The Pivot Season: When Life Starts Pulling You in a New Direction

There comes a point where the life that once fit you no longer does. And that's okay.

In this episode, I'm sharing what this season of pivoting looks like for me. From shifting the direction of my career and creative work to redefining success, letting go of old expectations, and making peace with not having every answer before taking the next step.

We talk about why pivots can feel both exciting and uncomfortable, the courage it takes to outgrow a version of yourself that still looks successful from the outside, and why sometimes the most meaningful changes happen quietly, long before anyone else can see them.

If you're standing at the edge of your own pivot, whether it's in your career, relationships, identity, or simply the way you want to live, I hope this conversation reminds you that you don't have to have the whole roadmap. Sometimes all you need is the courage to follow what no longer feels aligned, and trust that the next chapter will meet you there.

🎙️ Connect with me:
Instagram: @stylecusp @behindthecusp
Tiktok: @stylecusp @behindthecusp

Subscribe, rate, and share the show if you feel aligned. These all go such a long way in supporting the show! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to Behind the Cusp, a podcast diving deep into the layers of self-growth, inner work, and transformation. I'm your host, Marissa Mead, and after 15 years as a digital creator, I'm sharing my raw, unfiltered journey of healing and self-discovery to walk alongside you in yours. Together, we'll dive deep into the conversations that matter most, uncovering what it means to truly evolve from the inside out. This is where you elevate into transformation. So take a breath, settle in, and let's begin. And honestly, I was ruminating on this week's episode um a little bit longer than normal or usual or whatever. It just wasn't fully coming to me by Wednesday when I normally post my episodes. So instead of like forcing it or forcing anything, I was just like, well, I'll kind of sit on this. And I'm so glad I did because I feel like this episode really came to fruition in the last 24 hours. Um, this is also gonna be kind of like a really raw, vulnerable episode about where I'm at really right now, but I feel like this will probably resonate with a lot of you out there, and that's one reason why I'm really choosing to be so open and vulnerable about where I'm at in life right now, and sharing it with you all to come alongside you wherever you're at in your own life. Um, so we've been talking so much about transitions and sitting in uncertainty and discomfort and growth and change and all of that in the last couple months, and I have to say that at least for my personal experience, I don't know if you guys have felt this too, but the first like half of the year was honestly, I felt like so almost lost. I feel like everything felt like it was upside down and just very discombobulated, is the best way I can explain it. And right now I feel so settled. I feel like things are really starting to take shape. I feel just a peace and a calm in a way that I haven't felt in a really long time. And the thing is, is that nothing has really shifted too much. I just feel like that maybe I'm showing up differently or I'm navigating this a little bit differently. Some of the big things that are happening, or transitions, or whatever, like they're still there, but like my house or different family situations that we're navigating right now, like we're still going through all of these things, but I'm just handling it a little bit differently. And I was talking to one of my girlfriends um the last couple weeks, and she said multiple times, like, you just look so rested, you look so calm or like at peace, and you look rested and refreshed. And I'm like, honestly, I feel that way. And I think there's some reasons why. I mean, one, I've definitely been leaning more into just taking the time, taking the space that I need, sleeping a lot, reading a lot, having just a slower life overall. And that's kind of what I want to talk to you guys about today. To one, share with you where where I'm at, but also encourage you to like take that time and space and whatever you may need, and also talking about what it feels like when you are pivoting, you know. So let's chat about it. The first thing I want to dive into is I'm going to pull back the curtain really rough and here is yesterday I shared on my stories on Instagram that I'm not sharing about the Norsham sale this year. And I wanted to talk a little bit about it here because this is really the entry point into today's episode because it really is defining a lot of where I'm at right now and what I'm choosing and where I'm headed, and I think that's really important. And so, as you kind of listen through this, think about where you might be in your life with a certain situation or choice or change or something that you might have a turning point or a decision, if you will, to make that could really redefine or shift things entirely, or just be that first little breadcrumb you need to set you on a different path. And so I have been planning to share about the Norsham sale. I had it marked in my calendar, on my work stuff, whatever. And this is something you know I've done for years and years. I go into the store, I pull a bunch of items, I share content and try-on and buy this, don't buy that, and the fit of this and whatever, you know, like all that stuff. And honestly, the last maybe two or three weeks since I've been back in Connecticut and coming here, I was starting to feel like actually I really don't want to do it at all. And to the point where like I was feeling physically repulsed by it. And I was like, Well, I really I'm not gonna force myself to do something I don't want to do. And yeah, of course, this is part of my content. I can make a reasonable, d decent amount of income in a very short amount of time, which is always great, obviously. When it's something that any big sale like that, it's easy for me to capitalize on and use for my advantage, like strategically as a creator, right? That just makes sense. But I was just like, this feels so misaligned with where I'm at right now, where I feel like I'm heading what I want to be doing. And the other day I had shared with you guys, I just don't want to feel like a link machine. And I've expressed this sentiment many times before. This isn't like the first time I've said this on my stories, but I think if you one know me in real life, but then also have kind of watched or listened closely to different things that I've shared in the last couple of years, you probably already have heard me say this many times and noticed that I feel a big disconnect with the consumption. And there's so much just linking and buying and shopping and sales, and like every week there's literally a sale, and it kind of gets exhausting from the from my side. I'm exhausted from it on my side, and I can only imagine being on the other side of that, especially if you follow many creators in the style, fashion, whatever space, it can be really exhausting. To also intake. I mean, I have tons of friends that cover, for example, are covering the Dorsham sale, and put it so bluntly and honestly, I'm swiping by or just not watching any of it because it feels so misaligned for me right now. It doesn't mean I don't like them, don't support their content, whatever. Of course, I love my friends or whatever, but right now it's not something I want to absorb in intake, so I'm just like politely sliding on by. Because I also just don't care. I also don't want to see fall stuff right now. You guys know I always have said that's the F word. Um, I don't want to see it. It's the middle of July, it's summertime. Uh it's New England summer. You get maybe six to eight nice weeks of New England summer, and I want to soak all that in, and I really don't give a crap about boots. Just being honest. And maybe some of you are sitting there saying the same exact thing. So I decided I'm not doing it this year. I'm not gonna do something that I really don't want to do. I don't want to trudge into Nordstrom and be there for six hours and be sweating, filming sweaters, and talking about boots and stuff that I don't care about right now. And also that I feel so misaligned with. I just don't want to shove the link, link, link and bye, bye, bye, and all of that super heavily right now. And this is what leads me to where I'm at and where I'm heading, and that's just where I feel a true pivot in my career is approaching. And again, I feel like I've been seeding this for a while, and even me starting this podcast was a big, is a big part of that because it's giving me a different platform and space to share more of what's in my heart and how I want to impact other people and women, and ultimately want to work with women to better themselves, to become themselves, to, you know, follow their calling on a deeper level than just hey, buy this from Amazon. And so that's what's shifting for me right now. And I've been in that space since I came home to Connecticut, and it hit me like a wave where I just realized, you know, I'm about to sell this home, I'm about to transition my life, and like everything I've been talking about has been transitioning in my life for a while, and I feel that my career is also ready for that full pivot. It's been a while to get to this point. It's been years in the making, actually. Like I've gone through a big evolution process to get to this place. And I think what's interesting is when you're in a pivot season or pivot time, it's not about like strategy or figuring it out, it's about really experiencing it on a deep level. And you experience the pivot. Like right now, I am deep and experiencing the pivot. I'm not trying to strategize my way through it or strategize my way to the next thing. I'm just like deeply experiencing it and following the little breadcrumbs that are popping up for me. One of which was, I don't want to share the northum sale. That doesn't feel aligned for me right now. And instead of like forcing it and being like, well, I could make like some good money and da-da-da. I'm just like, I'm not doing it. And I felt so freeing, so easy to make that choice because it was what I knew in my heart was right, and following that is like when you follow that, there's an ease and there's a flow, and there's just like a like a deep breath of relief, you know? So right now I'm deep in it, you guys. I am deep deep in the experience of the pivot season. I'm not on the other side of it. I am not some success story yet. Oh, I've of oh, I've pivoted to the other side, and here's what I'm doing, or whatever. But I'm just sharing honestly, right where I'm at right now, and I'm right in the middle of a pivot, and I'm trying to literally redefine my life and career and even success and what that's meant to me. I think like one way that I can say it is like it doesn't mean that my quote old life or old career or even the path that I've built thus far doesn't work, you know. Like I am successful at what I do. It's easy in some ways. I mean, it's not like an easy job, but it's easy for me to do it, meaning I can do it well, but it no longer really fits who I've become or who even I am becoming, or where I feel my soul is like pulling me and leading me, and what I want to create and how I want to impact the world, especially how I want to impact other women. What I'm doing right now isn't working for the me that I have now evolved to be. The Marissa, the 2026 Marissa. It just doesn't fit, it doesn't feel fulfilling anymore. And that's where I feel I'm redefining success because right now, success to me doesn't feel like dollar signs or more projects or whatever. It feels like flow and ease and comfortability and feeling rested, like that girlfriend of mine mentioned. That feels like success to me. That feels like what makes my soul come alive. And so maybe you are right there right now, too. And it's a hard place to be because sometimes you have to let go of an identity that you have had or built up to this point to step into a new one or to evolve your identity into a new one, and that pivot can be hard. And I'm gonna be honest with you guys, I don't know what's on the other side of the pivot right now. I don't have a full clear picture of what it necessarily looks like. I know how I want to feel in it though, and I think that's really important because then every decision I make up until I'm in that fully pivoted fruition of whatever it is, the decisions leading up to that point can reflect how I want to feel. And that's where the Norsham sale thing came into such play because I was like, this is not how I want to feel in my job. This is not how I want to feel in what I'm doing. This is not how I want my platform to feel when you show up to it. When you show up to my page, I don't want you to feel like you always have to buy something or that I'm always selling you something. I want to speak into your life in a different way, to encourage you where you're at, to, you know, deepen your awareness to something, or to make you not feel alone in what you're going through, or to help you become a better human and woman and friend, and whatever. There's just so much more that I feel fulfilled by. I want to help women do that. I want to coach women do that in doing that. And I know that this is what I'm being called into, and it's like I can't resist the call that's within my soul and heart and keep doing what I'm doing because it feels so misaligned to where I almost feel like I'm physically rejecting it at this point. So also at the same time, I think it's important to remember that like you don't have to burn something down to the ground to start over or to pivot to something new, and so that's not what I'm doing. I'm not burning my platform to the ground, I'm not just getting rid of it and starting something entirely new. I'm gradually redirecting the message and the overall feeling. And it's I don't even know if I would say it's actually a redirection because I feel that there's always been this element of connection and deeper awareness and deeper thought and deeper emotion, letting you guys in on the journey that I've been through and so many different things with my engagement or buying a house as a single woman, moving to Florida, that whole process, like the evolution I went through with that and learning to trust yourself and um the everything I went through with my back and like the physical trials and all that. And it's like I I'm not trying to burn down what I've already built, there's already that foundation, but it's what is built from it next and what can springboard it from it next to kind of launch the next phase. And I feel that when these are the topics that are shared, I have the deepest connection with so many of you that are listen that are here, that are listening, that are following, that are, that are out there. And I also know that more of those women that are aligned with that will come in. And so this next phase or chapter or expression of whatever of me and how I'm showing up in the world and how I'm servicing the world beyond just, hey, here's a link to Nordstrom Sale or Amazon or whatever. I'm not saying I'll never do those things again, but the next chapter isn't gonna reject it, the last one. It isn't gonna reject Style Cusp and everything that's been built there. It's going to build on it. And I've always said from day one, I knew that Style Cusp, whatever it is and looks like and what it is, what I build it to be, will always be a platform I build things off of. It's not my end game, it's not the only thing that I want to offer out there in the world per se. It's what I want to use as a springboard and a foundation for the next things. And I want my platform to be used for such great impact, and I'm ready to fully step into whatever the expression of that is. And so I am deeply in a pivot season right now. And bear with me as I figure it out. I want to show up messy and imperfect and not polished and maybe even cringe. Maybe someday I'll look back and cringe. But I want to show up in those ways to be authentic, to be real, to show you that there's a messy middle to go from one place to the next. There's a messy middle when you're in the pivot, and that's okay. That's normal, and that's a beautiful thing. And so, like I said before, I don't know exactly what that fully looks like yet. I feel like every day I have another little download or another little droplet of what it might be. I just know that I'm called to pivot right now. And so every time there's that little nudge or that little voice or that little intuition of to do something or not do something, I'm just going to follow it because I know every single one of those breadcrumbs are going to lead to the next thing and what it fully looks like will be revealed to me. But the process, the experience of the pivot is the beautiful part because that's where the story is carved out, right? And so in the pivot, you don't need strategy, you don't need to have a list of all these things to do. There's nothing that I'm following, there's no right way to pivot. I'm not like, oh, today I'm gonna do this and tomorrow I'm gonna do that. It's more about releasing who I have been up to this point in little ways and just enough or just long enough to discover what's on the other side, to discover who I'm becoming, to discover what I'm being pulled to. And so hear me when I say when you are in a pivot season, give yourself permission to outgrow a life that still looks successful from the outside to everyone else. There's beauty in that. The pivot is an invitation to go deeper into you. And this pivot season that you are in is the process of your becoming. I think one of the biggest things that I'm learning is that a pivot isn't becoming someone else. I don't have to change my identity or change who I am. It's just becoming more honest with me, it's showing up more authentically, it's sharing exactly me and being more aligned with who I've grown to be. And so if you are in a pivot season, remember that pivoting is being more aligned with you and where you're at now. It's having the outward reflect the inward. The outward expression of who you are reflects the inward growth that you've already done. There are certain seasons in your life where you may feel like you're building, and then there are also seasons where your life quietly is asking you to realign, to question what tables you might be sitting at, what you might be fitting in or not fitting in, to let go of what you've outgrown. Make space for whatever you can't fully see yet. Create space in your life. Be willing to let something go so that something new can fill in the space. And that's exactly the process that I am in right now. I don't have all the answers. I don't know exactly what this next chapter holds or what it looks like, but I do know that I've reached a point where I'm not measuring success by how closely my life matches the plan or the thing that I was doing years ago. I'm starting to measure the success by how aligned it feels. So if you are standing at the edge of your own pivot season, whether it is in your career, in your relationship, your own identity, or simply the way that you just want to live your life every day, I hope you know it's okay that it feels messy. It's okay if it feels slow. It's okay if it feels a little fuzzy. You don't have to have the entire roadmap before you begin the pivot. Sometimes the bravest thing that you can do is just listen to the voice inside of you that's asking for something different. The breadcrumbs it's dropping, follow those and trust those enough to take the first step in your pivot. And don't forget, I'll be here figuring it out right alongside you. I will see you guys next week. Thank you for tuning into this episode of Behind the Cusp. If you love this episode, I'd so appreciate it if you'd rate, review, or share it with someone else who's also on their path of self-growth. These all go such a long way in supporting the show. Be sure to hit subscribe so you never miss an episode. You can find me over on Instagram at StyleCusp and follow the show Behind the Cusp. And as always, keep tuning inward. True transformation begins from the inside out. I will see you next week.