A midlife career change can feel like trading everything you’ve built for a leap into the unknown — especially when you’re starting over in a field that doesn’t know your name yet. If you’re a woman over 40 staring down a layoff, a restless feeling, or a career that no longer fits, the question isn’t whether to pivot — it’s how to do it without throwing away 20 years of hard-won expertise.
Joanna Ehresman spent 13 years as a senior marketing executive in wealth management before a layoff forced the question she’d been avoiding: what do I actually want? Her answer was interior design — a passion she’d dismissed for decades as impractical. Using a job shadow strategy and the transferable skills she already had, she created a brand-new role at Fika Design Group without a design degree, a portfolio, or a clear plan. Six months in, she’s not looking back.
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN:
▸ [00:03:34] Career pivot decision-making: why defaulting back to the same industry after a layoff can stall your second act — and what to do instead
▸ [00:09:42] Job shadow career exploration: how to get inside a new industry with no experience, no portfolio, and no perfect pitch
▸ [00:12:39] How to change careers using transferable skills: from a one-week shadow to a paid pilot to a primary role — the step-by-step
▸ [00:25:33] Financial planning for a midlife career change: the real income trade-offs, dual-income considerations, and how to decide if the numbers work
▸ [00:29:28] Identifying transferable skills women over 40 underestimate: and what Joanna’s employers say her true superpower is
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About the Show:
Her Intentional Reset is a midlife podcast for women navigating career change — honest, deep-dive conversations about career pivots, second acts, and reinvention with women who’ve actually lived it. This women’s empowerment podcast speaks to women in 30’s, 40, women over 50, Gen X women, working moms, empty nesters, and corporate women dealing with burnout — women redefining success and finding their why after a layoff, a career wall, or the moment work just stopped feeling right. Each episode traces a real transition story: the catalyst for change behind it, whether that’s a layoff story, career burnout, or hitting a wall; the steps and timeline behind how she actually made the change — quitting a corporate job, leaving corporate America, starting over professionally, and/or going from employee to entrepreneur; and an inside look at her industry along the way.
The conversations also get into the practical side most career-change content skips: transferable skills, upskilling and reskilling in midlife, starting a business with no experience, and career change without a degree. And because money is always part of the story, guests talk financial planning for a career change — paying yourself first, building a financial runway and safety net, income gaps, self-employed health insurance, saving for retirement while self-employed, and the money mindset it takes to trade a paycheck for financial freedom in midlife.
Guests share the career pivot lessons learned, the advice for career changers, and what they wish they’d known before quitting — then close out with a Rapid Round covering the real-life stuff: family recipes, book and show recommendations, a life motto, and a wellness or self-care tip for midlife women, because women are often each other’s best guides and teachers. It’s never too late to make a change, follow your intuition, and listen to that quiet voice — every episode leaves listeners feeling inspired and empowered to explore their own career pivot, second act, or next chapter, on their own terms. New episodes of this career change podcast and midlife podcast for women release biweekly on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.