Approaching a New Career Path

Kathy Sullivan Explores

How often have you had to explain to a potential employer or partner that your earlier jobs and experiences equipped you to work in an organization? One might think that this is a challenge only college graduates face but in today’s world, many of us find ourselves constantly shifting from one line of work to another. And unless we’re starting our business alone, we have to figure out how we can take our previous skills, experiences, and education and translate them into something relevant for the next chapter of our career.

In this episode, you’ll hear about the time I convinced the trustees of a science museum that I was the best candidate for the CEO post—even if I didn’t have prior experience in marketing, fundraising, or executive functions. I describe how studying foreign languages before switching to the sciences helped immensely in my graduate oceanography program and throughout my NASA career. You’ll also learn why there are no worthless degrees and why leadership is never a cookie-cutter experience.

“In today’s era of having multiple careers over a lifetime, we’ll have to wrestle with translating what we’ve done before into the skills and abilities needed for what’s next.” - Kathy Sullivan

This week on Kathy Sullivan Explores:

• Getting interviewed for my first job in the private sector after working at NASA and NOAA
• Translating seemingly unrelated job skills and experiences for your next line of work
• What selling NASA to members of congress taught me about rallying support
• Why I don’t believe in the “worthless degree” argument
• How studying foreign languages helped me in my career at NASA and NOAA

Our Favorite Quotes:

• “I had never directly solicited someone for money, but I had needed to sell NASA to skeptical members of congress on many occasions, which taught me to think clearly about the purpose behind the agency’s programs and what that would mean to the congress members, and to lay out a compelling argument to gain their support.” - Kathy Sullivan
• “You might get to stretch the truth to sell your product or make someone write a check, but you’ll get some people killed if you try that in the space biz.” - Kathy Sullivan

Spaceship Not Required

I’m Kathy Sullivan, the only person to have walked in space and gone to the deepest point in the ocean.

I’m an explorer, and that doesn’t always have to involve going to some remote or exotic place. It simply requires a commitment to put curiosity into action.

In this podcast, you can explore, reflecting on lessons learned from life so far and from my brilliant and ever-inquisitive guests. We explore together in this very moment from right where you are--spaceship not required.

Welcome to Kathy Sullivan Explores.

Visit my website at kathysullivanexplores.com to sign up for seven astronaut tips to improving your life on earth and be the first to discover future episodes and learn about more exciting adventures ahead!

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