How Marion Leveraged Her Transferable Skills and Network to Pivot Careers

Podcast Transcript

Marion: So when I decided to create my own lane, that’s what helped me shine. I just decided to go, and instead of doing things that other people were doing, I just decided to do things that I wanted to do.

Tanesha: Hi, welcome to another episode of Promoted, a podcast about leaving low-wage work for good. I am Tanesha Washington, a career coach with Merit America, and I am hosting the show today. Today, we are talking about rewriting your career and stepping into the career that you deserve. I am excited to introduce today’s guest, Marion, who has done exactly that. She has experience in a variety of roles and decided that she wanted something different in her career. So welcome, Marion, to the show.

Marion: Hello, everyone!

Tanesha: I remember, Marion, when you first joined Merit America, you were one of the more vocal voices in our weekly squad meetings that we would have, and noticing that very early on that you were one of the people who not only were willing to share your story, but find your story in others, which I thought was really powerful. So, can you quickly start us off by sharing what you were doing before Merit America and what you’re currently doing now?

Marion: Before Merit America, I was working as a retail manager for Walmart. I was also working seasonally as a data specialist for the IRS. So I had a few jobs trying to do what I had to do, but now with Merit America and me graduating with that Project Management Certificate from Google, I am working at the Talbert House as an administrative support specialist.

Tanesha: Yes. Well, thank you for giving us the context—the bookends. Now we’re going to fill in the middle. So let’s start by diving deeper into your background. Let’s back up to when you were younger, right? We always get asked that question. What do you want to be when you grow up? Right. So take us back. Tell us about your career aspirations as you were growing up and how you may have pursued them.

Marion: Well, my first career aspiration was to be an astronaut. I wanted to be the first black female astronaut. And when someone beat me, I was at a loss. I said, “What’s going to happen to me now? How am I going to work with this?” Somebody has already beaten me. And my mom said, “That doesn’t mean that you can’t be the first to something else.” And I said, “Okay.”

She said, “So what do you want to do? What do you like to do?” And so at that time, I wasn’t sure. My parents were very instrumental in allowing me to spread my wings. I was in ballet, I did tap, I did dance, I did all types of anything that could open me up to what came, so that I can make my own decisions here in the future.

Tanesha: Right, and so having your mom in part of your support system, right, as you were aging and you were finding out your fit, what were some changes that you were hoping to make in your life and your career as you started becoming a working professional?

Marion: The changes I was hoping to make were—I was trying to find something that was more in line with my values, my core values. I’m a family-oriented person. My family we are all about community, and giving back is very embedded into my soul, into my family. I’m from a historically black family, the Abernathys, and we definitely give back to our community in every aspect of our lives. So I was definitely looking for something to help me make that pivot.

Tanesha: For sure, right? And in pivoting, right? Sometimes we don’t always know the right words or the pathway to where we want to be. I remember in one of our one-on-one meetings, as we were talking about how to align your values with your professional self, right? And I was naming off different job titles that you might consider. Learning and Development, Talent Development, People Experience, right? And I remember just kind of like how you are now, you were lighting up like, “Wow, that’s a thing. I can do that.” And so that was sort of the spark in how we started to talk about your skills developing into something that would have more meaning, which we’re seeing pay out for the people at Talbert House. I just remember that and just feeling really energized by that and saying, “Oh, wow, there’s a light bulb moment there. Let’s switch over to talking about how you actually rewrite your career.”

Now, you know I have lots of catchphrases in my meetings, right? And when talking about how we sell ourselves and how we tell our story, some of us have a specific career path in mind, and some of us don’t have a specific goal. So whether we’re 10 years into our career, 30 years in, I remember you came to me, you were like, “I’ve got 20 years in retail and customer service. What do I do with this?” Right? But what’s great to know is that we can always rewrite our story in our career.

In fact, you know my background, I’ve got backgrounds in lots of things in higher education, EdTech, you know, I was a preschool teacher, I worked on Wall Street, right? I’ve done all these different things, and now I’m a career coach at Merit America. So our experiences and what we learn in our careers further shape our careers. We may not know what truly motivates us until we gain some experience in that role, right? You couldn’t have imagined, “I want to be a project manager,” if you hadn’t ever done it before. And in pulling those skills out, we realized, “Wait, I actually do have some of those skills, right?”

So I want to backtrack us through the program and even before the program, right, in terms of project management. What was the breakthrough moment for you in your career that you realized, “Hey, I have expertise in this field. I can do this.” Where did that moment happen? Or maybe there were multiple moments, who knows?

Marion: There have been multiple moments, I would definitely say, because I have had several jobs in my past, but I was thinking about where I wanted to be. And I saw one of my friends, they were like, “Yes, I’m getting promoted. Yes, I’m finally getting that corner office. And I was like, “Corner office?” I never really thought about that.

And that made me decide, let’s think about things from another perspective. And that’s when I realized I have become a Liam Neeson and have acquired several skills over the years. And now I can actually use that. And so that’s when I decided I wanted to start my own business.

But I also needed to learn how to. I needed to learn. I needed something that was going to show me how to do everything that I wanted to do without having to sacrifice anything.

Tanesha: Right. You know, sacrifice is one of those many setbacks that we can encounter in our job search, right? You know, there are the rejections, right? There are the ghostings, the no callbacks, the potential scams, right? There are all these setbacks and ways that we can be rejected in the job search. How were you handling rejection and setbacks in your job search, you know, through your life, and even, you know, as you were going over to a Talbert House and accepted that role?

Marion: Well, at first, I didn’t give up what I already had. I kept working at my other jobs, but I also kept waking up with affirmations and gratitude. I was grateful for what I have. I’m grateful that I have these two jobs that’re wearing me out because you know why? When I have this new job, I’m going to be even more grateful because I don’t have to run all over the city like I was doing to work at that job. 

I knew what I was going to have, and I grew it and manifested it because I just believed it. And I believed it because Mary showed me that I had the skills. And I said, “If you could show me the skills that I have, the value that I have in myself.” I said, “Wait, this is going somewhere. We are cooking with gasoline now. Okay. This is good.”

Tanesha: It’s so good to hear you recount it, and I’m sort of reliving it with you at the moment. And it’s a really good transition into one of our favorite topics, talking about how to highlight your transferable skills. It is really hard to communicate your skill set and value if you don’t know how to talk about it, right? And that’s something that came up for us in our working relationship at Merit America. So I’m interested in knowing how you explained your career change when you were interviewing and moving into project management, which at the time felt like this new thing for you? How did you explain to employers that you were moving from a customer service-facing work to something more project management-focused? How did you explain that?

Marion: I was honest about how agile I was. I was very honest about the opportunity that I have to be agile. I have all of these resources and all of this experience. But if you want to have a rest at your job, you want me to take care of it because you know you’re going to get it. It’s going to get done.

Tanesha: Okay.

Marion: You don’t have to be stressed out. If I can do all of this—if I can have a business, I can work at this organization with these beautiful women, I can have a dog, I can have a house, I can work three jobs, and everybody is happy and at peace—you know, you need me. I got you. But the good thing is, I lead with love, though. I lead with love.

I lead with love, I lead with kindness, and I lead with understanding and transparency. And so that’s how that ended up happening. And I love Talbert House because they were really understanding, loving, and kind to me as well.

Tanesha: Right. You know, I love the confidence and the joy that shows up as you sort of tell the story, right, and talk about how you communicated where your value was. Right. With Talbert House, in particular, you saw yourself in their values and the way that they were working, which seemed like it made it a quality match. And that high-quality interviewing that we talked about, and searching for roles that match not just the pay, not just whether it’s remote or not, but also X, Y, Z, right? Does it actually match what I’m looking for? Can I actually make a contribution here, right? This aligns with a lot of the things you talked about in wanting to make a difference. Kind of in the same vein, right? You know, when we talked about communication skills, right? Talking about transferable skills. We had a hard time in the beginning of our working relationship, even figuring out how to talk about what I’m good at and how that makes sense in project management.

And you just shared with us that your life has lots of projects, right? The house, the dog, the civic organizations, right? All of those are projects. So, take us back to that time when maybe you didn’t have that language.

Marion: It was very hard because it was chaos. It was chaotic because there wasn’t a center. I didn’t have my ground. I wasn’t balanced. But it was because I was diving deep and, like my mom taught me to, dive deep into things that I don’t know, so I can find out what I like and what I do know. And what I do know is what I like. And that will bring me to something that’s going to be from the heart, and it’s going to be a good value to me.

Tanesha: Yeah, and you know, even in saying, you, this is going to be a good value to me, right? And being able to express that. There are so many different ways you can express that. But something that I remember you saying to me in one of our meetings was that you felt like in the way you talked about your experiences that you were playing small. I don’t know if you remember that. I think that’s something that really captured where we were at. You had years and years of professional experience. You had all of these engagements in your community, representing your family and your community. Yet you felt like you were playing small right, which meant that the words you used were also small. So how did that language grow for you? How did that playing small turn into something much greater for you?

Marion: It took Miss Coach T to help pry that out of me. You helped, you really did. And I will definitely say Coach Robin was helpful in doubling down on that for me as well. Thank you so much, Coach Robin. Merit America showed me that I had more value, and it took me some time to realize all of these things that I’ve acquired.

See, when I was younger, I just knew I was going to be great. And I’m not trying to be boastful. I’m not trying to talk about something like trying to be Superman or anything like that. But it’s just something that I knew inside. And I just wanted to find a way to make that come out and make myself shine and show people who I am. I was scared because people were always trying to tell me not to shine too bright. Don’t do that. Don’t shine too bright. I didn’t realize that they were dimming my light because they wanted to outshine me. So when I decided to create my own lane, that’s what helped me shine.

I just decided to go, and instead of doing things that other people were doing, I just decided to do things that I wanted to do. And I know I’m weird for that, but I love it. And it makes everything. I’m probably the only person who has a love for spreadsheets. Yes. Yes, I am.

Tanesha: In our session, we were both nerding out about Excel, right? Let’s take people with us to the present, right? So, current day, right? You talked about this brand new promotion at Talbert House, right, that you’ve been with. Tell me overall, how has life changed personally and professionally since you’ve taken the steps to rewrite your career and step into that leadership expertise, that potential, that power?

Marion: A lot has changed for me since starting at Talbert House. I’ve been with them for seven months. A lot of restructuring has happened there. And so there are a lot of changes. If I weren’t agile, it would have probably been very hard for me to deal with that.

But it was an opportunity for me to also interview for other positions because of the change. And so I interviewed for a lead position. I interviewed for another data specialist position, and I interviewed for a front desk position.

Tanesha: Your job search strategy is not just applying for jobs, right? It’s keeping your ear to the street about what’s happening, right? Moving and shaking in your community and using those connections to connect the dots, right? So you saw that something was changing in your workplace and said, “How do I use my resources to keep myself connected?” Any other big changes that have come since your time at Merit America, anything personal or professional that has changed for the better?

Marion: Well, after I went through all of those interviews, I was able to score the data support specialist position. So I’ll be running several programs. They are moving buildings. So I’m going to be alongside a great many professionals, absorbing as much information as I can, trying to grow, and I am now going to look into getting my CDCA so that I can be a chemical dependency counselor and help those who are in need. That is good. So that’s my new pivot.

Tanesha: I love that. You kind of answered my last question here, but as we wrap up, right, I appreciate you sharing your story with us. I know bits and pieces of your story, but even for us to catch up and to reflect back, I hope that it’s inspiring for you as it is for me, and us being able to connect and inspire our listeners, right, who are looking to take that next step in rewriting their career. Marion, you talked about this a little bit, but what’s ahead for you, right? You have this new promotion. It looks like your organization is moving buildings, and you’re probably managing a lot with that. What else is in the future for you professionally and personally?

Marion: Okay, well, professionally, I am still going to be working with my business, Black Orchid Enterprises LLC, and so I’ll be getting her out on the web soon. And working with the community—still going through helping out these young kids go to school, making scholarships, supporting communities, and any families in any way that we can. That’s just what’s been going on with me.

Tanesha: Well, I hope that the listeners in Cincinnati and beyond make you a local celebrity, and they join you in serving the community and finding value in rewriting their story just like you did. So Marion, thank you again for sharing your story. I know it’s going to inspire other people who are listening who want to rewrite their career in the way that you have and the way that we’ve worked together in doing so.

So with that said, thanks for tuning in for this episode of Promoted. If Marion’s story resonated with you and you’re interested in exploring how Merit America can guide you towards a rewarding career, visit our website at meritamerica.org and stay tuned for our next episode. I’m Tanesha Washington, a career coach with Merit America. Take care, everyone.