After building The Author Incubator and Difference Press into a publishing business that generated more than $50 million in revenue and helped roughly 2,000 authors, Angela Kingdon stepped away to pursue a very different vision: creating an Autistic-led media and cultural ecosystem.

Angela’s pivot unfolded gradually. After nearly a decade of freelancing, she built a highly successful publishing company, but the pandemic, a search for answers about her health, and an autism diagnosis began changing her relationship with the business and the work she felt called to do.

Today, Angela is the founder of the Autistic Culture Institute and co-founder of the Autistic Culture Podcast Network, which brings together more than 25 Autistic-led shows across seven countries.

In this Pros Who Pivot conversation, Angela and Noelle discuss the identity that can become attached to a successful business, how to recognize when your work is leading you in a new direction, and what it means to carry valuable experience forward without recreating what you built before.

Content note: This conversation includes a brief discussion of suicidal thoughts. If this topic is difficult for you, please take care while listening. If you’re in the U.S. and need support, call or text 988 or visit 988lifeline.org.

In this conversation

• Angela’s path from freelance work to publishing and entrepreneurship
• How she built a publishing business that generated more than $50 million in revenue
• How the pandemic, a mystery illness and an autism diagnosis changed her relationship with her work
• Why her pivot unfolded gradually and how she knew when it was time to make a change
• The experience and lessons she carried into her next chapter
• What Angela is choosing to do differently as she builds again and her vision for Autistic-led media, culture, and belonging

Angela’s story shows that a pivot doesn’t require leaving everything behind. It can mean taking the experience, insight, and conviction you have earned and using them to build something that reflects who you are now.

A question for listeners:

Which parts of your past work would you want to bring into a next chapter, and which parts are you ready to leave behind?

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