Welcome to her comeback! I'm so glad you're back
with me. This is where 50 isn't your finish line.
It is your starting point. The starting point
of everything you want your life to be. The person
that you are meant to be. I'm your host, Michelle
Thompson, and we are proving that your best chapter
may just be the one you haven't written yet.
We'll continue each episode featuring honest
conversation with women who have stopped going
at it alone and have found their way to fulfillment,
joy, and purpose in their second act. You'll
hear about their struggles, their breakthroughs,
and the practical steps that they took to create
lives that they actually love. This podcast will
show you how other women have made their comeback
and how you can too. Welcome back. Hi, good day
everyone. Welcome to her comeback. I am so happy
to have with me today my guest Denise Quinn.
Denise, welcome. How are you? I'm great, Michelle.
How are you today? I'm doing well so you are
a career transition coach right tell us about
yourself. Sure so i work with candidates that
have either recently gotten laid off. And they're
looking for their next career stop, whether that's
a new job, opening a business, it could be an
active retirement transition. And then I also
work with individuals that are currently working,
but they're looking to make some kind of career
change, whether it's within. their own company,
whether it's leaving, maybe again opening a business
or thinking about retiring and so basically working
with mostly mid -career professionals that are
looking to make some kind of career transition.
Great, now I know you weren't always in this
particular business or industry. You've experienced
some transformations in your journey and our
stories are similar in the sense that we both
have backgrounds in project management and then
now we both are in coaching and we live in the
same neighborhood and we have some really great
similarities. Tell us a little bit more about
a pivotal moment when you realized that you needed
to leave your corporate environment and reinvent
yourself. Sure. So I've been through two layoffs
myself. My first layoff was after being with
the company for 20 years. It's easy to look back
now and say, wow, that was the best thing that
happened to me. But it really was because that
got me thinking about what I wanted to be when
I grew up. I've always been very spiritual and
I look at opportunities to say, OK, do I need
to make a shift in my life? So that first layoff
in about 2016, 2017 really encouraged me to get
my coaching certificate. I always love of the
people part of my job. I was a coach and mentor
at my previous job. I worked with a lot of young
people on their resumes and networking and interviewing.
And they wanted to see where I could take that.
So that was my first step. Life goes on, went
back to work. My husband and I relocated to Florida,
you know, illnesses, death, all that kind of
stuff. I ended up going back into a corporate
environment. and not even a year later i got
laid off again which again looking back was a
great experience i cried and then i was like
okay this is it and that's when i made the decision
that i was done with corporate and at that point
it was a lot of conversation with my husband
and a lot of soul searching to find my next step
so what were the doubts that you had about this
do -over start over in midlife Can you walk us
through some of that thinking? Sure. Unfortunately,
it always comes down to money. My husband and
I, we moved from the East Coast of Florida to
the West Coast. We had just bought a house together.
He was looking for his next job because he had
taken a sabbatical. And when you work in a corporate
environment, the money is good, the benefits
are good. I was carrying the benefits. And so
I had to really think about financially what
a change could look like. What could the impact
on my relationship with my husband look like
the flexibility? I didn't want to be in the car
for three hours a day like I was up in Jersey.
So it was just a lot of thinking and strategizing
and planning at that point. But that's what I
did in my work life. So it was natural for me
to switch and focus on myself. Oh, great. Now
did when you made this decision that people around
you supported or were there any skeptics? My
husband was probably the biggest skeptic because
it was going to impact how we live the most.
It's been trusting when you As a woman, when
you think about making a transition like that,
most women are more supportive of it because
they understand where you're at. When I think
back to my family and friends, I have very supportive
friends. I have a tribe around me. A lot of my
friends are also my mentors. And so I was able
to bounce things off of them. I was able to ask
questions. I have two friends that are entrepreneurs.
So I had a good group of people around me that
were very supportive and gave me great advice.
So from that perspective, it wasn't that hard.
I did go back to work, but in higher ed. So the
first part of my transition was a full -time
job, but it was in coaching. And so I made baby
steps to get to where I am now. I knew it wasn't
going to be corporate. I knew it wasn't going
to be project management. And I just happened
to find a great coaching job at a local university.
Oh, that's wonderful. So how long you've described
the journey from getting that first spark, that
first idea to actually making the leap. What
was the time period that you're talking about
here? Probably a solid six to seven years. Okay.
And I got my coaching certificate. I did, it
was a year long process. And so I was being coached.
I was coaching. I worked for a nonprofit for
a number of years doing career transition coaching.
So in that time period, I did a lot of coaching.
My university job that I was at for about four
years, I was a full time coach and trainer and
adjunct. And so I didn't transition out of a
full time job until last October. And that's
when I made the big jump. Wow. Good for you.
Can you share a moment during the transition
where you was like, Oh my God, what have I done?
What did I just get myself into? Have you ever
had any moment like that? Oh, yes. So when I
decided to leave my full -time job and I was
carrying the benefits, there was a lot of that
stress. My husband is very supportive. He would
never say no to me, but I knew he wasn't really
thrilled with it. And so I made the commitment
to join a coaching company, a career transition
company. And about four weeks in, I had a breakdown.
I was having challenges with my technology and
i wasn't getting enough clients and my paychecks
were minuscule. And i was like i think i just
made a really big mistake because i gave up and
it wasn't a great salary but it was still a salary
with benefits and i did have a probably three
day panic. I think i made a mistake but i always
believe like we have to give ourselves if we
can. two to three months to really work through
it. And once I talked to my mentors and really
did some soul searching, I knew that that was
a test for me. It was like, OK, if you can get
through this feeling, you're going to be OK.
And I just jumped back in, gave myself the three
months. I had a plan B if I needed to, which
was to go back to work, but I didn't need to
do that. And so I've been hitting the ground
running and I am just so thrilled with where
I'm at right now. During that time, can you think,
was there something specific that gave you that
stick -to -it -iveness, if you will, to just
keep at it? Can you identify what it was that
just made you, I'm not going to quit. Was there
anything specific that - It was the joy. Like
I knew, and people say this, what do you want
to do? I want to help people, right? We all say
that, especially coaches, we want to help people.
And I knew that was my pack. I knew that I needed
to work with people one -on -one or small groups
because I could really help them. And it was
the joy of that. And when I weighed the pros
and cons of going back to work versus being an
entrepreneur or working for myself, that type
of stuff, I knew deep down that's what excited
me. And so even though I had those three days
of dread, That went away and I love waking up
every morning and getting on calls with candidates
and working with clients and seeing their success.
It was, I think, an internal joy and the fire
that was burning, even though it dimmed, it was
still there. I wanted to take advantage of that
and give myself a chance. Awesome. And I know
now you're so glad you did, right? Absolutely.
I am in the best situation right now. Wonderful.
As you describe this transformation and How has
that changed how you show up as a coach for other
women going through these type transitions? I
think when other women hear my story, they realize
that they're not alone in their thoughts. They're
not alone in how they're feeling. They know that
it can be done. One of the things I think that
makes me a good coach is I'm pretty blunt and
I'm pretty straightforward. And so if somebody
said, well, I'm going to quit my job tomorrow
and do this and do this. I'm going to be like,
time out. Let's put a strategy together. And
that's the project management piece of it. It
would be great to quit your job and then think
you're going to have a hundred clients coming
in and you're making six figures. And it's not
that easy. Mine was almost a six year transition.
I'm still building my private business, but I
have what I call a portfolio career. So I have
a part -time job. I have my. clients it's always
evolving and I think it's important that I can
tell my story and then meet women where they
are and say okay so now you know my story let's
create your story and make sure that we're taking
care of those needs the financial the mental
the family whatever it is that's in your life
that you need that you're responsible for. What
did you gain in this, in making this change that
you could have never had if you would have stayed
in corporate, if you would have stayed where
you were? I think it's controlling my destiny.
It's being my own boss. And I have a leadership
team that I report into and I have rules and
regulations, but at the end of the day, I run
my client meetings myself. I am their one -on
-one coach. So I get to manage that. I get to.
meet people where they are and get them to where
they need to be without being told what to do.
And so I just I have so much more freedom in
my personal life and my spiritual life in my
work life now that I can help people I can decide
who I want to help and I can help them how I
think and how they want to be helped. Great.
So what mine set shifts help women reclaim confidence
in a job market that often overlooks mature professionals.
We're competing against millennials or Gen Z.
So what do you see there in terms of mindset?
From a mindset perspective, I think it's around
knowing your worth and knowing your value. And
so when I'm working with clients, Most clients
will come to me and say, I need a new resume
and LinkedIn profile. And then we start digging
into it. And I say, what's your value? What do
you bring to an employer? What do you bring to
your team? Because that's what we need to hold
on to. And sometimes we don't know. What we do
or how good we are and so really thinking about
why is my boss paying me for this work what changes
have I made what am I contributing to the workforce
because once you understand and appreciate your
values and your skills. Then you can start to
really reframe situations I do a lot of reframing
with clients and say okay let's look at that
a different way. Because it's not always about
us. Sometimes it's about other people, and we
just have to rise above that. And the more confident
we are in what we bring to the table, I think
that easier it becomes to manage through the
stresses of today's environment. So should women
at midlife over 50 include all their experience
on their resume, or is there a better approach?
It really depends. And so when we think about
women that are thinking about career transition,
thinking about resumes and LinkedIn, even though
those documents are talking about their past
experiences, we want to write that with a future
outlook. And so if you did something in your
20s that relates to what you want to do going
forward, then we should put it on your resume.
We might not put dates on it. But we want to
show that, you know, 15, 20 years ago, you did
that. And so it really is individualized based
on what the goal of the woman is. And those documents
are marketing documents. And so we want to look
at it with a marketing eye for the future. What
are some of the biggest mistakes you see on either
LinkedIn profiles or resumes for experienced
professionals? Usually, it's very operational.
I answer phones, I complete forms, very operational
day -to -day tasks, as opposed to, what did you
accomplish? Well, I managed this project and
saved this much money. I am a tax attorney and
I've done this many cases and solved this issue.
It's really about what have you accomplished,
not that day -to -day operational stuff. It's
what can you do for me? That's what an employer
is looking for. And so through coaching, we...
We coach people to really think about wow i've
accomplished a lot in my job and these are the
things i want to accomplish in a new company
or in a new role. So in interviews thinking about
the interview process i'm thinking about some
of those questions there when they're really
asking like how old are you are are you too old
there's some kind of an underlying hint of that.
How should women respond when they hear those
things? I think there's two pieces to that. So
I, I believe when we are on an interview, we're
interviewing the company. And so if we're getting
that vibe that the hiring manager or the team
is looking to discount me because of my age,
then I probably don't want to work there anywhere.
So I'm not going to get too crazy over the interview
because why would you want to work for a company
like that? With that being said, I think, again,
it's really important for women to talk about
their accomplishments as it relates to the job,
to show that they can take feedback, that they're
flexible, that they can mentor. And so there
might be questions like, tell me about a time
you received feedback that you didn't agree with.
They're trying to figure out whether you're open
to feedback and change. Tell me about a time
you disagreed with something your boss told you
to do. Again, the hiring manager is looking for,
are you flexible? Are you going to do what I
want you to do? Or are you so locked in to the
old ways of doing things that you're not trainable
and I can't work with you? Sometimes we're interviewing
with people that are much younger than us. And
so we have to be really careful that we don't
come out or come across as being smarter than
the interviewer. And I'm not saying dumb it down.
I'm not at all. You don't want to start talking
to the interviewer about how you worked with
the C -suite when you're working with somebody
that probably doesn't see the C -suite. Or you
don't want to talk about strategy if it's more
an operational role. So you really have to understand
the role and then put your source stories together
or your accomplishments in a way that you show
that you will support and work well with that
hiring manager and team. So it's a thing of really
knowing your audience, right? Absolutely. And
I think there may be a soft skill with that,
right? There's kind of some discretion that you
need to kind of know that, okay, for this audience,
pivot this way and then another audience another
way. And that's the great reading body language
especially women women are really good at listening
and they're good at body language they're good
at reading the room they've got empathy for people
and i think we discount those skills. And a corporate
environment but i think that's the advantage
that we have in a workforce and interview specifically
i can tell if i'm hitting the market interview
or if i just lost the interviewer or. If I don't
want the job, then I don't care. I'm just going
to survive the interview and then say thanks
for interviewing me. I'm moving on to something
else. So what do you think about how women can
leverage their professional networks? And maybe
they've spent years at just one industry or one
company. How do you think those networks come
in? In today's job environment, networking is
so critical. We know that most people will land
their job through their network. And so women
that have strong networks should really put a
strategy together to manage that network, even
before they start thinking about making a change.
So check in, let's have coffee, let's have a
virtual coffee. How's the family? understanding
different times of the year. Hey, your birthday
popped up on LinkedIn. Just wanted to say happy
birthday. It's really critical to nurture those
networks because you don't want to start engaging
because you need something from them. And so
nurturing them and then. also thinking about
how you expand that network. So if you're thinking
about making a change, does somebody in your
network know somebody in the industry or company
where you want to make the change to? Can they
do an introduction? That's probably the biggest
thing women don't do well is we put our heads
down at our job and we don't network. We don't
learn about culture. We aren't engaging with
people. We aren't adding people to LinkedIn.
We're not following up. And those skills are
so critical. And then you talked about professional
network. Don't overlook your personal network,
your neighbors, your friends, your family members,
the people you meet in yoga class, right? The
people you might meet at a happy hour or a party.
Those folks can be just as helpful or even more
helpful than your professional network. Very
good advice. That's so true. And I know for me
personally, starting my own business, it was
exactly what you're saying, reaching out to people,
trying to make that contact and asking them for
feedback. Hey, I'm thinking about doing this.
I'm doing some coaching and do you know anything
about it? Have you know somebody in business?
Just asking them for feedback so that, I don't
know, it's like you're connecting in some way
with them, like bringing them in and making yourself
a little bit vulnerable to you because, you know,
they could come back with some nice things or
maybe not nice. You don't know. And plus, then
you're also on top of mind. One of my clients
specifically came to me through somebody I met
when I was at the university. We connected on
LinkedIn. We check in once in a while. Somebody
called her and said, hey, do you need a coach
for somebody I know? And it was like three dimensions
of networking, but I ended up getting multiple
clients just by that one person who. I stumbled
upon, like we had some connections and so I cherish
that relationship. I respect it. We check in
once in a while, but I would have never thought
when I met her a couple of years ago that she
would be so instrumental in my private coaching
business. And my private coaching business has
been all word of mouth at this point. It's important
to me to maintain my network, make sure that
I'm top of mind of people. And when somebody
says, Oh, I need a resume. I'm thinking about
leaving my job. I'm the first person that pops
into their mind. It's relationship building,
right? It's all about building relationships.
So important. Yes. Um, so if someone is feeling
stuck or overwhelmed about what's my next career
move, what's the first thing you suggest to them?
Besides calling me, let's say start journaling,
start writing down. I always say to my clients,
if you, if I had a magic wand and said, you could
do anything, regardless of money, training, certification,
whatever, what is it you want to do and start
to think about that. And then the next thing
is use and play with AI. AI has become a really
good tool. You can engage with AI and say, I'm
a 50 year old woman with this kind of background
and I'm looking to get into this industry or
I'm looking to shift into this. What are some
steps I need to take? And then start engaging
with the tool. It's really good to do that research
and really think about what could the future
look like for you. And then engage with somebody
talk to people network build those relationships
if you need the formality of coaching you need
help with your resume need help with the marketing
aspect you need to say okay. I've done some research.
I think I know what I want to do. Now I put the
strategy together, then work with our career
transition coach or a life coach or somebody
that can help you really put that plan together,
challenge you, holds you accountable. So what
would you say for the woman is in this space
and they choose to work with a career transition
coach versus that woman who, okay, they're in
the same space, but. They go at it alone. They're
just trying to figure it out. What would you
say, based on just years of the people that you've
known, the difference in where they end up? Do
you have any thoughts about that? We are one
of our worst critics. And so we are critical
of ourselves we underestimate our value we underestimate
our skill set. We can't get out of our own way
because we are constantly putting up roadblocks
for ourselves and so when you work with a coach
that coach. Can really challenge you to say okay
michelle i know you're better than that what's
the three things you accomplished in the past
year. What is it you wanna do. OK, what prevents
you from doing it tomorrow? And so a coach is
going to start asking questions and really challenge
those assumptions that are holding you back.
A coach can also, and this is where it's less
coaching, a little more consulting, but really
talk to you about, have you looked at this? Have
you researched this? Let's take a look at your
resume. I'm in a very unique position because
I am a certified coach, so I can definitely do
the coaching piece. But as a career transition
coach, I also am part consultant because I will
help you look at your resume and really get it
to the point that's going to be successful for
you as you're applying. Look and analyze your
LinkedIn so that more people are reaching out
to you. Teach you how to use LinkedIn so you're
rising to the top. And so there is the coaching
piece to build you up and then the consulting
piece to help put all of that stuff in play.
and help you build that strategy for success,
because sometimes we can't get out of our own
ways. Oh, so true. And for myself, this experience
for me this last year and building a business,
if I wouldn't have had a coach working with a
coach, helping me as a coach to work through
some of this stuff, because even when we know
coaching and and we have the tools and skill
sets to help other people. We still need a coach
because we can't see our own blind spots just
because we're good at assisting others. We still
need that help for ourselves from someone else
that outside looking in and everything you said
about we can't see the blocks. We don't get where
we're getting tripped up. Is there anything else
that you'd like to share with the audience, whether
about they're going through a career transition
or just anything about midlife and women? Anything
else that you would like to share that we haven't
really touched on yet? I would just end with
career transitions don't have to be quick. and
they don't have to be linear. Sometimes there's
ebbs and flows. Sometimes you go in a direction
and then realize you need to shift a little bit.
Sometimes like for me, it was multiple stages
to get me to where I am. But if you're thinking
about it, that's the good first step, right?
Then the research and starting to put timing
around it. Is there a class I need to take? Is
there some volunteering I need to do? Is there
a networking group I should join? baby steps,
even though they feel like I'm not moving quick
enough, will get you one step closer. And so
I think it's important for people to realize
that it doesn't happen overnight. It's not easy,
but it can absolutely be done. And that's where
coaching can come in and really help and say,
you can do this. Let's figure out what that looks
like, whether it's a three month transition.
or this is what I want to do when I hit 60, or
this is my retirement career. Each one of us
is unique and so our strategy and our plan is
going to be different, but a little bit of action
actually will go a long way towards reaching
your goals. Oh, I love that. It's so true. And
what I know for myself, any transformation that
I have in my life, whether it's with job, career,
or many other areas, it all starts with just
a single step, right? It's just that first step.
Big stuff doesn't happen overnight. It's just
little steps that get you there. It's really
amazing. So Denise, anyone that wants to contact
you, what's the best way for them to get in touch?
The easiest way probably is to connect with me
on LinkedIn, but if you don't have a LinkedIn
account, you can email me at dmqcoaching at iCloud
.com. offer free consultations. I never take
on a client until I've had the ability to have
at least a brief 15, 20 minute conversation to
make sure that we're a good fit because I may
not be the right person, depending on what the
needs are. Wonderful. Thank you so much, Denise.
I really appreciate your time and feedback and
wisdom. And I think our viewers will love it
as well. So I wish you continued success in your
journey and everything. that you're working on
and the life that you're creating for yourself
today. I wish you all the best. Great. Thanks
Michelle. Thanks for giving me this opportunity
to have this conversation with you and good luck
to you too with your business. All right. Thank
you so much. Thank you so much for spending time
with me today. I am truly grateful that you chose
to listen in and I hope that this conversation
sparked something meaningful for you. Please
take a moment to subscribe, leave a review. It
helps other women to find us who need to hear
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