From imposter to multi-hyphenate
Transitioning my professional identity/ies
Imagine a novelist, seated at an expansive wooden desk in front of a picture window, overlooking rolling green hills and wildflowers.
Or perhaps a foreign correspondent, in an anonymous hotel, frantically banging out copy on their laptop, rushing to break a shocking story on the other side of the world.
Is this what comes to mind when you’re asked to envisage a writer?
Hi, I’m Holly - coach, mindfulness facilitator and author of Zestful Zen. I write about self-care, change, personal growth, mindfulness, and purpose. If you like life to be full of zest and energy, complemented by a zen, calm mind, Zestful Zen is the community for you! 💖✨
I never considered myself a writer. That was something creative, arty people did.
The inspired wordsmiths, whose prose and poetry bubbled up out of them.
The disciplined authors, rising at 5am to add 1000 words before dawn.
The smiling memoirists, signing copies of their latest bestsellers.
Who is a real writer anyway? Certainly not the little old me of three months ago.
Yet here I am, hitting the quarter-year “birthday” of my Substack publication.
Growing out of (and into) labels
I never really thought of my career as being my identity.
Over the years, I’ve had lots of different roles in different countries: teacher, IT support, programme manager, team leader...
My speciality, if you could call it that, was picking up and starting afresh. Arriving as a beginner, but quickly becoming the go-to-person you’d turn to for help and advice.
But somewhere along the way, after reaching a certain level, work became stale, there was little to learn, and I lost my inspiration. I was stagnating.
In my brain, I became my job, in the worst way: pigeon-holed and stuck with no vision of an alternative. I couldn’t fathom finding a new career path in my forties.
Fast-forward a couple of years, and I’m in a different place entirely.
I discovered the magic of coaching when my employer asked me to train as a “corporate contribution”.
I leapt at the chance to use my brain in a new way, and luckily, it turned out I love coaching my colleagues. I’d finally found the next exciting fork in my career journey.
Was this who I was now?
Sadly, at work I’m not seen as “a coach”. Coaching is just something I do voluntarily (side note: why are corporate contributions so undervalued??)
So at first, I felt a bit of an imposter. But my brain started making the mental shift anyway as I grew my vision for a side-hustle. Now I happily introduce myself to strangers as a coach.
From daily grind to a portfolio approach
Despite my perpetual job-hopping, I’ve always thrown myself in fully to one “traditional professional” salaried job at a time. This held me back from seeing a way out when my enthusiasm for my current organisation flat-lined.
Although I loved coaching, this time last year I couldn’t see it replacing my full-time job (especially the income). The thought of leaping into self-employment without a safety-net was terrifying.
(And I could imagine my late dad’s horror had I hinted at leaving my “proper” job that he was so proud of.)
But now I see that a portfolio career could offer me what I’ve been searching for:
I long for the autonomy of setting my own direction without a boss to answer to.
I want to choose how I work (goodbye hundreds of daily emails and pointless meetings!)
And when I work (farewell 9-5/unpaid overtime - hello afternoon workouts and evening workshops).
I need variety and growth opportunities – the freedom to follow my curiosity and pick up projects that excite me.
I want to make a difference in people’s lives, using my skills and strengths.
My head says a portfolio approach comes with greater uncertainty and financial risk. Yet my gut shouts back, “does it really?!”
I see frequent headlines lately about companies trying to avoid costly layoffs by forcing staff back into the office 5 days a week - in the hope they’ll head to the exit themselves without severance pay.
So is hedging my bets with multiple income streams really the riskier option?
And call me cynical, but as a woman in mid-age, I’ve seen opportunities for me and colleagues in this demographic dry up in our organisation, as managers choose energetic bright young things over those with more expertise and experience.
A suspicious mind might think that as we find our mid-age voices and become less compliant, we no longer fit the corporate mould cast for us.
✨✨✨✨✨
A portfolio career might be less predictable, but one thing I know in life is that I can rely on myself.
I’ll build my portfolio with enthusiasm and overcome obstacles.
If I believe in what I’m doing, I’ll get there, one way or another. Detours along the way just add extra adventure.
So, these days I’ve shifted from thinking “better the devil you know”, to “if not now, then when?” and I’ve given myself a kick up the arse to carpe diem my career.
Embracing my multi-hyphenate “identity”
2024 has been a period of professional reinvention. I got my coaching certification, qualified as a mindfulness facilitator, and two months into Substack publishing, started calling myself a writer.
These different career facets can support and leverage each other.
So, who am I, now?
I’m curious, creative, evolving.
I’m kind (to myself and others).
I’m someone who can build things from scratch and pivot as needed.
I’m mindful about filling my life with nourishing people and experiences.
I’m an adventurer, always on a quest to learn new things.
I’m increasingly fulfilled and intellectually stimulated.
I’m a coach-writer-mindfulness practitioner multi-hyphenate solopreneur.
Maybe one day I’ll be an artist, poet, gardener, who knows what?
The world is still my oyster, and I don’t have to fit into a box that I’ve outgrown.
Questions for self-reflection or journalling
What are the top three things you want from your career?
What work fulfils and excites you?
What environment allows you to perform at your best?
What challenges you in a good way?
Do you thrive on variety or routine?
What would you like to change about your work life?
Let’s share ✨
I’d love to hear your thoughts about portfolio careers and multi-hyphenate work life. Is it for you? Or you wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole?
Let’s have a conversation in the comments or subscriber chat. Or feel free to drop me a DM. 💬
Have a sublime Saturday, friends! 🌞
If you enjoyed this post, it would mean the world to me if you’d comment, hit the heart button, share with others, or subscribe to Zestful Zen for free! Thank you lovely people ✨
Happy for you, Holly!
Yes! Do this. You are anyway. There is not turning back once a path reveals itself. I've been living like this for ages and it is financially insecure BUT I have learned a lot about what I can live without and all the things I have to 'give up' because I couldn't afford them turned out not worth having anyway. Life is so unsure anyway, may as well throw yourself into the raging river and whoop. It all works out in the ens, however clichéd rhat sounds. I love your line about no longer feeling compliant as you get older (you said it better). It's so true.