Your Life After Tech

Nicole Menkhoff takes us on a captivating journey through her professional evolution... from aerospace engineering with a focus on rocket propulsion to leadership roles at tech giants like Google, Twitter, and Apple, before launching her own consulting business in late 2024.

Nicole recognized the tech industry's gradual shift away from true innovation and toward an overemphasis on profit and shareholder value. This sparked Nicole v3.0, a transformation from corporate tech leader to independent consultant helping organizations reinvent productivity and enhance national security.

We chatted about redefining success beyond the size of your paycheck and breaking free from outdated personal narratives, or as Nicole brilliantly said, updating her internal "algorithm" that was still weighing old, obsolete data too heavily. We also discussed some of the physical manifestations of stress, and listening to our bodies.

For anyone contemplating their own career transformation, Nicole emphasizes the importance of thoroughly exploring your motivations and comparing your current values with how you're working and living. 

Find Nicole at nfmso.com.

🐦🔥  Life After Tech https://LifeAfterTech.info and Delta CX Coaching https://DeltaCX.Coach are part of the Delta CX Hive 🐝, which includes coaching, a free Discord community, articles, and other resources. The Delta CX Hive supports you wherever you are in your life and career paths.

🔗 All books, channels, communities, and other resources at https://dcx.to

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Kristina Kennedy's career journey takes us from the familiar terrain of tech layoffs to the total yum of French pastry kitchens. Having worked seven years in user experience research, her professional path took an unexpected turn when she was laid off. Rather than immediately jumping back into the tech job hunt, Christina paused to reconsider what truly brought her fulfillment.

During the isolation of the pandemic, Kristina discovered baking as a source of presence and joy. She then pursued internships in both boulangerie (bread making) and patisserie (pastry making) in Lyon, France, where she currently lives. While financial realities have temporarily paused her full transition to becoming a pastry chef, the seed has been planted for a future that looks dramatically different from her tech career.

Find Kristina on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/KKENNE or reach out directly via ActionInsights.net, the research agency she co-founded focusing on e-learning products.

🐦🔥  Life After Tech https://LifeAfterTech.info and Delta CX Coaching https://DeltaCX.Coach are part of the Delta CX Hive 🐝, which includes coaching, a free Discord community, articles, and other resources. The Delta CX Hive supports you wherever you are in your life and career paths.

🔗 All books, channels, communities, and other resources at https://dcx.to

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What happens when you reject traditional business hierarchies and build something radically different? Jess Vice takes us on their journey from struggling English graduate to tech professional to co-founder of Kit Research and Strategy—a collective challenging how business gets done.

After years of corporate instability, being repeatedly laid off without warning, Jess realized they needed to create a work environment aligned with their vision. The collective model Jess co-created offers clients expert services without the 40% markup typical of traditional agencies. It allows practitioners to set aside vacation weeks at the beginning of each year, create multiple income streams aligned with their passions, and question workplace norms many take for granted. 

Jess shares valuable lessons from their journey: apply the entrepreneurial mindset to your own life, start with small experiments, and always question established norms. 

Find Jess at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessvice/ and https://kitresearchandstrategy.com

🐦🔥  Life After Tech https://LifeAfterTech.info and Delta CX Coaching https://DeltaCX.Coach are part of the Delta CX Hive 🐝, which includes coaching, a free Discord community, articles, and other resources. The Delta CX Hive supports you wherever you are in your life and career paths.

🔗 All books, channels, communities, and other resources at https://dcx.to

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Ricardo Brito shares his transformative journey from tech burnout to becoming a solopreneur and career coach. He offers insights for individuals considering career transitions, warning against waiting until burnout or layoffs to take action.

• Ricardo’s background transitioning from graphic design to UX design
• The importance of following curiosity and exploring new paths
• Proactive planning to avoid financial insecurity during career changes
• Warnings against chasing “golden handcuffs” and unfulfilling roles
• Launch of Ricardo’s program, "Solo Business Co-Pilot" 
• Importance of personalizing career development strategies

Find him at RicardoBrito.me

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Curious about making a major career shift? Meet Tonia Bartz, a former UX Researcher turned holistic wellness coach, who shares her journey from the tech world to the realm of integrative nutrition and wellness. 

Embrace your imperfections! Whether you're staying in tech or considering moving to a new career, Tonia reminds us to listen to that little persistent voice. There's a reason we keep imagining alternative futures for ourselves.

Tonia's links:
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Sign up for the newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/f3e081916f4f/imperfectaf

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Jeff Kim is a tech and design expert with decades of experience. His life took some wild turns after being laid off in October 2023. Join Jeff in the warm nostalgia of CorelDRAW and QuarkXPress, shifting into web design, and then years of UX work. 

After researching and rejecting a franchise opportunity, Jeff and his wife launched Minneapolis Sign Design, diving into the world of vehicle graphics and signage. The couple brought their years of entrepreneurship and business acumen skills into play, and recently opened the doors of a 5,000 square foot shop.

DesignMSD.com
Jeff on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/msd-tnt/

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Faith Lane, a veteran UX Designer with over two decades of expertise, joins us to share her captivating career journey, marked by resilience and adaptability. After a layoff, she shifted to apply her UX skills in a non-traditional setting: Directing at a daycare company. Children, teachers, and parents are her new stakeholders.

Where might Faith go from here? If tech jobs remain difficult to find, she's considering the funeral industry, perhaps funeral direction. It's another opportunity for her to use empathy... and apply some UX and Service Design to an industry that badly needs it.

Connect with Faith on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/faithlane/

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Simone Robutti shares the wild and interesting journey of transforming his career from data engineering to a path aligned with his personal values. He's also juggling multiple work areas fantastically... from consultant to a fermentation studio to organizational design/process improvement.

Simone discusses the pivotal roles and motivations that shaped his journey, including teaching political praxis and addressing workers' rights in the gig economy. He's truly a model of aligning professional pursuits with one’s core beliefs.

Simone's links:
Consultancy one-pager: https://bit.ly/robutticc
Tech Workers Coalition: https://techworkerscoalition.org/
Personal Website: https://robutti.me/
QU Fermentation Studio: https://www.qufermentationstudio.com/
Reversing.works: https://reversing.works/

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While staying in tech (UX research), Jenny Shirey takes a bold leap into the world of wine. It's a tale of resilience and transformation, where wine becomes more than just a beverage—it's a gateway to a fulfilling second career.

As Jenny contemplates opening a wine shop or bar, her tale of transition offers invaluable lessons for anyone considering a career change. Setting deadlines and embracing accountability emerge as crucial strategies to overcome the overwhelming task of creating a business plan. 

With an emphasis on finding joy and fulfillment in one's work, this episode is a heartfelt reminder that life is too short to be stuck in unsatisfying roles. Jenny encourages us to pursue opportunities that resonate with our passions, ensuring that happiness and work are not mutually exclusive.

Connect with her @JennyTeachesWine on Instagram.

PS: She passed her test!

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John Braine is a UX Designer combining his passion for technology with his love for art and music. John shares his journey from self-taught web design in the 90s to shifting into UX design. John shares his practical techniques for integrating artistic pursuits into daily life, emphasizing the importance of small habits, consistent progress, and holding yourself accountable. 

John is staying in tech, and increasingly adding art and music as both hobbies and money-makers. Find him on Instagram as @trontsephore

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