Today’s story is from Joe Bologna (shown with Buster), who took our Reinvention Team Action Group earlier last year.  Joe’s a talented technologist, engineer and philosopher who has worked for big companies like Motorola and AT&T.  He came to us seeking ideas about how to combine his technology skills with his passion for helping people live productive and fulfilling lives.

I like Joe’s story because it illustrates the importance of working through the emotional pattens that can block your reinvention.  It also show that with creativity, consulting in your previous career arena can provide a financially stable launching pad to explore options in your new one (NOTE: Joe’s starting a new venture helping people organize their technology to run an effective job (reinvention!) search. Check out his website to learn more:  www.focusedforsuccess.com).

Here’s what he had to say:

What was going on in your life before you came to The Reinvention Institute?

Before I came to The Reinvention Institute I was constantly worried and preoccupied with how to succeed in life, which I interpreted as being successful at my job. I had lost my passion and my “dream job” for the 2nd time in my career. My personal relationships were strained very badly. I was being treated for all sorts of stress related disorders.

How did the Reinvention Team Action Group help you, specifically?

The team helped me understand how I was burying my emotions and trying to live my life intellectually vs. spiritually. It helped me to understand how my quest for perfection had developed into compulsions, which I told myself were necessary to develop highly rewarded (and highly compensated) skills.

It helped me manage my “gadget addiction” and start to rebuild my relationships. It gave me the tools I needed to attract and surround myself with business owners and executives who I could learn from and which I badly needed to make a life independent of my 25-year career as a corporate citizen.

What did you find to be the most difficult and challenging part of your reinvention process?

The most difficult part of my reinvention process was connecting with my feelings at an emotional level. My definition of success was tied to pride in my accomplishments and monetary rewards. I craved freedom, but was trapped trying to save enough money to retire someday, all the while wasting my life on things that really didn’t matter.

What’s going on in your life now?

I am a small business owner and independent consultant. I am working side-by-side with a college friend who owns two companies. He shares all of the details of how he became successful and remains successful AND how he became financially free.

My personal relationships are better than ever and I am almost completely free of worry. I have also realized that my lifestyle matches my definition of “retirement”, which is very satisfying.

I have realized that I am more of a Designer than a traditional Engineer. I have not found my “calling” yet, however I know it has something to with helping people run their personal or business lives more efficiently. I am doing my 2009 goals with Pamela’s help and I’m excited to see how this will shape the coming year of unlimited opportunities.

Name three results you got from the group:

1. I learned how to manage my compulsive behavior.

2. I learned the emotional skills required to become passionate about my life’s work and keep this passion despite obstacles.

3. I created a corporation that has given me the freedom and flexibility to answer the question: “What will you do in your retirement?”

For inspiration, we’re kicking off the New Year with another Reinvention Success story. Orelon Sidney had a high-powered career in TV news as a meteorologist for CNN. She’d left CNN but was still freelancing in her old field while struggling to figure out what her next career move might be. She did the teleclass version of our Career Reinvention BootCamp and then joined our Reinvention Team Action Group last fall. Through her work in the group she decided to explore the music industry.

I like Orelon’s story because it shows that reinvention is an evolutionary process. You don’t have to leave the old behind while you explore the new. Here’s what she had to say:

What was going on in your life before you came to The Reinvention Institute?

Utter confusion! I quit my job at CNN in April 2005. Since that time, I have been struggling with the idea of rededicating myself full-time to TV news/weather or moving on to something else. But WHAT else? Since I was a child, I have been fascinated by and in love with weather. I’d worked so hard to get to “the mountaintop” and was having a really hard time with the idea of throwing it all away….

How did The Reinvention Team Action Group help you?

The Action Group– and winning the lottery!– acted as a catalyst for me. (note: Orelon won enough money in the lottery to be able to continue her search for a year) No longer was I content to just sit and do endless “thought experiments” about what my future career would or should hold. I had to get busy! I felt driven by the successes and decisions the other members were making to strike out, even if it turned out to be in the “wrong” direction. Any choice would move me farther along toward owning my future.

I felt pressure to have something new each week when I reported in to the group, so I redoubled my efforts. I am externally motivated and having this accountability really helped me move forward.

What was the most difficult and challenging part of your reinvention process?

As this is a work in progress, I can only say that the most difficult part to me is what I strive NOT to do– and that is second guess myself! I tend to be “obsessive-impulsive”; I turn something over and over in my mind until I have to make a move– any move– or go crazy! Then, when I finally make a move, I tend to wonder endlessly if I’ve made the “right” decision.

I am learning that there may not be any one “right” decision. A decision is a decision and that’s it. The outcome can be positive or negative, but it’s not the decision’s fault! There really is something to the phrase “Just do it”!

I also think letting go of my identity as a television personality is a bigger hurdle for me than I thought it would be.

Orelon Sidney & Richie Havens What’s going on in your life now?

Strangely, slowly, step-by-step, it’s happening. I am a manager-in-training for Liz Melendez, a local musician, and there are some aspects I like and some I am neutral about. Nothing that I hate so far. I am not sure that artist management really has what it takes to hold my interest long-term, but we shall see. (note: love this picture of Orelon with legendary musician Richie Havens– she’s fully stepping into her reinvention!)

Surprisingly, I have been enjoying TV weather again. I still do it on a freelance basis, but I don’t think I’m enjoying it enough to rededicate my career to it. But it’s nice not to hate it all the time, since that’s where the money is coming from until I get something else going!

What are the top three benefits you got from participating in the group?

1. Validation. The biggest benefit for me was the validation I got from being in a group with similar dilemmas. I am not really alone in this! I also felt validated by Pamela’s knowledge of the reinvention process. So many of the questions and feelings I have had seemed crazy, but it was nice to know that it’s really just part of the process of reinvention.
2. Accountability. The external pressure to produce is strong for me and that’s why I signed up for the Action Group in the first place. Accountability really does seem to get me moving.
3. Camaraderie and acceptance. It can get lonely when you feel like what you want to do is crazy, so it was great to cheer for the successes and breakthroughs of the other members and have them in my corner.

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The next Reinvention Team Action Group starts on Tuesday, January 27th. Applications now being accepted; apply this week and qualify for the early bird discount!

Before working with The Reinvention Institute I was facing a scenario unfamiliar to me, but probably not unfamiliar to others. I found, after many years of working as a photo editor for top publications, and after receiving many important awards, that I could not find any work. Whether it was my age, the economy, or something else I didn’t know, but I realized I had to reinvent myself. And do it fast.

The Reinvention Institute, and Pamela, gave me the optimism I needed to start my own consulting business lecturing and working with photographers.

We covered the logistical aspects of setting up my business, including copy for my website, writing promotional materials and pricing my services. She gave me incredible encouragement with an enthusiasm that made me excited about the possibilities of what I could do in the world.

Like anything new, the biggest challenges and difficulties I found were with myself. Could I really make this dream come true? Could I promote myself? Could I build a business? Could I make a living? I found it hard to work by myself and be responsible for every aspect of my success. I had to be open to contacting people in my field and asking for suggestions and help, and I had to apply myself towards building a business that could support me.

I am moving forward on all of this, and have many ideas that I need to implement. I still find barriers that I have to get myself past, but that’s an on-going process to be expected. I will be teaching an all-day workshop at Calumet Photographic, a large photo store in New York at the end of November, and have already been asked to do another workshop in 2009. I am also being invited around the country to review photographer’s portfolios, and have been building a client base. But as with any business, there’s always more to do.

I’d say the three most important things I got from The Reinvention Institute were encouragement, a new way of looking at what I am and what I can do, and the belief that I can make my new career a success. I am forever grateful for all of that.

Check out Stella’s website to learn more about her work. And if you want to join the ranks of successful reinventors, the next Reinvention Team Action Group is starting on January 27th– just in time for your New Year’s resolutions! Applications are being accepted here. The group is limited to twelve participants and several spots have already been taken, so avoid the wait list and sign up ASAP!

I worked for the United Nations for 12 years. But I left because I wanted to work in something that I was passionate about. I wasn’t looking to go straight into something else. I wanted a bit of time off. I bid and won some counseling sessions with Pamela at a silent auction. I put them away, didn’t use them right away. But after a few months off I started working with her.

It was frustrating for the first couple of months because I really didn’t know what I wanted to do. She would constantly ask me, what do you like to do? What are your passions? It kept boiling down to photography and nutrition/food. I actually took some time off from the UN on one occasion to do photography. It’s a bit of a hobby, but I’ve been published as well. But I figured out with Pamela that I didn’t want to do photography as a business because I don’t like the whole business side of it. I wanted to keep it as a hobby.

Pamela would ask questions like, what didn’t you like about your previous job? I didn’t like the fact that it was very regimented, the routine of it all. She asked, in an ideal world, what would your hours be? I said I wanted flexible hours. I realized that I really wanted to work from home rather than go into an office, and be able to take time off if I wanted to travel, although we had a lot of vacation time at the UN and I traveled for work. I wanted to be on my own. She said, this is possible, which I didn’t really believe before.

She would suggest books to read. She asked, what do you think you would like to do? Do you know anyone who is doing that? If I said no, she said ask around, find someone who knows somebody and go and talk to that person. I’m sure someone will have a few minutes to tell you what it’s actually like.

At the same time, I was helping a chef by doing all of his photography. In exchange, I got free cooking classes. After I worked with Pamela, I actually registered for a natural foods chef training program. It was very, very intense – 4½ months of cooking, theory and nutrition, and I absolutely loved it. I was thrilled to be learning, to be in an environment doing something I was passionate about. I finished in March 2007. Soon afterwards, I spent time helping a Belgian chef on two one-week boat trips around the south of Turkey for people who wanted to detox their bodies and eat healthy foods. Afterwards, I went to the south of France to help that chef again for the same sort of thing, just not on a boat.

This past fall, I started a holistic nutrition course. It’s only for graduates of the chef training program or nutrition counselors. Although it’s only one weekend a month for nine months, I have a lot of reading to do. It ends in June.

My internship after cooking school was in a top restaurant. I knew I didn’t want to be a chef, but I did it for the experience. What I’d like to do, am working toward, is to work with people who want to change the way they eat, to counsel them, shop and cook with them, clear out their cupboards and get more healthy ingredients.

I really believe in the effect of food on your health, the energy you get from food. People can feel a lot better by making small changes.

I continue to do food photography and might do a cookbook in the future. But I’m very passionate about wanting to work with people as a holistic nutrition counselor.

Congratulations, Helene, on your success!

(Success Story written by Jeanne Fox-Alston)

I recently got an update from Dina D’Alessandro, who attended a public seminar I taught at MediaBistro two years ago.  Dina took that advice to heart, and immediately set up her own Board.  Here’s what she had to say back in 2005, three weeks after the seminar:

I’m thrilled to say my Board of Directors is well under way. I had my first “meeting” with my friend on Saturday and was quite surprised at all of the skills and talents (as well as the weaknesses) she listed about me. Needless to say, my next plan is to work on all of these and incorporate this information going forward.

Here’s the note I received from Dina several weeks ago:

Hi Pamela… It’s been ages since I’ve seen or written you, but you are in my life daily whether you know it or not. My “Board Meetings” are still going strong, over 2 years later…and it’s all because of having attended the Reinvention seminar you conducted for MediaBistro.com back in August 2005.  Since then, my co-attendee that evening, Y.C. has gone off to teach ESL in Tokyo, one of my board members has started her own event planning business and is moving to Arizona next year to set up shop, and another board member expanded her HR consulting firm and was recently interviewed for BusinessWeek online–all because we have surrounded ourselves with a new group of women who support and encourage our life goals! [NOTE: Dina herself landed a new gig back in 2005, shortly after starting her Board].

Dina’s story is a great example of how the power of a group can create more success for all its members.  If you want quicker progress towards your reinvention goals, set up your own personal Board of Directors or join our next Reinvention Team Action Group. (NOTE: Applications are now being accepted here.  There are only twelve spots, so avoid the wait list and sign up ASAP!)

(Thanks, Dina, for sharing your story!)

What was going on in your life before you came to The Reinvention Institute?

Before I attended The Reinvention Institute, I was working at a hedge fund full-time at a job that was unfulfilling and rewarding in only a financial nature. I was performing stand up comedy occasionally and attending graduate school for Forensic Psychology part-time. I had been trying to write a spec script but could never seem to get started.

How did BootCamp and the Reinvention Team Coaching Group help you?

The BootCamp Intensive helped me to realize that goal setting and achievement was really up to me and within my reach. It also helped me to see that the roadbumps and procrastination issues I was dealing with were more universal and far less of a personality problem than I had viewed them.

The support and accountability involved in the [Reinvention Team] weekly coaching group forced me to get out of my head and into the real world. Within the duration of the group [three months], I completed a 37 page spec script for Entourage and clarified and prioritized my goals. I found a great script doctor who referred me to a terrific writing group. Besides that, I met some incredibly creative and inspirational people.

What was the most difficult and challenging part of your reinvention process?

The most difficult and challenging part of the reinvention process was letting myself verbalize the things I wanted to accomplish. Prior to the group, in some way, I felt like I was not entitled to want all the things I secretly wanted to accomplish. Through hearing other people’s dreams and milestones, I came to realize that I can ask for whatever I want from life. Not only was I allowed to verbalize what I wanted but suddenly I had to take action and report back to the group about it. Although taking those first steps was challenging and frightening, it was also a confidence booster.

What’s going on in your life now?

My life now is completely different than my life “before Reinvention BootCamp”. I perform and write comedy on a consistent basis. I just completed and performed the first rendition of a one woman show with an amazing group of women. ( the script doctor referred me to this group and I would have never contacted the script doctor had I not finished the script and I would not have finished the script had I not taken the Reinvention [Coaching] Group). I quit my job and am bartending so that I can pursue auditions and complete my externship in order to complete my Graduate school program. I FINALLY signed up for MySpace so that everybody can see my stand-up comedy schedule as it changes on a daily basis. I have an audition for a comedy manager coming up. And I got new headshots!

What are the top three benefits you got from participating in the group?

I feel I benefited so much from The Reinvention Institute it is difficult to narrow it down to just three, but here goes:

1. I learned how to simplify and prioritize my goals.

3. Most importantly, I became proud of my dreams and goals for the future instead of scared and embarrassed to name what I wanted.

Check out Kendra’s MySpace page here to learn more about her and find a schedule of her upcoming appearances.  And if you want to join the ranks of successful reinventors, the next Reinvention Team Action Group is starting on Wednesday, January 30th– just in time for your New Year’s resolution!  More details coming next week….

For this first report, we asked Jeffery Rudell, who was a participant in the Reinvention Team coaching group earlier this year, about his reinvention journey:

What was going on in your life before you joined the group?

I was 43 years old and I’d been running my own graphic design company in New York City for the past 8 years. My strengths had always been in ideation and design development but I ‘d become bogged down in the daily demands of fabrication, production, and revision. I felt trapped in my job and I’d been thinking about changing careers but was at a loss at how to go about it. At my age I didn’t want to—and couldn’t afford to—go back to square one to start down a different career path. There had to be a way to put my skills and my experience to good use but I had no idea where or how to begin. How did the group help you, specifically?

The Reinvention Group gave me a ready-made network of like-minded people who themselves were engaged in very similar struggles. My usual network of friends and associates were of no use to me since most of them were seeking ways to advance within their careers and I was looking for a way out of mine and into something more rewarding. The group helped me do just that by being part “career laboratory”, part “focus group”, and part “flight simulator” for the life I wanted to create. What makes the group unique was caliber of the people in it. We had investment bankers, realtors, entrepreneurs, and others all bringing to the table their insights and ideas. The cross-pollination and focus was like a graduate seminar on steroids.

What did you find to be the most difficult and challenging part of your reinvention process?

What was most difficult for me was the intense self-evaluation inherent in the process. I’d built a business on my ability to honestly analyze and evaluate design challenges and reinvention required me to apply the same critical approach when looking at my own assets and liabilities. It was scary business parsing out my skills from my defenses and I often felt either frustrated or angry while doing it–but it had to be done.

What’s going on in your life now?

Seven months on, a lot has happened. I was skeptical at first but once I changed my approach to things, my results changed as well. I’ve left behind the production work I was doing and I’m now handling projects that take advantage of my ideation and writing skills. This is no small feat considering my first new client was one of the country’s leading universities who hired me to consult on their curriculum! I even convinced a former client to rehire me, not for design but for strategic consulting–and at triple my former rate. The group really helped me figure out my goals and come up with a plan to successfully target a career market beyond design.

Name three benefits you got from participating in the group:

1. A map of the terrain. Most of my achievements have come from diligently following a career path. I knew the path well but I didn’t have a clue about the surrounding terrain. The group helped me inventory my skills instead of my accomplishments (e.g.: climbing mountains is a skill, climbing Everest is an accomplishment.) I’d been trying to promote myself based on my accomplishments, which limited me to the mountains I’d already scaled. By focusing on skills, suddenly a whole world of opportunities opened up to me.

2. Tools of the trade.
I came to the group convinced that most, if not all, of my past experience would be of little use to me in any new career I wanted to launch; how could all of the things I was trying to leave behind help me to get ahead? The group challenged this assumption and convinced me that it wasn’t my experience that was holding me back, but the way I was using my “tools.” After taking a long, hard look at my resume, my pitch, my elevator speech, and my interview skills, I realized some serious adjustments and improvements were needed. There’s nothing magic about this aspect of reinvention, it’s hard work but it pays great dividends.

3. “I’ve got your back.” The most unexpected benefit is that I’m still in close contact with most of the people I met there. Each of them knows what I’m going through because they’re going through similar transformations themselves. They offer advice and encouragement and they also help keep me focused on my goals. In all of my previous successes I’ve surrounded myself with advisers to help me make make good choices and wise decisions: reinvention, I’ve found, is no different. I refer to my group as my own personal “think tank” and I go to them regularly in my continuing efforts to reshape my career.

Click here for information on our next Reinvention Team! Action Group that starts October 4th.