A Lifetime of Pivoting (and Still Going Strong)
I have been pivoting my whole life. The first one was from being homeschooled to attending private school at 10, halfway through the school year (and at the start of bullying and puberty years for all – not recommended, but that's a different story).
I changed my mind about what I wanted to be "when I grew up" constantly, reacting to cultural and institutional feedback on top of what I already gravitated towards. These are a few of the options I considered:
Wife of a farmer - I was raised in Eastern Washington, surrounded by farms, so this was very attainable. As I got older, however, I was told that being "just a wife" wasn't "living up to my full potential". I sometimes still dream of this life and also think about how much skilled labor any person who lives and works on a farm must do! Thank you, farmers, for the food on my table every day.
Owner of a Mailboxes Etc. competitor - I was nerdy enough to write a business plan for this at 6 years old (I still have it), but my family couldn't front the overhead, and child labor is frowned upon even if it's the child's idea.
Scientist - I was so into it but did not get good enough grades to continue on that path. And it's “not cute” for a girl to be good at science.
Professional bassoonist - I was pretty good at the bassoon but wasn't obsessed enough with practicing to be great. I mostly stuck it out for a while so I could go to band camp every summer.
But my first real Sliding Doors moment was my freshman year of college at Western Washington University. I was determined to be an Anthropologist; I wanted to learn all about different people and cultures and probably travel the world. It turns out that knowing all the bones of the body is a requirement of anthropology…which is science. Did I mention that I'm "bad" at science? Unfortunately, my grade in that course wasn't high enough to continue with the major so I decided to—you guessed it—pivot! Luckily, some of my initial anthropology courses qualified for the sociology degree, so that's where I landed next. I also wanted to dabble in theater on the side, which, it turns out, is impossible in college. You're either in or you're out. So, I decided to be in. I imagine it's no surprise that I never became a sociologist...
When I graduated from undergrad with my BA, I found a job as a stage manager in the Seattle area. Seattle and a career in theater turned out not to be for me so I decided to make a change. Within two weeks, I had bought a one-way ticket with most of my cash*, packed two bags, and moved to New York. When I arrived in the city, I used my stage management background to transition into project management for a construction company, a YouTube famous band, and a web developer. All at the same time.
Since then, I have had at least 5 pivots: project manager > information science graduate student dead set on being a corporate librarian > information architect and usability researcher > small business owner consulting with nonprofits > program manager for digital inclusion projects at Netflix > career pivot specialist.
Each of these pivots has felt scary yet necessary. Some of them were by choice and some were forced by the systems we exist in. Maybe I needed money, or I was told by someone(s) that I wasn't good enough to continue down a particular path, or I wanted to scratch that itch for change and exploration. Sometimes, it was all three!
Through each pivot, I have cultivated the ability to confront, handle, and embrace change. I have taken pieces of each experience—lessons I have learned about myself and the working world—with me into the next. Though my path appears wandering, each move has felt less abrupt to me than it looks to the outside world. I understand the links and the story. I know it makes me better than other people at certain things. I like how I got here!
Now, I’m excited to share the main lesson I’ve learned through all the pivots: it will be okay.
Some reassessing may be necessary but it will be okay. The trick is to evaluate your comfort with risk, create the cushion you require, take a step that feels scary but possible, and see how you—and the culture and systems around you—react.
So, what’s your first next step?
*Please note that this type of pivot is most possible when you live in the U.S., are in your early 20s, own very few belongings of value, are single/childless, and have a lot of other baked-in privileges.
