How to Plan a Career Pivot Without Starting Over with Shannon Russell

You don't have to start at the bottom when you pivot to your dream career.

In this episode, Allison Lane talks with business coach, author, and Second Act Success podcast host Shannon Russell about designing a “second act” (or third, or encore career) that honors who you’ve been and who you’re becoming ... and designing a next chapter that builds on your success. Learn how to pivot with confidence, use a 90‑day roadmap, and find time to grow your new business without burnout. Shannon shares practical strategies for finding time to build your business - even in 15-minute pockets of time - and emphasizes the importance of a 90-day roadmap.

If you are considering a career pivot, a corporate exit, or an encore career, this conversation breaks down how to gain visibility and authority in a new space without losing the credibility you have already earned.

KEY TOPICS DISCUSSED

• How to map out your career pivot using a 90-day roadmap.
• Why you should "learn before you leap" to avoid burnout and financial risk.
• How to confidently answer the question, "So, what have you been up to?"

CHAPTERS 0:00 - Intro: The fear of changing careers 2:15 - Why you don't start at the bottom when you pivot 5:45 - Identifying transferable skills for your new business 9:30 - When to leave a corporate career (The "Why") 14:50 - How to build visibility in 90-day chunks 19:40 - Finding time to work on your business 24:00 - Researching your market before investing 26:30 - How to sign up for Shannon's masterclass

Get Allison's free guide 7 Shifts to Build Your Authority: https://lanelit.com/authority 

Mentioned in This Episode:

• Shannon Russell's Website: https://secondactsuccess.co  Podcast: Second Act Success
• Shannon’s free live masterclass: How to Turn Your Ideas Into Income → Sign up at secondactsuccess.co
• Connect with Allison: lanelit.com and LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/allisonlanelit

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Transcript

Allison 0:13

Welcome back to the Author's Edge. I am your host, Allison Lane, and I am here for you, and I'm so glad you're here for yourself. We know that when you're thinking of writing a book or you're even thinking of what to do next. Those pivot points aren't you want to drop what you're doing and start doing something else completely. Mostly we like a nice bridge to the next thing. And I've heard this called, a second act, a third act, an encore career, an off ramp, which I don't actually like'cause I don't actually think we're getting off the hamster wheel at all. But whatever you're doing, you've built the wisdom through your life to have a career that you have nailed. Congratulations on being you. And yet there comes a point for everybody when it's not enough. You don't want to leave it, you want to add to it. Now you're thinking, what else could I do? That's why today we're asking a very powerful question. What would it look like if you stopped staying in your corner and you gave yourself the open door to picture going bigger, and what does that next chapter look like? That's why I asked Shannon Russell to be here. I'm so happy. Shannon, you're a business coach, you're an author. You're the host of the second Act Success podcast, which is bananas. And your book Start Your Second Act. This is about changing careers and launching a business perhaps and really molding the life that you want to have now. Let's get into it. What I hear is there are so many options. I don't want to make the wrong choice. So then they make no choice. What is it that keeps people stuck, really? And how do you move them forward?

Shannon 2:21

Such a good question. Allison, I think it's all of the above. It's the fear, it's the uncertainty, it's the overwhelm, and it's the identity. We all feel like what we've done for 15, 20 years is who we are. And I really like to stress that is just a part of us. We have so many titles.

Allison 2:42

Yeah.

Shannon 2:42

And so why not add on to that, right? Take our experience from our past and finally write that book, or start that business, or do whatever you feel called to do, maybe a goal or a dream that's been on your heart. Because we get this one life and you don't want to regret not trying it. So, it's really just taking that leap. But there's so much fear in that for a lot of people of giving that up or what if it doesn't work? try it and you can always go back to where you are now.

Allison 3:10

It doesn't mean you're leaving something.

Shannon 3:12

No.

Allison 3:14

We're not cutting off. And saying you have to start fresh and at the bottom. Yeah. I spoke with someone recently and she said, she has five different roles, professor, she teaches one-on-one. She's also in another industry. She's like, I want to bring it all together, but I don't want to start at the bottom. You can't start at the bottom'cause you're already an expert in what you do. Yes. But she was looking to, informational interviews hoping that someone could see how all of her pieces came together. That's your job to figure out how your pieces come together. No one else really knows where you want to go. So, do you see that a lot'cause usually people don't have a just one thing. They have multiple skillsets and interests.

Shannon 4:08

Yeah, and I think a lot of us don't realize how much we're capable of because we're so in it. We're so close to it. Yes. And so, it's as simple as taking a piece of paper and a pencil and writing down everything you do. Everything you're good at. What you've done in the past. And then, I always say X out anything that you don't want to do any further. And circle those things that really light you up. And then start thinking about how those align with that goal of what it is that you want to do next. And then, there's that thread that really does connect it. It's just a puzzle or a game of saying, I've always been a leader or a manager and I know how to manage people. So maybe I can manage a business, or maybe I can manage a team over here, or maybe I can manage myself through writing a book or starting a podcast. So, there's just different ways to really look outside of the box at what you've done and those skills and value them. Because we don't always do that. We think everyone can do what we can do and it's not always the case.

Allison 5:08

So true. That requires a different mindset because we've been taught in corporate America. is do the job you want to be doing in order to get promoted. And that narrative of, I have to already be doing the thing in order to get permission to claim the role is wrong. that's not the measure here. You left a big bat juicy career, just like I did. You were at MTV and E Entertainment and TLC. We could have been corporate work twins or cousins really'cause I was at Unilever and Pepsi. And I definitely know when you leave a career that feels like your identity or you actually just even want to branch out. You want to go to someone and say, here's what I've done. And then, it's up to them to help you figure out how your work can apply. How did you make that leap when everything on paper look like this is what I've done. Someone else is going to show me the way. And also you made a massive leap. You didn't just try and expand, you were like, I'm out.

Shannon 6:29

Yeah.

Allison 6:30

That's what I did too.

Shannon 6:32

Yeah. I'm so curious if you were super happy where you were because I loved it. It was my dream career. I would not have left if it wasn't for my kids. And the fact that I was traveling so much in the hours and I was missing so much. And I had a three-year-old and I was pregnant with my second little one. And I just realized, I couldn't keep doing this. I couldn't keep missing a fir, another first birthday or Halloween. I realized I internally, just to me not talking to anyone else was like, you know what? I've checked the box. I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. There has to be more now that I'm moving into this new aspect of really wanting to be that present mom. And so, I decided to celebrate what I had accomplished and look for that next adventure. But I don't know about you, Allison, but I had my husband and friends all questioning me. My family. What are you doing? Like almost an intervention of this is so scary. Why would you leave this? But I knew it was what I needed to do. Even though I had no idea what I was about to start.

Allison 7:37

You're such a positive Polly. I love that. I had my dream career. I was a rising star and I freaking loved it.

Shannon 7:47

Yeah.

Allison 7:48

I got to go to all the places I traveled, the United States. I sometimes I would go in the middle of the winter. I lived in Chicago. I would be like, oh, I have to spend two weeks in Grand Cayman. Poor me. But then I have to go to New York, but then I have to go to, out, to la. Woe is me. I'm going to, who's going to feed my cat? I'm going to be gone for six weeks from Chicago where it is. Bitter cold. And I was on the road a lot and I worked with a lot of celebrities and I did a lot of exciting things, but 10 years later, I'm leading national north American communications for a global company and everyone's remote, right? But I got a new boss who said, yeah I need you to actually be in the office now three days a week. And I was like. Come say what? I live an hour and 45 minutes away it was me dropping the kids to pre-day school picking up.

Shannon 8:48

Yeah.

Allison 8:49

On the days I had to be in the office. Coming in like a hot mess with 15 minutes left of aftercare. Left with my child being like you're, I'm the last one. And I just looked at this guy, what the heck? How can you change the rules of engagement? And then, I just thought, I don't even get to do the things that I love doing anymore'cause the higher up you go, the less you get to do the thing that you liked. And I also had just lost my mom. And there was something about having a pivot moment where I was like, this is, life is too short. I cannot do this anymore. So yeah, I quit. I did not have a business plan. I,. It was two weeks before COVID.

Shannon 9:31

Ugh.

Allison 9:32

But I had already started helping women pitch media and get their pitches ready for publishers and everybody I work with got a yes. And that turned into a business.

Shannon 9:44

Right. You had no idea of where you would end up, but it fits. That's what's really cool. Isn't it looking back now?

Allison 9:50

Yeah. But it was hard'cause the women who would meet me, they'd say, I know I need to work with you, but what can you do? And I would recount for them the guts of we can work on your messaging, but that's not what they wanted. What they wanted was a result. And I was telling them how the sausage was made and it was hard eventually for me to realize oh, I have to actually package. The success that I know I can bring them'cause they don't care how they get there. They just want to know, can you do it?

Shannon 10:24

That is very true.

Allison 10:25

Yeah. Yeah.

Shannon 10:26

But you wouldn't know until you started having those conversations. Then your business mind started kicking in, I'm sure to say, okay, how can I put all this together and make this my next act and my income and look how far you've come.

Allison 10:38

But you say everyone has a story in them whether it's a book or a nonprofit they want to start, or a business or some way they want to show up that's bigger. And you can see it and I know, I can see it. So many people downplay what their story, or sometimes they relinquish it. Oh, I used to do that, but now I'm doing this. That's what makes you interesting. Right. You used to be a horse trainer, but now you run a nonprofit for kids on a farm. I worked with a championship cowgirl, I used to be on the rodeo circuit, but now I like, whoa, back it up. That's amazing.

Shannon 11:19

Yeah.

Allison 11:20

But people downplay their story. Why? Why is that?

Shannon 11:25

I think again, ingrained in us to be quiet, follow the path, keep it going. And when you want to veer from it, all these questions arise. But what you and I can see in others is something that we have to help bring out of them. And it takes some time of saying, if you were that cowgirl, what a cool story to now pitch and promote this farm and the good you're doing with your nonprofit? Like it's just twisting it. And I just had a new client who has over a hundred thousand followers on Facebook and Instagram, an amazing author, photographer. And he said to me, I don't think anyone really cares to buy anything from me. As we were talking about this business that he wants to create. And he's got an amazing, very traumatic upbringing, but very pivotal. And it makes you want to reach out to him and learn from him and his way of just explaining how you can find truth. And it's just very inspiring to me. And I was like, anyone would pay for you to spend an hour with them or take you on a tour of the beach. He takes these gorgeous photos of the ocean. And just talking to him, he literally had such little self-confidence about himself and it was at the end of our call where his eyes just lit up and he saw himself differently. And I think sometimes those around you are going to just want to keep you in that same box. But it's finding someone else and looking inward and taking that pause and digging in and asking yourself, are you happy? What are you happy doing? Those are the times where you can start thinking outside and really reflect on what you've done and how you can weave that into what you want to do next. And it becomes a lot more tangible.

Allison 13:11

Yeah. So, when you help people design their next step or their second act. What do you tell them about starting to build visibility. When they start looking around they get intimidated'cause they're like, oh, it's going to take so much work to do this. And they burn out before they even get started. So, how do you help them do what they need to do without burning out?

Shannon 13:38

I like to work in 90 day chunks. So, we make a roadmap of okay, this is what we need to do at a larger list and we break it down. But it really is those simple steps. Like I have clients who really have no social media presence. And so I say, okay, we'll set up the one or two accounts that you want to show up on. That you feel comfortable showing up on. And let's talk about what that content would look like. And start connecting with people. LinkedIn is such a perfect place to connect and start reaching out and saying hi. And once you post what you're doing now, it's going to open up those conversations. And so, it's just starting really small and telling people, having those conversations. And I think that can be one of the hardest parts of a transition of any kind is when you're at a party in the neighborhood and someone says, so what have you been up to? That is your moment to say, actually, I started in an Etsy shop. Or I'm writing a book, or I'm opening this local brick and mortar, whatever it is'cause you have to own it. You have to say it, and then you start and the conversations start, right? It's those little steps that make you feel a little bit more confident and then they just snowball from there. So, always starting small so that you don't get that fear and want to go back to what you were doing. It's like I hold my client's hands and even tell my readers in my book, like just step by step. Do it. Feel that confidence and keep going. You are going to feel scared. It's scary to make any kind of change, but do it at the pace that works for you. Nothing has to be done overnight.

Allison 15:07

Don't put yourself in a situation where you have not anticipated that very basic question. Yeah. Because then it does feel like you're getting grilled and you're tongue tied. And then that person walks away and goes to get another hot dog.

Shannon 15:24

Yeah. Learn before you leap, I always say. Do your research, learn, and then that leads to your confidence too. And you're absolutely right. Have that conversation when you're ready. Post on social, when you're ready. And when you know how to respond, like you said. Absolutely.

Allison 15:40

You have this philosophy though of producing your best life and you we're able to do that because you left one career track to start something else. How does that philosophy guide the way you help people now step into their expanded career or their next career track?

Shannon 16:06

I think when you're starting any kind of second act, you can be a little bit choosy. So like when I said earlier and we can write down our skills and cross off the ones that we don't want.

Allison 16:15

Yeah.

Shannon 16:15

That kind of leads you to almost having your roadmap or your arrow of what you're working towards. Because when you're thinking about what's next, there can be shiny objects, especially if you're not happy in your role. You can see another opportunity and jump at it. But you could find yourself in the same place just at a different location. I always ask people to know your non-negotiables. Know your why. And for me, it was wanting to be present for the kids and be able to pick up from daycare on time and do this and that. And so, any business, when I ventured into my first business, I wanted something that would allow me to be there for the kids. So, I had those parameters and anything else that didn't fit, I crossed off the list. So I think, once you know your why; why are you making this change? And what is important to you moving forward. That gives you that outline. So, when a new opportunity comes, you can see if it checks the right boxes. And I think that helps keep people on that path. Otherwise, you could end up somewhere that isn't really you. Would you agree?

Allison 17:18

Great. I absolutely would. And I wish that I had done that as well sooner. It sounds like you had a great plan and you followed a plan. I learned from all my mistakes.

Shannon 17:29

I did too. I had about a year Allison too, where I was figuring it out and throwing things at the wall and this doesn't work. So, it was about a year of messy middle. And being very in a silo by myself, trying to figure it out. But I think now, I've learned from that and I can help steer my clients and my readers in the other direction. But yeah, it's not as always simple as it might sound. So I'm with you.

Allison 17:51

One of the things that my clients face is that they don't want to stop doing what they're doing.

Shannon 17:56

Yeah.

Allison 17:57

They want to expand, but they don't want it to feel like a 17th job or a different work stream. Sometimes that can feel overwhelming. And then, what I hear a lot is do I do this first or that first? Is it the chicken or the egg? Do I need to develop my newsletter first or write a book? Or should I start speaking before I write a book? Like first of all, time out. Before you can decide what strategy you used. We have to decide where you want to end up because a map actually has a destination.

Shannon 18:34

Yeah.

Allison 18:34

So, let's figure that out and paint that picture. And that way when opportunities come up. You'll know if they check those boxes. If you don't have a plan for yourself, some other thing is going to get in your way and you're going to think, oh, that sounds good. But that's because you don't have criteria. And people also want to be really efficient with their time because they're already living really full careers and lives. So, how can someone really make sure that they're consolidating their new path into the one they're already on?

Shannon 19:12

I think it is making that roadmap and saying, I'm not doing everything tomorrow. I'm breaking it down and what will get me there? Is it a six month plan? Is it a year plan? Like, how long do you want to grow and go along this journey before you get to your destination? And then, really finding those pockets in our day. And you and I are extremely busy, all of us, all of your listeners, we have such full lives that it's really looking and saying, where can I find 30 minutes? And is it the 30 minutes when I sit down at my laptop and I scroll? Is it over my lunch? I've gotten productive where if I used to not even take lunch, but now it's like if I sit down for lunch, I will read a few pages in whatever book I'm reading. Or I'll put on the news or, make the most of that time where I'm not just scrolling aimlessly. For my clients who are building a business, they might just take those hours. Those 15 minutes and it adds up. But that's when they are dedicated. Just like going to the gym. You are instead using that hour when the kids go to sleep to work on the business. Right. And it's going to take time. But I think putting that into your week really helps. And for me, I write on Wednesdays. Wednesday nights, my kids know that I go in my office and I write whatever book I'm working on. That's just my little time that I carve out for myself. We can find that one hour. Or I have a friend who says she's going grocery shopping, but she really works on her business and she gets the groceries pre-ordered and she picks them up on the way home so her family doesn't even know. Brilliant, right? Getting creative with your time.

Allison 20:47

I had so much done in parking lots. Waiting for kids. My daughter was inside the dentist for her annual cleaning one time, I was like, I'm going to sit in the car and I recorded a series of videos that I still use today. But they were all things that were just driving me nuts about misconceptions and bad advice people have been given. So, for me, indignation drives a lot of my content. But if you're waiting for someone and you've got 15 minutes, you can for sure turn on your phone and take a selfie video and say, I get this question all the time. You repeat the question and you share unscripted, just say what you would say to that person who was asking you the question. It doesn't matter what kind of lighting you have.

Shannon 21:43

It looks real. And that makes people relate to you.

Allison 21:46

When someone is hearing this, and they go, okay, I just turned 50 and I want to be deliberate about my next phase of my career. Where should they start?

Shannon 21:59

They should start with looking at themselves, really deciding what that why is. What is it that you are thinking about? And do that research. Learn before you leap. I've had clients who've come to me and said, I want to be a Pilates instructor. I want to open a Pilates studio, whatever it is. And then they start looking into what it's like to run a Pilates studio. And what the day-to-day is, and they say, no, that's not what I want. And so, I think you can get a lot of work done just in that research phase. And the more research you do and the more you're nodding your head going, yeah. That is exactly what I've been thinking. Again, that's where your confidence comes and that motivates you to move forward. So, I think doing that research, really deciding, okay, this is what I want. How will it fit into my life the way it is now? And what will it take to get me there? And whether it's listening to podcasts, reading books, getting a coach, whatever it is you are learning. And you're moving forward in that way. I think that's the best way to start.

Allison 22:59

Yeah, take a look before you make a decision or invest nickels.

Shannon 23:07

Yeah.

Allison 23:07

Shannon, you have like a monthly workshop you do, right? That you help people. Can you tell us about that?

Shannon 23:13

Yeah. It's about starting making your idea into income. And I give five simple steps on really how to start with that basic idea and how to make your first penny or nickel from that. And yeah, it's a free live masterclass. I do once a month. And it's really fun'cause it's live. We meet on Zoom and I do a Q and A at the end. So I teach. And then we do a Q and A. And so, people get to ask those questions. It's not just, okay, I'm watching this video, but I don't know who this person is. You get to know me during that time. And I think it's a nice live, interactive experience. It's been fun.

Allison 23:46

And where can we sign up for that?

Shannon 23:48

You go right to secondactsuccess.co and there's a popup and you can sign up there.

Allison 23:54

Perfect. We'll put that in the show notes too. Listen, I know you're listening in the car or you're putting on your makeup, This is you. you get to decide what you do next. You really do. And you don't have to drop what you're doing and switch horses. You can just expand the impact that you have on the world. But don't discard the you before. Because that's what makes you interesting. That's what makes people lean forward and go, wow, now I really understand. Because that's the secret formula for connecting with people and sharing your story. So, you get to decide. But I do want to hear from you. DM me. Dm Shannon. I'm thinking of doing this. You can ask me a question in dms, I will answer you. Whatever that idea you have is that keeps coming back. That girl's not going away. That idea is going to keep on coming. I can't wait to see what you do next.