Career Pivot Reflection

In August of 2019, I made a career pivot from being a senior pastor to becoming a real estate agent. It was one of the most exciting & scary moves in my life.  I had spent 25+ years working in full time ministry & to say that it as an identity shift is an understatement.  In ministry, I loved helping people thrive & find their purpose & passion in life.  I enjoyed preaching & impacting others through that platform. The years took a toll & I could not believe I was starting to think about doing something else for a career.  Being in my late 40’s I was not sure I could recreate myself & my future. But I knew the time had come to give it a shot. 
 
About 3 years before I started working on writing my resignation but more than anything… I started doing a lot of soul searching.  I studied personality profiles, read books on purpose, & listing to career pivot podcasts. & more than anything I talked with my wife about what it would look like to change careers. & of course when you make a change from the ministry to something else people ask “what went wrong?” But I didn’t think about it that way. I thought how can I grow & thrive in new ways. 
 
As I explored, I realized that I have always loved building & creating and loved serving others.  I did that in the church and I wanted to keep those passions engaged. There were 3 questions I grappled with:“What am I good at?,” “What do people say I am good at?” &“What are the fears that keep you from doing it?”  
 
There are so many fears but the opposite of fear is courage.  It took courage to step back & step into a new way of engaging the world around me.  Guiding my clients through complex& stressful transactions is meaningful very refreshing. 
 
My heart is full of gratitude. I am thankful for the years I spend in ministry. I am grateful for the people around me. There is an old phrase that goes “You know what they say about a turtle on a fencepost?” “If you see one, it did not get there by itself.” That is my story.  I am thankful for my wife & kids support. My friends. Biz coach.  And in my new career my business partner/ friend Ryan Jenkins who has taught me the ropes in real estate. 
 
It has been an amazing journey. 
 

Thanks for reading!