Switching gears, as I like to call it, or switching careers, can happen at anytime and for anyone. It is a daunting affair and if you couple that with fear and uncertainty, you have a recipe for ‘stuckness.’ So what do you do?

One morning you wake up and realize one of two things:

1.What you have been doing all these years is not what you want to be doing anymore. Your passion lies elsewhere and you need to follow it.

2. You no longer have a job as you either up and left it or it up and left you.

Either way, you are out of a job and may not know what’s next. One thing is for sure, you know it’s not what you were doing all along, or it was, but now you want to do it on your own terms.

Switching gears, as I like to call it, or switching careers, can happen at anytime and for anyone. It is a daunting affair and if you couple that with fear and uncertainty, you have a recipe for ‘stuckness.’ So what do you do? You are in limbo. How do you move forward? How do you, 40 years and counting, up, switch gears? What’s your plan; do you even have a plan? Whether on your own terms or having been pushed, your mind is now swimming in a ocean full of hows, whats, whys and holy crap.

So. What’s the next step? Well, you can either sit and choose to become a sloth wallowing in self pity or you can decide to pivot, take a risk and jump, (that’s what). Is it easy…HECK NO. Is it suicidal…MAYBE. Are you gonna survive…HELL YES!!

Today I explore this topic with 2 of my friends who switched gears (careers) in their early 40’s and became entrepreneurs. Both ladies are excellent mentors and coaches in their respective rights and are plain down to earth when it comes to telling you about their struggles and highlights on this journey called entrepreneurship.

See their points of view below, to what I thought were 6 simple questions; apparently simple and entrepreneurship doesn’t go together. Thank you Ladies! ❤

Deneys Gayle Bromfield Owner of ARB’s Gaming

Me: Can you share with my readers how you happened into entrepreneurship?
DGB: To be honest there has always been a desire to forge ahead and start something, find my niche. My opportunity happened after my redundancy and for the first time this scared, health challenged, over 40 female stepped out in faith.
Me: How difficult was it for you to switch gears at this age when most women are looking for greater financial, mental and emotional stability?
DGB: Switching gears meant survival, sanity and peace of mind. My path to this new lease on life has been unconventional. Being a single mama of three and not in possession of major assets to acquire financial backing was a major concern. For me it was super difficult as it was emotionally not a good time.

I had health issues, my friend of 30 years was diagnosed with terminal cancer, two kids still in school, overheads were high and I felt so overwhelmed. My saving grace was I entered an arena I knew about and thought I did it well. All I craved was surviving. There was never the question of, ‘if I can do this’… just the statement that I have to.
Me: What has been your proudest and most profound moment of being an entrepreneur?
DGB: October 2015 when I received a call to say ARB’s Gaming was officially up and running. I was in Kingston and my son called to say “Mom I sent you some pictures”. I was elated, over the moon, realizing that it was actually happening.
Me: What has been your greatest fear realized on this journey?
DGB: Time. This is not a road for the faint of heart. You not only become head cook and bottle washer, you become your own P.R., and can get so absorbed that you forget about you. In my case, to my own detriment. My health issues reared its head and I was forced to re-evaluate operations and had to allow myself to understand that I could not do it alone; 16 hour days, 7 days a week would no longer work. There should always, always be down time or you will burn out. My greatest fear was I was losing control. To overcome this and boy was it hard, delegation came into permanent play. I felt like I was losing my baby. I was beyond scared.
Me: If you had the chance to start over what would you do differently, in other words what advise would you give your former self?
DGB: To be honest everyone’s experience is going to be different and after starting and getting that out of the way, just remember, no matter how much you know or think you know, there is still a lot to learn. Go with your flow, growth is just that.  I’m still learning.
Me: What is that one word that comes to mind that you would use to describe your journey so far?
DGB: Amazing…I’m still here, still fighting in this whirlwind of a life.

Follow E. Miller @eth_moi & Zinergy International @zinergyinternational

Me: Can you share with the readers how you happened into entrepreneurship?
EM: My first interest was actually in intrapreneurship, where I developed and delivered a learning programme in 2004 for Digicel, the company I was working for at the time. This programme blended HR and Marketing and allowed for personal branding of executives. When I saw the opportunity of starting my business, while still employed full time, I took it.

Once I was on my own, I started working with company executives to not only brand their staff, but also promotional items and corporate events. Zinergy International was born 8 years ago and refined during a Fortune – US State Department Internship at Porter Novelli, where I saw Marketing and Advertising through their eyes and with the help of then President and Chief Global Client Officer, Julie Winskie.  
Me: How difficult was it for you to switch gears at this age when most women are looking for greater financial, mental and emotional stability?
EM: Eight years ago when I made the decision to become an entrepreneur it was to satisfy a burning interest in helping professionals position their personal brands in their best interest and for the company to build brands people will want to apply to and work for.

Switching gears to a framework that was defined by me, built by me and whose success had to be driven by me was exciting. The scary part was handling the financials and accounting admin, which in an established company you had an entire department to handle it. I quickly adjusted and started the practice of checking my account every morning, every time a cheque was paid out or received among other things.

I still don’t enjoy it, but it is a necessary part of the CEO’s job to know what the finances look like before making any decision. The thrill of entrepreneurship continues to excite me, therefore, the lack of stability has never been something I was terribly preoccupied with. I learned from my years in the growing telecoms industry to embrace growth and change and accept that stability like job security was a thing of the past. Therefore, adaptation and flexibility are my travel buddies. 
Me: What has been your proudest and most profound moment of being an entrepreneur?
EM: Proudest moment was seeing my company name on staff T-shirts at the Denbigh Agricultural Show where we delivered the decor for the Ministry of Agriculture Village. It was no longer one shirt with the name, but many shirts that indicated to me the responsibility of employing others. Knowing that other people depend on your best decisions is scary and humbling and it forces you to take what you do seriously.
Me: What has been your greatest fear realized on this journey?
EM: Building cutting edge learning opportunities that push people out of their comfort zones and they actually work. I know I am excellent at designing awesome learning products but I am always afraid the first time I am implementing a new one – what if it does not work, what if they don’t respond as I expect them to? Then it works. And my fears disappear. 
Me: If you had the chance to start over what would you do differently, in other words what advise would you give your former self?
EM: Start earlier. I would not change my journey. The education of our people means everything to me. With better, more effective and efficient education, people are empowered and capable of changing their lives. Education equals confidence; confidence equals action. 
Me: What is that one word that comes to mind that you would use to describe your journey so far?
EM: Insightful…Everything for me begins with an insight. Hence my company tagline “… from insight to innovation” One of the common threads throughout these conversations is that this process of entrepreneurship is always going to be scary but there is always on-going learning and growth. You have to have the drive to survive, be persistent, know your worth and have a strong sense of belief and faith in what you’re doing.

 Have you ‘Switched Gears?’ 
 How did you cope?
 What was your experience like? 
 What kind of help did you get and what books did you read?’ 
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Check out these 11 recommended books to read (available on Amazon):

1 – ‘Pivot: The Art and Science of Reinventing Your Career and Life’ by Adam Markel

2 – ‘Strategize to Win: the New Way to Start Out, Step Up or Start Over in Your Career’ by Carla A. Harris

3 – ‘The Work’ by Wes Moore

4 – ‘Reinventing You’ by Dorie Clark

5 – What I Know For Sure’ by Oprah Winfrey

6 – ‘Switch: How to Change Things When Change is Hard’ by Chip Heath and Dan Heath

7 – ‘What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job’ by Kerry Hannon

8 – ‘Get a Life, Not a Job’ by Paula Caligiuri

9 – ‘The Art of Possibility, Transforming Professional Personal Life’ by Rosamund Stone Zander and Benjamin Zander

10 – ‘Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life’ by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

11 – When to Jump: If the Job You Have Isn’t the Life You Want’ by Mike Lewis

Although this article was written for my “Women Over 40 Series”, its content is applicable to just about anyone, male and female alike, at any age.

This week takes us to the end of our enlightening series curated specially for WOMEN OVER 40. We hope you enjoyed it as much as we enjoyed sharing the series with you. We thank contributor Deon Dewar-Gray. follow her on Instagram @iamdeoncecile.

CHECK OUT THE PREVIOUS FEATURES IN THIS SERIES – Previous Features :THINGS WOMEN OVER 40 SHOULD NOT HAVE
THINGS WOMEN OVER 40 SHOULD HAVE
10 Things Women Should Have Done Or Experienced By 40 – YOUR HEALTH AND YOU OVER 40

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LEARN MORE ABOUT THEBEYONDWOMAN HERE.