What happens when decades of corporate identity suddenly vanish? Natalie, founder of HerCSuite, reveals the rarely discussed "glass cliff" moment that follows leaving a high-powered career and how to transform this potential crisis into opportunity.
The traditional career ladder is being replaced by something far more interesting: the portfolio career. Rather than following a single track, today's professionals—especially women in the second half of their careers—are crafting multifaceted professional lives that align with their values, financial needs, and deeper purpose. Through HerCSuite's network and programs, Natalie guides women transitioning to board roles or entrepreneurship while helping them navigate the identity shifts that inevitably come with professional evolution.
Our conversation unpacks the five crucial steps to designing your next chapter: clarifying your values, determining your "freedom number," exploring your options, understanding your human design, and creating your roadmap. We discuss how the concept of pivoting has transformed from something requiring explanation on a resume to something employers now expect and value. Throughout, Natalie emphasizes that successful transitions aren't about deciding whether your new path is "better" than your old one—it's simply different, with its own unique opportunities for growth and fulfillment.
Whether you're contemplating your next move or supporting someone who is, this episode offers practical wisdom for anyone navigating today's non-linear professional landscape. As Natalie reminds us with her powerful mantra: "We make our own C-Suite." Connect with Natalie on LinkedIn or visit HerCSuite.com to continue your journey.
Drive, Ambition, Doing, Leading, Creating... all good until we forget about our own self-care. This Village of All-Stars pays it forward with transparency about misses and celebration in winning. We cover many topics and keep it 100. We are Proven Not Perfect™️
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I'd love to hear what you think!
Episode Transcript
Natalie, I'm not going to let a second go without
saying let's get this going,lady, let's go, let's get this
going.
Natalie, you are the founder ofmultiple businesses, but you
talk about her C-suite and Ijust want to start there
(01:17):
Describe her C-Suite to us.
Speaker 2 (01:20):
Thank you so much for having me on your show.
It is such an honor.
The honor and privilege is mine.
I'm so excited Her C-Suite isfocused on.
It's a professional network andwe offer courses and
masterminds for women in thesecond half of their careers, in
particular boards andentrepreneurs.
So we help women land corporateboard roles or start and grow
(01:45):
their business.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
Those two things.
Maybe it's just recognizingthat at some point we all will
need to understand what doesthat next phase look like for us
?
Leader, woman leader says youknow, I'm ready to pack that
(02:08):
portion in and I'm ready to moveto my next phase.
What?
Speaker 2 (02:32):
does that first conversation sound like Such a
good question?
I always start by listening.
I think you are also awonderful listener.
So I just kind of start withwhere are you today and just
kind of pause.
And there's a cliff moment thatpeople have when they leave
their corporate life, and so wetalk about that Because I
(02:54):
experienced it myself when, Ileft my 29-year career in trade
shows.
There's a day when you wake upand you're like I don't have any
meetings on my calendar andit's a weird sensation because
you're used to just hustling andgoing, and going and going and
nonstop meetings, no bio breaks,no eating.
(03:15):
You're just nonstop, right.
Yes, and for all of us, when weleave that corporate role,
there's the cliff, right.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
You're just like okay , and no one talked about the
cliff.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
We heard about the glass ceiling no one talks about
that glass cliff where you'relike, okay, I'm looking down and
I see down below me, but thenthere's this moment where and I
talk about this in my recentbook, where I had, I had a
moment where I was seeing therear view mirror bigger than my
(03:50):
windshields because you identify, not you personally, but we
identify with our career.
We identify with our success,which I had tremendous success
in my career and then you make ashift and now you're doing this
new thing, Totally differentfor me, totally different, not
at all what I was doing in mycareer, but then I kind of was
(04:12):
like well, is it really thatdifferent?
Maybe it's not as different asI think.
However, there's that cliffmoment and you start thinking,
well, is that better than whatI'm seeing in front?
And the answer is no, it'sdifferent.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
And so it's-.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
Natalie, that is actually not trivial a statement
, right?
It's not better, it's different, it's different, it's different
.
It's not better, it's different, it's different.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
It's different.
It's up to us to redefine andmake that windshield as big as
you can possibly imagine, and soit starts with understanding
who we are, our values.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
And can we change though?
Because here's the thing who Iwas, you know 30 years ago, dial
it back and who I am now?
I guess it just depends on whenyou jump off of a certain track
, and all that's changed aroundyou.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And you know, the other thing is that you don't
have to decide necessarily Ihave to leave my corporate role.
People are feeling and this hasbeen going on for five years I
have to leave, I have to leave,I can't stay.
But is it that you can't stayor is that you're just not
(05:27):
aligned with where you are rightnow?
But that doesn't mean there'snot something else for you.
You can stay in corporate,right.
You can stay in that world,just different, different role.
Or you can pursue boards orhave a I call it a portfolio
career, right.
So you have slices, and how doyou want your slices to look?
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (05:51):
Do you want half of your you know, 50% of your slice
to be doing something that youfind fulfilling doing
philanthropy or doing something?
Or maybe that you want that tobe learning and being a curious
learner, or gardening?
What does that look like foryou?
Or I need to get anothercorporate role, because that's
where I am with my trajectory.
(06:11):
That's all good.
But you have to get it.
You have to get in touch withwhat's important to you and this
moment.
And okay, how can I make that alimitless window?
And you talked about the doorand knowing when the knocking on
the door and I say, doors close, windows open, it's up to us to
(06:33):
fly through.
We get those messages all thetime.
Speaker 1 (06:37):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (06:39):
All the time and we just are like, oh, I'm not
listening to that message, thatI can't because, but no, I can't
.
We have to be open to thatmessage.
And too often we close or weclose it Um.
I'm a very you know umspiritual person.
I believe messages come to me,and so if we just shut ourselves
(07:01):
off, you miss out.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
What you're saying, though, I'll be honest, is so
very relevant not even for justthat point in your career, when
you're deciding, kind of what doI do next, but I would say
you're tapping into a level ofwisdom that is incredibly
important for even the earliercareer, mid-career and early
(07:27):
senior leader leaders incorporate or just in career.
I won't just say corporate,because it could be anything
academia, it could be anything,but the point is, I think, that
messaging of thinking about yourexistence as a professional in
a portfolio mindset that reallyresonates for me these days.
(07:50):
Tell me, does that resonate foryou in total?
Like, even if Natalie went allthe way back to the beginning,
would that be the one bit ofwisdom that you'd want to take
with you all the way back to thebeginning?
Speaker 2 (08:04):
You know it's so interesting.
I think we grew up in a certainera where it was.
We were told it was linear.
And you're staying linear andmaybe you'll do.
I've been on nonprofit boardsfor a long time.
Maybe you'll pursue yourpassion.
I was on a animal rescue formany years, you know, president,
(08:25):
founder, co-founder, stayingthe course, staying the course,
like I'm all in on this and it'snot linear anymore.
And that's that portfolio piece, because now it's like people
are doing fractional work,they're doing being on boards,
they're doing consulting,they're advising.
(08:48):
So we're in an era that wasn'tavailable to us.
I mean, I was with the, I hadthe princess, I had the blue
princess phone, okay.
I mean I was with the, I hadthe princess, I had the blue
princess phone, okay.
Speaker 1 (09:04):
So back then there was, you know with the cord and
you would like wind it around.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Someone's listening to this, saying what are they
talking about?
There was a thing that GPTPrincess phone cord closet.
I bet there's people talkingabout it, right?
So I mean, you know there wereno computers when I grew up, so
not until college.
So I think you know time haschanged so much.
(09:30):
So, saying portfolio, I stillthink it might've been in the
era maybe that wasn't possiblefor me, but maybe mid career it
could have been in the era.
Maybe that wasn't possible forme, but maybe mid-career it
could have been right whentechnology was coming in and
there were other opportunities.
But I was still so driven I,like you, got my MBA, thinking I
(09:50):
was going to do it, for youknow, I needed to understand
corporate world is why I did it.
For you know I was.
I needed to understandcorporate world is why I did it.
And I always worked forprivately held companies and I
was like I need to kind offigure out what, what are these
big companies actually thinking?
So that was really my driverfor it.
But I think you know, lookingnow, the world is so different
(10:11):
and people are talking aboutchange, constant change, but
there's also a lot ofopportunity for making a pivot
and you can make a pivot a lot.
You know, before pivots werekind of looked at as like you
can do one, that's right.
What's your one pivot?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
That's right on and be able to explain it on your
resume.
You gotta explain it.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Remember that.
Speaker 1 (10:33):
Now you gotta explain why you didn't pivot.
Speaker 2 (10:37):
Yes, so her C-suite has gone through quite a few
pivots.
We started out women VP toC-suite.
The idea is we're the result ofthe women we surround ourselves
with.
We can make our own seat at thetable and our own board of
advisors.
That was the idea table and ourown board of advisors.
(10:59):
That was the idea.
And now we do you knowsomething different?
Because we realized some ofthose women didn't even want to
go to the C-suite anymore.
They were like peace out.
Speaker 1 (11:06):
I'm done, but.
But you know what, though?
Honestly, we got to talk aboutthat because I think there's
such agency in that.
I think that we, to be in thissystem that says, like you said,
a linear viewpoint of you dothis for this amount of years,
and then you go to this nextthing, and then you go to this
(11:28):
next thing, right.
And I believe that, now morethan ever, there is a no more to
that philosophy.
Right, and it's?
Am I getting what I expect toget from whatever the thing is,
and is that leading me to wantto do something in another realm
(11:50):
, or not?
Right?
So I don't know.
How have you helped, yeah,folks that are considering this
next phase of their pivot totake all the possibilities and
narrow them into, maybe, whatmight be their true, their
(12:12):
truest interest and desire?
Speaker 2 (12:15):
You know it's interesting.
I'm in the midst of doing acourse actually Design your Next
Chapter.
Speaker 1 (12:20):
And it's perfect timing yeah.
Speaker 2 (12:22):
And so I'll just describe to you the five
segments, because these fivesegments really do lead you to
your career path.
So, if we think about the pieand how you get to that one
point of pivot, where you'regoing to go, the first is that
values piece we talked aboutearlier of like.
I really need to understandwhat's important to me and what
(12:44):
words do I like?
Some of the women were sayingyou know freedom as one.
That is a non-negotiable rightwhich I love.
So, finding the words thatrepresent to you the things that
you're like.
You know.
These are the things that areimportant to me.
And then the next isunderstanding and you'll
appreciate this your numbers.
What is your freedom?
(13:06):
Financial number?
What is your freedom number?
Because it's different foreveryone and it's good to plan
earlier rather than and what wasinteresting in this course is
that I work with women in thesecond half of their careers.
I've been attracting women evenbefore that point.
(13:28):
Because, like you said, you knowany point.
People are making pivots,they're trying to figure it out.
So the third is is that pieceof like, well, what can I do?
What is open to me?
What are my options?
And the fourth, and this is themind blowing thing, is human
design.
Wow, I don't know.
Have you done human design?
Have you done that?
Tell us about it.
(13:48):
So you give an expert, a human,and in this case I'm going to
call her out Michelle Peacock.
I love her.
I gave her my date, my birthdate and time.
Okay, she takes this number andcreates this plan of your life
and who you are, and it is likeyou're like wait a second.
(14:12):
How did you know that I do thesethings?
So that is like knowingyourself on a whole, like super
level, and then you create yourplan.
So those are the five steps.
But human design if yourlisteners have never thought of
it, look it up.
You can check it out at MyVibe.
That's Michelle's where you cando it for free.
(14:33):
She's got a free assessment,but it is really next level
Curious yeah.
Next level.
I'm telling you Knowing who,next level, yeah, next level,
I'm telling you so when you getto know yourself personally.
It's not like strength findersand no, this is personal.
This is not about work.
This is about you as a personand a human.
Speaker 1 (14:53):
And your drivers and all the things yeah.
Speaker 2 (14:57):
That's what that human design I'm drawing.
You know doing pictures with myhands, but when you see it
you'll understand.
It shows you these like youknow different parts of you that
it's mind blowing.
Speaker 1 (15:10):
Wow.
So then someone goes to you andyou sit down and you help them
to unpack what their passion,where their passion lies, and I
would imagine you also help themto get past that rear view
focus, start focusing forward.
Are there any physical thingsthat play into this?
(15:37):
Because I just tend to thinkabout hold holistic, uh, our
holistic selves in whatever weendeavor to do, and so what
we're talking about to thispoint is the mind part, right,
but what's actually happeningwith the body part, with the
heart part too?
Speaker 2 (16:06):
the heart part too.
Well, I think it's.
There's a combination.
I don't get super deep in themindfulness.
I mean, we do talk about it,but it's it's.
It's really about kind ofsurrounding yourself with the
right people to, I find, aswomen, and me particular I don't
know if I'm unique, but Ireally find that I, I love
getting insights from other I,other women we were talking
(16:27):
about this, like we talk, andyou're like, oh my gosh, I love
that, Tell me more.
And so when you're surroundedby women that are curious,
learners and interesting andwant to help and lift you up,
you really can move forward andmake that, this big view right.
It's when you're by yourself,in that cliff moment, and you're
(16:47):
standing there and you're likeI haven't heard one sound today.
If it wasn't for my click,click, click, my typing, like I
haven't heard any sound, Ididn't get on the phone.
I don't have any.
You know I'm not listening tomusic right now, it's just quiet
.
That is a little, you know,kind of off.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
Because the world's going from nothing.
The world is like everybodyaround you is loud.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
I hear the birds.
You're in the cone of silenceand you're like okay, this is
kind of interesting.
And then you kind of grow tolike it, but at first you're
like what?
Speaker 1 (17:20):
is this.
Speaker 2 (17:21):
What is my calendar?
I don't even understand how doI schedule a meeting.
That literally happened to me,and I used to schedule my own
meetings, but I don't know why Iwas having this whole thing.
Speaker 1 (17:32):
So we all face those things.
There are some, just some realgood nuggets that you have for
anyone any point in careerthat's thinking about the
continuity of their decisionsand the opportunity to pivot.
(17:52):
What would be the sage advicethat you would give to our
multi-career ladder women asthey think about pivots and they
engage?
Some of the nuggets that arecoming from her C-suite.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
I think the first thing is don't let fear be the
thing that stops you.
One of my favorite quotes fromEleanor Roosevelt is do
something that scares you everyday and when we challenge
ourselves, to step outside ofour comfort zone and don't let
the no voice, because we allhave it.
(18:31):
We all have the why you.
Why do you think you couldstart a company?
Why do you think people care?
We can make up a thousand meanthings to ourselves, so don't
let that get in the way of beingexploring what you're meant to
do and be.
Speaker 1 (18:50):
There you go.
Wow, look, we're going to talkagain.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
I hope so I love it.
Speaker 1 (18:57):
We're going to talk again.
You're stuck with me.
I'm a subscriber, I'm in it.
You're going to talk again.
You're stuck with me, I'm asubscriber, I'm in it, and
you're amazing, and I know thatsomeone, even if it's just one
soul, is listening to this andit's landing exactly where they
need.
I think what really impresses mecoming from 2020 and a lot of
(19:18):
the lessons learned, there is anassumption that people are not
lonely.
There's an assumption thatpeople feel that they have
access to networks andconnections to help them to get
through the necessary thingsthat come with pivots, some that
they chose and some that theydidn't choose.
(19:39):
These were all assumptions,right, and what we learned in
2020 coming out of that is thatpeople were lonely, some people
didn't have community and theydidn't know where to go.
So I'm super excited to amplifyher C-suite and all the things
that you're doing to address andto help elevate us all, and I
(20:01):
know that you have some projectsthat we'll be hearing about
soon as well that are going totake our health to a whole new
level too.
So y'all stay tuned, natalie.
Where can they find you?
Where can they just follow upand just kind of be right on the
precipice of all the thingsthat you're doing.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
So good.
Thank you so much.
Linkedin is my favorite place.
I'm on there every day, soLinkedIn, and then also
HerseySweetcom.
That would be the and it'sHerseySweet.
I know it's not HerkSweet.
I know sometimes people thinkthat it's HerseySweet because we
make our own C-suite.
So if you remember it like thatyou'll be good.
(20:37):
So if you remember it like that, you'll be good.
Speaker 1 (20:39):
Right on, sis.
Thank you.
We make our own C-suite.
And if you didn't hear anythingelse, if you don't take
anything else away, if you embedthat in your heart, we make our
own C-suite.
I think it's going to unlocksome truths for many of us.
God bless you, lady, and Ithank you for your time.
Thank you so good.
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