Midlife Revolution Unleashed

Navigating Career Change: From Setback to Success

• Stacy M. Lewis & Wayne Dawson • Season 2 • Episode 56

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What happens when your career path suddenly shifts beneath your feet? Whether pushed out or feeling that inner nudge to move on, career transitions in midlife bring unique challenges—and surprising possibilities.

Coach Wayne vulnerably shares his own experience of being asked for his resignation despite years of excellence awards, revealing how this forced transition led him to fundamental questions about identity: "What, beyond the job, and who was I?" This powerful moment illustrates the crucial first step in any career change: recognizing that your job doesn't define you. Your worth extends far beyond your professional title or achievements.

The conversation offers practical wisdom around what employers actually care about (hint: it's not your GPA) and what makes candidates stand out in today's technology-driven hiring landscape. With AI now screening resumes before human eyes ever see them, your application strategy requires thoughtful alignment with job descriptions. The hosts provide actionable strategies for creating impact-focused resumes, strategically building networks that open doors, and maintaining digital profiles that enhance rather than hinder your opportunities.

Perhaps most valuable is the discussion around values—distinguishing between "means values" (your job) and "end values" (your deeper purpose). This framework helps midlifers make intentional choices rather than reactive ones during career transitions. As Coach Stacey reminds listeners, "Your experience is still valuable, as is your story," encouraging authenticity when crafting your professional narrative.

Coach Stacy closes this episode with a powerful reminder from Isaiah 43:19 about God making "a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert," encouraging listeners to do their part while trusting in divine support through challenging transitions. For anyone feeling stuck, pushed out, or simply ready for change, this conversation offers both practical tools and the perspective shift needed to transform career disruption into meaningful renewal.

Subscribe, share, and join us next week as we continue empowering your midlife journey with relevant topics and solution-focused conversations.

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💃🏽Stacy M. Lewis
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🎩Wayne Dawson
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Wayne:

you've just stepped into the midlife revolution, unleashed your space to ignite possibility, redefine purpose and embrace the power that comes with age and experience, co-hosted by yours truly, coach and I'm coach stacy m lewis, are two-season coaches focused on the midlife community of color.

Stacy:

This isn't just a podcast. It's a movement In a world that sometimes forgets the power and the wisdom that comes with age. We are here to ignite a revolution and rewrite the narrative of this incredible journey.

Wayne:

So, whether you're navigating your career, growing your business, rediscovering passions or challenging the status quo, this is your space. So buckle up, let's dive into the Midlife Revolution. Unleashed. We're back. I thought you could have gotten rid of us, but we're here to stay stacy. It's another week, it's a short week and I'm loving it, so it's uh, absolutely. I love these short ones today. This is midlife revolution. Unleash. You're at the right place at the right time. I'm coach way Wayne, the VIP coach, helping men, black men, through midlife so that their second half could be their best half, and anchoring with me is none other than Coach Stacey.

Stacy:

Oh, wayne, that extra day has done you some good huh. Welcome everyone to the Midlife Revolution Unleashed, as Coach Wayne said. I am Coach Stacey M Lewis. It is my honor to be here. I'm a nonprofit executive, I am a coach to midlife women and I'm a lover of God and his people on most days, and so it is always exciting to be here, and our hope and greatest pleasure is to be able to bring, hopefully, some actionable information, some insights, ask yourself some great questions and to say good evening to some of our favorite people, like Delaine. Good evening, delaine. It's always a joy to have you in the house.

Wayne:

Good evening, lady D and Stacey. You know, today we wanted to talk about folks that are going through career changes, and sometimes this is not voluntarily done. You're nudged out or you see the writing on the wall and you sort of act swiftly and quickly but really it's not something you'd have done with the greatest option available to you. So anyway, stacey, we're going to talk about that today Career changes.

Stacy:

So anyway, stacey, we're going to talk about that today.

Stacy:

Career changes yeah, I think one of the there were a couple of interesting hooks that we considered as we were preparing for the show, and one is from setback to strategy thriving after unexpected career change.

Stacy:

The door may have closed, but purpose didn't vanish. The door may have closed, but purpose didn't vanish. Let's talk about turning job loss or dissatisfaction into bold next steps. So I think that this is a really timely subject matter, because if you are in the employment space, we'll say, or even as an employer, but if you're in the employment space, you are witnessing a lot of turmoil and, whether it be folks getting laid off from big companies or individuals really feeling a sense of job dissatisfaction, those feelings, those experiences prompt change or prompt the need for change, and so what we want to talk about today is the need for change and how to move that forward. I don't know, coach Wayne, if you have any stories Y'all know Coach Wayne can give you a story if you have any stories about whether it was a forced or a chosen pivot, as you were in the midst of your career.

Wayne:

Yeah, I want to tell you I've been fired before and it's not a good feeling. I've been fired before, but it's at the level where I was. It was. When you're asked for your resignation, it's at the higher level that I was as a leader, overseeing four locations, right.

Wayne:

I had gone through a major breakup and was so deflated, so depressed, just lost sense of things that I was responsible for and supposed to be doing and therefore wasn't carrying my responsibility as I needed to, and so, you know, that became a stress, and I had, in this organization, won about six years, over a period of time, of excellence award as a staff, as a leader. So you know I knew my stuff, but when it happened Stacey, it meant a career change, and I had been so attached to this for so long it became a part of my identity, so I was left feeling totally empty, not knowing. I had to withdraw the dough, though, and you know I was in therapy for a while, but I had to withdraw and ask myself some very poignant questions what, beyond the job, and who was I? And I had to realize the job didn't totally make me and, in terms of meaningfulness and my why, I had to determine what I needed to be able to move on.

Stacy:

Well said, well said. The reality is that many of us, myself included, have had that experience where we've been let go, aka shoved, versus making the decision to shift, and there's always lesson in that, and that is one key that is relatable. Whether you are being shoved or guided out or whether you are making the decision, it is that you want that decision, the actions, not to define you right, but to really move into the process of the shift, a sense of your value as a human being and your values and so that your next moves. Like you said, the job didn't define you, it's not your identity, and you had to then separate, and so it's so important for us to be able to separate, recognizing that the job is usually a means to an end, often is fulfilling. That's the heart's desire usually, but at the end of the day it doesn't define us, and we have to make sure that our identity is sound, whether we are making the shift or being shifted so Stacey.

Wayne:

It brings up the concept of what we call values again. There are means values and there are what we call end values, and when you're making a shift in terms of your career, it's important to recognize that the job is what we call the means to the end. This is what we call the means value. So what we really need to decipher and discern is our end value, in other words, what it is that we're trying to deliver, accomplish or what's our internal mission ultimately, so that we can choose the next course to meet that. It doesn't have to be so. Here's what we have to decide. It doesn't have to be the same track that we have been on, that's been tested and walked on. It can be something entirely different, as long as it's meeting our why.

Stacy:

Yes, yes and yes. And before I tag on to that, I want to acknowledge and say good evening to Vivian and to Archer. It is a pleasure to have you joining the Midlife Revolution Unleashed.

Stacy:

There were so many nuggets in what you just said, and one of the things I just think about is that sometime the push or the nudge is not always external. There are times that the nudging or the pushing is coming internally and it really is our own inner knowing, our own sense of self connection with our values that is saying hey, maybe it's time to change, maybe I really need to reassess where I am or you're sensing that misalignment. So it's not always you being pushed. Often you may be sensing it's time to make that shift and we want to make sure that you acknowledge that and that you then set a course that is actionable but that's also meaningful for you and you want to normalize those feelings of anxiety that you might have, whether being pushed externally or internally, and the sense of grief or possibility that you might have in this process.

Wayne:

Stacey. We're talking about strategies which are going to come upon us. When this happens, you have to do something. You can't stay neutral, as they say. You've got to get into gear.

Wayne:

And I can speak again for the folks that I coach, using the model that I had to coach myself through for two decades top of the line, as good as they come, if I could say so. And I ran a organization, one of the oldest in the country, their non-for-profit arm in New York City. But when I had to make that shift, I had to strategize on the next move, and so I was coming to Florida shortly after leaving the world of non-for-profit, and that shift meant for me I had to go into corporate America. Now I landed in a corporate 100 as another leader there.

Wayne:

But here is what I recommend to folks I had to take inventory. I had never done health care, which is the industry I've never been well, I'd been in corporate years ago, but this was new. And so I had to define Stacey in terms of strategy in an inventory what did I bring to the table and what I didn't bring? I had better go learn. And so that's part of the strategy you know that one has to look at when they're making the shift. Seek the opportunities.

Stacy:

Absolutely. I think you really jumped to a great place in the conversation, and that is the reality that there are practical strategies, whether we are going to embrace and implement practical strategies or whether we are going to stay in a position where the situation is driving our actions, and so you talked about that. Earlier you talked about values. We want to acknowledge that. One strategy, one important strategy, is to really acknowledge your values and to begin to identify, not just in your mind, but whether you truly like and or dislike, whether it be about the current position you're in, as you're feeling that shift to move, or whether you have been ushered into the next experience and you want to really redefine your self and reconnect with your own likes and dislikes before you move forward.

Wayne:

States. That's well taken. If someone would ask me now, wayne, I'm about to shift careers, what are the steps to take? I'd give it to them like this First, you have to give yourself grace and don't beat yourself up, because this happens every day. It's not the end of the road. Right Again, your identity doesn't have to be defined by your career not fully, right, it's a part of it.

Wayne:

But also, take an inventory of your strengths, and what I mean by your strengths are the things that you can do without much effort and probably better than most other people. Right, these are your strengths. We want to. We want to define what those are, because you want to make sure that you're aiming in the right direction so you can get that sense of fulfillment and, performatively, you want to be able to crush it with your next move. Want to be able to crush it with your next move. I would also say, stacey, that look at again we said it your values and your why, to make sure that the next step is in alignment with that, so that you're not just visiting in terms of transient movement, but you're actually making a real move making a real move.

Stacy:

Yeah, I'm going to add to that list, but not until I say hello, Curtis, you are one of our favorite coaches as well, and good evening, Sister Audrey. It is always a blessing when you are able to join us at the live stream.

Wayne:

We got to holler I'm sorry at Facebook folks. You see we got Lisa Johnson, judy Brown, vivian and Delaine and Archer.

Stacy:

Forgive me, facebook folks yes, hollering at you. Thank you so much for tuning in and joining us at the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. Let me add to your list, wayne, part of those strategies or those actions your action plan is. I love where you said inventory your skills. I would add begin to identify and tap into your network. I would add you know, kind of looking at really who's in your corner as you think about your network and seize low cost or free opportunities to upskill, think about where you want to go and what add on to your skill set, to your strengths that you mentioned would really benefit your forward momentum. So I just wanted to bolster up the list of a little bit.

Wayne:

Thanks, stacey. I'm glad you brought up network because I help people with a strategy for networking. See, some people don't understand truly your net work is your net worth in many ways. A lot of times it's not just who you know, but who knows you. In other words, one of the things I tell folks to do.

Wayne:

For example, if you know you're moving and you want to get into another part of the job market or industry, job boards typically don't give you the inside scoop. Everybody is applying for the job boards. It's public and only after it's not filled up from the within does it go out there. People don't know that. So the job board, by the time it gets to the job board, it's the dwindling, so to speak. Now here is a quick tip when you're strategizing for networking. Here is a quick tip when you're strategizing for networking, you want to groom someone where you want to be long enough. Not just jump in and say, tell me about a job or give me a break, but you literally go into their profile, engage with them over a period of time, add value. If you know that the person is an avid golfer, send them a copy of a golf magazine, just stuff, and after a while. Then you can raise the question to say hey, by the way, I'm looking. Do you know anyone within the industry or your organization that is hiring?

Stacy:

I love it. I love it. Yes, you certainly want to connect with people that are either doing what you want to do, that are where you want to be. There's value there, even if it's just that type of informal interview where you just you know, can we hop on a coffee chat and you know, I'd love to just share where I am and pick your brain for, you know, 10 minutes. You just don't know how those little things can really ignite possibilities.

Wayne:

Stace, you talked about the redoing of the resume as we upstart and reinvent ourselves, and that's so key as well. Gone are the days where you write a resume and list the things that you did. Those are job descriptions. Resumes now to be seen. First of all, they're screened by AI tools, so a human being doesn't even see your resume if it doesn't match the same language as the job description. And a quick tip is there are tools you can use right to put the job description and your resume and ask AI to rewrite it in such a way that it aligns with what's being asked for. That way it hits the right terminologies and gets through to the people who actually see it. A lot of folks don't even get that far, and when you do that, stacey, you write your resume with what we call using impact statements.

Stacy:

So right right, we don't want to know. I mean, as someone that hires, we don't want to know just what you did. Right, all of us have the ability to do things. We don't want to know just what you did. We want to know the change that it made, the impact, as you said, the impact statement, the impact that it had on the last company, on the last business. And even if you're an entrepreneur and someone that is looking for employment or engaged in employment I think that I would kind of fit into that bag. Right, you want to make sure that you are connecting the dots, as you said, so you're not just sharing information about what you did or the impact you had, but really you're connecting the dots as to how that experience will really make you a great find, a great asset to the work the company is trying to do.

Wayne:

Yeah, and I know, though we talk to midlifers there may be some younger folks listening here and Stacey, I've done literally hundreds of interviews in my lifetime and one of the things at all levels senior and entry I've never asked anybody what their GPA was. Funny.

Stacy:

Have you Stacey Me either?

Wayne:

I have not, was Funny have you Stacey Me either.

Stacy:

I have not, I have not. And, honestly, sometime it's great that the degree is in alignment with the position, but when the degree is not whether it be associate, bachelor's, master's, PhD when the degree is not in alignment with the position, I'm looking to see if what you learned in that degree coursework is an asset to the work that we're trying to accomplish as a business. So I think that there's such great opportunity and our hope is that some of these nuggets are reminders to those in midlife like it's not too late to make a shift. So if you are on the job, feeling like it's a grind, really think about Is it time? Is there a little internal nudging that's leading or that's making you think like, or realistically, you know? Or do you go to work every day like, oh my gosh, I hate this job? So is that really how you want to live out the rest of your career, the rest of your career, or is it a good time to really evaluate or re-evaluate where you are and what matters to you now?

Wayne:

Stacey, the last outing that I had in corporate before I fired in corporate and burnt the ships on the beach, never to go back. Um, you know we had the opportunity to interview, uh, um, c-suite leaders and people don't realize this, but if you show up with your profile looking like a clown, not looking kept, and your profile shows you just hanging around at the barbecues and twerking and that sort of stuff, it's going to hurt you.

Stacy:

What profile is that, Wayne? What profile are we talking about with the twerking? I just want to make sure where I should put my twerking.

Wayne:

Yeah, we check People, check to see who you are. So, if your profile, if you're a professional, go back in, clean up your Facebook, your LinkedIn and all of these, your Instagram profiles. Take off the cussing and the twerking and all that stuff, because it could hurt you as you're reinventing yourself. Those days are gone, when anything in the dark stays in the dark.

Stacy:

Yeah, nothing in the dark stays in the dark. Right, that's definitely scripture. In the dark stays in the dark. Right, that's definitely scripture. Now I know I need to take down my little twerking videos, I think you know. In alignment with that, Wayne, is the reminder that your experience is still valuable, as is your story got the potential to be powerful, and so the story that you begin to tell about your career transition or where you are now or where you're looking to go, that story matters. So, even as you are updating your LinkedIn profile or reconnecting with people, be prepared to tell or share what's been happening in that transition period If you're between jobs. I'm just watching the commentary blow up because they're like oh no, not twerking, stacey. And yes, you're right, we left out TikTok James. Welcome to the midlife revolution unleashed. See Curtis is always keeping us on task that he read several months ago that many companies are not giving so much attention to be shared, just in case it opens the door for another opportunity that you may not have been expecting.

Wayne:

Yeah To Curtis's point. The resume simply gets your foot in the door and then it's up to you. Simply gets your foot in the door and then it's up to you. You got to sell you and because the resume is now screened by artificial intelligence, you got to meet certain criteria to just get in that door. And then, of course, when you get in, you know, and Stacey, I don't know if you would agree with this, but our folks that have experienced our midlifers, it's always, it's all about relationship, all through and through. So don't burn bridges behind you. Go clean those up, the dead bodies, you know. Clean those up and Try to get sponsors. A sponsor is someone who can speak on your behalf even when you're not in the room, someone who can speak on your behalf even when you're not in the room. So if you're moving to other places, you know and you have those relationships. You need to build them, of course. Then you try to work your sponsorships.

Stacy:

Yeah, yeah, I think that that's a great addition to to those connections to that community, really making sure that you are broadening your connections in a way that allows you to be nimble and allows you to be seen.

Wayne:

Yeah, Stace, I know you always have a wise uh, the book off uh, yes, instructions Before Leaving Earth, that book. Let us have it Stacey.

Stacy:

I think that one thing about career is that it is a place or space, an arena where it is easy to get discouraged.

Stacy:

If your career is not thriving or if you're in a dry season, so to speak, it's easy to get discouraged. And I would just remind each and every one of us that the word says in Isaiah 43, 19, I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert, which means that God will indeed provide, he will make a way. So we have work to do right. Part of our call to action is to make sure our documents are up to date. Right, we're not talking about legacy planning, but we are talking about your career, who you are in the workspace, making sure that your documents are up to date, doing your part to make those connections and ensure that you know you are seen as someone that can add value, and remembering that God is always willing to make a way, always ready to make a way. You do your part, god will do his part. He's making a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

Wayne:

And Stacey always lead with an attitude of gratitude right, because while you're busy saying what you're grateful for, there's no room for disgust and negativity. The two can't hold the same space, and so, even if you have been asked to leave, terminated, fired somewhere else, don't go in and say anything negative about where you're coming from.

Stacy:

No, nothing, because it only says to someone that, oh, that's how they would potentially leave us, even if they left on good terms. Right, they would begin talking negatively about their experience. Experience, gratitude and generosity are really going to help us move forward. Even in those what seem like dry seasons or when we're in the wilderness between jobs or looking to leave a job or being pushed out of a job. It is that gratitude and the generosity that is going to save the day.

Wayne:

Stacey, it's almost that time. It's almost a rap, rap, rap. Stacey, how do people get in touch with us? And I know we have it in the show notes, but you do such a great job working with the women that you work with, Stacey. I think we ought to just tell people how to find you.

Stacy:

Well, the reality is, wayne, if you are checking us out on LinkedIn or Facebook, you know how to reach me, and, at the same time, we always make sure that our contact information is in the footer of our podcast, the Midlife Revolution Unleashed, which you can find on your favorite podcast player. And if all of that doesn't work out well, I can be found at thestacymlewiscom. That's where I am.

Wayne:

Hey, I can be found at viptransformativelivingcom. That's my website, but if you want to send me something directly, I'm going to bypass all the frills and thrills. Just Wayne Dawson VIP at gmailcom. That's not my business, that's my personal. Send it to me and we'll set something up. I'll see if I can get you to the top.

Stacy:

What I have. No doubt you can help folk get to the top. I, Stacey, am always cheering you on. Indeed, we are so appreciative of each and every one of you for joining us tonight on the Midlife Revolution Unleashed. Don't forget to tell your friends in the community about our great podcast and let us know what you'd like us to focus on in an upcoming episode. We would love to hear from you.

Wayne:

So till next week same time, folks. Ciao, have a wonderful short week. Bye, now, that's right. Show gratitude, and there you have it, folks, this week's episode of the midlife revolution unleashed. Hey, we truly appreciate your spending this time in this space with us. Join us next week at the same time as we dive into relevant topics and present solutions to spark new thinking and empower your midlife journey.

Stacy:

And don't forget if you enjoyed today's episode, let us know in the comments and share it with others. And, of course, remember to subscribe, share like. Hit that notification bell. You are the midlife revolution unleashed. I'm Coach Stacey and I'm cheering you on.

Wayne:

And I'm Coach Wayne and I'm cheering you on, and I'm Coach Wayne, and I'll see you at the top.