This Middle Ager got an UNSTUCK Career

No one dreams that one day they will completely change careers in middle age. Yet many people find that during this time in life things change. COVID hits. We get job eliminated. We yearn to do something else for our remaining years of working. We have the money in retirement saved and have a little freedom. We don’t have the money saved and have to keep working. We just don’t want to have to work “here” anymore. That’s the end of the story of my UNSTUCK Career. But here’s how it started.

The secret to successful companies is happy and productive employees. I learned this very important concept in the late 70s, while still in high school. Even then I knew I wanted a career in Human Resources. At the time, Japanese Management styles were abuzz, and my sister gifted me a book called Theory Z by William Ouchi, which explained the secret to successful Japanese companies is happy and productive employees.

When I got to college at UW-Madison, I discovered there was no “Make Employees Happy” major, so I created my own curriculum of courses I hoped would lead to a successful career in HR. I declared myself an Economics major because it allowed me to take the courses I thought mattered to my HR career path.

After graduation in 1984, despite the hideous job market and recession, I landed my first job as an Assistant Manager in the housewares department at Marshall Fields. By January I was promoted to the Management Training Program, which was in line with my plan to build a career in HR by learning the company from the ground up. In 1985, after my stint as Department Manager at the flagship State Street store in Chicago, I was promoted to my first HR job. I held three different roles while still in HR at Marshall Fields: Trainer, Recruiter, and HR Manager. In my mind, at that time, my plan had finally come together…I’d made it!

Leaving Marshall Fields was the scariest career move. I’d been there for 14 years and I left in 1999 and moved to a small privately held bank as Director of Human Resources. The bank was bought and I stayed on for another 10 years ultimately holding a position of Vice President responsible for Recruiting and Employee Relations. 

Next, I moved on to the newspaper and media industry where I worked my way up to Regional Director. In 2008, like so many others, the scope of my job got larger, while my staff got smaller. I was busier than ever, and the next 10-years flew by. The rapidly-changing regional media environment was amazing and challenging, but I learned so much. I considered it a gift. By the time I left the newspaper industry, I’d compiled 33-years of HR experience.

In 2008, recovering from a surgical procedure and with too much time on my hands, I took up knitting. I became obsessed, feverishly knitting every day. But how many sweaters can one girl wear? I think I stopped at 20-something but still needed to keep busy.

When my husband lost his business, during the recession, we had no extra money, but I still needed to tinker. So I started taking apart and redesigning the costume jewelry I’d inherited from my mom. I was making cool new stuff at no cost! This was the start of my next creative endeavor and more jewelry than I could wear. I was obsessed, again, but I couldn’t stop. One day someone asked to buy a piece right off my neck, and my business, bobbi kahn design jewelry was born.

For the next nine years, I was a full-time HR professional and a part-time Jewelry Designer. I loved designing and selling my jewelry at art shows so much, that it felt like play, not work. Wanting to leave my HR career and pursue my jewelry business full-time, I waited for a sign to tell me the time was right.

In 2017, my job with the media company was eliminated. My initial anxiety quickly gave way to profound gratitude. This was the sign I’d been waiting for! The time was right to leave my job. Additionally, I was being retained as a consultant, for a brief period of time, which allowed me some financial security to embrace my dream of becoming a full-time jewelry designer and businesswoman. I had prayed on this for so long, and finally, here was my chance, in all its neon glory. 

After I was laid off, I never looked back. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my HR career… the travel, benefits, relationships, and training. But I also never questioned my decision to embrace my creative passion, which led to a life filled with joy. That’s not to say it’s all rainbows and butterflies, but, more on that in another blog! 

I was FINALLY an entrepreneur! Imagine my excitement the first time I filled out a form and got to write bobbi kahn design jewelry, in the space marked “Business Name”.  I wore every hat in my business. I immersed myself in the operations, marketing, and making of my product. I invested in education and coaching, to learn how to market online. I learned what I was good at and when to hire people to do the things I hated or wasn’t good at.

The transition wasn’t easy. After going to “work” every day for 33-years, suddenly I was on my own timeline. I had to be disciplined so I kept to a schedule: coffee, gym, home, and then off to the studio to create or work on the business. Weekends were for art shows. Weekdays were for work, or the occasional errand, a load of laundry, and my weekly canasta game. At first, I felt a little naughty, like I was playing hooky. But one of the beautiful benefits of being my own boss was that I was in control of my day. It took me a minute to realize I would never go back to a traditional job.

And then COVID hit. All my jewelry shows in 2020 were canceled. Every. Single. One. What was I going to do with myself? I loved to work, and even if I didn’t, where was I going to go and who was I going to lunch with during a pandemic? No one. Exactly no one.

My pre-COVID plan was to run my jewelry business and travel to art shows until I reached 62. Making a living doing art shows is exhilarating and exhausting. It’s very physical work on the best of days and can be grueling on the steaming hot, rainy, windy, or cold days. So, I picked the age of 62 because I thought I’d be ready to hang up my tent by then. Plus, I already knew my third career would be as a Coach.

I started talking to my therapist about my desire to become a coach, about 20 years ago. Coaching encompassed everything I loved about HR minus the things I disliked. For example, the only agenda that matters in coaching is the client’s agenda. Coaching is a co-creative relationship between Client and Coach. With my jewelry business sidelined by COVID, I decided to start my coaching training and certification in 2020, sooner than I’d planned. When I enrolled I wasn’t certain I was ready to start another business, but I wanted to use my free time productively and thought I could benefit personally from the skills I would learn in the certification course. I didn’t realize that part of completing the certification required having paid clients. Suddenly I was in business again and UNSTUCK Coaching was born.

In recent years I’d begun to see a pattern of middle-agers looking to find their most fulfilling work experience in the 2^nd half of their lives. My new clients said they loved working or loved their professions and wanted to work another 10-20 years, but were unhappy with their jobs for a variety of reasons…  

• The management was unbearable or unreasonable
• The company was changing direction in a way that no longer aligned with their values
• Some had enough money saved for retirement and now want to do the job of their dreams.
• Many wanted to work (and get paid), for causes they loved and weren’t ready to volunteer or work for free.

All of these reasons resonated with me, which led me to my passion and my coaching niche. I’m also in my most fulfilling career now, owning businesses as a Career Coach and Jewelry Designer because each fulfills me differently.

I had a vision in High School when I knew I wanted a career in a little-known discipline called Human Resources. Being creative and having talent in my jewelry business came as a bit of a surprise, later on, but with the support of my husband, sister, best friend, and countless others, that business flourished. And I knew one day I would start a coaching practice, it just came a little sooner than planned. But that’s how life goes.

If you feel a connection to, or are inspired by my career path, just know that you can also Imagine your Life’s Possibilities. I’m here to help. Together we can chart your path and make YOUR vision a reality. Contact me to get started today!