Episode 28: The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done in my Career

Career Design Podcast

Episode 28- The Scariest Thing I've Ever Done in My Career

Lindsay 00:00

I'm Lindsay Mustain and this is the career design podcast made for driven ambitious square pegs and round holes type professionals who see things differently and challenge the status quo. We obliterate obstacles and unlock hidden pathways to overcome and succeed where others have not stagnation feels like death, and we are unwilling to compromise our integrity and settle for being average in any way. We are the backbone of any successful business and those who overlook our potential are doomed to a slow demise. We do work that truly matters aligns with our purpose, and in turn, we make our lasting mark on the world. We are the dreamers, doers, legends, and visionaries who are called to make our most meaningful contribution and love what we do.

Lindsay 00:43

Welcome to the Career Design Podcast. I'm your host, Lindsay Mustain and today I'm coming to you alone. It's been a while since I actually have talked to you personally but I wanted to walk you through a moment in time that I just experienced because this week, I celebrate a milestone that looking back I would have actually never been able to see in my future. And I want to talk to you about the biggest risk I ever took in my life. Four years ago, I was Amazon's it girl, I was the most visible employee on LinkedIn, I was in a role that Amazon had crafted for me and helping recruit the most elusive talent on the planet, I was a matchmaker, I was there to help find this incredible talent and find a place inside of organizations within the Amazon structure. And I'm going to tell you, it was an incredible gift, and also one of the most challenging roles I've ever been in. And the reason why was because I felt so censored in what I had to say now with massive visibility, I was getting more engagement than Jeff Bezos, I was getting more engagement than Amazon, I was seen as another extension of the Amazon brand. And that meant that everything I had to say, went under scrutiny. And I had built this platform on LinkedIn about sharing my message for people who are really around the idea of intentional career design, how do I find that dream opportunity? How do I create my dream career? How do I pass this process? That's so flipping broken? How do I do all those things? That's what I talked about. And all the time that I would share these messages around, how do you get ahead, I would get shut down, I would get shut down all the time. And I kind of like imagine, you know, this balloon of possibility and hope, especially when they gave me this opportunity. I was so excited, so thrilled, I was so thrilled to do it. And every time that I came with an idea, or I had a message or something I tried to share, the wind would be taken out of my sails I imagined little like my balloon, little tiny pinpricks and my, my vision of what I had imagined in this role, it just started to deflate. And it was slow, it was a really slow, deflate. Because what I had gotten to was this point where I just didn't believe that I can make a difference anymore. I sat in a very, very broken system, very broken system across all of the human resources, which is all about managing people's problems, rather than amplifying people's potential. And I was limited and handcuffed and censored. By, you know, the corporate umbrella of what I could share. Because my brand, my personal brand, they took that as that I was a representative of Amazon, which are not the same thing. You are always your individual person, you own your own voice unless you're an authorized representative of the company. Guess what you get to own your brand. I've learned a lot about that since it's been four years now that I've left Amazon. But at the time, it felt so limiting. And all I wanted to do was help people because I had already seen massive success in helping individuals with their career pathing understanding how to amplify their success, how to get through the broken system. And when they handcuffed me and told me I couldn't speak out anymore, it killed my motivation. I felt sick going into work. I felt so sick and the only joy that I really got was the messages when somebody got to be hired. And it wasn't even at my company. It was at all the other organizations where people were getting hired at those messages that people were saying and sending me saying, you know what, Lindsay this piece of advice really, really helped me It helped me get through. The process helped me actually get further in my career. And that's what I started living for. That's what I really realized was what we call our zone of genius. And it's all-around your superpowers. Okay, so I'm gonna give you a secret here, the most successful thing that you can do in your career stops relying on the things that you are good at, and start doing things that you are excellent at. I mean, beyond excellence, a true genius. The 1% of the 1%. Every single person on this planet has that skill set, something that they are so innately good at, we combined a few things here, they're passionate, they feel purpose around it, they know how to do it. That's the pursuit and it creates massive profitability for them. When we hone into that's the zone of career power. That was what I was missing. I was tapping into that, but it wasn't in my work. Have you ever been there, where you're doing work where it feels like every day you go to work, and you sell off a piece of your soul for a paycheck, I was slowly dying, selling myself, piece by piece, desperately trying to provide for my family? And do what I had been trained was the right and loyal thing to do, stay with the company, work hard work until you basically die, and then maybe enjoy your life at that point. That paradigm is so fucking wrong, people that are so wrong, it is why you feel so diminished. It's why you feel your soul's purpose is like a side bitch. And to put it, I saw that meme recently. And I was like, that is exactly it. Like my soul's purpose is a side bitch to my actual collective consciousness programming about what I'm supposed to do. You know what I go to school, I get a big bunch of loans in order to go to school for some more, because that's what higher education has programmed me to believe. And then maybe I'm qualified to get into the corporate world. And I'm just here to tell you that none of those stories, those paradigms are completely false. And I know because I've been able to work with people firsthand. Now for four years individually, I've been coaching for over 10.

Lindsay 06:53

But I this thing popped up on my, my Facebook timeline, and it said, What would you do, you have this amazing opportunity to go out and help people in the world do something that I'm so passionate about. It fills my soul, it feels my purpose, it makes my life worth living. And that is how important your occupation is. It's actually what gives you the strength to do all the other things in your life in my opinion. But I give away everything that I valued, so highly. My security, I was the sole provider for my kids, everything. And the overwhelming message was Go for it. But that fear, that fear was like a prison. That fear kept me small, that fear diminished me. But I tell you that Jeff Bezos himself is the reason why I quit Amazon. And if you haven't ever heard of this, I'm gonna talk about the regret minimization framework. And you can go Google this if you want to find out. But Jeff himself, if you go back to before, you know, he's kind of the Jeff Bezos, so today, when he was a little earlier in his CEO years, he talked about when he was deciding whether or not to start a business. And he saw the growth of the internet was at a rate of over four, four, sorry, four number points, I guess. So over 1,000%. So it was a greater than 1,000% growth. And he thought there is nothing in the world I have seen that is growing at this rate. And I would be foolish to not take an opportunity to go there. And he used the idea here of regret minimization framework. And the idea is that at the very end of your life, the thing that you are going to look back on and this is what studies have shown is that the people who are on their deathbed the things that they regret, the most of their life or the things they didn't take a chance on, the things that they didn't do. And he decided that I could live with failure. But I wouldn't be able to live with the idea that I could have taken a shot. And I didn't.

Lindsay 09:02

I have goosebumps just saying that. Because that was the realization for me that I know that there's something out there at this point, I had already been the most visible employee, I have millions and views in my content. I'd helped countless numbers of people. I had a best-selling book. I knew that my message was important. But fear was keeping me safe. Fear was keeping me small. And then I hit my breaking point. And some of you have heard this story before. But I was debating the story. I was debating, like do I go do I stay Do I go you know, I need to provide for my kids. I'm really scared. I'm not sure what to do. I was the sole breadwinner, sole provider for my kids, and I wasn't sure what to do. And then I had this one job. This one job that I was looking for, that was open it was based in Singapore, there were like three people in the world that were qualified to do this job. And so as we went through the interview process with these candidates, there were two men and one woman. And I remember the moment that my heart broke, and that I just started crying. And it was the moment where I, I got a message, it popped up, it was the weekend, I got a message, I'd already been thinking about leaving, and this message popped up. It was from the woman who was interviewing in Singapore. And she told me, she would never work for our company, that she couldn't believe how we treated her that we had approached her and that she couldn't understand how somebody would treat her the way that we treated her insignificant without any respect. We treated her as a piece of paper, a completely disposable asset. Have you ever heard that? Have you ever felt that? Have you ever been in that place? And it brought me to my knees, it brought me to my knees, and I cried, I cried. Because what her message was, to me was that I know this is not what you stand for. And I think it's important for you to know. And I stopped, I sobbed, because it took me back to the moments where I had been in this place when I went through being laid off, it took me back to the place of watching my dad go through this during his multi-year unemployment, and then his eventual passing, where we treated people as if they were meaningless. As if every person on this earth was just a number on a spreadsheet. And that's just not fucking good enough for me, and it's not good enough for you. And at that moment, the pain became anger. And I escalated the issue to the supervisor that was over half of the world over the recruiting structure. And then the very next thing I did was I drafted my resignation. And it was in that moment, that anger, that true passion of realizing that I was no longer willing to stand for this, this continual treatment of people as being commodities that are complete without meaning that they're not humans that have heartbeats and families that are just doing their very best. When I realized that that was the way it was going to be and that I could no longer impact that because I have been handcuffed by a corporate umbrella. That was when I got angry. And I sent him my resignation notice. That was four years ago, this week. And it was the biggest risk I have ever taken in my life. So where are we? Four years after that? How am I going to say it's been smooth sailing, that would be a complete lie. And I am all about authenticity and integrity and telling you the truth because I am not in the business of sugarcoating things. I will tell you the uncomfortable truth, even when it makes you frustrated or angry or aggravated with the whole goal of helping you get past it to breakthrough. That is what I do here. So it's not been all sunshine and rainbows. It has been hard. I have almost lost everything. But four years ago, here's where I stand. I founded the talent paradigm I sent in my resignation four years ago.

Lindsay 13:46

We've helped over 15,000 people now we look at one number and the metric that we decide whether or not our business has been successful. And the number is careers impacted. These are people who've been able to change their career trajectory because of the work that we do inside of the talent paradigm. Four years ago, there wasn't it didn't even exist. Today, we've impacted 15,000 careers in 121 countries across six continents. Now I grew up in a town that had 110 people. So this number is absolutely mind-boggling for me. The person who works with us, on average received a $52,000 increase. And I'm averaging actually the last two and a half years to get that number over the last year that number is closer to 72,000. Guys, that number continues to go up we are seeing six-figure increases on the regular basis increases not six-figure salary six-figure increases through the intentional career design pathway $52,000 With 2.1 job offers, in the midst of the great recession nonetheless. And they do it in nine weeks 15,000 careers over $52,000 2.1 job offers in that nine weeks, there is no one on the planet who gets the results that we do for our clients. And here's why I am not in the business of helping you do better. I don't give a crap about helping you do better. In fact, if that is what you're looking for, then I am not the right person for you to be following. There are a million career coaches out there. I am not in business with that I am an intentional career designer, I teach you how to find your superpowers, your genius how to leverage that. So you do work that truly matters that feels your soul. So you go to work every day excited, motivated, motivated, and energized. Did you work that truly, truly fills your purpose your soul, and you love what you do? That's what I do. I am not in the business of helping you get a better job, I am in the business of helping you get to your soul's purpose. And that is what makes me different. Because when we rely on what we're good at, when we're good at, that's what we get, we get good, you know, and that's great. But I'm looking for three things. When I look for somebody to be a success story inside of the intentional career design pathway. I'm looking for the right job, the right career opportunity, I'm looking for the right company, because Have you ever had the right job, like I had the right job, I had the wrong company, the wrong company. So the right company means the right supervisor and the right organization. And the last You're lucky if you get those two, like those two, you might luck out. Or the third one, two or three isn't bad. The right salary, because you can be rewarded handsomely for your superpowers. In fact, it is the thing that will make you different than everyone else in the world. And that's the thing. Now today, we're seeing this great movement of people who are leaving their companies, because there are so many opportunities out there. And this is what I've predicted. It's why I've been saying right now like if you're doing it now, you're kind of behind the curve, I can help you get caught up. But right now you're getting behind the curve if you're not intentionally walking this pathway, okay? Otherwise, you're gonna end up with good or better, I don't want better stop settling for better. I want you to find your purpose, if you mean, this is the existential question we ask ourselves, what are we doing on this planet, I'm telling you, there is a reason for you to be here. And it is much bigger than what you are good at, or what's better. I want you to be in a place where you can create your dream opportunity. You never have to look for work again. And it becomes so rewarding to you. It is the greatest thing you've ever done in your life. That is what I teach.

Lindsay 17:49

And 15,000 people here later. We've done this a lot now. So I just want to say thank you for four years of amazing, amazing stories, because the thing is that for me, my success is all about the people who I helped get success. Okay, this is not my flex, I mean, it is a little bit but it's not my flex in that it's more for you who's listening right now to say, you know what, 15,000 people. I'm here doing the work right now I'm listening, I'm doing something I'm showing up for me, I bet that I can do this too. Because if I tell you enough, you might start to believe it. And that is what I am here to do. Because I found my purpose in doing what my superpowers allow me to do. So with that, I'm going to wrap up today, if you are feeling called to find out more about intentional career design to find out how we can help you get to that next ascension in your career to get to that place of true career power, where you combine passion, purpose, pursuit, and profitability, where you don't even have to look for a job again, where opportunities come to you without you having to seek them out. And you become the candidate of choice where companies are fighting over you with multiple job offers. The time is now the iron is hot people are desperate for people like you the rockstars, the superstars, especially the ones who understand how to beat this process and aligned to their zone of genius, then I encourage you to reach out to me because those are the kinds of people that I know we can help transform your life. And the thing here is that it's not selfish to want to find your purpose. It is the whole point of your existence. So I hope that you find a calling to go to something better because it is absolutely what you deserve. And thank you again for four years of amazing work here at home.