Bold Moves: How Did You Know | Midlife Career Change, Life Transitions & Design for Women

Graduation season has inspired me to think about all the powerful stories and brilliant advice that my 28 bold moves guests have shared on this podcast.

I put myself into the shoes of new graduates and imagined what amazing insight I could have learned if I heard all these stories as I was graduating. It's almost like fast-forwarding into the future to ask my 40-year-old self what I could do after graduating to create a career and life I was proud of.

I realized that through the last question I ask each of my guests, "What do you know about being bold today you wish you knew earlier on?," we've co-created a bold moves graduation speech!

We're out from the other side of some of our in-the-trenches stories and our hardest moments, and we have advice we wish we could have given to our younger selves about being bold.

So I put them all together in this special clips-style podcast episode to inspire graduates who are just setting off into their new bold move journeys, as well as those in their early careers who are eager for mentorship, and all of us who need some extra encouragement to be bold as we face new challenges and opportunities.

**This is the perfect episode to share with new graduates, those early in their careers, or anyone who needs extra encouragement to keep going on their bold moves journey!**

Episode Resources

Be sure to follow, rate, and review this podcast to let me know what you think!

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

It’s episode 30 today! Every 10 episodes, I like to do a solo check-in episode – and today I’m:

• answering listener questions, including what I was fed up with that led me to the bold move I’m living today and how my overall trajectory has changed since I started focusing on taking a bolder approach to decisions
• hypothesizing that when we make a bold move it’s up to us to write the “how” of our story
• giving an update on my biggest bold move this year
• asking for your feedback so I can make every episode the best it can possibly be for you

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

I love interviewing professional coaches because they have a unique view of the challenges people face in life and career, and their advice can be so helpful in looking at problems as opportunities.

So when I met Nancy Davis, a certified coach and strategist for high achievers, I quickly invited her to join me for a conversation about marching to the beat of your own drum and what to do when you get stuck.

Nancy shares incredible advice – and her own experiences – about what to do when people try to stick us in a box that just doesn’t feel right. We discuss:

• How knowing your value is critical to both your life and your career
• How success changes as time passes
• Why questioning and challenging your assumptions can help you climb out of the (proverbial) box
• The best business advice Nancy has ever received – listen up for this one!
• Why being rejected isn’t a bad thing

Make sure you listen to the very end. Nancy’s answer to “what do you know today about being bold you wish you would have known earlier on” is key to getting unstuck to tap into your next Bold Move. She says, “Get your brain going.”

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Nancy Davis

Email Nancy at [email protected]

www.linkedin.com/in/nancy-cultivates-clarity/

Who better to talk about how to position yourself for a promotion than someone who has made it to the C-suite?

Meet Katherine Knight, Chief Legal Officer and Vice President, Human Resources and Corporate Governance, at Mitsubishi Motors North America, Inc.

She brings us into her decision-making process as she navigated her career for over 20 years. We discuss Katherine’s early career as a law clerk and trial lawyer, and how she pivoted into corporate law where she became general council before taking on additional areas and responsibilities in HR and corporate governance.

She did all this by her early 40’s! Mid-life crisis, what? More like mid-life CLICK! Katherine has found her stride – and learned valuable lessons like the upside of a rescinded job offer – and now, she’s sharing her story to empower you to discover what you want out of your career and how to get it.

She discusses what plagues many people from moving forward in their careers in the era of remote work and how to get back on track with a simple (though not easy) concept.

Tune in to hear how she advises you to take initiative and get more visible – and much more. We explore questions like:

• Could being comfortable in your role harm your advancement potential?
• Is a lateral move worth it?
• What role does authenticity have in your career?
• What’s the value of your personal brand in the workplace?

And bonus, you’ll hear a tip about career growth that I didn’t know was a key part of making a name for yourself until recently.

You won’t want to miss this episode. Katherine is real, raw, and unfiltered. How many times can you say that when talking to an executive?

Listen now!

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Katherine Knight

www.linkedin.com/in/katherine-b-knight/

One of the things I love most about hosting this podcast is getting to speak with people making all different types of Bold Moves. Today I’m interviewing the sweetest guest so far – he co-founded a chocolate factory called Harvest Chocolate!

Willy Wonka vibes all day in this episode as we break down Matt’s journey to becoming a chocolatier. Ironically, he wasn’t always sold on the idea of opening a chocolate business, but now, three years later, he’s all in and savoring every minute of it.

Matt talks about his path to sweet success with morsels of inspiration to encourage your Bold Move journey:

• Testing and trialing an idea before going all the way in
• How to minimize fear of leaving a corporate job to start a new business or project
• Why it’s important to get out of your own way
• The upside of risk-taking
• How Bold Moves pay off in dividends

Leave a review

Let Matt and I know that you loved this episode with a podcast review!

Just write the word "CHOCOLATE" in your review, and leave a 5-star rating! I really appreciate it. It helps the show reach even more people who need inspiration to make their next Bold Move!

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Matt Cross:

Website: https://harvestcraftchocolate.com

Instagram: https://instagram.com/harvestcraftchocolate

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HarvestCraftChocolate

Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-cross-/

What’s my story? That’s the question Carli Sidoti faced when feeling the internal tug that her agency career wasn’t it anymore.

The hopeful advertising agency partner felt stuck, confused, and unfulfilled. But why? She had worked hard for 20 years to become VP at her agency. The next step WAS partner. She was getting there; she was almost there. Still, the feeling nagged at her. It was time for a change.

Listen to Carli explain how a tough career situation made her reevaluate her career path. “This is my pivotal moment,” she says. “What am I going to do?”

Carli shares her step-by-step process of going from corporate to consulting through the lens of the Bold Moves Recipe:

• Hear how she decided to leave the agency job she had known for so long to explore her new dream as a brand and marketing consultant.
• Discover the exact steps she took to make the leap
• Hear what was going on in her personal life that could have been a stumbling block in her Bold Moves but how she kept going

Are you at a pivotal moment in your career trying to figure out what’s next? This episode is most definitely for you. Push play now!

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Carli Sidoti

https://www.buttonedup.consulting

@buttonedupconsulting on Instagram

“Founder Amy Nelson Was Madly Pulling a Pandemic Pivot When…. The FBI Showed Up at Her Door With Guns, Seized Her Money, and Told Her Husband he was the Target of a Criminal Investigation.”

That’s not only a headline from Entrepreneur Magazine, it’s also the headline of my guest Amy Nelson’s life over the last four years.

The story itself could be the plot of a Blockbuster movie. But what’s more intriguing, more compelling – the part a Blockbuster movie is unlikely to tell – is how she walked through the fire and along the way pulled herself and her family up to overcome the unimaginable. It reminds me of the quote: “The only way out is through.”

Before this catastrophic attack on her personal liberty, Amy was a mover and shaker. She had founded The Riveter, a private membership network built to advance and amplify working women. She had raised 30 million dollars to grow it, and grow it she did – topping 100 employees with nine coworking locations across the US. Before the Riveter, she was a lawyer and served on President Obama’s National Finance Committee where she co-chaired Gen44, the under 40 fundraising arm of the campaign.

Amy is making more bold moves than ever, and she has an important message to share: There’s power in telling your story.

Tune in to this episode to hear all of it – the before, during, and after of Amazon and the DOJ’s legal battle with her family. Listen closely for the story beneath the story:

• How she rose from deep despair by using her voice
• Why asking for help was the one thing that changed everything
• How to participate in your life even when you feel beaten down
• Why community over competition is a winning mentality for long-term success

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Amy Nelson

https://theriveter.co/

@theriveterco on social

@amy_k_nelson on Instagram

The world of real estate. On TV it looks so glamorous. Magnificent mansions. Fancy realtor open houses. High fashion. But what is it really like behind the scenes?

In this episode, we get the scoop on the listing life from realtor and partner of The King + Hamilton Group, Courtney King. It’s a peek inside the industry while also exploring how to push past discomfort to accomplish your goals.

We discuss the unpredictability of real estate as a career and what specifically you can do to get comfortable with the uncomfortable to grow yourself and your career.

Push play now to discover:

>> How establishing your unique approach helps attract the right opportunities to you

>> Why helping not selling is the best way to grow your network

>> Moving this year? Get Courtney’s tips on getting settled into your new location to make it feel more like home

>> Buying a home or investing in a property? Learn where to start.

>> And much more!

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Courtney King

@thekingandhamiltongroup on Instagram

[email protected]

Julie Randall got news everyone fears.

After an unexpected brain seizure just four days after celebrating her 50th birthday, her doctor told her, “Julie, you have tumors in your brain, both lungs, liver, pancreas, and all of your lymph nodes, I’m really sorry this isn’t good.”

It was incurable, and doctors said she’d be lucky to make it nine months.

With time running out, she forced her way onto an experimental drug trial as patient 71. The events that unfold – and her fight to live – are the ultimate display of strength, tenacity, determination, and a pure will to survive.

“I just didn’t give up, I would not let it go… It was a BOLD MOVE.”

Hear Julie's incredible story and learn the sobering lessons from her near-death experience she wants everyone to know.

Episode Resources

“Patient 71” 60 Minutes:

Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g3R4KNCj-6s

Part 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiFJdLYxqo

Julie's book: "Patient 71: An inspiring true story of resilience, tenacity, and a promise that fulled one woman's fight for life"

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Julie Randell

https://julierandall.com.au

@patient71_ on Instagram

Are you somewhere down the path of your life waking up to the fact that what you’re doing isn’t working anymore?

And now you're searching to do it in a better way? A way that’s more empowering and truthful to who you are.

Today’s guest, Allison Hare, Host of Late Learner Podcast, is no stranger to this feeling. As a former corporate sales executive, she pivoted her life completely when fitting in the box wasn’t working anymore.

Now, she helps hundreds of thousands of people learn the behaviors that are holding them back and the cutting-edge and effective ways to heal and move forward with confidence.

Tune into this episode to hear why it’s never too late to make Bold Moves!

Late learning what you want from your life may just make your Bold Moves more satisfying and fulfilling than ever before.

You’ll learn:

• How to evaluate your daily life to see if what you’re doing gives you fulfillment
• How to elevate without burning out using Allison’s framework to recharge, release, redesign
• What Allison late learned in 2023 that can help you make more effective Bold Moves in 2024

Like this episode? There's a whole community of Bold Movers over on Substack. Join us and build your bold moves muscle with us! kristenrocco.substack.com

Connect with host Kristen Rocco

Substack: kristenrocco.substack.com

LinkedIn: /kristenrocco

Instagram: @kristenrocco

Connect with guest Allison Hare

Allisonhare.com

Late Learner Podcast