#53 - Permission to Pivot
In this podcast episode, I share inspiring stories about career changes and the importance of pursuing one's calling.
Stories feature individuals making massive career pivots, like transitioning from carpentry to becoming a masseur and from IT professional to a recipe writer.
This episode will encourage you to trust your inner guidance, embrace opportunities, and be open-minded to potential unexpected radical shifts in you career path.
Honouring your calling isn’t just what you do for work, but anything that your heart and soul calls you towards that helps you grow and evolve.
It goes to show that you could be called to go in any direction.
So be open to the mystery and whatever direction you're really truly called - because you just never know, perhaps you'll be called to pivot in a similar way to these gorgeous people!
What we cover in this episode:
00:01 Introduction
01:43 Inspiring Career Pivots: From Carpenter to Masseur
03:15 The Power of Leaps of Faith
05:29 Serendipitous Connections and Career Transitions
07:24 The Journey from Federal Government Agency to Massage Therapist
11:53 The Unexpected Career Path: From IT Professional to Recipe Writer
14:55 The Importance of Following Your Interests and Passions
17:27 Conclusion: Embrace the Adventure of Career Pivots
Listen to episode now:
Listen above or via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music.
This episode also aired on JOY 94.9 radio Thursday 21 December as part of its summer program.
Transcript
Episode 53 - Permission to pivot
Hey, hey, it's Mandie Kai, and you're listening to the Find Your Calling podcast. And right now, if you are listening to this shortly after it goes live, then I am going to be on an airplane on my way back to Australia. So I am pre recording this. Yes, I am being organised. Cheer and celebrate with me. I'm always so proud (laughs).
So this episode has been prompted because Of this beautiful experience that I had in Portsmouth, UK. It's not one of my stories about pivoting.
I literally have had the experience of three people talking to me about massive pivots they've done in their careers. I want to share their stories with you because I think they're really inspiring. And I know you love a story because that's why you listen to the podcast.
And it just goes to show that you could be called to go in any direction and to not fixate on thinking or believing that you may know or have it already mapped out exactly where you're going to go Like be open to the mystery be open to whatever direction you're really truly called. Because you just never know.
From Carpenter to Masseur
So I wanted to share the story because it also is a beautiful moment of serendipity. And you know, we all love that around here. So I was very, very fortunate the week before last that I ended up getting this free massage.
I was staying in an Airbnb. And the host had just had a massage from a friend of hers, who is retraining to be a masseur. Now he is a carpenter by trade and is now, retraining as a masseur and. I'm all down for free massages and both Hannah and I had one and I mean, this guy had a gift. He is a healer.
There is no denying it. Like this is where he's meant to be going because it was one of the best oil massages I've had in my life. I'm not usually a massive fan of oil massages. I realized I much prefer Zentai Shiatsu with all my clothes on because I just, I feel like I can feel it more. On my skin rather than, slippery oil, but this guy was so freaking good.
We got into a conversation afterwards and, he actually had been thinking about it for a while. We didn't dive into exactly like when it all started, like when it started, his thoughts about this alternative career, but he had a shoulder injury and he couldn't work for some time. And he thought now or never, now is the time while I can't work that I should go and study and do this course.
So he took the leap.
And if there is one thing that we know is that when your soul is going to call you. It's going to require a leap of faith of some description for you to trust the unknown and to trust that intuition of yours and that inner guidance and do something different. That's guaranteed.
Your soul path is not the path of comfort and convenience, right? It's the path of the brave. You're going to have to take a leap.
And this guy took a leap of faith and he was like, okay, the time has opened up. And I so believe that these things like illnesses, injuries. redundancies, relationship breakups, you know, things that totally disrupt our status quo can be the invitation for us to connect with what is it that we're really being called to do.
They're invitations and opportunities within the whole chaos and destruction occurring in life at those moments and this guy took it. He of course is having the inevitable question now of going, well, he's built this carpentry career over decades and he's really busy. He's got a thriving business and he's like wondering like, how am I going to transition into massage?
He still has to do the exam. And he's working up to that and has been collecting and collating his hours and, we had a little brief conversation about it. And, my thoughts on it is like, trust the guidance that you're being given around how to build it. And make the moves to create the space for the new career to emerge.
So it's okay to do things coinciding. I can be a bit black and white in my thinking. And it's something I've really got to work on where it's like, allow the space for both things to exist. And, for this guy, it might mean that he pulls back on the carpentry work while also taking the leap to build the massage business.
There's no doubt in my mind that it will just grow like wildfire for him through referrals because he's excellent at what he's doing. It's clear it's meant to be for him.
The power of serendipity
But we were having this conversation about how I had reached out to a massage therapist that I knew from when I'd lived in Portsmouth many years ago, Louise, but I hadn't heard from her.
Now, admittedly, we had a couple of emails exchanges because we connected on all things spiritual and we went to the spiritualist church together and it was really beautiful. And we had a couple of WhatsApp messages after I left the country, but It's such typical style for how much I struggle with email communication.
And if you've got ADHD, you'll know that, it can be just really difficult to just do the simple thing of replying to emails. I don't know why it's so difficult, but it is. And honestly, I didn't reply to her. She sent me a message in January last year. And I eventually wrote to her in July this year to say, “Hey, I'm coming back to Portsmouth” and didn't hear from her.
And naturally, of course, I was like. It's because she's scratched me off the friend list, which I didn't begrudge in the slightest because I was like, yeah, I get it. Like we were a new friendship. And then I just totally dropped the ball.
But anyway, when I was talking to this guy, Sam, the new massage person, he was talking about how he did exchanges of massage with a local therapist.
And I just knew, I just felt it. I was like, is that Louise?
And he's like, yes, it is. And I'm like, Oh my God, I was trying to reach out to her. And I didn't even know if she was still doing her business, but he confirmed to me that she is and it's thriving. And that prompted me. I was like, I've got to reach back out to this woman and tell her this serendipitous.
Meeting with this new massage therapist. So I wrote to Louise. I'm like, I have just met Sam and that prompted her to write back to me. And she confirmed that she's also really crap at messaging, which is why she hadn't responded to me .
From Federal Government Agency to Massage Therapist
Anyway, Louise's story of her pivot was from when I was having massages from her back when I lived in Portsmouth.
I was getting messages from her when she was working for the federal agency for revenue. So I guess in Australian terms, it's the same as our tax office., I think it's called the HMRC revenue over here. I might've said that wrong. If any of you are English, I know I might've gotten that wrong.
She was working there mostly full time, I think, or maybe four days a week. And then she'd only have like very part time availability to be doing her massage.
And, many years ago, we were talking, of course, because whenever I'm with somebody I'm so intrigued about their career journey, what it is that they're doing. , yeah, I get immersed in like, what are you doing? And when I get this impulse and this sense of like, this is what you're meant to be doing, particularly practitioners, cause you know, you can tell when somebody is doing their soul work as a practitioner, right? Like I am so hypersensitive and when I meet somebody who has that gift that they're cultivating and expressing and I'm just like, wow, you need to be doing this.
Like this is, this is what you're meant to be doing. And so we'd have these chats and. She knew it. She hated her job at the revenue place and all she wanted to be doing was massage. And of course it was going to require this leap of faith.
Right before I was leaving this opportunity had arisen for her where she would rent this room off a chiropodist, which is like a podiatrist, I believe. I don't know that word, but I believe it's like a podiatrist and he was leaving and he said, you could rent the whole space from me if you want.
And she was thinking, I think I'm going to take this leap of faith.
I just loved being able to get the update years later when I'd returned to go, yes, she took that leap of faith and she quit her job at the revenue place and she went all in on her business and it's now thriving.
She's like practically doing no marketing because when I tried to look for her, I couldn't find her online. So that's why I was like, Oh, is she even doing it?
And, beautiful, divinely inspired synchronicity. I'm so grateful., I'd said to her to love a session from you if you're still doing them. And of course she was fully booked cause we only had a few days before I was leaving again, but a cancellation came through cause I said to her, just let me know if there's a cancellation and I just left it in the hands of the divine.
It's like, God, I'd already had this beautiful massage, as a gift from this other guy. It'd be just an extra treat to have one from her. And sure enough, the day before I was leaving, she was like, I have a cancellation tomorrow morning. Can you get there before your train? And I could squeeze it in with an hour or so to spare before my train, It was so blissful.
I got to see her and I got to hear like the, the value of the pivot she did, and the value of her waiting for the right timing. She had this opportunity arise to rent the space.
She still showed up and took a big leap of faith when that opportunity arose. And, backed herself and then took that leap and it's worked for her. And the beautiful alignment is that she's trying to, convince Sam to come and get a space , in her clinic now, which I think would be so beautiful for the two of them.
They're such gorgeous human beings. And so they were, they were two really big pivots from, A federal financial agency to being a massage therapist and from a carpenter to a massage therapist.
What is it about carpenters? Like Jesus used to be a carpenter before his, you know, being the Messiah thing.
So be on alert to those carpenters in your life. You never know what might be brewing within them.
From IT professional to recipe creator
If that's not enough for big pivot stories, there was a second guest staying at our Airbnb and I try not to lead in with questions like, what do you do for work? But I had a bit of a heads up because I knew that this guy was coming. He'd already stayed with my host before, and she'd told me that he had this really fascinating career as a recipe writer for the company that makes thermo mix like.
Can you even, I just didn't even know that that was a job. But of course, I know I got a recipe book with my slow cooker and it's like, somebody's writing those recipes. That's their job. And anyway, we got into a conversation and he has had these massive pivots in his career. He's like, I want to use the term middle aged quite loosely because I'm like, I think I'm technically middle aged now.
He started off as an IT professional and then wanted to do something quite different and went into hospitality and took a big pay cut. He had a very supportive partner who thankfully also had a good enough wage to support the family and supported him taking a 40, 000 pound pay cut from like around 60, 000 K job to he said he was earning 17, 900 pounds, which for the Aussies , just double that. It's like he wasn't even making 40, 000 a year in his new. Occupation in hospitality.
But he loved it. He just loved being in a completely different industry and he was doing events and really enjoyed the change. And then went back to IT at one point to to earn some more money and found himself in Australia. And he was kind of thinking what would be my next step.
But in Australia, he got a thermo mix and came back to the UK and was really loving Thermomix and got involved in Thermomix and started becoming a distributor for it and was like indulging in Thermomix world. And then as a result of that. He did did a short course or something in, cooking or cheffery. I don't know. Do you call it cheffery? I know. I've just totally said that wrong. I'm going to leave it in here just so that you have a bit of a laugh that I even said that.
But then through a connection. So through his network was offered to try for the job as the recipe writer for this company, I think it's called Kenwood, that makes Thermomix.
The importance of following your calling
I was just like, wow. They're like major pivots into very, very different industries and so be bold with your expectations and be open and flexible. And if an area of interest comes to you, then follow it with curiosity and a healthy level of detachment. Like I've retrained into Reiki. I had that massive pivot in my time when I was seeking more purpose and that Intuition and impulse that I got was to go and learn Reiki in Byron Bay and I followed it and I followed it not knowing what the direction was going to take.
And it never unfolded or at this point has yet to unfold into a professional career in Reiki, but it was so pivotal for my spiritual growth and my journey. So be open to that as well. You may go and do some training or a course or a qualification that. is really interesting to you, but it may not unfold into what you do for paid work. And that's okay as well.
Following your calling it's not just about what it is that you're doing. To earn money in this world. It's what are you doing to honor the call of your soul, to light your soul up, to help you grow, to help you express yourself, to ignite your creativity, to deepen your spirituality, to heal, grow, evolve, it's not just all about what you do for work.
So continue to trust the unfolding journey and open up to it because yeah, you may also experience a massive pivot or you may not. Like, I have definitely had many different professional., opportunities, but I don't know whether I would consider them massive pivots. There seems to be a bit of a thread throughout my career around social impact, human resource management. I'm just, I'm doing a job application at the moment on HR. I don't often refer to everybody as human resources, but yeah the thread of people loving their jobs.
And the thread of making a difference in the world and the many different ways that expresses itself. So, anyway, be open minded. This is a wild, beautiful adventure that you are on, and you can pivot as many times as you want to in your life. There are no rules, and be open to the adventure.
Alright, beautiful, have a great week, I look forward to landing in Australia shortly, and there's going to be many more episodes to go as we transition through this big new move to Melbourne.
I look forward to sharing the journey with you. Talk to you again soon. Bye.
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