The Career Switch Podcast

Justin Kelsey is CEO of VAXA Digital, a digital agency focused on scroll-stopping creative strategy and media buying for established e-commerce brands. Before leaving the corporate world to pursue his passion for creating e-commerce videos, Justin worked in finance and digital strategy roles at Bank of America, Accenture, and Amazon. Today on the show, we talk about how he built processes and plans that helped fuel his journey from the corporate world into entrepreneurship.

Amma Aboagye’s career began in education with Teach for America. Now, she is the Science, Technology, Innovations and Partnerships Advisor for the West Africa Region of USAID, sitting at the intersection of international development, innovation, and culture. Amma is also the Founding Curator of the Afropole and Host of the podcast Inside Out by Amma G, a podcast all about intrapreneurship. Amma is a fervent believer in the power of people to drive change and has been using various forms of media, including blogs and radio programming, to empower youth and promote meaningful conversations about the role Afrodiasporans play in their global advancement. Today on the show, we talk about how developing a vision for her life led Amma to where she is today, how to leverage intrapreneurship to test your transferable skills and create opportunities in your career change.

Ryan Lambert is an award-winning data scientist at American Express. After working in mechanical engineering R&D for the first part of his career, he and his wife picked up and moved to San Francisco sight unseen with no jobs and no plan. After parking cars as a valet, he got a job at Sauce Labs and took a bootcamp in data science, eventually realizing that his own “first principles” – what I think of as transferable skills, the fundamental skills that make you uniquely valuable in the workplace – and adaptability could help him get where he wanted to go. This is a really fun conversation and I hope you enjoy it!

Ifat Pridan is the owner and founder of Lili the First, a women’s fashion boutique in Washington, DC focused on introducing emerging designers from around the world. More than 20 years ago, Ifat arrived in the US from Israel for her career in technical and IT project management for telecomm and financial companies…and 20 years after that, she left her career in the corporate world to pursue her lifelong dream of owning a fashion boutique. In this episode, we talk about what it takes to make your dreams a reality.

Ifat is an incredible woman with a really inspiring story. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did! And if you want to check out the avant-garde looks from Lili the First, you can check them out here: https://www.lilithefirst.com/

Jeremy Deighan is a coach and online course creator who helps others turn their expertise into a thriving online business. His show, The Online Course Igniter Podcast, showcases successful entrepreneurs who are making 6, 7, and even 8-figures by teaching what they are passionate about. Before becoming an online course guru, Jeremy worked as an electrician and technical stagehand before beginning the side hustle that turned into his full-time career.

In this episode, we talk about the power of creating your community, budgeting your time the same way you budget your money, and getting into the right mindset to accomplish whatever it is you set out to do.

Jeremy has great advice, not only for a career switch, but for life in general. I hope you get as much out of this conversation as I did. This is one of my favorite episodes so far!

You can check out Jeremy’s podcast, the Online Course Igniter, anywhere you listen to podcasts, and visit his website at onlinecourseigniter.com.

Am I the only one who’s been feeling scattered lately? Caught between excitement that we’re seeing the light at the end of the tunnel with this pandemic, stressed about how life is going to look for the next few months, and worried that so many are still at risk? Not to mention everything else going on in the US and around the world…

All of this has had me feeling a bit all over the place emotionally and energetically. If that’s you too, I hope this week’s episode might help bring us all some peace.

Up this week is Lauren Steckler, an intuitive life coach who made her transition after “checking all the boxes” – a corporate job in fashion sales, a marriage, a good education – and realizing that none of it was for her. In this episode, Lauren and I talk about how to take the leap when your gut tells you that it’s time – even if you don’t know where you’re going – as well as setting boundaries in talking about your career change with family and friends.

I'm thrilled to have another new episode for you this week - this one featuring Dan Turner, formerly known as pro wrestler "Dirty Dan Denton." After touring the world as the Canadian Heavyweight Champion, winning the NWA Canadian Tag-Team Title, and headlining at the fabled Arena Mexico in Mexico City - the Cathedral of Lucha Libre - Dan pivoted his way into journalism and eventually into a career as a corporate fixer, focused on talent development and profitability. He also runs a media company that publishes newsletters focused on everything from news to wellness, and helps diabetics reform their health through his Diabetes Army platform on Facebook and Instagram. In this episode, we talk about mindset - navigating your career with a learner’s mindset, but also with confidence and the desire to achieve whatever you set out to do.

Matt Phillips spent the beginning of his career as a Creative Director at an advertising agency. But after a brainstorming session facilitated by an innovation firm, he found his calling and started one of his own. Now, he runs Phillips & Co and is a nationally recognized speaker and thought leader on innovation. 

Learn more about Phillips & Co here: https://phillips-co.com/

Sam Lach is a serial career switcher whose recent move from the fashion industry to a financial education startup was the result of some serious work and visualization. 

Keegan Hall began his career as a serial entrepreneur and startup founder. After selling his company and overcoming personal tragedy, he made the switch from entrepreneur and is now a world-recognized artist. Check out Keegan's art here: https://keeganhall.com/

More about Keegan: 

https://twitter.com/KeeganHall

https://thehustle.co/keegan-hall-q-and-a-jacob-cohen/