Do you feel stuck in your career?
Maybe you’re even feeling tired of doing what you thought you were supposed to do!
Grant Schroll and Erica Soultanian want to inspire you to manage your career by thinking like an entrepreneur!
A couple of years ago they met at a Startup Week event in Washington, DC. They were both feeling stuck in their careers, but learned they both shared a passion for helping career changers find work they loved.
So they decided to co-found Mission Collaborative, a coaching and training firm to help people navigate career transitions using an entrepreneurial mindset.
Lot of great lessons in our conversation including:
- How Grant and Erica incrementally built their partnership.
- How conventional work negatively impact Erica’s health and why Grant wanted to stop doing he thought was supposed to do.
- Two common archetypes of career changers that they see a lot of in their business.
- Why self-reflection is so key to an effective career change and some exercises to help with self-reflection.
- Knowing when to leave your full-time job to work full time on your business.
Life Skills That Matter In This Episode
- Practice self-awareness
- Build your community
- Reframe your mindset
How Grant and Erica Work and Think
- Wake up time: Erica: 7:30 – 8:00 am. Grant: 6:00 – 6:30 am.
- Core work activities + habits: Erica: 1) Tracking finances, survey results and progress. 2) Facilitating programs. 3) Creating content and interacting with the participants. Grant: 1) Partnership development. 2) Marketing and outreach communications. 3) Working with Erica to co-design and facilitate programs.
- Ideal work environment: Erica: Having structure – having the co-working space that they use together and knowing that they start their work at 9:00 am. Grant: Compartmentalizing his day by getting deep work done early in the morning at home before anyone else is up and then getting together with Erica later in the morning to work collaboratively when he’s burning out working by himself, and then ending the day with something more social like a networking event or an event they’re hosting.
- Superpower: Grant: Influencing people to trust what he’s saying and be inspired to change their lives. Erica: Curate and disseminate information.
- Career change resource recommendation: Grant: Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans. Erica: CliftonStrengths assessment.
Inspirational Quotes
“You have to show up and show the value that you could add to someone before they’re gonna hire you.” – Erica Soultanian
“Why am I on this path if the ultimate destination is not something that matters to me?” – Grant Schroll
Resources + Bonus Materials
Related Episodes
Make The Most Of Your Career Change With Jeff Hittner (188)
Know When To Make A Change With Francie Wasser (148)
Connect With Grant and Erica
Mission Collaborative’s LinkedIn
Mission Collaborative’s Twitter