Personal Branding Interview Pamela Mitchell - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Personal Branding Interview Pamela Mitchell - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Today, I spoke to Pamela Mitchell, who is the founder and CEO of The Reinvention Institute, Inc. (TRI), author of The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention: Essential Survival Skills for Any Economy and columnist for Inc.com. In this interview, Pamela talks about the process of career reinvention, examples of those that have made the leap, explains how your career can conflict with your life and more. What is the process of career reinvention? Is it for everyone? Everyone should have a basic career reinvention strategy. At least once a year, ask yourself: “What would I do if I lost this job?” which forces you to plan for a transition, and “What would I WANT to do if I lost this job?” which gets you thinking about how your skills and talents could be used outside of your current industry. Use these questions as a basis for laying out your reinvention strategy. Can you give an example of someone who has successfully made the leap? My book, The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention, contains the real-life stories of ten people who successfully made the leap to new and unexpected careers, using the 10 Laws. We profile people such as the popular Food Network personality Alton Brown, who began his career on the other side of the camera as a videographer; Reggie Mebane, the former COO of Federal Express Trade Networks Transport Brokerage (a $2 billion subsidiary of Federal Express), who parlayed his expertise in the logistics of handling packages into the logistics of saving lives when he went to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control; and Felina Rakowski-Gallagher, a cop who left the force to open New York City’s first breast-feeding boutique. When do people realize that their career path isn’t right for them? What is the first thing they should do? One of the biggest causes of unhappiness I’ve seen among my clients is that their career conflicts with the life they want to live. The road to career satisfaction starts with understanding the needs of your life, including what trade-offs you’re willing to give in order to have that life, and then building a career that can make that happen. Start by doing a self-survey to uncover what it is you seek lifestyle-wise, and use that as a basis to figure what to do next in your career. If you change careers when you’re older is it more difficult to still be successful? There are upsides and downsides to a later-life reinvention. The downside is that someone who’s had 20+ years in a particular industry may be pigeonholed or have a tough time building new networks. The upside is that being older means that having a wealth of knowledge and skills to draw upon, and a track record of accomplishments to back them up. Experience gives those who are older an edge, and knowing the 10 Laws gives them the tools to stay in the game. What advice would you give someone who wants to reinvent their career but lacks confidence? Start with a mini-reinvention. Don’t try to change your career in a day. Start smallâ€"sign up for a class, throw your hat in the ring at work for a new project, volunteer for a task outside your expertise at a local non-profit. Begin with low-risk activities and slowly take on more challenging ones to build your confidence. Read The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention for inspiration! Pamela Mitchell, CLC, is the founder and CEO of The Reinvention Institute, Inc. (TRI), a dynamic organization devoted to individual and business transformation. She is the author of The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention: Essential Survival Skills for Any Economy. Ms. Mitchell is a noted career reinvention expert and in-demand speaker who has appeared on the Today Show and been profiled and quoted in top media publications including The Wall Street Journal, BusinessWeek, More, and Black Enterprise. She writes a popular column on women in business for Inc.com, the website of INC magazine.Prior to reinventing herself (for the second time!) by starting TRI, Ms. Mitchell spent nearly fifteen years in senior-level roles in international business development, marketing and relationship management for high-profile media and entertainment companies. Her experience includes serving as Vice President of International for Playboy.com.   You can follow her on Twitter and attend one of her speaking ev ents.