When It Feels Like It Might Be Time for a Career Change

Last week, I shared a major transition in my life and career - one that, at this age and stage, carries a different kind of weight.

As you may have read, I closed one significant career chapter and formally stepped into a new one, launching The Consulting Office.

I was humbled by the warm wishes I received from so many people - some I know well, some I haven’t spoken to in years, and some I’ve never met. What I wasn’t prepared for was how many of those messages included something else.

“I think I’m ready for a change too. I just don’t know how.”

That part stopped me. Because what they’re describing points to something deeper.

It’s people who have been carrying the thought for a long time. People who have built experience and perspective - and are ready to use it in a new way. People who can feel that something is shifting, even if it isn’t fully defined yet, and are starting to think about what that could look like in practice. That’s a very different place to be.

It’s not retirement, as many assumed it was for me after all of these years. For me, it was something more. And it took space - space to think, to talk it through, and to start shaping what was already there into something clearer.

For me, that became a strategy - grounded in my strengths, my experience, and the work I wanted to carry forward. That’s where things began to move.

Yesterday, I sat down with one of these inspiring people, and it reinforced how valuable those early conversations can be.

A space to step back. A chance to look at things from a different angle. A way to start connecting ideas and experience into something that feels grounded and real. Moving forward builds on what’s already there. Your experience, your strengths, your instincts - all of it has a place in what comes next.

That’s the work I’ve always cared most about, even before I had a business name for it. And over this past week, seeing how many people are beginning to explore that next step - in their own way and in their own time - has reinforced that this was exactly the right time for the work I’m meant to be doing.

If you’re in that place, you’re not alone.

And when you’re ready, there is a way to build a strategy that moves you forward with everything you already bring.