Navigating Transition and Finding Alignment
Olivia is officially pivoting out of corporate and into entrepreneurship full time! She is also moving to Jamaica with her husband. It is with these transitions that we decided on the theme for this episode - navigating transition and finding alignment.
Any career transition comes with its own set of challenges and triumphs. We’re sharing personal stories and strategies for finding alignment and maintaining clarity during these significant life changes.
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1) The Value of Alignment
If you want to pivot out of corporate and into entrepreneurship, think carefully about your reasons for doing so. It should not be because you think entrepreneurship will be easier.
Think about alignment.
“If you are in alignment, the abundance will come.” - Olivia Cream
Olivia has found this to be true both with her coaching clients and with herself.
“It's uncomfortable because you don't know where it's coming from, but it's coming.” - Olivia Cream
Stop seeking external validation and get clear on what you want.
“What I can tell you from firsthand experience is that you should absolutely kill the noise.” - Olivia Cream
If you're in the midst of transitioning, this is what matters:
What you want to accomplish.
The why behind what you want to accomplish.
Your metrics. For example, how much money you need to make in a certain amount of time.
“All you need to know is what you want. The rest will come, I promise you.” - Olivia Cream
This alignment does not happen overnight, and it may change over time.
“Take time to do that evaluation consistently to check if you are most in alignment with what you're doing at that point in time.” - Archita Fritz
2) Understanding Your Passions, Values, Goals & Priorities
The first step to a successful transition is understanding your passions, values, goals, and priorities.
Olivia’s journey began a decade ago. She was in a job that, from the outside, looked perfect, but she was struggling with the amount of traveling she was doing. At the same time, she and her husband decided that their ultimate goal was to move to Jamaica one day. They had put financial goals in place to be able to do this.
With this goal in mind, Oliva was able to leverage her network and get promoted at work.
“Everything that I needed to be a VP of HR, I was getting those skills in this new role.” - Olivia Cream
The VP title that Olivia wanted aligned with the compensation that she needed for her personal plan of heading back to Jamaica. However, she hit the glass ceiling.
“Figure out if you can win where you sit or if it's time to pivot. I went through the process and realized it was probably time to pivot.” - Olivia Cream
Once she made up her mind to pivot, she got a call from a seemingly amazing company.
“So I took the opportunity that checked five of seven boxes that I needed it to check.” - Olivia Cream
The two conditions that the new opportunity didn't check turned out to be much more important to her than she initially thought they were.
Aligning your career with your goals is only part of the equation - staying true to your deeper priorities and values is just as crucial.
3) The Importance of a Supportive Network
When we have goals that we feel strongly about, we sometimes make decisions in pursuit of these goals that are not actually that beneficial to us.
“This is where you need your people around you. You need your coaches. You need your friends.” - Archita Fritz
If you don’t have people who can hold a mirror up to your actions, you may end up completely burned out.
“Your network, when you are going through these things, has to be bulletproof. The only reason I realized that I was creating another environment that ironically I would not love, is because I had people like [Archita].” - Olivia Cream
It is so easy to spot the patterns in other people's behavior and so hard to spot those same patterns in ourselves, even if you are self-reflective.
“You have to find people that are willing to tell you the truth.” - Olivia Cream
4) Creating a Financial Safety Net
Money is an important part of making a career transition.
“If you are operating from a place of desperation, [...] it eliminates your ability to be creative and innovative, and it puts pressure on you when you're trying to make these pivots.” - Olivia Cream
From a financial perspective, you have to get to a point where you feel comfortable making the pivot, and you are not operating from desperation mode.
Olivia and her husband’s financial plan began back in 2015. Before that, they hadn’t had clear savings goals and had not saved up that much money. They had to get their finances right to give them the mental capacity to be able to focus on what the pivot actually looks like.
They focused on these three things:
Emergency fund
Cash
Assets
With a financial safety net, Olivia and her husband can make the move to Jamaica and test out their dream, and if it doesn’t work out, they will still be okay. They won’t be suffering.
5) Culture Fit and Workplace Values
Culture fit and workplace values are a huge part of any role you decide to take.
“You cannot leave yourself stranded to be a victim of whatever environment you happen to enter.” - Olivia Cream
The seemingly amazing company that Olivia started at ended up not being a culture fit.
“You don't know what you don't know about a company until you're in it. You just don't know. You can do all the research, you can do all the checks and balances, but you don't know what you're going to get until you're in it.” - Olivia Cream
This was a big learning experience for Olivia.
“What I learned here is I was so focused on my financial goals [...] that I did not pay attention to needing mutual trust and respect in the workplace and needing cultural fit in the workplace.” - Olivia Cream
Olivia pushed these two priorities aside because the money was good and was what she needed to get to Jamaica.
“What I realized is those are baseline things for me. If there's not mutual trust and respect, if the culture is not good, there is not enough money on this planet to get me to sign up for that from this point on.” - Olivia Cream
The longer you stay in an environment that is misaligned with your core values and your passions, the more you dim your light.
“You fill yourself with so much doubt that by the time you realize it, you wake up and you're a shadow of your former self. You can do nothing from that place.” - Olivia Cream
Olivia’s original plan was to stay at that company for a few more years to make a bit more money for her move to Jamaica. It may seem like her leaving the company is a step backward. This couldn’t be further from the truth.
“You could have the money in the bank, you could have time, you could have everything, but if you don’t have a sense of self during that time of transition, [...] none of those steps will add up to anything that will move you forward.” - Archita Fritz
When you are building a life in alignment toward what you want, you have to look at it from multiple angles.
Family
Community
Spirituality
Health
Hobbies
Relationships
Make sure that you’re not betraying yourself in any areas of your life in pursuit of the goal.
6) Taking Control of Your Life
We have to take a proactive approach with our careers and lives. You are the only one in charge of your life.
Olivia gave a great analogy that describes this perfectly:
“If you are a parent, [...] you would not give up the ability to make decisions about what is happening with your child to anyone.” - Olivia Cream
Why not take the same control over your life?
“I want you to imagine that your career decisions are you making decisions for your inner child. Imagine you're the parent and you're making decisions to protect your inner child, you need to go after your career with that same gusto.” - Olivia Cream
If you work in corporate, do not give your power to your manager.
“The data is out there. Go look at Gallup. [...] Managers are unprepared. [...] Here you are surrendering your power, your checkpoints, your milestones, your goals, your future to someone that is saying, I'm not prepared for this.” - Olivia Cream
At the end of the day, your manager doesn’t owe you anything.
“They are figuring things out just as much as you are. So help yourself and be proactive.” - Archita Fritz
7) Debunking the ‘Growth at All Costs’ Myth
“Growth at all costs” is not the way to make a successful transition.
Ask yourself these questions:
What is important to you?
How do you want to work?
How do you want to feel at work?
“For all the business leaders out there, when your people are aligned and engaged, your business grows exponentially because engaged employees significantly outperform non-engaged ones.” - Olivia Cream
However, you shouldn’t wait for your company to take care of you. You have to take care of yourself.
Archita recently prepared for a half marathon, but at the same time, she was struggling with sinus infections and allergies.
Her sister gave her some good advice: You could run the race, but you're going to do your larger mission a disservice.
“I have two keynotes coming up over the next two weeks, back to back in two separate countries. I'm there to be in service of that audience, and I cannot be up there hacking away, not having my thoughts clear, because I'm still feeling sick. What is the right thing here in pursuit of the larger mission? And so I decided to find a replacement and not run the race.” - Archita
Not following through can make you feel like a failure, but sometimes, it is the right thing to do in pursuit of your larger mission.
“If there's anything that you are doing right now that you are prepared for, [...] but you have not checked in with how it is most in alignment with your larger mission, take a moment please to do that because otherwise your legacy, your body, your health, your everything will be in sacrifice of this short term achievement.” - Archita Fritz
Think about the return on investment for your effort.
“Every time you expend energy, what are you getting back?” - Olivia Cream
Instead of chasing the next degree or certificate just because you think that is what you are supposed to do, ask yourself if this is worth the effort you are spending on it.
“We tell ourselves these stories and we expend this energy and we collect these acronyms behind our names and we collect another certificate to put on LinkedIn in pursuit of what? [...] What are you building and what does it cost you in terms of energy expenditure?” - Olivia Cream
If you enjoyed this conversation, here are a few more episodes you might like:
Episode 87: Redefining Productivity and Thriving Amidst Struggle with Grace Marshall
Episode 85: Embracing Freedom: How to Create the Reality You Desire
Episode 82: Networking, Financial Planning, and Saying NO with Tamara Sniffen
To hear the full conversation, scroll all the way up and tune into episode 88.
About The Hosts: Archita And Olivia
ARCHITA
Archita Sivakumar Fritz is the Host and Producer of the Embracing Only Podcast. Archita is a MedTech and Life Science Strategist. She is a LinkedIn Top Voice for her insights into product strategy and nonprofit management, and the creation of inclusive cultures that champion a 'speak up' philosophy.
Following a successful 19+ year corporate career she now helps C Suite across organizations as a Fractional Product Marketing Leader through her company Ready Set Bold.
She works with individuals with 10+ years of corporate experience to find new paths away from toxic or underappreciative environments, enabling both personal fulfillment and broader organizational impact.
→ Grab your FREE resource to build your career transition here: https://embracingonly.com/cubicle-escape-blueprint
→ If you want to work with Archita you can reach out to her here: www.architafritz.com
→ Book her as a speaker, moderator, or coach for your next company event or workshop.
OLIVIA
Olivia Grant Cream is the host and producer of the Embracing Only podcast. Nothing makes her happier than providing a platform to women who are changing the world.
Olivia is a proud US Veteran and HR Leader who is passionate about changing the face of corporate America by helping underrepresented people reclaim their power and live the life of their dreams.
She is an advocate for transitioning military members seeking second careers in the corporate landscape.
Olivia is a proud Jamaican and enjoys mentoring, coaching, classic cars, and nature. The way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
→ You can work with Olivia here: www.oliviacre
→ Book her as a keynote speaker or moderator for your next ERG or company event.