on the offer side, including the other things that can be structured into an offer? How do you make it all that you thought it could be into your ideal?

Scott Anthony Barlow 36:07
All that and plenty more next week right here on Happen To Your Career. Make sure that you don't miss it. And if you haven't already, click Subscribe on your podcast player so that you can download this podcast in your sleep, and you get it automatically, even the bonus episodes every single week, sometimes multiple times a week. Until next week. Adios. I'm out.

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