If pivots are OK for celebs, they're OK for us
Beekeeping, anyone?
I’ve been watching Clarkson’s Farm. Love him or loathe him, I think the series is very funny and, of course, Clarkson and Kaleb are my ‘neighbours’, I’m just a few miles down the road from the farm.
Clarkson even does - and this is possibly the most middle-class thing to write - an auction for the local lido once a year. Mr Holliday always buys a tonne of compost.
Anyway. It’s brought me back to an idea that I had a while ago, to ponder on celeb career pivots and how if they’re ok for celebs they’re ok for us. Hollywood actors becoming football managers…. Indie rockers making cheese…
Pivots can seem so huge, so life changing, so dramatic and scary that we only ever dream of them. Instead we watch the (rich and) famous follow their new dreams making career shifts faster than the Stig in a Porsche.
I have reconsidered calling this newsletter ‘Career lessons’ because I am finding myself more and more inspired by things I’m watching or seeing in the world and the career lessons from them. (Let me know if you like that name?!).
So the latest is career lesson is from celebs who pivot - because if pivots are food enough for celebs, why not for us?
Hold on, I hear you say, celebs have the CASH and the TIME to pivot.
Another local career pivoter to me is Victoria Beckham. And indeed David. Pop star to fashion designer. Footballer to… beekeeper? (Hence the bee in the pic).
There are others - Ryan Reynolds, actor to football club owner, Vic Reeves the comedian to Jim Moir the artist and bird watcher.
Having pondered on career-eras last week I am now thinking about how we make the pivot between eras. If you’re going from one caree-era to another, how do you go about it? Is it as easy as the celebs make out?
The easy answer is ‘yes and no’.
Yes, because there is a moment for everyone, famous/rich or not where you say ‘I’m going to do something else’.
There is the risk of failure for anyone who makes a change in their career. Arguably more so for those in the spotlight or on the world stage. What if Clarkson’s farm hadn’t been popular? Victoria Beckham took a big risk with fashion and beauty. When we push into a new career zone where we are a beginner that’s a big push!
It can also be enticing to just quit and go for it with a pivot. But I’d urge caution. You may look at those celebs who seem to just ‘jump’ into something new - I can guarantee you there has been a lot of planning behind the scenes. There isn’t just a ‘day’ where everything changes.
Another big pivot is from ‘employment’ (AKA a real job) to freelancing or being self-employed.
I’ve done that one many times and it’s super scary. But also very exciting.
There are things we need in place before we pivot. The ‘boring’ stuff like money and a plan, but also the emotional stuff. How might this change our life as a whole? Is it a pivot or just a side-hustle or hobby? Do we really want to do the big thing, are we prepared for failure or (scarier) success?
The biggest thing I’ve learned in all my pivoting is it’s not a one-way journey. You’ll go back and forth, and things will overlap. You don’t have to abandon old you and your old career (Clarkson still films Grand Tour, VB still sings at parties).
Making a pivot can seem so grand that we feel we have to say goodbye to our previous era but I’ve found that we become a Venn diagram of old us and new us. I really thought when I trained as a coach I’d never write much again. Journalist Jenny would be a thing of the past.
She has, in some ways. I don’t write real life stories anymore and I don’t pitch, but I do write in my day job and of course there is this substack.
so the conclusion is perhaps pivots are less of a ‘PIVOT!’ and more of a gentle turn, a soft seesaw through to the next era.
And if you want it to be beekeeping, why not?
xJenny
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