watch?v=SzrN96JMG8c

AdeleOg·May 10, 2021

Posted in:Women of Color Advice Job Hunting Personal Growth Show Elpha Career Growth

At the start of 2019, I was just another corporate lawyer trapped in the vortex of long hours, no work-life balance and stress (think Suits), I had no idea how to code but I knew I wanted to work in tech. I just wasn't sure if walking away from a lucrative career that I'd trained so hard for was madness. Still, I did it. And just a few months later I was pitching my own app to investors at Google for startups and by 2020 I’d built a lucrative legal, tech and business consulting practice earning close to what I was earning previously but with a better work-life balance and fulfilment. The biggest change? My self-confidence!⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣I’ve learned that anything is possible - it starts with believing in yourself, creating a solid plan then executing it. Even if you’re scared to. Change will always be scary AF but the reward is always worth it! ⁣⁣Just like a caterpillar turning into a beautiful butterfly 🦋😁 ⁣I'm sharing this here because I've been seeing many people mention their internal struggle with making a career change and I want to encourage you to stop counting yourself out and do the damn thing because what lies on the other side of your fear can be infinitely more rewarding! It is also okay to not know EXACTLY how things will turn out but you must have a general plan and solid understanding of your skills, interests and strengths before making the leap. This is because sometimes, what you think you want to do next is not actually what you end up doing and LOVING. My app was a social network and travel app for professional expat women but then the pandemic hit. Welp. That killed that idea just as it was taking off but the whole journey of developing and pitching my app in an industry where I knew NOTHING had caught the attention of some of the right people. Now I advise some of my dream companies on various things including digital transformation and employee engagement and retention using tech. I also have a high touch mentorship program where I help other ambitious mid-level professionals to leverage their experience to transition into new highly paid careers that they LOVE! The work I do now is not what I thought I would be doing when I left big law, but it feels exactly HOW I wanted my dream career to be!I share the full story of my career transition here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzrN96JMG8c and the practical steps I took here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8cqD-mRZQTo I hope this helps someone 🙌🏾

JeySundaram·May 10, 2021

Omg, I love your vibe and thanks for sharing the story.👏🙌 I love watching ambitious bad ass b****** on YouTube (subscribed ofc!) P.s I actually found you through your othef channel because I was doing a water fast a few months ago. 😅

AdeleOg·May 10, 2021

Haha thank you! How did it go? I needed to get rid of the weight I accumulated stuck to my desk over the years! I hope you did it safely and I'm happy to see you're a subbie :-)

JeySundaram·May 11, 2021

It was a 10 day fast and I did it for autophagy (it worked! I had a weird lump near my wrist from hours of computer clicking) Excited to follow your journey 😊

sarahing·May 11, 2021

I love this @AdeleOg! I can completely relate to the newfound confidence that comes with learning to code -- because it's friggin' difficult. Sticking with it (and not throwing the keyboard out the window) is a huge accomplishment! Excited to see what you do next :)

Indira196·May 11, 2021

Thank you so much for sharing!! I am definitely going to subscribe. I am actually considering doing the opposite-ish? I have been in tech for a decade (product management, analytics) and put off law school but “being a lawyer” keeps coming back as what I want to do next. Am I crazy? Everyone says not to go but tbh being a PM means I don’t have a great WL balance anyway.

AdeleOg·May 15, 2021

Hi Indira - I definitely don’t think you’re crazy! I’m always about following my intuition with no regrets so it law is calling you - then go for it! My only concern would be the training time so maybe you could consider other law adjacent careers like compliance or risk management if you don’t want to spend a lot of time retraining? All the best!

MarthaGamboa·May 11, 2021

Thanks for sharing your story @AdeleOg! Very inspiring. What an amazing journey. Where did you learn to code? In person or online?

AdeleOg·May 15, 2021

I learnt in person - went to a coding bootcamp called Le wagon here in London :-)

saratyler·May 30, 2021

I sent you a message on IG.