PIVOT STORIES

One of the biggest surprises while working on Pivot was that from the time I first interviewed people to fact-checking toward the end, nearly everyone had changed roles. This was proof-in-point of the book's message: career changes are happening much more frequently than in years past, whether by choice or by circumstance. 

Below is a list of pivoters featured in the book who volunteered to share their latest updates and contact information. Be sure to also check out the Pivot Podcast for ongoing interviews with experts and career changers. 
 

PIVOTERS: What are they up to now?

In alphabetical order by first name:

  • Adam Chaloeicheep is the CEO and Founder of ABC Design Lab, a Brooklyn-based design group that partners with future-shifting companies to create seamless brand experiences through visual design, interactive design, and communication strategies. Listen to his episode of the Pivot Podcast: Belly of the Pivot Beast: On Bouncing Back from Zero with Adam Chaloeicheep.

  • Amy Schoenberger is the VP of Social Strategy at M Booth, working across practices to help clients find creative ways to stand out as new communications platforms emerge. She lives in the East Village and still spends her spare time exploring her passions for writing and volunteering. She blogs for The Huffington Post and sits on the advisory boards of several non profit organizations, including She's the First and The Adventure Project.

  • Bill Connolly is currently living in Santa Monica, California and running global content development for Olapic, a visual marketing company. He is also frequently speaking and consulting on the premise of his book, The Success Disconnect: Why the Smartest People Choose Meaning Over Money.

  • Bob Gower is a prolific speaker, writer, and podcaster, living in Brooklyn with his wife and step-son (he calls himself a faux pa). He consults and coaches at companies like Spotify, Chanel, and GE on leadership and organization design.

  • Brad Zomick pivoted. SkilledUp was acquired by Apollo Education and 18 months later shut down. He is now Director of Content Marketing at Pipedrive, the CRM for small teams with big ambitions. He is having a blast, but has a few pivots left in his career...

  • Brooke Snow entered another pivot phase after transitioning from a partnership to now running her business solo. She currently wears all hats as the Co-Founder of Every Branch, an online school for real life balance.

  • Cliff Redeker is still managing the global Talks at Google program, which is expanding to 20 offices and 450 talks per year. We're taking a closer look at our marketing, documentation, and volunteer management. The year looks strong indeed! We just hosted the head of TED, Chris Anderson.

  • Daniel Kelleghan recently started a new project called #NewMonthNewCountry where he visits a new country every month. He's been growing more than ever and seeing the world, while sharing with others about how to travel more.

  • Dave Ursillo is living in Warwick, Rhode Island where he teaches weekly yoga classes. He just led his first yoga and writing retreat in Costa Rica, and continues to run The Literati Writers, his online writers' group.

  • Elisa Doucette travels the world looking for stories to share and tales to tell, while working on her editorial agency Craft Your Content, where she serves as owner and creative director.

  • Jason Shen is a product manager at Etsy, a global e-commerce company based in Brooklyn, and a partner at Ship Your Side Project, a side project accelerator for tech professionals.

  • John Scaife is living in Boston and enjoying his new role as Director of Sales for a cutting edge predictive analytics startup, Infinite Analytics.

  • Laura Garnett is a Performance Strategist based in New York City. She works with highly motivated CEOs, executives, and managers to help them gain clarity around their mission and values, identify their performance barriers, and access a new level of engagement at work. Before launching Garnett Consulting, Laura honed her marketing, branding, and career-refining skills at Capital One, American Express, IAC, and Google. Laura’s clients include Capital One, Adobe, Time Warner Cable, Lionsgate and more. She is a regular contributor at Forbes and Inc.

  • Lisa Danylchuk's most recent pivot: transitioning from teaching workshops all over the place to offering her Yoga for Trauma class online.

  • Lora Koenig completed her Peace Corps service in Ethiopia and is now working at headquarters interviewing and placing new generations of Peace Corps volunteers around the world.

  • Luke Schrotberger has pivoted to a career in real estate by starting a real estate finance company in San Diego.

  • Rebecca Cotton is still leading Guru+ at Google!

  • Thomas Frank is living in Des Moines, Iowa and continuing to build College Info Geek, a website, YouTube channel, and podcast aimed at helping students learn and work better.

  • Tom Blake left his career as a real estate broker in Southern California and is partnering with several friends he made along the way to start a real estate investment firm that will be headquartered in Dallas, TX.

  • Tricia Krohn is living in Alaska, her dream destination, working seasonally at a hotel and traveling in the off-season.