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My Career Journal, part 1.

I’ve been keeping a big secret. I’m back on the job market. I’m introducing this career journal that will walk with me from interviews through to the first 90 days to share with you how I take my own advice, and make it count in the positive impact transition process. I will be posting this on LinkedIn in written form – but shortened by the number of characters allowed for posts there, and I will also be doing a set of video reenactment skits on tik tok and on Instagram.

Stay close, I’m going to take you on this great journey with me.

Ever since I published my book Do What Matters, The Purpose Driven Career Transition Guide, I gave myself permission to do just that, look beyond entrepreneurship to find an opportunity that allows me to have more impact with less anxiety for my family as whole.

To tell you the story that I really want to tell, it will take a few posts, so I’ve decided to tell it in the format of a journal over the next few months. 

As an entrepreneur, I often hear “You are doing so well!!!” 

If I literally had a pound (or perhaps these days a dollar) for every time I heard this phrase I really would be doing well. 

Instead, I’ve had to come to terms with a truly painful reality. As much as I want me and my business to be a force for good, I can’t be that force for good when I spend so much of my time (roughly 50%) on business development, and I cannot outsource my business development without funding. I also cannot have funding without deciding to vest some of my business to a VC or business Angel, and have that external party really engaged in what we are doing.

Perhaps I could do crowd funding or friends and family funding, but none of those options are realistic for the time frame in which I now need to make things happen. All things considered, I just don’t have the critical mass at this time that will make a difference either to my sales, or my investment options, to give us the safety we really need to continue fully on this path. 

The thing for many of us who get into entrepreneurship, particularly in the sustainability space, is that we want to make a difference with our work; we don’t necessarily get into it to run a big company; that’s not the dream. So where some entrepreneurs are excited by business development, growth, large teams, automations, and a pipeline and stream of leads to nurture and develop, I’m personally more thrilled by the work that I do, the difference that I make and seeing the smile on the faces of everyone I touch, or learning about how someone I’ve worked with have gone on to positively impact their business, their workplaces, their relationships, their jobs, or their other projects.

Sure I want to be able to live from my work as an entrepreneur, but if I’d realised how big a sales job this would become for me, I would have made some different decisions earlier on, about what to invest in, and when. That said, I wouldn’t trade a day of these experiences as they have been overwhelmingly positive. 

This is certainly not the end of my entrepreneurial dreams, I still have much to do, and certainly my core body of work will continue as I grow into whichever new role I assume as an employee in the future, but now the business development work I’ve had to commit myself to will slowly ease away, in favour of me giving my best value to projects at work and on the side that enrich me without a link to an income.

I’ve been working on and in my business for 3.5 years. Those of you who know me, know the passion with which I’ve pursued it.  I’ve personally built an incredible body of work. 

Where Ideas Launch is on Track to reach 85 episodes in October. Do What Matters Career and Leadership on Purpose Podcast will reach 15 episodes in October. Do What Matters the Purpose Driven Career Transition Guide Book is still rallying, though weaker sales than on launch. 

My community Women in Sustainable Business continues to grow at about 50 women each week. I continue to contribute to education and change management journeys at large companies with my keynote speeches and courses.

Although my career as an employee is quite decorated with a variety of rich experiences, I feel that in 3.5 years I’ve already surpassed 20 years of corporate experience in the growth I’ve achieved personally. 

I’ve added so many skills to my repository of knowledge and experiences that I can draw upon at any time. This matters, has value, and at a time when the UK is at its most volatile, It feels like the right moment to re-balance my risks and take up another employed position.

The journey I’ve been on since August to find the right opportunity has been fascinating, and I am more than keen to share it. Tune in on for the next edition of this, which will be released every friday. 

follow my account  @ Katherineannbyam on Tik Tok and Instagram to get some different perspectives.