Happen To Your Career - Meaningful Work, Career Change, Career Design, & Job Search

Scott Ingham spent 18 years in pharmaceutical sales before deciding to make a career change after 50. When he told people, the response was almost uniform: "You're crazy."
That pushback wasn't useful advice. It was projection of other people's fears dressed up as concern. It's also one of five beliefs that keep professionals over 50 stuck in roles they've already outgrown.
According to data, 85% of employers now hire based on skills, not credentials. 53% have dropped degree requirements entirely. The average new hire today is 42 years old. And 80% of career changers report they're glad they made the move with the most common regret being how long they waited.
If one of these five beliefs has been running quietly in the background of a decision you haven't made yet, this episode is worth your time.
 
What you'll learn
Why the pushback you get from people around you when considering a career change after 50 isn't advice — and what it actually is
What skills-based hiring really means for professionals with 20+ years of experience and why the market timing right now may be better than it's ever been
The hidden cost of staying in a role that no longer fits and why the financial math of not changing rarely holds up
 
Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!
Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation
 
Free Resources
What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out!
Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.
 
Related Episodes
Six Career Experiments To Help You Discover Your Ideal New Role (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)
An Overthinker's Guide To Making Better Career Decisions (Spotify /Apple Podcasts)

Hayley Lowe had a textbook career pivot from her communications degree and agency life to a senior leadership role at a company like Expedia. Everything was going according to plan until burnout, infertility, a pandemic, and one very wrong Fortune 500 job forced her to rebuild from scratch.
What she found on the other side wasn't a posted role. It was one she designed herself.
Through coaching, she built an Ideal Career Profile that made it obvious why her last job had been wrong and exactly what right would look like.
In this episode, Hayley shares what it took to trust her gut sooner, how she negotiated a role that didn't exist yet, and what work finally feels like when it's built around who you actually are.
 
What you'll learn
What happens when you take a job that looks right on paper and know it's wrong on Day 1 and what to do about it fast
How Hayley used her Ideal Career Profile to reverse-engineer a Chief of Staff role at a company she already trusted
Why the best career opportunities are rarely posted — and how to position yourself to co-create the role you actually want
 
Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!
Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation
 
Free Resources
What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out!
Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.
 
Related Episodes
Executive Burnout: Making A Midlife Career Change (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)
Stuck in a Career You're Unhappy With? Fear Of Taking Risks Could Be Keeping You There (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)

If you've taken time away from your career and you're wondering how to come back without explaining the gap or apologizing for your time off, this episode is for you.
Caroline spent 17 years at one of the Big Four firms before hitting full-on burnout. After years of being passed over for promotions and navigating a system that forced competition over collaboration, she woke up one day and thought, "I can't do this anymore."
She resigned. Took two years away. Moved countries. Completely reset her life. Then she had to figure out how to come back. This wasn't a standard return-to-work story.
Caroline used a strengths assessment to identify her transferable value, named exactly what she wanted instead of apologizing for the gap, turned down the first offer that didn't fit, and ended up with a role at a mid-size entrepreneurial company working three days a week, 24 hours split across her schedule.
This episode unpacks how to return to work after burnout and a career break, why your transferable skills matter more than your job titles, and how Caroline negotiated her way into flexible part-time work that fit both her home life and her work life.
What you'll learn:
How to translate years of corporate experience into a compelling value proposition after a career break
Why year 8, 13, or 18 at the same company often becomes a breaking point (and how to spot it before you hit it)
How to use a strengths assessment to rebuild confidence and articulate your transferable skills
Why stating exactly what you want works better than apologizing for your time away
How to negotiate flexible part-time work even when the first offer doesn't fit
 
Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!
Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation
 
Free Resources
What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out!
Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.
 
Related Episodes
Designing Career Experiments and Testing New Careers (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)
Discover Your Strengths to Find Your Ideal Career (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)

If your career looks successful on paper but feels off inside, you're not alone. Many mid-career professionals reach a point where the work that used to fit no longer does. Breanne Gjurich-Wozniak's story is one path forward: a portfolio career that combined her biotech expertise with her animal welfare interests.
Breanne had a career that looked solid from the outside. Biotech R&D, then regulatory work submitting new technologies to the FDA. Director-level. Real success.
Inside, the fit was changing. The work was drifting.She started looking at R&D and regulatory roles she was qualified for. Nothing gave her any excitement. That's when she found HTYC's free 8-day mini course and joined the Career Change Bootcamp.
She built one 5-year career plan with her manager and a separate one with her career coach. The two plans were so different. The energy in each was so different. She knew it was time to leave.
What followed wasn't a traditional job search. It was 20 conversations with strangers, a series of career experiments, and surprising feedback from people who'd only met her for an hour. Her coach introduced the idea of a portfolio career: multiple types of work, multiple interests, all under one umbrella. Breanne built a consulting business that combined her biotech expertise with the animal welfare work she'd always wanted to do.
What you'll learn:
The 5-year career plan exercise that reveals when your current path no longer fits
How to use Social Goldilocks conversations to get strangers to see what you can't about yourself
What a portfolio career actually looks like (and why one full-time job isn't always the right structure)
How to translate decades of industry experience into consulting work
Why "successful on paper" is the hardest career trap to leave
Our book, Happen To Your Career: An Unconventional Approach To Career Change and Meaningful Work, is now available on audiobook! Visit  happentoyourcareer.com/audible to order it now! Visit happentoyourcareer.com/book for more information or buy the print or ebook here!
Want to chat with our team about your unique situation? Schedule a conversation
Free Resources
What career fits you? Join our free 8 Day Mini Course to figure it out!
Career Change Guide - Learn how high-performers discover their ideal career and find meaningful, well-paid work without starting over.
Related Episodes
Changing Careers (When You Don't Know Your Next Job Title) (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)
How to Figure Out What You Really Want (Spotify / Apple Podcasts)