Hello and welcome back to Mama What’s Next. I’m Melie, and today’s episode is about how to change careers and start a new career path without putting yourself on financially thin ice.
Perhaps you’re feeling that your current job no longer fits you, or you’ve been thinking about making a fresh start for some time now. And like most people, you might have a lot of fear about it. Fear of making the wrong choice, fear of overspending financially and then not knowing how to move forward. In today’s episode of Mama What’s Next, we’re talking about how you can make a career change without risking your financial stability.
And honestly, many of us – especially moms – often wish for change. Many stay in jobs and with companies where they don’t feel comfortable at all, where they’re unhappy, where they’re not challenged, where they’re not supported. There are so many reasons. Sometimes it’s toxic circumstances. You have a supervisor or colleagues you just can’t get along with. And yet mothers often remain stuck in these situations because they’re simply afraid of not being able to support their family enough.
The Biggest Mistakes in Career Changes
There are two major mistakes people make when planning career changes:
- They set off without a clear plan, without really preparing themselves, acting out of emotion because suddenly everything becomes too much, because burnout is there. There are many reasons why people suddenly just run off from one day to the next.
- Or the complete opposite, which is just as bad: Staying in the job really out of fear and waiting all the time to find the perfect plan, to have perfect clarity in your head, to have permission to finally get going.
For example, a LinkedIn study from 2023 revealed that 62 percent of career changers regret not being better financially prepared for it. And a Kindsee study has shown that mothers often stay in toxic jobs out of fear that they won’t be able to make ends meet financially and that they won’t be able to support themselves financially. But that often ends in burnout or ultimately, which is really just as bad, they get pushed out of the company in other ways, because maybe it’s really not the right place for you anymore.
In this episode, you’ll learn how to prepare for career changes step by step and without financial pressure, with a clear plan, with a lot of trust in yourself, because you don’t have to turn everything upside down overnight. Everything doesn’t always have to be perfect right away. Such a career change, a professional change is often also turning things around piece by piece. Moving piece by piece toward where you want to go.
My Tips for a Successful Career Restart
1. Do a Career Check for Yourself
Do a check for yourself, a career check: Where do I stand, what do I enjoy? Where are my strengths? Where are my passions? What is it about this job that I’m doing right now that’s still so exciting that I can take it with me into a job change?
Or what are all these points that have been annoying me forever, but out of convenience I still just keep going down this path? Or what are the points that stand out to you, where you say, actually this is already the third job I’m in? Are they always the same points that bother you, that you don’t like doing at all, that you’re not good at, where you notice that they drain you of an incredible amount of energy?
For this, I would also recommend that you definitely take a strengths test from Clifton, the Strength Finder. I have two books on it, I’ve probably taken the tests three times now and it gives you an incredible amount of clarity about where your strengths lie and how you can use them in your job along with all the other information you can gather.
2. Build a Financial Buffer
The second point is, of course, a financial cushion that can lead you to freedom. So before you quit, simply plan for three to six months, ideally six months of financial reserves, so that you really feel prepared, so that you don’t feel this pressure on your back all the time.
It’s best to also step out of this current, this energy you’re in, for a while. It’s good, so it’s no coincidence that we often have these moments in life where we say, I need to take some time off now for three months or for six months. We need it. Our energy field needs it. Our mind, our body, we sometimes just need to tear ourselves away from this energy where we’re swimming in the current every day, where we just can’t clear our heads and can’t really connect with ourselves anymore.
So it’s really important that you plan this a little bit in advance. Sometimes you can really consider renting out your apartment or doing a flatshare, so that you might swap the apartment with someone during this time. There are definitely online portals where you can do this, or you can rent it out for two or three months. So you can really position yourself well by planning well and securing yourself, and perhaps burning fewer financial resources during the time when you’re finding yourself.
3. A Fresh Start is Possible Even With Children
And, it should be noted, you can do this with children too. I always find that so many people come with the argument, yes, but I have a child and “where there’s a will, there’s always a way.” Whoever comes to me and says, that’s not possible, will always get an answer about why things are possible, because they always are. I firmly believe that there’s always a way and also a way with children. You just have to plan how to change careers a little more safely.
I also went to Australia as a single mother with my daughter, without a job in hand, and then got the job there. I also came back to Germany alone with my child, for two years once. I haven’t lived in Germany for a long, long time, actually since I was 20, 21, I haven’t lived in Germany anymore and I know, this feeling, we always think, these are excuses, these are excuses we give ourselves to make it easier on ourselves, if we’re really honest with ourselves.
But if you really want it, then you can do it, even if the child is in school, because there are online schools and so you can also temporarily deregister your child. For example, I had my child registered in the German school and then in that first year when she was supposed to go there, I decided to go to Spain. Then you can also write to the school board and then they said, well, that’s not possible. Yes, hello, where is the child? And then you say, okay, no problem, here is the school registration for Spain for the next half year. All good. So, and then the German school board says, okay, great, compulsory schooling fulfilled, doesn’t have to be here in Germany, many don’t know that, but it’s true. And there are online offers as well, of course. So, you can also stay registered in Germany while you’re already taking the next step.
4. Build Bridges with Side Projects
Then there’s the fourth point: small side jobs or projects that you can build as a bridge. Many women don’t fully change careers but can build up a “side hustle,” as they like to say – a side project. I’ve always done that during my permanent employment, but also for the reason that it often fulfilled me so much to work on creative projects. And I was so passionate about building and discovering and also discovering myself, that I also got more uplift for my job, for my actual job, because we women are particularly creative people and we really need it, our soul needs it, that we try things out, that we test ourselves, that we can work creatively.
And there are also many network marketing offers. I have many, many mothers I know who distribute really great, wonderful network marketing products in the nutrition sector, in the health and wellness sector, food supplements, which are really great. And I can really only recommend that to everyone, but also that you really take small steps here.
For example, if you want to work as a coach, as a mentor. These further trainings, you can do them on the weekend. You can do them when you have vacation or when you simply take time for yourself and reflect back on yourself and start a conversation with yourself again. What do I actually want and where do I want to go or, if you already know, maybe just book a course or start working with other companies in the project area or supervising other people in the project area.
5. Targeted Further Education
The fifth point: Targeted further education and not just running without a plan. It’s really important that we don’t just run off and get any certificates. It’s always important that we also reflect and look, okay, where does which course and which university perhaps have a good reputation, which would then also additionally impress the employer. Because if you do three certificates that no one has ever heard of, ideally they’re also free, I don’t know if they’re so good for the job and if they’ll impress the employer so much in the end.
So, it’s important that you reflect a bit and look, okay, what can I do that really contributes to my next step? So also reflect: What’s in demand in the market? What’s in demand at the moment? Where is the need greatest? Especially for example in the marketing area, marketing and social media. Maybe you want to go into data analytics. There are many offers that you can look at, but which are also in demand in the market and well paid.
6. Network Deeply and Authentically
The sixth point is networking. I want to say that I’m not a networking fan. I don’t really like these superficial chitchat networking meetings. And people who only network to basically just advertise themselves all the time to others.
I’m a fan of networking if you do it in a really intensive, profound, relaxed, honest, sincere and mutually helpful way. So really coming together intensively with people and really looking here, can I maybe help them? Can I help someone else? Can I open a door there? And you should probably open five doors before you ask someone else to open a door somewhere.
But of course there are many great networks also from East Germany that I found online, which are great for women. Especially the younger generations are very active now and come up with many great ideas about how we women can come together. Here I recently discovered Fembiz, and www.workingwomen.online which seem great new initiatives for working women to collaborate and support each other in Germany.
7. Have a Plan B
Well and lastly, it’s always good to have a Plan B.
What’s the worst thing that can happen.” When people ask me, how do you do it? When I’ve gone out and changed my life, which I’ve done often, and reinvented myself and turned my career upside down, and I’ve done it again now in my mid-40s, it’s really important to always ask yourself, what’s the worst that could happen.
And when you honestly face that question, you’ll realize it’s not actually that bad. Even if I’m sitting here in Spain and suddenly notice, oh no, my freelance job has fallen through and the course I’ve been planning isn’t selling as well as I hoped. But I’ve already been here for two or three years. And then you think, okay, well if I had assumed the worst from the beginning, I would never have started, you wouldn’t do it at all.
So the worst case is, okay, I was there for three years and then I have to go back because there’s no other way. But at least I had those three wonderful, amazing years in the sun.
And the worst that can happen is often that maybe you have to go to the employment office in Germany and register there temporarily, briefly, to receive support.
That’s perhaps the worst that can happen.
Or that it all doesn’t feel as great as you imagined.
Or that the job you start somehow isn’t as great as expected.
So what? Then you just go back to where you were before, right?
That’s what I’ve always told myself when I try something new – I can always go back to marketing. I love marketing, have always loved it, but maybe I need a different direction in marketing.
Maybe this will lead me to a different path I can take in marketing.
You don’t know any of this beforehand because we’re constantly changing. We have so many processes of change within us.
The Path to Your Career Restart
What’s important is that you don’t set out without a plan and that you also don’t wait forever, but that you really get into the right energy.
That’s another important point, truly, that you stay positive.
Have confidence in your path and simply try things out.
Life is actually a long process of continuously experimenting, trying things out, letting yourself fall into a new adventure.
And that, I believe, is really how we should look at it.
There are of course ups and downs, and I have them just like everyone else.
But that’s just how it is, and I wish you lots and lots and lots of fun with it.
Go at your own pace, step by step. I always say Baby Steps, Baby Steps. You wouldn’t believe where you’ll be in six months if you keep taking Baby Steps.
What’s important is to remember that you’re not starting from scratch.
You’re starting with your experience, with the experience you’ve gathered in jobs, with your family, with your children.
Everything you bring with you is incredible, an incredible treasure of experience.
And you’re allowed to change, you’re also allowed to change your mind, that’s what’s important.
You can simply go out, try something and say, that wasn’t it, I tried it, it’s somehow not my thing, I imagined it differently. Cool, now I know something about myself that I didn’t know before. And now I can take a different path.
We need to stop always moving in directions where the goal is somehow to do everything perfectly and correctly, because that’s simply not how life works.
Not every project you abandon is a failure.
There are so many reasons why things don’t work for people.
Life is an adventure, life is an experiment. And yes, enjoy it, have fun with it, fun is the most important thing.
I’m glad you listened today. I hope this has helped you a little bit on your journey.
Feel free to tune in to the next episode next week. I always appreciate when you share the episode. If you think someone could benefit from you sharing the episode, then please do so by all means, it helps me incredibly to make Mama What’s Next even more well-known, even more popular, and to reach even more mothers, by giving even more mothers the confidence to follow their path and dare to follow their hearts.
