New book offers an honest and humorous look at the professional transition to entrepreneurship
Gisele Aubin offers an honest look at what it means to change careers in midlife and how she personally found her own happiness. “In Transit” is not your typical step-by-step guide to success, but instead offers a realistic, emotional, and ultimately messy but satisfying story of how one woman discovered what she wanted to do with the rest of her life. she. And readers will find empathy, hope, and ideas to advance their own careers in these pages.
Gisele Aubin is a woman after my own heart. She has known the stresses of the corporate world, and when her job came to an end, instead of feeling discouraged and jobless, she saw it as an opportunity to take a sabbatical from work and instead spend time reinventing herself, trying to find out if he wanted to continue in the business world or work for himself. At first, she didn’t know what she would do if she became an entrepreneur: what kind of business could she start? And sometimes, she felt inclined to return to a regular job as different opportunities arose, but each time, she felt her spirits rise against the idea, so she continued with her transition to self-employment, or as she he calls it. “you-are-alone-and-good-luck with that!”
Anyone who has worked in the corporate world knows the stress it can cause, the demands coming from all directions and the general insanity of it all. While I never had a job like Gisele’s, where she had to travel a lot, I could fully relate to her constant frustration of trying to communicate with people in a world that never stops communicating:
“Long flights are the best. I completely back away from the cabin around me and zoom in on my screen. Those four and a half hours in the air is like eight in the office. Where else can you afford to be?” Protected from endless phone calls, emails, instant messages and every other way people can reach you? The day they allow mobile phones and internet access on all flights will be the day I stop traveling, I hope.”
Furthermore, Gisele’s corporate life was so busy and full of travel that she rarely had time for herself. She admits that she hardly has any personal life or emotion, always keeping sadness at bay with humor, as when she comments that “You know you’re in dire need of a life when emotion is a salad in an airport terminal.” Even her weekends were packed with work:
“I never, ever caught up unless I was playing by myself while no one else was. The only time to get ahead was on the weekend or in the middle of the night. Then of course I could have won the make-up game that day. , but lost on other fronts like sleep, relationships, and health, just to name a few.”
And then the company she works for is suddenly sold, giving her the choice to stay at the new company or the chance to choose unemployment, or rather a sabbatical to rediscover herself and transition to the I work on my own accord. Choosing the latter, Gisele re-cultivates her relationship with her boyfriend, travels to Europe, takes classes and remembers what it’s like to just have fun again – like when she and her sister surprise her parents by showing up to have breakfast in pajamas and finally, she realizes how she wants the rest of her work and her personal life to be.
Watching Gisele go through this transition was fascinating to me. After her years in the corporate world, she was something of an adrenaline junkie, and she constantly refers to the hamster in her brain that doesn’t stop but she always needs to be busy, planning, scheduling, figuring out what’s next. She knows she needs to learn to relax and stay in the moment, but like most of us, that’s easier said than done, which is precisely why I and so many others will relate to her story.
Many books have been written on how to become an entrepreneur and build your own business from scratch, but few discuss it from a personal perspective. “In Transit” is more like business therapy where we get to see a woman’s daily frustrations and emotions during her career transition, almost like we’re watching a reality show about becoming an entrepreneur. Gisele carries it all with courage and a good sense of humor that will leave readers laughing at her, relating to her, and ultimately feeling motivated to follow her own dreams.
Whether you’re ready to take the leap into self-employment or make any other major life change, you’ll find a kindred spirit in these pages who understands where you are, where you want to go, even if you don’t. and who can show you how he managed to get there. Get ready for a career and experience that will change your life.