The Pivot
A familiar feeling
I’m sitting in my hotel room working on my slides when a familiar feeling washes over me. It’s not déjà vu, but I know I’ve felt this way before.
For the first time in months, ideas are pouring out of me faster than my hands can capture them. I can almost see the areas of my brain lighting up from making new connections, followed by the thrill of knowing I get to teach these concepts to a room full of people tomorrow.
And then it hits me.
I know why this feels familiar.
I felt this way almost 7 years ago sitting in a small windowless office working on slides for an upcoming training session.
It was the day I realized, “I’m in the wrong job.”
No turning back
Here’s the thing about a realization like that. Once you know it, you can’t un-know it. There is only the time before the realization and the time after the realization.
It’s an inflection point.
Seven years ago, it was the realization that teaching and training needs to play a major role in my work. At the time, opportunities to lead trainings only happened a few times per year.
It would take another 15 months to give notice and leave that job, but I’ll never forget that moment in the office.
Which is why many years later, sitting in my hotel room, it feels so familiar. Only this time, I am self-employed and about to run a workshop of my own creation.
So why was I having the same thought, “I’m in the wrong job”?
Discovering the truth
The moment in the hotel was a few of months ago, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since.
At first, I assumed it was a sign I’m not doing enough live training. And yes, this is partially true. I love teaching to a group of people in a room (whether in-person or virtual).
But it wouldn’t be until a week later that I admitted the truth:
I haven’t been teaching what I want to be teaching.
What changed?
You see, that day in the hotel room, I was preparing a workshop about content planning. The topic was something I enjoy, but it was actually the last few slides that lit me up the most.
I carved out some time at the end of the session to explain different types of roadblocks that interfere with taking action. It’s based on past trainings I used to run, only with a new perspective and new language.
It was in that workshop that I introduced the three roadblocks as logical, biological, and psychological.
The day before the conference started, I got a chance to run through the presentation with other event leaders. We workshopped the slides together, and when I got to the end and explained the 3 roadblocks, I was told, “Whatever you do, make time for this section. This section is what people need to hear.”
I didn’t know it at the time, but those words were the ones I needed to hear.
Asking the right questions
A week later, back at home from the conference, I found myself sending an audio message to a trusted friend and experienced entrepreneur about running a virtual version of the workshop. Her reply was supportive yet gently pushed back asking how this fits into my business.
Her question stopped me in my tracks.
Because the workshop didn’t fit with my current business strategy.
So I paused any planning and tried something new. I took advantage of a long, solo car ride to process a new question: “What is my business now? What do I want it to be? What do I want to be doing in 5 years, 10 years, 20 years?”
I opened voice notes on my phone and just started talking through these questions as I drove.
It felt uncomfortable to admit, but I could not picture myself in 5 years talking about virtual presentations. Honestly, even 2 years from now felt like a stretch.
But behaviour change? Explaining how to overcome roadblocks stopping people from making meaningful change? Helping others take action in order to make consistent, sustainable, and aligned progress?
Now that, I can imagine talking about for decades.
Because I have already been talking about it for over a decade.
I just didn’t have all the pieces in place yet.
Early days
To understand what was missing, let’s rewind a bit.
I started teaching about behaviour change in 2012 when I became licensed to teach the Immunity to Change framework. By the time I started my independent training and development business in 2019, I was focused on helping people understand why they were stuck despite genuine efforts to change. I did this using multiple tools and frameworks, but at the core, I wanted people to understand their patterns and what’s driving those behaviours.
Despite being an experienced presenter and trainer, I was completely new to entrepreneurship and running a business. In fact, I was trying to run 3 different businesses all at the same time and doing all 3 poorly.
(If you ever find yourself wanting to be a nutritionist, corporate trainer, and run small group programs for individuals at the same time… don’t.)
Even after shutting down my nutrition practice at the end of 2019, I still didn’t have a clear business strategy. And it showed.
Then, COVID happened.
With a lot of time on my hands and a few corporate training workshops scheduled, I focused on delivering engaging workshops. When more questions came in about how I was running the virtual sessions instead of the actual content I was teaching, I realized I had a business opportunity.
There was a genuine need at that time for engaging and professional virtual presentations, and I enjoyed teaching what I had learned to others.
If shifted my business in January 2021, and the traction was immediate. I started earning consistent income and finally felt like a successful entrepreneur.
This is success, right?
But I struggled to stay focused and lacked a vision for my business.
So as I was approached with a few different opportunities over the years, I took them. Each one sounded interesting and felt like a new, exciting challenge.
And when those opportunities would end and I returned to my own business, I felt rudderless.
I would reflect on what had worked in my business, and it appeared like virtual presenting was the only thing that “worked” while my attempt at teaching personal development had “failed”.
And just because something “worked” before doesn’t mean it’s still working now.
The shift
Fall 2024 has been a true inflection point for me.
It was the moment I realized I have been in the wrong job for a while now. Admitting it to myself has been both freeing and terrifying.
On the one hand, I feel tremendous clarity. It’s a gift.
On the other hand, I feel bad for leaving behind something people have found valuable.
Even today as I write this post, I received an email from a trainer who just found my virtual presenting content and wrote to say what a difference it has made in their work.
Yes, I’m taking a business risk. Teaching Zoom skills during a pandemic felt like a no-brainer. Teaching behaviour change in a world filled with experts? I’ve got my work cut out for me.
Despite my fears, I’m making the shift anyway.
I invite you to come along for the ride and see if what I have to share with the world might also be of value to you.