A Job Offer After You Quit? How to Navigate Career Transition Without Losing Momentum | #237

*Book a free strategy call to discuss your business or second act idea with Shannon here.

What do you do when you’re ready to launch your business and suddenly a job offer lands in your lap?

You’ve done the work. You’ve given notice. You’re building a business. And then… an opportunity shows up that makes you question everything.

In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, career transition coach and business coach for women Shannon Russell breaks down a situation many women face during a career transition, but rarely talk about. 

What happens when a full-time job, contract role, or request to stay longer at your current job appears just as you’re stepping into entrepreneurship?

Drawing from real conversations with her business coaching clients navigating mid-career and midlife career transitions, Shannon walks you through how to think strategically instead of emotionally when these opportunities arise.

You’ll learn:

• Why job offers often appear right before a big second act career shift
• When accepting a job can actually support your new business
• How to decide if you can realistically do both without losing momentum
• The difference between strategy and fear when saying yes
• How steady income can help you build a business with confidence
• Why patience is not the same as quitting on your dream

If you’re navigating a career transition, starting a business, or questioning your next move, this episode will help you pause, evaluate, and choose intentionally. Your second act doesn’t have to follow anyone else’s timeline. It just needs forward momentum.

This episode is for women exploring second act career ideas, building a business during a career change, and learning how to balance stability with growth.

*Get the full show notes here!

Subscribe now for actionable insights on how to shift your mindset, take control of your career, and build a thriving business.

🔗 For more inspiration and resources, visit https://secondactsuccess.co.

--------

Book a free Strategy Call with Shannon

Download Free Resources

➡️ Let's Connect: Instagram | LinkedIn | TikTok

More resources & discounts:

Home Chef Meal Delivery - (free shipping & $4.99/serving)

Flodesk Email Marketing - (25% off 1st year)

Stitch Fix Personal Stylist - ($25 off 1st order)

Buzzsprout Podcast Hosting - ($20 off)

Podmatch Guesting

(*Some affiliate links)

Transcript

Second Act Success Podcast

Season 1 - A Job Offer After You Quit? How to Navigate Career Transition Without Losing Momentum | #237

Episode - #237

Host: Shannon Russell

Transcription (*created by Descript and may not be perfectly accurate)

Shannon Russell: [00:00:00] Hey friend. Welcome back to the second Act Success podcast. I'm your host, Shannon Russell. We are about to talk about a situation that surprises a lot of women, right?

When they're ready to step into that second act, you might be ready to launch that business. You've been working really hard. You gave your notice at work. You are all set up. It's exciting, and then suddenly an opportunity falls in your lap. Suddenly a job shows up that makes you question what you're moving toward.

 Has that happened to you? I have just recently had not one, not two, but three conversations with clients. That have had a variation of this happen in the last couple of months. It's really kind of funny because I think it is the universe testing us sometimes to say, Hey, are you going in that right direction?

[00:01:00] Are you sure you don't wanna come back here where it's safe and stable and it makes you think twice? I actually had this happen to me when I left television. I opened my first business. My first business was a franchise, so I went and got trained by the CEO of the company.

I came back, \ I was not ready to actually start getting to work. I was still going through my notes and getting, \, myself familiar with everything before I actually started reaching out to customers and partners.

And I got an offer to go back and produce, New York Fashion Week for MTV, which I had worked at for. A majority of my career, and in that moment, I instantly said yes. Two days in Manhattan, New York Fashion week, why not? Oh, I'll just put my business off for a few days.

No big deal. I went and produced, got back to doing what I love. Everything was great. But that first night. I was in the car on the way home at 2:00 [00:02:00] AM that my friends, is exactly why I decided to leave the entertainment industry. That is why I chose to start my second act, just because I didn't wanna miss dinner, bath, and bed with my family.

And so in that moment I was reassured that I was on the right path. That this, going back to what I knew and what I was good at was not for me. At that stage, and I needed that opportunity to make me realize that I didn't want to go back there. And I share that because like I said, I, I've had these conversations recently where these opportunities have come up and we've had to talk about what my client should do in this situation.

Sometimes it's a full-time role that gets presented. Maybe it's a contract role. Maybe it's your current boss asking, okay, I know you gave your notice, but can you stay just a little longer?

And suddenly you're thinking. What did I do? Did I mess this up? Is this a sign? Maybe I shouldn't run this business. [00:03:00] What do I do now in this situation? Let's talk about it.

Shannon Russell: First, if you ever find yourself in this situation, I want you to know that this is more common than you think. I've had several clients recently experience some version of this, and honestly, it often turns out to be a blessing in disguise, not because it replaces their business, but because it supports it.

Steady income can be incredibly helpful when you're growing something new. So if you are building this business, say you have everything in place, you're ready to go, and you get a job offer, I have a client who started a business, and she got this new job offer that she feels like she can't turn down.

And that job offer is going to give her more steadiness as she builds and grows her business, and it's going to give her that confidence to know that there is more money coming in. as long as she is disciplined to [00:04:00] still carry on her business and find those hours in her schedule where she can still do outreach and work with clients and you know, do her social media and all of the things that you need to do to build a business, if she can find a way to do that while earning this paycheck.

It really is the best of both worlds, that is something that I think as a business owner, you are allowed to give yourself, and that's that grace of saying, you know what, for right now or for X amount of time, I am going to do both and I'm going to focus on the business. I'm going to earn that paycheck.

But really when I get home at night, after dinner, I'm going to work on the business. Maybe over my lunch break, I'm going to work on the business. You wanna make sure it's still front and center. So that is really on you to be disciplined, to look at your schedule, to see how can I still work this business while working my day job?

You don't wanna think of the business so much as a side hustle, quote unquote, but you wanna think of it as, I am doing both. I'm multitasking and I'm [00:05:00] making it happen.

This also means you don't have to quit on your dream. Let me say this again. Taking a job or staying a little longer where you're at does not mean that you've failed or that you've changed your mind. It means you're being strategic and you're taking care of yourself and your family.

Many successful business owners have built a business alongside steady income , and that has given them the stability to do that and the breathing room that a lot of us entrepreneurs need. Because it is overwhelming. It's always feast or famine, and I have to hustle to find this client or find this customer or create this new product.

So if you have that income coming in, you might feel a little bit better. Let your shoulders down and feel like you can take that deep breath and build your business slowly on the side or interwoven between that job. Now I also have a client who recently, you know, she had given her [00:06:00] notice, we've been building her business for months before that.

And as she gave her notice, she's ready to go. They asked her to stay on for a few more months, and honestly, as much as she didn't want to do that, she said, yes, of course she doesn't wanna leave her team in a lurch. She wants to respect this company that she's been at for years.

And she expressed to me that she feels a sense of relief because she can earn a little bit more money while she's really taking that next step in her business. It's just, I don't even wanna say it's prolonging anything because it's not, she's built the business up until this point.

But now she has a few more months to put things in place, continue to grow it while she has that paycheck. And then she's also keeping those relationships intact, which is really important. You never wanna burn that bridge. You wanna make sure that you are leaving on the best possible foot

because those contacts, those coworkers, those partners, those people that you've spent years working with can be your potential [00:07:00] clients or customers or referrals for future business. So.. All in all, I think this client of mine made such a great decision. I'm really happy for her and I can tell that she's just excited to leave, but also really happy to be wanted and to have that extra source of income for a few more months before she's really gonna be doing it all on her own and taking that big leap.

Now, here's a question I want you to ask yourself instead of asking. Should I go for this opportunity or not? Maybe ask, can I realistically do both without burning out and without losing momentum? It really depends on you and your personal situation. How many hours this job or this contract, this opportunity will require, and what kind of energy will you need?

Will this job be mentally or emotionally exhausting? Or will you have enough energy afterwards to really dive into your business? Will you have that time to focus on your business maybe [00:08:00] during your day, will you really not have that time and you'll come home from work and you'll be tired and there's another day that you haven't given your business the attention that it deserves?

And also, can you dedicate any time during the week when you'll be working to focus on the second act of yours? You know, maybe it's a couple hours, a few nights a week, or maybe it's one weekend day, or maybe it's, you know, one hour, once a week. How can you work that into your schedule in a way that really is realistic for you?

 if you answered, yes, I can make this work, then this opportunity might be worth accepting

If you are leaning towards yes, I think taking this job can actually help me. Yeah. Then if it can provide that financial stability, if it reduces pressure on your business to make money immediately, if it allows you to grow more intentionally, and if it buys you that time and that reassurance, then maybe it doesn't slow down your business.

Then maybe it really is the [00:09:00] best because money coming in doesn't slow a business, but that panic does maybe it really is worth exploring.

Okay, now I'm going to play devil's advocate here, and I'm gonna ask you to pause and think twice. You might want to reconsider this offer if you answer yes to any of these questions.

If this job is going to consume all of your time, if you know that you're going to be too exhausted to work on your business, if you feel like a step backward emotionally is not good for you,

and I question you, are you saying yes out of fear rather than strategy? Saying yes to an opportunity is easy. It's just knowing why you're saying yes. So think about that as well and weigh the options.. If it risks stalling what you've been building, then it deserves you to take a second look and dive deeper into this opportunity that has presented itself to you.

 Overall, let me remind you that there's no right [00:10:00] timeline when launching a business, understand that some people leap too fast, some people build too slowly, but both options, both paths are valid. It just depends on your situation. And your second act doesn't have to happen on anyone else's timeline but yours.

what matters is moving forward, not so much the speed, just knowing that you are taking that action and you're creating that constant momentum because it's as soon as you take your foot off of that gas, that everything starts falling apart and literally slowing down. This is a personal decision and if you have an opportunity at your hands, feel proud.

Feel proud that this opportunity did present itself and that you're starting to think about. What I can do. I wanna share one more client story with you.

Earlier this week, one of my clients called and she was presented with a new job option, but she has been creating this consulting business, kind of a marketing PR event planning [00:11:00] company, and this opportunity came for her to work at a really well-known. National, maybe even international, , brand or company, and they want her to come in and do customer outreach.

She can do it in her sleep. It's a very, easy job for her. but she's worried because they want her in the office from eight to five, Monday through Friday. in talking about it, it would ease a lot of stress money-wise for her. But she's worried about. The hours and still being able to keep up this business that's already going.

It's already moving. She already has clients and contracts, so we really had to talk about the time and how much she can get done during those hours. And does she have time during this really full 40 hour work week to. Work with her clients and continue building this business.

She came up with a really great idea saying, I think I'm gonna ask for 10 hour days, four days a week. then I even suggested, or if they don't go for [00:12:00] that, ask if you can work from home one day either of those options, I think are great.

 , It's really helpful when you're in that negotiating stage to ask those questions. They know she has this business. So for her to say, Hey, can I work 10 hours, four days and take one day off? She's still getting her work done, but then she'll have one day where she can focus on the business.

Or if she can't, but she can work home one day, that means that at least she's not commuting and she has some time to kind of work in her business while she's working her day job because it's at home on her computer and she has more flexibility.

I hope these examples that I've shared have helped you a little bit, and I just want to say that this is a personal decision and if you get this opportunity, think about it. Be strategic and know that you are the only one who can make this choice. But please don't confuse patients with quitting and don't confuse income with failure.

 Sometimes stability gives you that [00:13:00] space that you need to grow both personally and professionally. in closing here, as we wrap things up, if a job shows up while you're launching your business, don't panic, be happy, pause, evaluate, and choose really intentionally what you're going to do.

Because listen, your second act is not fragile. It's not gonna go away. It can really grow alongside your real life and what you choose to do. It's just keeping up that momentum that is going to make all the difference. Alright my friend. I hope this was helpful. If you are looking for any resources to help you build your business and continue to scale and grow, Take a look in the show notes below. I have resources to help you and of course you can always DM me on Instagram I'm at second Act success. Or send me a message, let's talk about your business, your situation, and see how I can help.

for now, this is goodbye, but I will see you on the next episode of the second Act Success [00:14:00] podcast. Take care my friend.

Thank you for joining us. I hope you found some gems of inspiration and some takeaways to help you on your path to second act, success. To view show notes from this episode, visit second act success.co. Before you go, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss a single episode. Reviews only take a few moments and they really do mean so much.

Thank you again for listening. I'm Shannon Russell. And this is second act success.