Diversifying your career is building resilience
When I experienced my first big career shock, I didn’t have language for it yet. Nor did I think I’d someday be coaching folks on how to build their own regenerative businesses.
All I knew was that my body was shutting down, my purpose felt hollow, I had to find healthier ways of working, and the career I had built with care and credentials no longer fit the person I was becoming.
As I’ve been talking this month, the real question under the “Why did you leave?” is “How did you know what you wanted to do next?”
Short answer?
I didn’t leap or rage quit. I built a bridge.
One board at a time.
That bridge is what I now call diversifying your career and it’s a core part of how I help people rebuild after career shocks, whether those shocks are internal or external.
Diversifying your career is resilience in action.
It’s not about burning everything down (unless you want to). It’s about making your work more adaptive to your body, your values, your season of life.
When I left higher ed, it wasn’t one clean pivot. It was a slow, nonlinear process of unlearning, grieving, trying, creating, and ultimately: regenerating.
That’s how my regenerative business came to life, not from a formula, but from lived experience.
It looked like:
Exploring new ideas outside of my discipline, with lots of conversations with colleagues and connections
Learning what my values really were by finally developing some deep self-awareness
Grieving the loss of identity, dreams that younger me wanted, relationships with folks who wanted the old version of me, and my health
Reclaiming creativity, rest, and somatic practices as core business tools
Expanding what purpose, leadership, and success meant
Following healing and joy through trainings, workshops, and people rather than just for the credential
This is the same kind of work I now guide others through: Not just a career pivot, but a full-bodied, values-aligned, regenerative shift.
Diversifying your career prepares you to stabilize better through career shocks.
This doesn’t mean starting from scratch, unless you want to because it feels more appealing. It means weaving your lived experiences, values, and strengths into something more expansive and adaptive.
Some arrive suddenly - layoffs, cut funding, toxic supervisor, a medical diagnosis. Others simmer until you wake up and realize: I can’t do this anymore. It took me a few years after that initial career shock (my physical breakdown) hit me to fully launch out. It was the kind of shock that maybe others saw coming or maybe all my overing patterns were so normalized it was just overlooked.
Career shocks are destabilizing, but they are not personal failures. They are invitations. Not to bounce back, but to rebuild intentionally.
This is also the work I now do with others, helping folks slowly and sustainably diversify their careers, especially after a shock or period of disillusionment. I don’t push quick pivots or rigid formulas. Instead, I help folks explore what it means to build careers and businesses that are resilient, regenerative, and rooted in their values. Whether that means growing something on the side, mapping out multiple income streams, or redefining success entirely, I walk with clients as they untangle overwork, reclaim creativity, and build professional lives that can flex with life, not fracture under it.
Here’s a reflection question for you:
If I weren’t afraid of starting over, what would I allow myself to imagine next?
If you're sitting in that in-between right now, you’re not alone. I’ve been there. And I’d love to walk with you through it.
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