I’ve mastered the art of transition. Although, not by choice.
Professional dancer to corporate leader. Corporate leader to creative entrepreneur. Married to divorced. Los Angeles to Atlanta with multiple other cities in between.
And with each transition, I honestly felt like a failure. Like I didn’t get the same amount of staying power that everyone else seems to have.
But to my surprise, I always found that my previous season had somehow set me up perfectly for the new one I’d just entered.
That showed me that there’s purpose in my nonlinear path, and it taught me that there’s a difference between starting fresh and starting over.
Starting over implies you're back at zero; that everything you've built, learned, and become is somehow irrelevant to what comes next. It's the narrative that keeps talented people trapped in situations that no longer serve them, paralyzed by the fear of "throwing it all away."
If you're in the middle of a transition that feels impossible—career or business change, relationship ending, relocation, identity shift—here's what I've learned from my own journey and from documenting the stories of dozens of professionals who've navigated their own paths to purpose.
1. Nothing is wasted.
After fifteen years transitioning between industries—media, wellness, music, real estate—Dany Craig’s function may have changed, but her purpose didn’t.
"Every single role I've had has been about one thing: connection," she reflects. Today, she’s a real estate broker in Atlanta who connects investors to emerging markets in Africa. Her ability to spot trends early, her eye for small details and logistics, her advocacy for the underdog—none of it was wasted. It all became part of the toolkit that makes her exceptional at being the bridge between people, opportunities, and continents.
This is the first truth about fresh starts: your previous seasons aren't baggage. They're preparation.
The years you spent in that career that no longer fits? They gave you transferable skills. The relationship that ended? It taught you what you actually need. And the city you left behind? It shaped your perspective on what home really means.
Nothing is wasted. It's all fuel for what comes next.
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2. There's no such thing as "too old."
Daniel Fitch was thirty-six years old when he went back to college.
For years, he'd been working in roles that paid the bills but left him unfulfilled. He could feel something stirring—a desire for more, a pull toward work that actually meant something. Basketball dreams had faded. TV production ambitions had evolved. But at thirty-six, going back to school to study African American Studies with a concentration in film and video felt like a bold move that some may have questioned.
But he did it anyway, and it transformed everything—opening doors to music video production, filmmaking, and eventually his own creative business helping entrepreneurs tell their stories through video.
Daniel's story exposes the lie that there's an expiration date on reinvention. That if you haven't "figured it out" by a certain age, you've missed your window. The truth is that some of the most powerful transitions happen in midlife, when you finally have the wisdom, resources, and courage to pursue what actually matters.
I left my dance career in my mid-thirties, and I navigated divorce and jumped back into entrepreneurship in my early forties. Each transition brought gifts that my younger self couldn't have accessed: perspective, emotional intelligence, financial stability, clarity about what I actually value.
You're not too old, and you're not behind. You're exactly where you need to be, with everything you need to take the next step.
3. What society says you should want doesn't really matter.
Phylecia Jones has built her entire career around one principle: life is meant to be lived fully, and work should support that vision, not consume it.
Throughout her professional journey—from over 11 years in the Department of Defense to money coaching to her current work with iFind You Close®, a business that gives professional speakers visibility—Phylecia has made strategic pivots. Not because she was running from something, but because she was running toward the life she wanted to create.
When something no longer fit professionally, she adjusted or released it. When RVing around the country and soon sailing called to her, she restructured everything to make it possible.
"I'm not taking life too seriously anymore," she says. "Like it's serious, but I'm just going to be cool."
Phylecia's story challenges the traditional narrative of professional success, the one that says you pick a path and climb it steadily until retirement. The one that values stability over fulfillment, prestige over purpose, or other people's approval over your own peace.
Besides…I’ve learned that all of that means nothing if it doesn't light you up.
So as far as I’m concerned, the only questions that matter are (1) “what do you actually want?” and (2) “what are you purposed for?”
4. You're not the only one navigating transition.
Navigating a major career or life change can feel isolating. Lonely even.
But the truth is you're not alone in it.
Even if it feels like everyone else has it figured out while you're fumbling in the dark. Like you're the only one questioning whether you made the right choice, or whether you can actually pull this off, or whether you'll ever feel whole again.
You're not.
Over the past several years, I've documented the stories of professionals across multiple industries, ages, and backgrounds. An operations strategist turned interior stager, a corporate leader who quit to start creative businesses, a performer who went from the stage to an online business that honors her values—the common thread isn't that they all had it figured out.
It’s that they all chose courage over comfort. They started fresh instead of staying stuck, and they all emerged on the other side stronger, wiser, and more aligned with who they actually are.
Every single one of us faced doubt, questioned our choices, and wondered if moving on was a mistake. That’s all part of the process of getting to the next place. Not a signal to stay put.
Your Fresh Start
Wherever you are in your transition, here's the takeaway: the career, business, or life you actually want is possible.
You don't need to have it all figured out or see the full staircase. You just need to take the next step—the one right in front of you that honors who you actually are instead of who you think you should be.
Because the version of you that's waiting on the other side of this transition is already calling you forward.
You just have to be brave enough to answer.
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