Hey, it's Rachel Cook, your modern mentor. And today I'm here for any of you that are thinking about making a career change, big or small. I've done both. Today I'll share my own career pivot story and my five-step plan that you can follow to make a change and land on your feet. I finished my graduate degree ready to take on the world,

and my first job was in operations management. Every day, donning steel-toed boots and a hard hat,

I managed a team of 50 people in a warehouse using skinners and pick trucks and conveyors

to get thousands of items from trucks to shelves. It was loud and fun and challenging, until it was not.

Five years in, I had a baby and decided I was ready for a change.

I wanted to shift from warehouse management to corporate human resources.

Friends and family wished me luck, but gently told me not to hold my breath.

That's a real 180, Rach, I remember a cousin saying.

But I did it. I made the pivot, and I've never looked back.

It took some focus and intention on my part.

And today, I'm going to deconstruct how I made it happen

and offer you a roadmap for your own career pivot.

First, mark a clear destination. There's a world of difference between running away from

something and running towards something. When I decided to leave operations management,

my quest began with a need to walk away from the intensity and the demanding schedule of the job. I was, after all,

a new mother, and my needs had evolved. But I wanted my next career to be born out of intention,

not desperation. So I took a beat and really reflected on what pieces of the operations job I loved

and which I was ready to leave behind. For me, it was about the people.

My success as an operations leader had little to do with my expertise in conveyor technology or

logistics, but rather in my ability to recruit, train, and develop the right talent whose expertise

in those things would deliver results. And this reflection pointed me in the direction

of human resources. Being mindful of what you're striving for will help you craft a clear

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