Reading: How to Take Your Industry Expertise With You In Reinvention

Many of us have devoted our careers to industries that are almost unrecognizable to what they were when we started. Or we find ourselves at companies that no longer value our contribution. But there is good news: we take our valuable expertise with us. No one can take away the lessons we have learned on the job — no matter what your profession. The key is to find how to translate them into something new. Check out these two episodes of Reinvent Yourself with Lesley Jane Seymour to hear more. 

#67 Vera Gibbons

Vera Gibbons, a TV reporter in the financial area who got squeezed out due to 24/7 Trump coverage, leveraged her nose for news into her own daily newsletter, Nonpolitical News, which she shares with her more than 25k subscribers. “Test the waters,” she says of your idea. “See if it’s viable before you invest time and money into it.” Gibbons knows that being your own boss means being “lean and mean” to get all the work done. Her challenge is to grow her business organically without pandering to advertisers or sponsorships, or buying lists to show false growth. “Say yes to absolutely everything, every meeting, every conference, every introduction.”

#3 Karen Cahn 

Karen Cahn reinvented herself out of Google and into the first crowdfunding site for women (IFundWomen.com). Karen repeats a favorite mantra of Silicon Valley: “Perfect is the enemy of done.” First things first: entrepreneurs need to create a minimal viable product (an MVP), but only spend as much money as you are comfortable losing. Don’t strive for perfection. Put out good enough, test the market, and then listen for feedback. Karen notes how hard it is for women to find women to help through the process of a new business. This struggle is in part why she started iFundWomen. “It’s our mission to teach other women how to do it, get funded so they can get on their way.”