So, is this a breakup?

Career pruning and going with your gut

It’s late and my mind is full of ideas so let’s talk career pruning.

What Career pruning is an intentional practice of eliminating certain career paths, roles, or responsibilities to allow space to focus on those that align more closely with your skills, interests, and long-term goals. 

Why It involves identifying and removing activities or distractions that may not be conducive to personal or professional growth, thereby allowing YOU to lock in where you’ll excel and make the greatest impact, which in turn…will bring you joy and grounding.

Who This email might feel as it came at the perfect time, if so really take time to understand what you want from your career. Think long-term. As someone who’s had a handful of jobs across different fields I felt like the best time for me to prune wasn’t when I struggled with a hurdle or hard conversation but rather once I found a solution to them (or at least tried my best to).

I remember my 1st big girl production job was working for a renowned costume designer named BJ Rogers in Glendale, CA. Although I worked on one of the biggest drama/mystery productions of all time I wasn’t necessarily clocking into my dream job (Styling Shamar Moore was a bonus tho). Anyway, I showed up with an open mind and problem-solving attitude. I leveraged this position to build relationships with talent, stylists and studios across LA. The first time I made a mistake, I think I forgot to return clothes before the receipt expired or something. I was reprimanded and wanted to dip. My mindset of “These are just clothes” wasn’t productive especially in a team setting so instead, I created a system to help prevent mistakes like this from happening again. I stayed with the team for a little over a season and moved on once I felt in my gut I’ve done everything I could there. Now it was time to work on my mental health and align with a career that would lead me to my next goal using the learnings I gained at ABC Studios. Funny enough, I still use some of these lessons today. I say all of this to say that instant gratification/success is rare without hard learnings and building grit. Work hard and pivot once you feel its right, which brings me to my next point…

When I’ve been career pruning since I began working lol. I’ve always known my worth but also understood when it was valuable to exchange my desired pay for experience (within a specific timeframe). Don’t come for me but in my experience as a CEO for close to a decade..people have developed an allergy to working efficiently while separating business from personal feelings and unrealistic boundaries. If you’re struggling to find your ‘when’ ask yourself;

1. Is what you desire from your job a realistic expectation from your employer?

2. Are you craving work/life flexibility that could be detrimental to your jobs goals?

3. Is this a ‘grass is greener’ situation?

4. Are you equipped to begin working for yourself/taking time off to pivot? If not, prepare.

How One of the most important parts of career pruning for me is to have a plan while also understanding that not everything goes as planned. Before I became a mom I never left a job without having at least $10k in my account (I live in NYC). Make sure you’re planning for your worse-case-scenario and chat with peers, mentors and friends who can help support your next step!

Okay, It’s now almost midnight and I hope what I’m saying resonates. Drop me a comment with your opinion, lets make this a conversation <3

photos of jobs from the past (est 2010)

<3 E