There are some people lucky enough to have grown up knowing what they wanted to do with their lives. Everyone loves hearing stories about the two year old who knew he wanted to be a classical pianist, or the pre-teen who felt destined to be a rockstar from kindergarten. It sounds great, right? But you rarely hear about those who find their passions and then, for one reason or another, fall out of love with them. Womp womp. What does one do if after 5+ years of grinding away at a particular career, they find that it’s just no longer in alignment with their soul? Or worse — when the reality of a particular career choice turns our to be more nightmare than dream? Ouch. The good news is that it’s never too late to become who you want to be, and do what you want to do.
Keep reading for Kitiya Skye’s story about what it was like to fall out of love with her career in advertising and pursue a new passion in the arts and wellness. As well as three helpful tips on how to navigate a career transition.
Kitiya Skye, is a former NYC Advertising Executive who worked at top international agencies on premier accounts. When it came to her career, she had always praised herself for being “one of those people who always knew what they wanted to do.” She went to school to study advertising, got an ad agency internship in college and then a job shortly after graduating. Voila! She even got a top agency to sponsor her move from Toronto to NYC! It all felt so natural and easy. Until it didn’t.
After six years of working at her “dream job” she realized she was consistently stressed, drained, and generally unhappy. She was working late, dealing with toxic co-workers, and neglecting sleep. What’s more, the stress of working at an unfulfilling job environment had the side effect of depriving her body of the vitamins and nutrients that it needed — she was living off coffee, champagne and pad thai. No bueno. While her job description might have sounded great on paper, she realized her heart was just no longer in the right place anymore. It was time to make a change. After careful consideration Kitiya pulled a complete 180 and relocated to Los Angeles to pursue her love of the arts and wellness. A risky move! Kitiya is now a full time actress and founder of HONOR Mornings™ a 100% organic, vegan, sugar free sugar smoothie mix designed to help you glow from within and feel amazing.
Kitiya’s message within the HONOR Mornings™ brand is about loving yourself from the inside out, and HONORing yourself by following your intuition and passions. It was inspired by Kitiya’s own personal journey from feeling trapped in a negative environment to thriving and taking care of herself from the inside out.
Here are Kitiya’s 3 tips on navigating a career transition:
Find Contacts in Your New Field: Try to reach out and connect with as many people working in your new field as possible. Arrange a get together with the intention of learning more about their journey and how they got to be where they are. Eventually you may want to get their advice on how to take your current experience and skills and apply them to your new path.
Take Classes: Consider yourself a student and view learning with bright eyed bushy tailed enthusiasm! It can be humbling starting over again from the bottom so go easy on yourself and practice self compassion. Get excited about taking as many classes, and reading as many books as you can get your hands on!
Start Saving! Their may come a moment when you’re between jobs and will need to rely on savings to keep the bills paid. You may also need to invest in classes, tools, and new equipment. Start saving now to create a safety net and feel comfortable leaving your job when the time is right.
You only have one life, so it’s important to check in with yourself regularly to make sure you’re feeling happy, fulfilled, and challenged. If not, it could be time to consider making a change. If you do, just remember to be kind to yourself. Embrace the journey! Changing careers might feel scary, but there is no substitute for following your heart and seeing where your intuition takes you. Good luck!
Kitiya Skye is a Los Angeles based actress and founder of HONOR Mornings™, a 100% organic, vegan, sugar free, and GMO free powdered smoothie mix with the ideal combination of adaptogens, plant protein, supergreens and mushrooms to nourish the body, mind, and soul and help you glow from within.
Learn more at honormornings.com