Grammy Award Winner, Professional Circus and Apple Veteran Change Careers

Stewart Copeland was one of the founders of The Police. Kelly Richards grew up where later the Apple office appeared in which she worked. Here are their career change tips. Of course, not everything that the author says is suitable for our realities. But, nevertheless, now the situation on the labor market is such that many of us are thinking about whether it is time to change the scope of activity . Let's try to extract the maximum benefit from the life experience of others!

I grew up in Cupertino, California, long before the advent of Apple. Later for 12 years, I managed her music and entertainment department. At that time, my office was located on the very spot where I collected apricots in my childhood.
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Leaving Apple to pursue a new career was not easy. But, like any Silicon Valley native, I discovered that I still have the entrepreneurial spirit necessary for rebirth. Over the years I was lucky enough to make friends with creative, able to inspire people who were endowed with similar inclinations - many of them had a career that made even more unexpected zigzags than me. This is what I learned myself from Apple, and what I learned from them.

Learning to see signs

I have always been in love with music - it was from the very beginning that determined my career goals. But in 1998, when Apple experienced serious financial problems, and there were still 3 years left until the launch of iTunes, digital music was not exactly on the list of priority areas.

When it became obvious, it was not easy to accept such a situation, especially after spending more than 10 years in the company. But other factors — from management policies to constant reorganizations — helped me decide to change course. The only thing that brought me joy at Apple was the satisfaction of my interest in the interaction of music and technology. Therefore, I took advantage of my experience and launched my own business to concentrate on this - I opened a store just a mile from Apple Headquarters.

Having made such a decision, I faced new difficulties - with obstacles that await anyone who radically changes the scope of activities. At that moment, for the sake of a portion of inspiration, I turned my eyes to those friends and colleagues who had already experienced this.

1. Always build on your strengths.

As my friend Steward Copeland knows, in order to have maximum impact - no matter what and where you do - you need to know and use your strengths and talents. Copeland - most often referred to as the co-founder and drummer of The Police, and recently named Rolling Stone's 10th greatest drummer, is a talented performer and composer who has long been looking for opportunities to apply his abilities in many different projects.

Born in the United States, but grown up in Lebanon, Copeland, by trial and error, wove ethnic musical motifs into his own style, receiving feedback from local musicians and constantly practicing. So he used 3 key elements, without which career growth is simply unthinkable.

However, throughout all of these experiments and training, Copeland’s main strengths have remained unchanged. You can see (or, more precisely, hear) this in his various musical works. In addition to working at The Police, Copeland launched another successful project: he wrote soundtracks for films, TV programs and video games, as well as operas, ballets and music for symphony orchestras.

How did he do it? Undoubtedly, being in the tops of the music charts and receiving Grammy awards, Copeland acquired powerful connections . But if he did not create strong creative alliances, he would hardly have been able to move so far. And all these relationships helped him to realize his talents, to move forward, leading joint work.

In other words, he did not need to become who they were not. On the contrary, Copeland built a network that allowed him to find new spaces on which he could express his musical talent.

In order to test his strength and develop, he simply received feedback from other artists, managers and producers who gave him the opportunity to achieve goals.

To successfully launch a second career, determine, using external feedback and internal reflection, what your key strengths are. How have others strengthened your talents? What do you think you managed to stand out? Do not think about the "how" your adventure will be realized. Concentrate on “what” and “why” - on your strengths and interests, thanks to which they develop.

2. Set a new course based on your inclinations.

My buddy Michael Marlin (or just Marlin) is a master transformation. It is difficult even to list in one sentence everything he did. Being in love with many activities, Marlin does not want to part with any of them. He escaped to the circus to become a world-class juggler. He tried himself in the manufacture of toys. He created a light show called LUMA, wrote books, worked on a TV show and even played in a Christmas movie.

No one can be called a Renaissance man with a greater right than Marlin, but his delicate instinct also deserves attention on what inspires him. Many career coaches do not recommend following their own interests, calling such advice rash and outdated. But this is rather true for the situation when you do not want to open and develop your hobbies.

Before combining your personal and professional interests, you must define them and prioritize them. Which of them inspire you the most right now, regardless of what filled you with energy at the time when you entered your previous role? What resources will you need to fulfill your current interests? What is your time frame? Think about the financial side: which hobbies can bring you income, and how quickly? If you need third-party investors, then how can you attract them?

Answer these questions and determine market needs. Then use your enthusiasm to stand out from the competition - and then, as Marlin did many times, just act.

3. Do not discard your previous successes, use them as a basis.

During college, I worked in Guitar Player and Keyboard magazines and produced talented performers. This led me to hiring me for the position of executive director at EMI Music. And later, I ended up at Apple as the head of a music and entertainment group.

The knowledge and connections that I had during the performance of each of these roles helped me become who I am now - the founder and CEO of my own company. And, as in the Copeland case, it was precisely the strong bonds that were formed while I was engaged in my favorite work that contributed to my progress.

Once Jerry Seinfeld and I talked in front of a corporate party, to which I invited him. Knowing about my serious connections at Apple, he wondered if I could not introduce him to Steve Jobs. I was glad to help. My strong relationship has benefited not only two key figures at once, but myself as well, because their acquaintance happened thanks to me.

Expand your connections at every opportunity. Use them to offer help to other people. Over time, you will be able to optimize accumulated resources and connections. By creating new opportunities for others, you are, in fact, paying by installments your own future paths to success.

4. Never stop asking yourself "What if ...?"

I discovered that curious creative personalities who are constantly interested in opportunities usually become successful creators of a second career. Having worked for companies such as Apple, Yahoo and Paramount, my buddy and colleague Randy Heikin asked himself: “What if I could get further behind the scenes of this ecosystem?” He became a partner of VC Film, an informal investor and professor at the University of California Berkeley.

Heikin's consistent philanthropic activities allowed him to fulfill another of his dreams. He created the non-profit organization Gratitude Network, which helps millions of people around the world thanks to companies with social influence. He also opened his own winery, Entrepreneur Wines.

Of course, Heikin’s success, experience and powerful connections helped him realize each of these initiatives. But his curiosity and fantastic sense of opportunity also played a significant role here. To activate it, sometimes you need to take a broader look at the situation, calm your mind and accept the novice’s mindset. Imagine that you have no answers, and start asking questions. What do you not know from the things you are interested in? What opportunity would you like to take?

Developing a new career can be a challenge, but as I discovered it is one of the most wonderful and enjoyable ways to change your life. If you feel depressed, you are bored, and the work does not interest you, then there is no need to put up with it: you can always reconsider your choice.

PS We recommend another useful article on the topic of work on yourself - Lessons learned from the failures of 7 very successful people .

The author of the translation is Vyacheslav Davidenko, the founder of the TESTutor company.