Returners: Finding your Career Direction after a Break

In part-three of our Returners series, we address an area we have seen increase exponentially over the last few years. The returner career change.

Our expert guest Kate Lewis takes you through a practical approach to your job search and return to the workplace when you are hoping for a change, whether that is the discipline you work in, the sector, or a change to something entirely new.

This webinar is for you if you feel an even bigger change is on the horizon this year and you are looking for some guidance on how to navigate both your return and your new direction.

Watch our webinar ‘Returners: Finding your Career Direction after a Break’, with our expert guest, Kate Lewis and Ten2Two’s Jo Gregory linked below.

Transcript

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (01:23):

So welcome. Thank you ever, ever so much for giving us your time this evening. I'm thrilled to be here this evening because I think that this is a really, really great topic. I should introduce myself before I start talking about this evening. So my name's Jo. I'm one of the directors with Ten2Two. Ten2Two, in case you don’t know, are a specialist part-time and flexible recruitment consultancy. We've been operating for around 17 years, and we're one of the pioneers in the part-time recruitment space. We’re exceptionally passionate about what we do. And because of the space that we're in, we spend a lot of time speaking with people who are coming back to the workplace after a career break for one reason or another. it might be that you've raised a family,

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (02:13):

it might be that you've been on long-term sick. It might be that you've been caring for an elderly relative. It might be that you've just jetted around the world and not wanting to work, which, yeah, hooray for you. But yes, lots of people come to us when they are returning to the workplace. And one of the reasons I'm so excited about this evening is that even more so now in our post pandemic world, people are returning to the workplace with a new excitement, a new vigor, a new desire to follow a different path. And our guest this evening is an expert in career change, and also deals with people who have come back to work after a career break. So she's able to bring those two areas together tonight and offer us some amazing thoughts, guidance, and tools for people who are coming back into the workplace but don't necessarily want to go back to what they were doing before. Maybe they want to do something a little bit different. Maybe they want to follow a new discipline or enter a new sector. Hopefully that's you. I'm not going to talk too much more because I'm actually starting to steal her content by saying all of this. So instead of carrying on, I'm going to hand over to the lovely Kate to introduce herself.

Kate Lewis (03:31):

Hello. Hi everybody. Thank you so much for the introduction Jo, and thank you so much for hosting this webinar and thank you to everybody here for joining us. I hope that you'll find today, tonight a really useful session. Just going to share my screen. You just bear with me while I just work out the technology. There we are. Okay, here we go. So hopefully Jo, can you confirm that you can see that alright?

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (04:05):

I can see that perfectly.

Kate Lewis (04:07):

Oh, thank you. There's even a thumbs up from some

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (04:10):

<laugh>. Great. I love reactions. Brilliant, brilliant that people are using the emojis because I did forget a little bit of housekeeping, so I'm just going to, sorry, jump in. Yeah,

Kate Lewis (04:17):

Go ahead please. Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (04:18):

As you may have noticed, the emojis are great. They just keep going. We don't have a chat box this evening. and that is very intentional. instead of the chat box, we do have a Q and A box. The Q and A box is a private discussion that you can have that Kate and I can see what you're saying, but the other members can't. So if you want to ask us a question about your specific circumstances and you'd rather not share it with the other people in the webinar, then please do pop that into the Q and A. You can also use it for just generic questions. We will have a Q and A session at the end of Kate's content. If we don't get to your question, we will follow up with you either individually or via a document, which will come out to you in the coming days. But yes, if you do want to ask us questions either throughout the presentation or at the end, please do use the Q and A box. and I will be manning it while Kate is talking. So you might even get me typing a response back to you while she's chatting away.

Kate Lewis (05:20):

<laugh> Kate. No, that's fine. Thank you. That's really helpful. Okay, so, I know Jo has already kind of given the outline of the webinar, but just to outline, then you are in the right place this evening if you are considering returning to work, but you don't want to or you can't go back to where you were before, it might be that your job doesn't exist anymore. You might have experienced redundancy, it might not practically fit with your current lifestyle. You might be looking for part-time work or flexible work. You might need something in a different location. You might want a shorter commute. So that's one reason. It might be because your time out of work has been because of something significant or life changing. Jo mentioned loads of reasons why you might be out from work for a while, and those reasons are life changing and it will have changed you, it will have changed your identity, it will have changed the things that you prioritize.

Kate Lewis (06:26):

And so maybe where you were before just doesn't fit with this new version of you after that experience. You might have financial considerations around career versus childcare costs. Already I know there is a definite consideration about going back into a career versus the costs of childcare. Add an extra layer of starting a new career and the financial implications of that. It's definitely something to consider. And maybe you want to make sure that the time that you spend at work is worthwhile both financially and emotionally, especially if you are leaving your families or leaving dependents. You want your work to be meaningful. And if Covid showed us anything, it is that there are different ways of being and different ways of working, that are worth exploring. And finally, if you are looking for purpose-led organizations and roles where their mission aligns with your values, we are going to be doing some work around all those things.

Kate Lewis (07:31):

So hopefully you are all in the right place. A little bit about me, just so that you know who this person is that's talking to you. My name is Kate Lewis. I am a change coach and as it says here, I work with people who want to make significant career and life changes. We consider the personal and practical impacts of change so that people can make confident, informed decisions and take transformative steps to reach their goals. So a little bit about me. I love change. I'm one of the rare people who really can genuinely say that and I have experienced a fair amount of it in my time. I had an international upbringing. I've lived and worked and studied in seven different countries, across four different continents. I have a varied professional background and have experienced multiple career changes myself right back from my time on a debt trading floor of an investment bank, years working in education, international development.

Kate Lewis (08:37):

And now in my work as a coach and trainer. I am also a parent. So I know the life altering changes that that can bring and how that impacts the decisions that you make. Not all of my transitions have been successful and they certainly haven't all been easy, but I really can genuinely say that every single one of them has taught me something about myself. It has helped me to identify my strengths and my motivations and it has brought me here to be able to do a job that I absolutely love. So let's have a think about work as it used to be. Now, it used to be fairly linear and fairly predictable. We were generally, and obviously this is, I'm working in generalizations here a little bit, but people would study, they would get a job, they would work their way up the ladder at that job, hopefully getting promotions and then they'd retire.

Kate Lewis (09:42):

Now for women, again, as a generalization, it might be slightly different. We'd study, we'd work, have a family, and then probably potentially stay at home. That was how it used to be. But life has changed quite a lot, hasn't it? And the reality is that our life and our work nowadays looks a little bit more like this. It's all wiggly and turny and we are in a really privileged position actually a lot of the time to be able to explore lots of different options. Some of them are by choice, some of them might be forced upon us, but we can study, we can work, we can study some more, have a family, take a sabbatical and do career changes. And that is, I'm guessing, is part of why you are here because that linear way of working isn't really suiting you and you want to explore different options and brilliant, I'm seeing some thumbs up.

Kate Lewis (10:39):

That's awesome. Okay, good. So a little bit of theory, don't worry, I'm not going to bore you with, with long words all evening. but I just want to introduce you to the liminal state. The liminal state is the period between a past that's over and a still uncertain future. And it's kind of where a lot of you probably are. It can feel a little bit unpleasant and a little bit uncomfortable, but in some ways you at the moment, if you are currently out of work, are in the perfect place to be in this state of liminality and to be able to explore it. You have got, and I'm not saying that you've got loads of time and you're sitting around at home in your pajamas watching Netflix. I know that that's not true, but you might have some time and space to think creatively about these kinds of questions.

Kate Lewis (11:38):

Who are you now? What do you want to be doing? How do you want to spend your time? What motivates you now? Is this the same as before when you were working? Is it different? And some of you I know are in the workforce now and are here because you are wanting to explore ideas around career changes. So this is still for you as well about your changing the past, I guess it's present now and this unknown future, thinking about where you want to go. So I invite you this evening to let go of who you used to be professionally and spend some time creatively exploring different options of what you might become and just play with it a little bit. I just want to share a story of a wonderful client that I had who had followed the traditional line that I shared with you before, from work study to work and promotions but he was miserable in his career and that's why he came to me.

Kate Lewis (12:40):

And it became clear in our coaching that his work wasn't aligned with his values. He was kept in his work by a range of different beliefs that he held beliefs about money, beliefs about expectations that were upon him, beliefs about his identity, but ultimately this misalignment was impacting his happiness and it was impacting the health of his relationships with his family. So during coaching we spent time exploring this liminal state, using exercises like the ones I'm going to show you today, to explore what his future could be. And then once we'd worked out that, then I was identifying steps to actually get him to that future, which I'm very pleased to say he is now really thoroughly enjoying, at the moment at least. So let's have a think then. First of all, I used this word before I talked about my client and how their values were misaligned for this job.

Kate Lewis (13:38):

So values, let's start there. What are your values? Your values are the principles, the ideals or the standards of behaviour that you believe are important and direct why you do what you do? Ultimately, probably deep down, they're the measures you use to tell if your life is turning out the way you want it to. If you are aligned with your values, you're probably feeling pretty good, you're not aligned with your values, you might be feeling a little bit icky. Now there are loads of different values and loads of different vocabulary that's used around them. In my work I usually use this set here, there are 50 values in this set. And of course tonight we don't really have time to be looking in depth at all 50. So for the purposes of this evening, I've just chosen six, I've tried to sort of pick a cross section of values and you might look at these and they, they might not feel like one's for you.

Kate Lewis (14:37):

That's okay for the purposes of this exercise. But what I would like you to do is I'd like you to imagine approaching the work that you are moving into from each of these values. So if we take the first one, stability, if you imagine approaching this new work from the value with the value of stability, what would that look like? What would it be? What would you be doing? How would it feel for you? It might resonate with you and go, that sounds, that feels brilliant. It might not <laugh>. Okay that either way, absolutely fine. But it's information for you, whichever way you feel that's a little bit of data about whether this is a value of yours or not. Once you've looked at stability, move on to working with others and do the same again. So think about if you were to approach your work with this value of working with others, what would that look like? How would that feel? Just move around the circle. Just thinking about those six values, I'll give you maybe three minutes to just think quietly about those and then I'll ask you to share.

[Note - The six values are:

Meaningful

Working with others

Stability

Independence

Achievement

Leadership ]

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (15:50):

We've just had a great question actually. Yeah. While people are, are having a think, is there a recommended maximum number of values you should focus on?

Kate Lewis (15:59):

That is a brilliant question. And yes, well, I think so. Generally, people will kind of narrow it down to a core five, five or six values. So when I work with my clients, we start with 50 and we narrow it down, we maybe cut it in half, and then we look at those and we narrow it down again and we get to that final five.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (16:25):

Brilliant.

Kate Lewis (16:26):

Yeah. So again, while you are thinking about this, remember there is no right or wrong. There are no values that are better than other values or expectations on which values you should be feeling good about. Everybody is different and how you interpret these values will be different from other people as well.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (16:51):

I think it's really interesting. We've done work like this as a team internally at Ten2Two and we were all vaguely had quite similar values, which was lovely, but we all had very different words to articulate those values and that became like a really interesting discussion because we all had different understandings of the meanings of words. And so yeah, it's another thing for people to think about. Just the language that you assign to those values is quite personal to you as well.

Kate Lewis (17:51):

Okay. So you should hopefully have had enough time to at least briefly think about each of those six. We're going to move on now. I believe, Jo, you've got a poll for us, to just have a think, reflect on what's come up for you there. And I would just like you to, there are two questions. The first one is, which value resonated the most with you and how you want to approach your return to work?. That's not to say that's your perfect value. I'd be pretty, well, I think it would be remarkable if I'd got everybody on this call's top value in my six that I selected. But of the things that I selected, which one resonates the most? and which value resonates the least? We'll just have a look to see.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (18:34):

So unfortunately the poll isn't working this evening, so I'm really sorry about that. But we do have the Q and A box. So rather than going for a poll, if people want to just pop in the Q and A box, which value resonated most, then we can talk about which one's coming through the most and give you a verbal poll instead. So apologies for that.

Kate Lewis (18:58):

No, no problem at all. Yeah, it'd be lovely to see what people are coming up with.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (19:02):

Everybody's very chatty, well done everybody. So lovely. Meaningful work,

Kate Lewis (19:06):

Meaningful work. That's coming up a lot, working with others. It's

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (19:11):

Stability,

Kate Lewis (19:12):

Independence. I mean really what I'm hoping that you are getting from the answers that we're seeing is the wide range and how absolutely everybody is going to be motivated by something different and be holding these different values. And so yeah, doing some work, I will share all 50 values. I know there's going to be a follow up email with this and I'll share a copy of these values so that you can look at all of them a little bit more. Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (19:40):

And just to really reiterate that, everybody's very different. We're getting leadership and then people saying leadership is something they really don't want. Mm-hmm. Achievement. Yeah. But I

Kate Lewis (19:52):

And some people interestingly are surprised by as well, Jo, I've noticed one person saying leadership ‘weirdly’ is the least. So it just goes to show how values can change. That's another really important thing. Values are set and molded by our experiences, by our culture, by our priorities. So while they're not going to change wildly, maybe there are the ones in your top five may change a little bit over time, especially if you've been out of work for a while. Going back to what I said before about sort of life altering experiences and changes in your world, you know, your values might shift a little bit. Absolutely. It's quite interesting to notice if they're different.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (20:31):

And thank you everybody.

Kate Lewis (20:33):

Yeah, thank you so much for sharing. I see some still populating, but I'm going to just move on because we've sort of touched on this a little bit. Jo, you touched about it when you were talking about Ten2Two. The organisational values. Once you have an idea of your values, you can start using that information to look for organisations that hold the same ones. But you must consider what is advertised versus what is actually lived and breathed. I don't know about any of you, but I've certainly worked in places where on paper the values that they held were in line with mine. And then the reality was that they actually were not embodying those values and it was something very different. I saw a little laughing face. Somebody definitely, definitely knows that experience. So what information are you going to look for in the job description, in the interview, on the organisation's website to find out the values of the places that you are looking for work that can help inform your decision making.

Kate Lewis (21:32):

And where else can you find information and maybe read between the lines to find information about the organization's values and how they actually live them in practice. Maybe that's reviews, maybe that's speaking to people that you know, but just to consider how you could, different ways that you could find out that information. So moving on, we're going to do a visualization exercise now. This is an exercise that I regularly use with my clients to really help clarify what you want in your future. Now this is quite a quick version of it because I'm trying to get through as many different things as possible to make the most of this time. But I'm sure it's still going to be a useful way to really just start visualizing where it is that you want to be. So you can see there are two chairs here.

Kate Lewis (22:23):

There's the past and the future. So we're going to spend a short amount of time if you imagine you can stay where you are. But if you just sort of turn slightly to the side and imagine that you are looking at the past chair, okay? And for those of you who are still, who are currently working but are thinking of somewhere else, I guess this is your present chair, but I want you to think about that chair. Go into that chair. You are now in the past and I want you to consider your role that you had before and the work that you were doing and what that looked like before you left work. Or the work that you are doing now, what that looks like. And think about what was working well, what you liked about that work, about that role, about that place, and also what didn't work well, what you didn't like.

Kate Lewis (23:16):

Spend a little bit of time in that space. Imagine that you are back in that time and I invite you as well to just notice what's going on in your body as you think about it as well. Your body is a huge source of information, the physical reactions that you have. And often we don't really listen to them. So just notice, are you feeling excitement when you think about the past? Are you feeling little flutters of anxiety? Are you feeling tingling? Just sort of notice what's going on for you as you look back at where you were before.

Kate Lewis (24:08):

Okay? So now we're going to look, move to the other chair so you can physically just turn your body to the other way, to the future. And I want you to imagine three years into the future. So 2027, 3 years from now, and that chair there is you three years from now living your ideal future, right? Everything that you want to be doing, it ticks all your boxes, your values are being met. This is like the dream version of you, okay? I just want you to imagine - what does that person look like? How do they feel? And what are they doing?

Kate Lewis (25:03):

Maybe that question you might interpret that with what are they doing in their job? It might be more granular. Like what are they doing with their days? How are they spending their time? However you want to interpret that. Okay? So you should have a fairly sort of, a vision then of your ideal self in three years’ time. And I'd like you now to imagine you are going to sit in that seat and you are now that person. So you are no longer you on the 21st of February, 2024. You are the you in three years’ time living this ideal life. So imagine that you are that person and just think as if you have already achieved this position. And just think to yourself, how did I achieve it? What steps did I take? And just have a little inner dialogue here now with yourself, this sort of person in the future. How did they get there?

Kate Lewis (26:06):

And feel free at this point, if you want to write things down, if you've got a piece of paper and pen next to you, if things are coming to you now, please feel free to write them down. I'm going to give you a minute, a minute more to just have that conversation with your future self. Again, notice your body. When you think about this ideal person you are now sitting, you are you in three years having reached the steps, achieved those steps to get where, where you want to go. How does that feel in your body? What's, how is your body reacting to this visualization?

Kate Lewis (27:24):

Okay. Now I'd just like you to return to the present, shift your body back round to face the front if you did physically move, and bring back all of the advice, all the wisdom, all the experience that you were just given by your future self. And I want you to write down, and you can write it in the Q and A if you would like, or just write it down on a piece of paper. What is the first step that you are going to take towards reaching your future goal, towards becoming that person in three years’ time? What is the first step that you are going to take?

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (28:16):

I think people are feeling a bit shy. Nobody's sharing it in the Q and A.

Kate Lewis (28:20):

That's why I said you don't have to at all. Okay.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (28:23):

Oh, everybody's being very brave now.

Kate Lewis (28:26):

That was good. It just takes a while. Is there something that you're thinking about? Right? Brilliant. Sending out a CV to the wider audience. Finish your studies, look at different options. Commitment. I wonder, Sarah, what does that mean to you? I don't expect you to answer me in here, but when you say commitment, what is that action? How are you going to make that commitment? Researching, identifying

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (28:50):

<crosstalk>, Doing the masters that I've wanted to do for years. I love that. Amazing.

Kate Lewis (28:55):

Yes. Yes. Train in something new.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (29:00):

Make time to create. Sorry, we're both talking at the same time. We're both getting very excited at people's responses. <laugh>.

Kate Lewis (29:10):

Yeah, reaching out to networks is a really important one and I'm going to talk about that a little bit more in a minute. Ask my network how I can add value or how I add value to them.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (29:22):

Oh, there's lots of people saying things I like about their CVs here. Well done everybody. Yeah,

Kate Lewis (29:26):

Good, good. Check my values and send out more and picky applications. Good. So it is about really fine tuning what it is that you actually want. And I know there's some brilliant webinars happening in this series about the sort of practicalities of CV writing and things, but you've really got to get a clear idea in your head of what it is that you want, to be able to write that killer CV and cover letter that's going to really speak to somebody and show that you really want it.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (29:57):

Absolutely. And I love, I love the idea of being really picky and really focused in your approach as well. It often feels counterintuitive when you are job searching because you feel like you should apply for everything. You feel like it's a numbers game. Yeah. and we actually often give the advice that it's, it's almost the opposite. You know, you really need to hone in on exactly what it is you want. Not just the role, but who it is you want to work for. As you were saying. You know, do the research about whether their values meet with yours, and use that time that you would've been scatter-gunning to put your energy into that one direction. Make it the best CV, the best cover letter that it possibly can be. So great stuff.

Kate Lewis (30:40):

Yeah. I love this one. Pluck up my courage to go and talk to everyone I can that vaguely knows something about the field I'm interested in entering. Yeah. And it does need courage. It is, it is scary <laugh>.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (30:53):

It is, but what a brilliant way of learning about that field. Yeah, yeah. And one of those people you never know, one of those people might extend an olive branch and say, actually we've got some opportunities. Why don't you apply? Or, you know, would you like to come and have a coffee and a further chat? You just don't know.

Kate Lewis (31:11):

Yeah. Brilliant. Okay, well thank you so much to those of you who, who wrote an answer, please feel free to keep them coming. And yeah, just make that commitment to yourself then, right? This is a first step. They all seem fairly achievable. It's not overnight I'm going to get there. We know that that's not the way the world works, but all of the steps that you've thought of, they are all achievable things that you can be doing tomorrow, next week, to get this started and start making this a reality rather than just a little tickle in the back of your head. Great. So moving on then I want to share with you this model. This is the fear (what's it called) leaving the comfort zone. And it's from positive psychology. And I, I love this visual representation of change and what it is like, let me just explain, explain it to you a little bit.

Kate Lewis (32:12):

So everybody has a comfort zone and we as humans love the comfort zone. It is comfortable, it is predictable, it is cozy, it's got a nice little armchair in there where you can snuggle up and watch Netflix. It's a lovely place to be. However, it does come with a few problems potentially. I wonder if you can think of what those are. It could be a bit boring, it could be frustrating. It could mean that you are not reaching your full potential and you're not getting challenged and stimulated in the way that you really want to be. And it can start to feel a little bit like that armchair has got little armchair bugs that are biting you and the comfort zone doesn't feel so comfortable anymore. So to make change, where change happens, is if you get out of the comfort zone and you go into the learning zone and the growth zone, the learning zone is where a lot of this stuff that you've said you can do.

Kate Lewis (33:14):

So researching, doing more courses, studying, speaking to people, finding out information, learning more about the, the options that are out there and then using all that learning to make the change and to step into the growth zone. Sounds lovely, doesn't it? But you might have noticed that there's this pesky little zone in between the comfort zone and the learning zone. And that's the fear zone. And the fear zone is a fairly scary place. Now you can see here I've put some little sharks in there. I sort of imagine it like a little sea. You are in your comfort zone in an island and there's this wonderful sort of space out there with potential and opportunity. But there's this sea around you and there are these terrifying sharks in there that are threatening to gobble you up the minute you dip your toe in the water.

Kate Lewis (34:11):

And that can be enough to stop people from stepping out of their comfort zone. Okay, now what are these risks? I call them the risk sharks. There are lots of different risks that you might have that you are thinking of that are stopping you from making the change, taking that leap. And what I would really like now is for you to have a think about what your risk sharks are. I'll just give you a few examples to sort of help you. A very common one is the fear of failure. What if it fails? Perfectly valid <laugh> fear. So that's one that a lot of people have. There might be risk sharks around finances and financial security. What else is coming up for you? Again in the Q and A, I'm loving all of the contribution, all the ideas that you guys are sharing. When you think about the change that you want to make, what are the risk sharks that are swimming around you at the moment that are stopping you from

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (35:25):

The old classic imposter syndrome has come up.

Kate Lewis (35:29):

Yeah. Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (35:31):

Gaining stability.

Kate Lewis (35:33):

Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (35:35):

Fear about the right decision.

Kate Lewis (35:38):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> feel I've made the right decision and getting it perfect. Yeah. That terrible need for, for perfection that so many of us have. Leaving stability. What if I'm not good enough?

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (35:50):

What look good enough?

Kate Lewis (35:52):

What, what if I like it even less? Yeah. Is this the case of the grass is greener? And then I'll get over there and I'll realize that it was better where I was before.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (36:01):

Yeah. Not being able to juggle it all.

Kate Lewis (36:03):

Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (36:07):

Finance. That's a, a big one for people and it, it's something that is really, really difficult. Yeah. We have a lot of people, desperate to make that change, but really having to balance out the finances involved. So, Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>. Yeah. All of these are, are really, really valid sharks. Absolutely. You know, they're, they're things that yeah, it's difficult to overcome. We completely appreciate that. Mm-Hmm? <affirmative>.

Kate Lewis (36:34):

Yes. Definitely. Yeah. Outdated skills. Fear of failure’s coming up a lot. Yeah. Yeah. Better the devil. You know, <laugh> good. Yeah.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (36:49):

Inadequate knowledge. I mean that's an interesting one and maybe you can, you can flip that and try and think about how to gain the knowledge. You know, we are never going to step into a role and know everything. Part of the, the attraction of a role for most people is the opportunity to develop, the opportunity to learn and grow. Yeah. but I understand that you'd want to have some, some base knowledge. So maybe researching the sector, maybe research courses to do with the discipline.

Kate Lewis (37:18):

Yeah. Well this is a great segue Jo, onto what we do next. So the first step then is to identify what the risk sharks are that come up for you as you consider changing your career, which you're starting to write down. The next thing is to actually really get to know them and to start to maybe do some ranking, some real exploration of those risk sharks. The first question you can ask yourself is, are all of the risks you thought of real or are they imagined? I'm not downplaying these risk sharks, I know they're real in your head, but when you really sort of stop and think about it, is it actually a real thing? I'll give you an example. A client that I, I was working with exactly on this actually really recently. They had had two main risk sharks that came up. The first one was the opinion of her significant other in making this change.

Kate Lewis (38:15):

And it was a real significant fear. It was stopping her from doing things. But then when we were working through it and talking about it, she actually realized she didn't know the opinion of her significant other. She knew what she thought the opinion was, but she didn't actually know whether that was real. And so she was creating this sort of story around the reactions of other people without actually really knowing if it was something she really needed to worry about. So does there need to be a little bit more exploration to actually confirm that this shark is real or not? Or is it something that is. something that you are maybe assuming. Also about surmountable or insurmountable risks? There are loads of different types of shark, right? There might be a risk out there that really is like the shark from Jaws and you don't want to be messing with that risk because that really will hurt.

Kate Lewis (39:10):

But there are also other sharks, there are nurse sharks and lemon sharks. There's that nice shark from Finding Nemo that's a vegetarian and wants to be friends with the fish. Getting to know the sharks. You'll begin to realize which sharks you really need to worry about. Which risks are actually ones that maybe impact the decision that you make and which ones are ones that you can maybe get to know. Do a training course, update your skills for example, so that that shark isn't quite as scary as it first came. Ranking the sharks, which ones are the most important. And thinking about your support networks, who or what can support you with the risks. There's a lot coming up about disruption to the family, financial risk, all of those are completely valid. Do you have the support of people to be able to do this? Is there somebody who can maybe take some more of the financial weight while you do something else?

Kate Lewis (40:09):

Is that a possibility? It might not be, it might be. But is that something that, is that a conversation that you can have with somebody? is there an opportunity maybe to start doing something part-time and explore things while also having another job so that financially it might take you longer to get there but that risk is real. So if you imagine again this sea, that shark is real so you can't go, you can't just bust it out the way but maybe you have to take a bit of a detour to get round it so that shark doesn't, doesn't bite you. Okay? So it's about getting to know these sharks and really sort of understanding them so that you can deal with them. And of course there might be some sharks that are real and you have to go back to the comfort zone and rethink.

Kate Lewis (40:54):

Maybe it's just not a possibility. And that in itself is a really important realization to come to and it will help you to be able to then come up with another option or choose different avenues, feeling confident that you have really explored the opportunities and the options that are available. And the last one I put on here is weighing up the risk to opportunity and alignment to values. So if you've got your values here and wanting to have meaningful work or work with others, whatever that those values are, but there's the risk, which one is going to win out? And again, there is, I can't tell you the right answer with that. That is entirely up to you, your families, the people who it's going to impact. But it's something for you to be thinking about when you get to know these sharks.

Kate Lewis (41:44):

Okay, this came up - connections, making connections. For lots of people that was your next step - reaching out to people. Now of course if you are moving into a different field, it might be that the professional networks that you had established before aren't necessarily going to be that helpful for you. So what can we do? First one, rekindle connections that you have elsewhere. So friends of friends, people you went to uni with, family members, friends of family members, that person you met on that networking event a few years ago, really great and definitely worth doing. And I would recommend that you get yourself a big piece of paper and just almost do a mind map. Just scribbling down all the connections, the different people from the various avenues of your life that you could speak to. Who at the very least you can have a chat with.

Kate Lewis (42:34):

And they might give you some advice, they might have a connection, they might have a phone number, they might be able to tell you something about the values of an organization. You don't know what might come from these connections, but it's definitely worth exploring them. And I think you'd probably be surprised by how many connections you actually have when you stop and write them all down. But I also imagine that for some of you, the idea of contacting friends or family and asking them for this might sort of strike fear into your hearts, and anxiety. So another really effective way is to seek out new connections with people who have similar experiences to you. So thinking about your situations, making connections with parent groups, carers groups, support groups, groups of people who are also going through transition, groups with whom you can find connection, stability, shared experience, people who are going through the same thing as you so that you feel supported as you explore this unknown future.

Kate Lewis (43:38):

And I'm going to tell you a little bit more about this in a minute, but I am just starting a new community online. In fact, you are the first people that I am telling about it. It's a Facebook group for people who want to or who already are making a big change in their life. And I want it to become a supportive ecosystem for people to be able to share experiences, build networks, support each other, hold each other accountable. And I'm going to be coming on and posting helpful assignments and tools to help you understand the process of change with some like theory and things like I've been sharing today. And also to give you tools to approach it with confidence and with self belief. And I'll share some more information about that shortly. So that does sort of lead me on to how else I can help you.

Kate Lewis (44:28):

like I said, I'm a coach and I work with people who are going through transitions like this and I just wanted to share with you some of the things that I do, in case it is of interest and also share that I am offering some money off deals for you guys for the next few days if it is something that you wanted to explore. So very briefly, one-to-one coaching packages.   These are one-to-one. Oopsie. I've gone to the wrong one, hang on, hang on a minute. There we go. Sorry about that. Okay, try again. So the traditional quote-unquote one-to-one coaching programs. They come in a package of six 90 minute sessions that usually happen once every three to four weeks depending on how quickly things are happening for you. Generally we will over, we will identify sort of an overarching goal and then we focus on things that come up as we go along.

Kate Lewis (45:28):

I don't normally do this, but for the purposes of this webinar, I'm also offering it in like a three-session package as well. for those of you who maybe aren't able to commit to six but do want to spend some time really digging in to things in more depth, Shake up and Shine is a half day one-off session. Again, just one-to-one, this is a little beautiful golden nugget of time for you to think more strategically about your next steps. Broadly speaking, we start by looking at your current situation. We look ahead, we do more visualization and really refine where you want to go, what this ideal future is and then identify steps that you need to get there. It is entirely personalized and led by you. I've supported a lot of different clients in the session and no two sessions are the same.

Kate Lewis (46:17):

It's lovely, it involves drawing. We go on a walk together even if we're just plugged in with our headphones and it's just, it's a really, really special half day session. And finally Shake Up and Ignite Webinar Special. It's a special product that I've created specifically as a follow on from this webinar. It's a special one hour session with me where you can dig deeper into what we've talked about today. You can go through your own situation using the thinking you started here as a starting point and really like get my one-to-one support to really kind of get into it a bit more. That is something I'm just offering now for this. And it's just 50 pounds. So the other ones are 10% off. and of course the Shake Up and Ignite community where you can join the community and find your support network. So there's a little QR code here and I've also tried to make the URL as easy to remember as possible.

Kate Lewis (47:15):

So it's Kate Lewis Coaching and if you go on there you'll see more information, including the prices for the various things we offer and links to be able to book in. If it's something that you would like to explore with me, the 10% off and the Shake Up and Ignite special one hour follow on from the webinar are only going to be available until midnight on Friday. So today is Wednesday, so it's two days after that. The one-to-one coaching packages, the shake up and shine, they're always available and I would absolutely love to have a chat with you about those. But the 10% offer is, is just for the next couple of days. Also, if you go to that QR code though, you will also find a link to that community so you can join there as well.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (48:10):

That's brilliant. Thank you so much Kate. That's so, so much useful information in that webinar. There's all sorts of claps and hearts and celebrations going on in the emojis. So, we have run over time, but I didn't want to Oh I'm sorry. Take away. I'm sorry. No, please don't apologize. I didn't want to rob people of all of that valuable information. The emojis are blowing up. thank you so much. Your generous offer of discounts and special sessions I'm sure is appreciated throughout the audience this evening. if you haven't had a chance to link to the QR code or scribble down the details, please don't worry. There will be a recording of today being sent out, along with some additional information. I know we've had some questions through that we haven't managed to get to. Please again, don't worry, we will follow up with an FAQ or a Q and A document, I can't remember what we call it. and we will cover those. As Kate has said, her availability is is there for you. Should you wish to contact her if general, I

Kate Lewis (49:18):

Just know just as well somebody asking about prices. I didn't want to start talking money on here because I know that that's not what you came for. But if you go, if you follow the QR link or go to https://www.katelewiscoaching.com/ten2two, the prices are on that page. So they're there to see. I just didn't want to, I didn't want to spend the time.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (49:38):

Perfect. if you've got questions that are more specifically about your practical return to work, so your CVs, your interview skills, those sorts of things, Ten2Two are always available to help. You can contact us through the website or pick up the phone. Me or any of my colleagues will be able to give you hopefully, some meaningful advice and guidance. thank you so, so much. I'm

Kate Lewis (50:04):

Sorry, joining. Can I just say one other thing you just reminded me Jo as well. If, if you are thinking about the one-to-one coaching packages, the bigger packages or the half day coaching, they are a bit more money than this special offer for 50 pounds. If you are thinking about it, but you do want to talk to me about it first, I would totally understand. So you can just book a free call with me and chat it through and if you have any questions before you, before you commit, then yeah, please feel free to do that as well.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (50:33):

Wonderful. It's, it's always really scary committing yourself to something like that. So I think that's a really valuable offer of, of your time just to talk it through with people. Now I know you've probably all got other things to be doing with your evening. Thank you ever so much for giving us your time. I really, really hope that you come away from this with some useful tools, some areas to start thinking about. I know a lot of the comments were where do you start if you just don't know where to start?. So you came tonight. That is a brilliant start. Well done. just coming along and getting some of these tools into your toolbox. You know, giving yourself something to think about, some practical action to take, is an amazing start. Kate and the team at Ten2Two are at your disposal. Please, please, please do use us. I'd love to get in tomorrow morning and have an inbox full of queries from you. Genuinely would, would make me very happy. We really do <laugh>, love helping people. Yeah. Enjoy the rest of your evenings. Thank you again for your time.

Kate Lewis (51:35):

Yeah, thank you for your time everybody.

Jo Gregory (Ten2Two) (51:37):

Good night.

Kate Lewis (51:38):

Good night.