Life is a Highway

Your career is a journey and you're just looking for the next stop

Author

Sara Kobilka
June 12, 2024

Planes, trains, or automobiles! However you prefer to travel, it’s time to start thinking about your career as a journey to bypass the blockades you may be setting up for yourself.

- Sara Kobilka, Renaissance Woman

If my career is a journey, then I’ve filled my first passport with stamps and I’m working through book number two (or possibly three). I refer to myself as a Renaissance Woman because of my widely varied interests and the expertise I’ve gained from working in many industries and disciplines (not to mention all over the United States).

Even as a undergraduate, I knew I would need to relocate multiple times during my broadcast journalism/meteorology career. In the TV News industry, you start at a small station, then work your way up to bigger stations in different cities as you gain expertise and aim for more prestigious titles like chief meteorologist or anchor. And a few lucky people reach that goal and stay through the rest of their career.

But those jobs are few and far between and even some who have achieved them are left wondering, “what’s next?”

There is a legitimate fear. Whether you’re someone whose spent their entire career in TV news, or a researcher in higher education, or a team member in the development office at a museum, you worry that you might not make it outside of the career you’ve specialized in, especially in a competitive job market. You worry that if you DO find something new, it will leave you feeling unfulfilled (full disclosure, I’ve definitely experienced this).

The key is to go back to framing your career as a journey—one of exploration and learning—where you don’t need a final destination in mind.

As my good friend (and fellow Renaissance Woman) Nancy Scales-Coddington recently said:

Your next job isn't your last and if it doesn't work out, you can always course correct. You gather valuable information or skills with every opportunity you say yes too. Don't be afraid to say yes because you will be stuck in potentially something you might not like.

So seek out the next stamp in your career passport and while you’re there, you can:

  • Explore new customs and cultures

  • Meet the locals and expand your network of colleagues and collaborators

  • Gather some cool souvenirs

  • Go on some grand adventures and have powerful stories to tell

  • Learn to use new tools to pack in your metaphorical luggage (much more on that in future newsletters)

Thank you for joining me as this newsletter journey takes off! Look for updates every week or two, depending on how busy my family and ever-changing career keeps me.

PS: To keep myself and other fans of the arts entertained (remember, I am a Renaissance Woman after all), look for a reference to at least one song lyric; or a quote from a movie, TV show, play or musical. Message me on LinkedIn if you find it and you win…a virtual shout out in the next newsletter! #LifeGoals

Hi! I’m Sara Kobilka, owner of Renaissance Woman Consulting.

I am a Renaissance Woman and part of my wider-ranging background includes time as a TV meteorologist/reporter, non-profit leader, higher education program coordination, and now, freelance business owner. During each leg of this journey, I gained new skills that I was able take with me in my next step. Now, I work remotely with clients to help them confidently tell their story and navigate the transition to their next step on their career journey.

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