second careers

Doug Glenwright’s guest blog about his portfolio career part 1

November 6, 2018 By // by Rachel Brushfield

Doug Glenwright mini biog

Innovative Customer Centric Propositions. Multiple award-winning leader with 20 years’ transformation experience across retail and leisure. Passionate about customers and transforming tangible experiences by developing a strategic vision and delivering it holistically and with integrity. Visionary, vivacious and versatile with strong communication skills and creative flair, balancing commercial and customer needs whilst engaging people with a sense of fun.

What are the components of your portfolio career e.g. study, paid freelance work, part time job, volunteering etc.)?

Paid freelance work (plus a little dabbling in creative art)

How did your portfolio career come about?

I was very lucky to be offered redundancy following the relocation of my office after 14 years in a corporate role. After so long in one business, this was a scary prospect and I was fortunate to be offered a seconded role which allowed me to test my new commute (and ultimately prove I didn’t want to be spending so much “wasted” time in the car) and allowed me to prepare myself for a significant change, by working with Rachel Brushfield as a coach to understand more about the value I bring to a role and what I was looking for at the time of change. I did not seek out a portfolio career and was perhaps even a little resistant to it – this felt so different from the structure and (perceived) control of a regular career – however I tried to remain open to it as one of a number of possibilities. After a month or so off, I started talking to contacts and was approached to be an SME for a top consultancy firm as they developed the strategy for a Middle Eastern travel company; there was no contract, there was no job description and ultimately there was no risk, it was 2 to 3 days a week, which still left me time to apply for other roles, so I agreed… To an extent, I do believe we make our own luck, however I was fortunate to know of some big projects coming up in various businesses and was therefore able to position myself well to be of assistance.

How has your portfolio career changed over time?

During this initial assignment I was still actively applying for permanent roles, going to interviews and even got offered a few positions, but each time I compared them to what I was currently doing and proactively chose the instability, flexibility and variety of a potential portfolio career – however it cannot be a portfolio with one role, right? So I started reaching out to other contacts to understand if there were things I could help with. Mostly this led to nothing, which can be disheartening, but I reassured myself that it did remind people I was here and available and hopefully keeping me front of mind – a good marketing strategy; I picked up some piecemeal jobs and learnt more about my processes, what I enjoy, what I actively need to avoid and I started juggling larger projects.

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ what do you reply?

Knowing what to call yourself is one of the challenges I have faced since I stopped working in a full time corporate career – we are all capable of much more than our job titles give us credit for, then there is what we are known or famous for and then there is what role you are being asked to play within each assignment…whilst you want to be flexible enough to adapt to the needs of any assignment, it is still important to have a clear sense of self, what your unique selling points are and what you can personally deliver for that role. At a high level when describing my role, I tend to use the term “Customer Centric Contractor” but this is a really grey area with many different disciplines focusing on customer experience, so this still doesn’t feel that ownable, but I explain this as “delivering strategic propositions and holistic transformation whilst balancing both customer and commercial needs”.

What do you most love about having a portfolio career?

I love getting the 3+ hours back in my day when I was previously commuting and using this time for something constructive – exercise, art or even chores. That said, I do still feel guilty when I take off time in the middle of the day to enjoy a sunny walk… it’s interesting how ingrained the corporate structure has been in my life!

Coming soon, part 2 of Doug Glenwright’s guest blog about his portfolio career.

More

View Doug Glenwright’s LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/doug-glenwright-18a2234/

Browse Doug Glenwright’s web site:

http://www.dougglenwright.com/

Interested in a portfolio career for yourself?

Download your copy of our free report ‘Discover Portfolio Careers’:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

Funke Abimbola’s Portfolio Career – the sequel part 2

February 13, 2017 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is a 2 part guest blog for Energise by Funke Abimbola about her portfolio career. This is part 2.

Funke Abimbola is a multi-award winning Lawyer/TEDx Speaker/TV contributor/Diversity Leader/Patron/Board member and proud mother. She is currently General Counsel and Head of Financial Compliance at Roche UK.

To read part 1 of this guest blog, please click on this link.

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/funke-abimbolas-portfolio-career-sequel-part-1/

How did any change come about?

I made a conscious decision to say “yes” to as many opportunities as possible in 2016, especially where I was taken outside my comfort zone. Although I was unbelievably busy in 2016, the year led to unparalleled opportunities not only for me but for countless others within my sphere of influence.

What is the significance of this change for you?

By saying “yes” to everything, I am in a much better place to recognise my boundaries and to know what I need to prioritise during 2017. Importantly, I now know what to say “no” to going forwards without feeling guilty in saying “no”! Last year was another year of development and key learnings for me and my team.

What next for you in 2017?

I started 2017 with another promotion – from 1^st January, my role at Roche expanded to include heading up our financial compliance function. As General Counsel & Head of Financial Compliance, I continue to lead on legal and corporate compliance for the Roche UK pharmaceutical business, sitting on several senior leadership teams and providing legal support in the UK, Ireland, Malta and Gibraltar. In addition, I have also gained responsibility for all financial compliance matters for the UK pharmaceutical business including overseeing and leading on internal financial audits, internal financial testing (ICFR) and other financial controls that maintain the integrity of the organisation’s financial systems. This is a first within our organisation so a key priority for me is to embed my expanded team and to ensure that we all continue to develop together.

In terms of my external, voluntary diversity work, 2017 has started on a very promising note. I was listed in the law section of Debretts 500 (together with Supreme Court President, Lord Neuberger, Deputy President of the Supreme Court, Lady Hale, and others) as being one of the most influential people in Britain because of the impact of my diversity work within the legal profession. In January, I took part in my first panel discussion event as Patron of UCLU’s Leadership and Management Society. The discussion was called “How to embrace your diversity and lead’ and I was joined on the panel by a number of colleagues and friends in senior leadership roles. Collectively, we shared our wisdom and experience with the students and other attendees. The event was a huge success and I continue to receive inspirational messages from those who attended, thanking us for our contributions and the impact we made.

I have been interviewed for a book being published by Harper Collins in Spring 2018. Called ‘Slay in your lane’, the book will be a guide to life for black British women. It was a real honour to be approached as one of the black women being interviewed for this ground-breaking publication. Others being interviewed include actress Thandie Newton, GQ publisher Vanessa Kingori MBE and Karen Blackett OBE, Chairwoman of MediaCom.

International Women’s Month (March) is always really busy for me and this year is no different. I have a range of engagements in my diary including delivering a keynote speech at my alma mater, Newcastle Law School, as part of the Inspirational Women in Law project and the 2017 Freedom of the City celebrations marking 50 years since Martin Luther King was given an honourary degree by Newcastle University. I am also partnering with Speakers4Schools and INTO University and will be speaking to a group of school students about my career journey, providing mentoring and work experience opportunities to them. I will be interviewing a high profile speaker to mark International Women’s Day itself in my capacity as an advisory board member of Women in Law London, a large network supporting the progression of women lawyers in the UK. I am speaking at the Solid Woman conference at the British Council as part of an initiative to empower and upskill women from a minority ethnic background. Another highlight in March will be speaking to a large group of school children from a BAME background at the House of Commons, providing guidance and advice about their future career options.

In May, I will be part of a panel of senior leaders at WeAreTheCity’s first ever leadership conference in May called WeAreFutureLeaders. Founded in 2008 by Vanessa Vallely, WeAreTheCity is a free, centralised hub for professional women who want to progress in their careers, enhance their skills and build their networks. WeAreTheCity has 42,000 members, 80% of whom are professional women. WeAreFutureLeaders will be held at Simmons and Simmons, a leading international law firm. The aim of the conference is to equip its female attendees with the skills they need to progress to leadership positions. I am looking forward to being part of the panel, including providing speed mentoring to attendees.

Later on this year, I will be judging the Inclusive Network Awards and This Is Me Awesome 100 nominations, recognising inspiring individuals who have given back and made their mark in our community. I am also one of the judges for the third We are the City Rising Star awards, a unique awards programme that recognises the pipeline of female talent across a range of industries.

Throughout 2017, I will continue to appear on BBC 1 as part of the world news review team, providing expert commentary on topical news items. In addition, I am being considered for another TEDx talk taking place this summer.

Yet to be scheduled is an important meeting at number 10 Downing Street. Suffice to say that the Prime Minister and I are struggling to align our diaries at present but we will get there!

Anything else you would like to add?

Whilst 2016 was, undoubtedly, a year of tremendous successes for me, it is also important to add that I made my fair share of mistakes last year too. Learning from mistakes is an essential part of being a leader and there were some key learnings for me throughout the year. I feel empowered to improve even more during 2017 and remain committed to increasing my influence and impact in the process.

The final thing to mention is that my teenaged son signed up to UN Women’s HeforShe campaign in 2016. He had noticed that the girls in his class were very capable but lacked confidence and did not always put their hands up in lessons, even when they knew the answer. He has committed to empowering the girls and supporting their confidence, quite remarkable for a teenager. I really hope that more male gender champions are encouraged and inspired to follow his example!

Funke’s LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/funkeabimbola

Follow Funke on Twitter @diversitychamp1

https://twitter.com/DiversityChamp1

Interested in a portfolio career? Download your free report Discover Portfolio Careers:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Funke Abimbola’s Portfolio Career – the sequel part 1

February 13, 2017 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is a 2 part guest blog for Energise by Funke Abimbola about her portfolio career. This is part 1.

What headline summed up last year, 2016 for you?

The year I said “yes” to (almost) everything.

What has changed in the last 12 months?

Within my career as a senior lawyer and leader for Roche, I was promoted to General Counsel & Company Secretary in December 2015. My key priority during 2016 was to develop into my new role. Two other members of my team were also promoted at the end of 2015. As a team, we have been involved in a number of core initiatives across the UK & Ireland pharmaceutical business and have developed together, making best use of our strengths as a team and learning from our mistakes and other areas for improvement. I am so proud to have seen my team receive recognition through a range of awards programmes including the Legal Business Awards, the Lawyer Awards, the British Legal Awards, the Law Society Excellence Awards and the Global Equality & Diversity Awards. In addition, 2 members of my team have won individual awards for their outstanding work, a source of tremendous pride for me. I thrive on seeing my team members flourishing and maximising their potential.

Also within Roche, I was filmed for our employee pride video called ‘Everybody In’, sharing my perspective on why I am so proud to work for Roche. The diversity within our UK organisation is very proudly showcased throughout the video. I was part of a small team of colleagues working on producing a report highlighting the overall impact of our organisation in the UK, including the impact of our diverse talent pool. The report was successfully launched earlier this year.

My voluntary diversity work went from strength to strength in 2016 as my influence broadened and became more widely recognised. Roche recognised me as a ‘Volunteer Superhero’ early in 2016, commending me for the impact of all my voluntary diversity and inclusion work. I now partner with the organisation’s global head of diversity and inclusion, providing my insights and guidance on our global D&I strategy.

I successfully launched the Akindolie Medical Scholarship in April in memory of my father, Dr. Frank Akindolie, a gifted, German-trained doctor who died over 4 years ago. The scholarship is privately funded and is aimed at supporting UK BAME medical students, comprising both a bursary award and leadership mentoring. My family and I were able to award the inaugural scholarship to an exceptional medical student at the British Medical Association in September.

I have continued to support the Law Society’s diversity agenda by providing keynote speeches at several Women Lawyers Division and Ethnic Minority Lawyers Division events, together with providing mentoring and networking support. I have partnered with the current Law Society president to further the race agenda amongst all practising solicitors in England and Wales.

I have been appointed as Patron of BAME and other philanthropic initiatives this year – Power Up, an initiative focused on upskilling and empowering BAME professionals, the Interlaw Diversity BAME Forum, with a focus on BAME lawyers and the Asian Voice Charity Awards. I was appointed as the first ever patron of UCLU’s Leadership and Management Society, the fastest growing society at UCLU and the only one devoted to leadership development. In August, I agreed to become Ambassador for the Precious Awards, supporting and recognising women of colour.

Throughout 2016, I spoke to and inspired over 2,000 school children, sharing my personal leadership journey with them and encouraging them to overcome challenges to maximise their potential. Following each talk, I followed up with those students who were interested in work experience and tapped into my network to secure opportunities for them. I also spoke in Parliament, at the Open University, within a number of corporates and at several law firms, all with the same consistent message that embracing diversity and inclusion is not only the right thing to do but makes good business sense and helps organisations to maintain their competitive edge. I was privileged to be one of the keynote speakers at the National Diversity Awards reunion event in February, having won the Gender Role Model award in 2015.

In June, I spoke at my first TEDx event sharing my personal story of overcoming various challenges. I was an expert contributor to David Lammy MP’s review into the criminal justice system and have also provided expert advice to the Ministry of Justice on a number of issues.

I became a Senior Advisory Board Member of Aspiring Solicitors, the UK’s largest diversity platform and resource within the legal profession and will be mentoring female BAME future lawyers going forwards. I was appointed as an advisory board member of Women in Law London, the largest network for pre-partnership women solicitors working in private practice and in-house. By providing strategic input and vision to the network, I am contributing towards extending the network’s influence and impact.

I held the first leadership conference for my own women’s network, Women Leaders in Life Sciences Law, in September 2016. The theme of the conference was ‘Letting down ladders’ and the conference was a huge success with many delegates flying in from overseas and demand already high for our 2017 conference.

I was privileged to have judged a number of award programmes in 2016 and was recognised through a range of award programmes myself including Divas of Colour, Women4Africa, We are the City, Women of the Future, European Diversity Awards, Lift Effects and CA Awards. It was a real highlight of the year to be awarded ‘Point of Light’ status by Prime Minister, Theresa May, recognising the impact of my voluntary diversity work in improving workplace diversity across the UK and in inspiring thousands of school children. Incredibly, I am now on the Prime Minister’s Christmas card list too!

My leadership and legal expertise were also recognised on 3 powerlists in 2016 – the UPStanding powerlist (ranked as being a top 20 BAME leader globally), Powerful Media’s Powerlist (top 100 leader of African/Afro-Caribbean descent in the UK) and Legal Business magazine’s GC Powerlist 2016 (top general counsel within the life sciences/healthcare sector).

I have been interviewed by several magazines and media outlets including the Law Society Gazette, The Guardian and the International Bar Association. Following an interview with BBC journalist Sally Bundock, I was invited to be a part of the BBC’s team of volunteer expert news reviewers and now regularly appear on BBC 1 discussing a range of world news topics.

I also took part in the Law Society’s ‘Solicitor Brand’ media campaign and was filmed for this campaign, sharing my personal story about how and why I became a solicitor and what being a solicitor means to me.

Funke’s LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/funkeabimbola

Follow Funke on Twitter @DiversityChamp1

https://twitter.com/diversitychamp1

Interested in a portfolio career? Download your free report Discover Portfolio Careers:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Guest blog Barrie Hopson part 1

August 16, 2016 By // by Rachel Brushfield

Barrie Hopson

This is a 2 part guest blog by Barrie Hopson. This is Part 1.

Barrie is a psychologist specialising in career development and lifelong learning and is a serial entrepreneur. His life mission is helping people to become architects of their own future. His latest project is writing and developing an online learning programme to help people design a retirement that they will love. Sponsored by Aviva and free to use. www.livehappier.co.uk

He is a Non Exec Director of the Aspire-Igen Group and of Disability Sport Yorkshire. He chairs the national Quality in Career Standard Consortium Board. He was Chairman of Axia Interactive Media 2007-2013. He is a writer, presenter, consultant and was chair of his local community association for 8 years. He is on the advisory board of The Open Retirement Club. He is a Fellow of the British Psychological Society and of the Royal Society of Arts. He has written 39 books – the latest being ‘And What Do You Do? 10 Steps to Creating a Portfolio Career’, written with Katie Ledger. He gives presentations on the future of work, portfolio careers, and how to ‘design a retirement you’ll love’. He established the Counselling and Career Development Unit at Leeds University in 1976 and went on to found Lifeskills International in 1983. The company formed a joint venture – Hay-Lifeskills Ltd. – with Hay Group International of which he was co-chair for its first 3 years. His books include the bestselling 12 Steps to Success through Service, The Lifeskills Teaching Programmes and Build Your Own Rainbow. In 2008 he wrote The Rainbow Years: the Pluses of Being 50+ and an accompanying website for Learndirect www.fiftyforward.co.uk. The latter were all co-authored with Mike Scally. Barrie has worked widely as a consultant to commercial and educational organisations in the UK, USA, Asia, Canada and Europe. He sees one of the payoffs of his Portfolio Career as being able to follow Yorkshire County Cricket Club. He adores running and runs 10k, 10 mile and half marathons for the Stroke Association as he is now a carer for his stroke survivor wife.

The rest of this blog are in Barrie’s own words.

What are the components of your portfolio career e.g. study, paid freelance work, part time job, volunteering etc.)

Psychologist, writer, presenter, NED of 2 companies, mentor, trustee of Disability Sports Yorkshire. I have just finished writing a free to use online learning programme to help people design a retirement that they love. I am currently helping to set up a social media business with the objective of eliminating childhood obesity.

How did your portfolio career come about?

I had never heard of the concept until Charles Handy ‘invented’ the term in 1993. In retrospect, I realise that from the point in my career when I got a lectureship at Leeds University in 1969, I have almost always had at least one other job or venture at the same time.

How has your portfolio career changed over time?

The biggest change was after I sold my business Lifeskills International in 1999. Since then I have really been able to indulge myself in a portfolio career. Accepting invitations to be NED in a number of companies, still continuing to write books, workbooks and online learning programmes and accepting invitations to present all over the world. I have always enjoyed helping others to develop their careers and achieve their dreams. I now have much more time to do that and I love it. I was influenced by Charles in a number of ways, not least in ensuring that I always tried to spend around 20% of my time doing unpaid work. That has now increased to around 30% including free mentoring and being a trustee for Disability Sports Yorkshire.

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ – what do you reply?

I help people to become architects of their own future – through the companies I have run, the projects I set up, the books and learning programmes I have created, and by mentoring people to create their own dreams.

To what extent did your portfolio career happen by chance/luck and to what extent was it planned?

I have never planned anything in my life! I love the unpredictability of life and am always open to opportunities. I rely largely on gut reaction as to whether or not to do something. Occasionally that backfires, but mostly it has delivered joy, intellectual and emotional stimulation – and sufficient money!

What do you most love about having a portfolio career?

I always have to look at my calendar to see what I am doing the next day. This is not just a component of cognitive ageing!

What are the challenges of having a portfolio career?

One thing I miss dreadfully from not having a workplace to go to is the constant learning from simply sharing a space with people. This is especially so with IT. I was largely taught about computers by my PA in my company and I now realise that I miss having colleagues to turn to and ask, “how do I do this?”

Watch out for part 2 of Barrie Hopson’s guest blog, out soon.

More

For more information about portfolio careers, click on this link:

http://portfoliocareers.net/

To find out more about ‘Live Happier’, click on this link:

https://livehappier.aviva.co.uk/

To find out more about Barrie’s book about portfolio careers, click on this link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/What-Do-You-Creating-Portfolio/dp/1408116308

Want to create your own portfolio career? Click on this link:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/

Download your free report ‘Discover portfolio careers’:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

Download your free report ‘Pain free career change’:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/

Unsure what your transferable skills are, download your free report ‘Skills’ from this web page:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

Read more guest bloggers accounts of their portfolio career:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/blog/

Alex Wade’s portfolio career – guest blog part 1

July 27, 2016 By // by Rachel Brushfield

This is a two part guest blog by Alex Wade. This is part one.

Alex is a writer and his principal interests are law, sport (especially football, surfing and boxing), literature and travel, as well as general features, football and poker match reports and book reviews. Many years ago, when he was a media lawyer, Alex worked for leading libel firm Carter-Ruck before becoming now-Express Group proprietor Richard Desmond’s first Head of Legal Affairs. Subsequently Alex’s unreconstructed tendencies got the better of him. His life went off the rails but boxing played a large part in his rehabilitation. This story is chronicled in Wrecking Machine, a Sunday Times sports book of the week. Alex has travelled extensively and written about New York, Albania and Kazakhstan; Barbados, Ireland and Andalucía; Captain Cook country, Mexico and Francis Ford Coppola’s retreats in Belize and Guatemala. He lives in west Cornwall with his partner Caroline and his two sons.

The rest of this blog is in Alex’s own words.

What are the components of your portfolio career e.g. study, paid freelance work, part time job, volunteering etc.)

It’s pretty much all paid freelance work, with a bit of volunteering. I work as a lawyer, freelance journalist, writer, occasional guest lecturer – and try and find time to be one of the trustees of environmental action charity Surfers Against Sewage.

How did your portfolio career come about?

By accident! I’m 50 now but back in my early 30s went off the rails for a year or so. Let’s just say that the conventional practice of law wasn’t for me. I also had a few demons to exorcise. Fortunately, they leave me alone these days.

How has your portfolio career changed over time?

Back in my early 30s, I made a decision to do what I’d always wanted to do – write for a living. I kept my hand in with the law, working as a night lawyer for the UK broadsheets, and banged on editors’ doors – luckily loud enough for a few of them to give me work. Back then I also wrote law reports – difficult, complex and not well paid – and wrote a lot for the legal trade press (more fun and better paid). I don’t do either of these things anymore. I’m also no longer involved in selling sports TV rights. I used to do this on behalf of someone in the industry, very much on a wing and a prayer. I’d travel to Eastern Europe and Central Asia, find the main broadcaster and try and sell in the rights to the FA Premier League, F1, boxing matches etc. Sometimes I’d be successful. Whether I was or not, I’d also go and travel wherever I was. This enabled me to get travel pieces away in the nationals, about places few people were visiting. It was a great way of building up by-line visibility. I don’t work in sports rights anymore, and don’t do so much travel writing these days either – it’s a loss leader.

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ – what do you reply?

Good question! Depends who’s asking. Usually I say ‘writer’ first – that’s what means the most to me.

To what extent did your portfolio career happen by chance/luck and to what extent was it planned?

By accident/chance!

More about Alex Wade

Personal web site:

www.alexwade.com

Alex Wade’s first novel, Flack’s Last Shift, is published by Blue Mark Books (£14.99).

www.flackslastshift.com

Alex’s Editorial Services business:

www.frugalspeech.com

LinkedIn profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alex-wade-5322724

Follow Alex Wade on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/surfnation1

More about portfolio careers:

Download our free report Discover Portfolio Careers

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/who-has-portfolio-careers/

Webinar about portfolio careers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iF29AGuRIVw&app=desktop

Find out what your transferable skills are, download our free Skills report:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/what-is-a-portfolio-career/

Download our free report Pain Free Career change from this page:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/testimonials/

Check out our web site Inspiring Portfolio Careers:

https://www.inspiringportfoliocareers.com/

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

Ruth Farenga’s portfolio career part 1

June 25, 2016 By // by DigitalJenIPC

This is a 2 part guest blog by Ruth Farenga about her portfolio career. This is part 1.

Ruth Farenga runs Farenga Ltd as a workshop facilitator, Mindfulness teacher and project manager specialising in corporate partnerships, education, gender diversity and Mindfulness theory and practice. Ruth has consistently trained people in new skills, starting in the corporate education sector with Pearson and Intel Corporation and then transitioning over to ‘e-skills UK’ in the third sector. She now runs her own business and as part of that, the ‘People Like Me’ girls into STEM project for the WISE Campaign (Women in Science, Engineering and Technology).

The rest of this blog are in Ruth’s own words.

What are the components of your portfolio career e.g. study, paid freelance work, part time job, volunteering etc.)

My portfolio career consists of:

• Empowering great causes – currently freelance work for WISE Campaign (Girls and women in STEM) where I run a girls into STEM project called ‘People Like Me’ and train people on unconscious bias and how to effectively target girls.
• Teaching Mindfulness – Running Mindful Pathway which offers Mindfulness courses for business and the public, helping people find their way to a happier path.
• Giving local people a platform – Volunteering for Verulam Radio where I produce and support the Tuesday morning show on 92.6fm.

And most recently, champion of and facilitator at Energise 6 month Portfolio Career group programmes.

How did your portfolio career come about?

My portfolio career came about when I left a corporate partnerships role in London in search of variety alongside this type of work. I had come from a corporate background at Pearson Education and Intel Corporation and now wanted to bring both the corporate and charity experience into being a ‘free-range’ human!

How has your portfolio career changed over time?

Yes, I have been able to build up the Mindfulness teaching which is really important to me. I qualified while working in a full-time role and alongside colleagues, I have now been able to offer public courses in Mindfulness-Based Cognitive Therapy which has been an amazing opportunity to help people to discover their own path with meditation.

I’m interested to see how I can develop the different aspects of the career over time.

When people ask you ‘what do you do?’ – what do you reply?

This depends on the situation. If I am networking at a national event, I would talk about how I ‘empower great causes through corporate partnership work and project management’.
If I was networking locally then I would say ‘I help people find their own path through meditation’

It all boils down to ‘I empower people and great causes’ which is how I can bring my pieces together. I think it’s important as Simon Sinek says for us to ‘Start with Why’ we do things – it’s motivating to remind ourselves and it enables people to see your zest and purpose.

To what extent did your portfolio career happen by chance/luck and to what extent was it planned?

I think it was planned but only planned when I realised, largely through coaching with Rachel Brushfield, that this was something that people did! And it was ok and rewarding to have a mix of things going on and to be doing volunteering every week for example.

What do you most love about having a portfolio career?

I most love the variety of things going on in any given week. I like having the flexibility to be able to start new projects or collaborate with new people. The sense of opportunity round the corner is a feeling that I find very motivating.

I have particularly enjoyed collaborating with others too. I am a strong believer in the power of putting heads together and I get a lot of motivation from collaborating on areas that I care about.

What are the challenges of having a portfolio career?

The challenges are that things can get quite busy and you can feel like you’re spread a bit thinly at times. I do work from home quite a bit and I do find that I need people too so I try and mix it up with co-working with someone, attending meetings or events to break up the week.

Part 2 of Ruth’s guest blog about her portfolio career coming soon.

More about Ruth Farenga

LinkedIn:
Ruth Farenga LinkedIn profile

Mindful Pathway:
Mindful Pathway web site

Next course begins October 2016:
Mindful Pathway courses

Follow Ruth on Twitter:
Ruth Farenga Twitter

Mindful Pathway Twitter

More about Portfolio Careers

Rachel Brushfield is a Talent Liberator at Energise with 30 years’ experience and a career heritage in marketing and brand strategy and communications. She specialises in Inspiring Portfolio Careers.

Energise support our clients through individual coaching, e courses and group programmes.

Click on this link for details:
6 month Portfolio Career Programme

Taster workshop Friday 15 July 2016.

A portfolio career for me!

January 27, 2015 By // by DigitalJenIPC

This is a guest blog by one of our clients, Jenny Brewer. Jenny enjoyed a successful career setting up and running her own law firm and was a pioneer for women in the law. She didn’t want to retire but to enjoy a more varied and stimulating second career, but what? Like many people, Jenny was not sure about her transferable skills, where they were useful or how to market herself as an individual brand. We helped her to think through how to make it happen and she has! The rest of this blog is in her own words:

Careers, in short, have a shelf life; portfolio careers can be timeless

When I chose to step down from my Law Practice 2 years ago I had no idea what opportunities were out there for someone like me. In 1980 I had set up and developed my own Law Firm and after a good 30 years at the helm and an exciting legal career behind me, I was ready to move on. But what was I going to do? After a lot of thought and, I have to admit, quite a lot of anxiety and doubt, I could see that it would be difficult to focus on one thing. I wanted to be free of management, free of staff, free of overwhelming regulation: a Portfolio Career i.e. a variety of jobs or business opportunities rather than one long term job, seemed a very good starting point.

So what exactly is a Portfolio Career?

For many people, instead of working in a traditional full-time job, they have several part-time jobs (including part-time employment, temporary jobs, freelancing and self-employment). When these are combined, they may add up to the equivalent of a full-time job or a working life, which is as full as they want it to be.

Getting Started creating a Portfolio Career

It is not unusual to find it difficult to get started, it feels like taking a leap into the unknown, when in fact you will soon realise that the first step is often the hardest – after that it somehow “grows”. It’s often a good idea to ask a friend to help you or to consult a Career Coach who will make that first step feel quite natural.

I was fortunate enough to be guided by Rachel Brushfield whose help was invaluable. With her advice I was able to work out what I had to offer and the areas I wanted to get into.

So we looked at:
• My skills
• My interests
• Things that I have always wanted to do
• Things I have always wanted to learn/develop – no matter how varied.

The Future of my Portfolio Career

Two years on and I now have my own Business Consultancy, which is well remunerated. In addition, I mentor professionals – including women solicitors, and I teach speaking skills. During the last two years, I have studied for and taken a teaching diploma in speaking skills. I have met so many interesting people from different areas of life who I wouldn’t have come across when I was working as a lawyer. I have also been involved in voluntary work including teaching youngsters in school to express themselves through speaking.

It has been a wonderfully rewarding experience. I have learnt to say “no” to work I don’t want and to develop the additional skills I need to do things that I am now interested in. It has surprised me how many opportunities are out there to acquire work, to learn new skills and to develop new interests.

It is said that we all work and possibly live in silos, where we are seriously focused on our individual narrow paths. We need to be focused because our work demands it. Now, I feel as though I have stepped outside into the fresh air. I’ve become more worldly and more interested in everything around me and I feel I have far more to contribute, far more to look forward to and, perhaps, most importantly, much more to enjoy!

Jennifer Brewer
www.achievingsuccess.co.uk

Career cul de sac?

November 18, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

This is a guest blog from one of our clients, Rick Cotgreave. We helped Rick discover his second career at 40.

“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” Maria Robinson

These are Rick’s words below:

“What can I do? I’m 40 years old, I’ve lost the enthusiasm I once had for my work, there must be more to life. How can I use my skills more productively? What opportunities are out there?

These are just some of the questions I had when I met Rachel in 2010. I was taking a sabbatical from work and was feeling lost. The future looked uncertain, staying in the same job and ticking down the time until retirement was terrifying. Surely there was a more productive, a more exciting, and a more rewarding way to make a living.

I had been given a gift voucher to see Rachel as a Christmas present. We arranged to meet and spend some time exploring how to combine my skills, experience, and passions to create a meaningful career. At the time I had no idea that just a two hour meeting would create such a significant shift in direction for me.

With skill Rachel coached and advised me to examine the things that really mattered to me to take a fresh perspective on my experiences and to bring them together in a way that was both relevant and of real value in the wider market place.

My background was predominantly in sport, I’d played lacrosse internationally and used that build my first career doing sports coaching and teaching Physical Education. Sport provided a great foundation for a mind-set keen to constantly look for ‘better’ and ways to develop and improve. I’d also studied yoga and meditation for many years which gave a balance to the competition of sport and helped provide an insight into the mind-set of contentment and fulfilment. Teaching had been a great way of sharing my passions with other people, but I sensed that there were more opportunities beyond the world of education.

Rachel broadened my perspective and allowed me to see how my skills could be applied in the corporate world. I began to see that a keen understanding of performance excellence learned in sport was a transferable skills that could help businesses improve individual and team effectiveness. An understanding of mindfulness could help raise awareness, manage stress and improve performance under pressure. It was this knowledge combined with the passion for sharing, teaching and coaching that would provide the building blocks for my second career.

In just two hours with Rachel, my eyes were opened to new possibilities. I subsequently resigned from my role, gained extra training and qualifications in coaching and began to build my business, Mobius Performance. I chose the name Mobius to represent the fusing of the inner and outer worlds – bringing together the performance excellence seen in sport and the personal excellence discovered in meditation.

Since meeting with Rachel I have been able to create a career that is much more rewarding. I learn something new every day and develop my skills further than I ever had the opportunity to do before. I have had the privilege to work with some brilliant people and share my passion for human development in businesses all over the world.

It might have only been two hours, but the meeting with Rachel was the start of something that continues to grow. It’s a constant reminder to me of the power of coaching – the right person, at the right time can make a massive difference to someone’s life. We all have something inside of us, it sometimes takes someone else to give us a gentle nudge so that we can grow and blossom. “

For more information about Rick, click on this link:

http://www.mobiusperformance.com/about-us/rick-cotgreave/

Imagine what an Energise gift voucher could do for you or someone you care about? Click on this link to find out more about our services/enquire about Energise gift vouchers:

http://careerstrategies.co.uk/careercoaching/what-next/

For more insights, tips and inspiring client examples, follow Rachel on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/talentliberator

“The best way to predict the future is to invent it.” Alan Kay.

What could your second career be? Download our free Skills report as a first step:

www.careerstrategies.co.uk/changingcareersreport

My inspiring clients. Part 2 of 4.

November 2, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Most people don’t realize how amazing and talented they are, and hide their light under a bushel.

My job is to help them to see their talent & uniqueness, work with them to define a career vision, strategy and plan and support them to market themselves and get to where they want to be, overcoming actual and perceived hurdles.

My clients inspire me so much and I learn a lot from them, getting new ideas that help myself and I can share with others. This is a 4 part blog series each sharing 5 current client scenarios and 5 success stories to inspire you.

5 current client scenarios

• A quality assurance manager in her 30s who wants to become an events/project manager

• A management consultant in her 30s frustrated with full time employment in the NHS who wants to do contracting work more in line with her values

• A former manager in her 40s in a corporate who has been a full time carer for her family for many years and who now wants to create a new career & life for herself

• A female in her 30s who has just returned back to the UK after living in Australia and wants to get a job and build a network

• A successful management consultant in his 50s who wants to define their brand and market their business to get more clients in the UK rather than abroad so they can spend more time with their family

5 inspiring client examples:

Evolving business focus (Lorna)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106770475879.html

Family friendly business (Francesca)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106769308248.html

Hobby into a business and child friendly (Martin)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106786138295.html

Leaving corporate life – portfolio career (Pippa)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106787631164.html

Life work balance – (Jon)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106769307989.html

Are you ready to create your own success story? Get in touch.

For more useful insights, follow us on Twitter:
Tweets by talentliberator

My inspiring clients. Part 1 of 4.

October 27, 2013 By // by DigitalJenIPC

Most people don’t realize how amazing and talented they are, and hide their light under a bushel. My job is to help them to see their talent & uniqueness, work with them to define a career vision, strategy and plan and support them to market themselves and get to where they want to be, overcoming actual and perceived hurdles.

5 current client scenarios:

• A female lawyer with a young baby who doesn’t want to return to work in private practice but wants a prestigious career which can be combined with growing her family

• A salesman in his 30s’ who has never enjoyed his career and wants to work out what career would fulfill him so he can enjoy the rest of his working life

• A finance manager in his 30s who chose to leave his job in the city because of a values mismatch and to become self-employed with better work life balance

• A female in her 60s who ran her own successful law firm for 30 years who now wants to enjoy a different second career rather than retire

• A talented female lawyer in her 20s with a young baby treated badly by her employer wanting to rebuild her confidence and find a new firm where she will be happier

5 inspiring client examples:

From employee to self-employed consultant (Chris)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1108094305074.html

A mid life career reinvention (Anne)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1108092201346.html

Child friendly self-employment and getting started (Sarah)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106786138068.html

Defining USP (Alison)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106787432800.html

Employment to contracting (Tony)
http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs042/1102862873131/archive/1106770362848.html

Are you ready to create your own success story? Get in touch.

For more useful insights, follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/talentliberator