61. Part 3: On Building a Work Life after Corporate Life with Kathy Oneto & Philip VanDusen

Overview

On Episode 61, I’m in conversation with Philip VanDusen , whose been on the podcast with me two times before. Philip comes back to join me for this 5-part series on Building a Work Life after Corporate Life. How do you leave corporate and move into self-employment or starting a business? Our intent with this series is to create a guide to going out on your own.

This became a topic for The Sustainable Ambition Podcast based on a listener request, and I thought who better to discuss this with than Philip. Both of us have had 25+ year careers in Corporate and then went out on our own and even have a shared journey on our post-Corporate path that will share along the way.

The series will be aired here on The Sustainable Ambition Podcast, as well as on Philip’s podcast, Brand Design Masters.

In Part 3 of the series, we talk about what to do before you leave your Corporate gig, putting plans in place so you have a soft landing when you do go out on your own, yet knowing that you can’t plan it all and will need to learn and pivot along the way.

In the end this conversation is about managing the transition from one to the other, from Corporate to being on your own, and that includes creating a transition plan to start with, addressing both internal and external support you’ll need. Then think about your initial business model and brand plan for how you want to present yourself. And be prepared for the fact that it will evolve over time.

We’re on a roll, Philip! On to Part 4 in the series! Next up: Getting resourced to be ready when you start your own work outside corporate.

More About Our Guest

Philip VanDusen is a creative entrepreneur and owner of Verhaal Brand Design a branding agency based in New Jersey, USA. As a thought leader, Philip shares his expertise in marketing, design and entrepreneurship on YouTube to his 250k subscribers, in his Brand•Muse newsletter, on the Brand Design Masters podcast, and in his Brand Design Masters Facebook community.

In his career, Philip has led creative teams on both the client and agency-sides— serving as VP of Design for PepsiCo and Old Navy and Executive Creative Director at the iconic branding firm Landor Associates. Past clients include a host of Fortune 100 companies.

Topics Covered

  • Kathy and Philip again share their own experiences with planning going out on their own.

  • Or, in Philip’s case, he shares how you might approach things if one’s departure from corporate is sudden and when you want to do something new and different from what you had been doing. He started with self-exploration, because he was looking to do something different. His exploration included working with a coach, networking, informational interviews, and exploring what existed outside the world of corporate. Philip also found value in community and a mastermind group to help him plan his next stage. What was even possible?

  • We share how an important part of “figuring it out and planning” is actually giving yourself space to hear yourself and for the path to show itself. This isn’t passive, however. There is active exploration happening within that space.

  • Kathy brings forward one of the tenets of Sustainable Ambition, which is to be thoughtful about one’s finances and be “an investor” to create optionality for oneself and give yourself a runway for when you might want to make a pivot in your life.

  • Philip shares a surprise he experienced around leaving his job and that was around self-identity, which is a psychological transition. Both of us experienced this, and a lot of people miss this part of the planning. You will experience an identity shift, and it’s helpful to prepare yourself for this. We come back to this idea of starting to craft your story for when you’ll go out on your own.

  • Kathy shares how you can be thoughtful about crafting your transition and that includes internal and external support. It’s not just about the business. There are personal aspects you have to put attention towards.

  • They share how despite planning, the reality is you will learn along the way. And that’s actually fun, learning about all kinds of possibilities that you may not have known before.

  • In planning, Philip shares one of the things you need to think about is the scope of your business and if it will just be you or if you want to stand for something bigger and broader. How do you want to show up? And how do you want to brand yourself? This can impact how you name and present yourself and is a decision you need to make early on. Note that this can get tricky and messy over time!

  • They also talk about thinking about your business model in a similar way.

  • But know, as Philip emphasizes again, that entrepreneurial businesses are messy. Be prepared for that. You will be pivoting and evolving over time, and that’s okay. You just need to start and be willing to go on the ride. Give yourself permission to let it evolve.

Resources Mentioned

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61. Part 3: On Building a Work Life after Corporate Life with Kathy Oneto & Philip VanDusen

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