Big news!

A part of me wants to jump in and tell you while another part is attempting to flee in fear… “What will you think?”

Ah, Fear. You are a compelling fiend, aren’t you?

The truth is, I’ve experienced such joy and excitement lately that I know my decision is right.

Here’s the lead in…

When I was in Belgium a year ago, I was called to the Bay Area — which just happens to be the center of the Tech Universe.

So there I am, on a recent Saturday night, sitting on a couch at a house party in the Bezerkely Hills with a bunch of kind and intelligent peeps.

A woman sits down next to me and opens my eyes to a possibility that I’d never considered: becoming a Junior Software Engineer (yes, even in my 40s!!)

She’d done it herself.
She shared her experience.
She answered my incredulous questions.

Ah, Synchronicity. You are a compelling angel, aren’t you?

I couldn’t think of anything else for a week. I researched. Read about others’ experiences. Took a tour where my new friend learned to code. Went to a “Beginning Javascript” class.

The next weekend, I did it. I enrolled in Coding Bootcamp.

It’s an intense 19-week program which will complete in early August. I’ll then get a job, presumably with a tech startup here in the Bay Area, preferably in Oakland or SF.

If you look at it through an archetypal lens, I’m an Explorer. I want to explore and then come back to you and report on the New Way: New ways of approaching challenges, obstacles to watch out for, models that are working and that you can learn from.

It’s time for a new adventure…

Trusting the Journey

Obviously, this is a big shift. It’s a full on Identity shift, really. From solopreneur to coder? Wow.

How to know that it’s the Right Decision? We’ve all had compelling ideas, but when the consequences mean turning your life upside down (like going location independent, LOL), we want some kind of reassurance that the motivation is pure (and not fear- or avoidance-based).

So I assigned my head the job of understanding. Here are some considerations that gave me peace of mind that this is the Right Decision.

Consideration #1

After producing the New WoW Summit at the end of last year, one thing was blatantly clear:

I want to collaborate. 

I had a blast working with my Team and the Speakers for that event and I want more of that. The thing with the Summit, though, is that it wasn’t enough of a money maker to continue with that model. The resources just aren’t there for active and ongoing collaboration within my current situation.

Consideration #2

My long range Vision for myself is to be a spokesperson for the New Way of Working.

How I manifest this Vision is unclear — there are many possible roads. After the Summit, I saw that the next step toward spokesperson, indeed, wasn’t very clear. What was clear was that more and different perspectives would be most helpful. Perspective from within the working world? The tech world? Fascinating!!

Consideration #3

While I’ve loved so much about my journey with the Natural Professional, and I’ve done really awesome at parts of it, lately I haven’t been loving (and in fact have been avoiding) some of the hats required for Solopreneur success: I.e. marketing, sales, and launching.

For a while I’ve been buckling down and saying, this is part of the deal. Right now, I’m ‘fessing up to the fact that I’m trying to push a boulder up hill and I’m tired of it, not to mention, it’s a totally un-natural professional thing to do! When I considered the possibility that I could just be a problem-solver (what most coding it really about), a huge sigh of relief washed over my body.

There are more considerations but for now, three is enough.

So what does this mean for the vehicle of the Natural Professional as a business? This is as yet unclear.

Here’s what I do know:

— Code Camp is going to be intense. 9 weeks of virtual, part-time curriculum, then 9 weeks of 10-12 hour days, 6 days/week.

— I want to give this learning curve my full and undivided attention.

— I have a bunch of awesome tutorials for Walk Tall that I still want to share.

— I still want to support your journey in accomplishing your goals with calm, clarity and confidence.

If you are game for some uncertainty from me, then let’s play with this!! I.e.:

How can this new journey be helpful for you as well? 

My dear friend and mastermind partner, Betsy at An Uncluttered Life, had the Brilliant Idea of “pulling back the curtain” to show what this looks like, quasi-realtime, in a way that you can follow along and apply in your own life.

Duh! You’ve had epic adventures, maybe you even have one coming up! And if you don’t have one coming up, you likely have a shift of some sort on the horizon (for ex. shift into summer schedule).

So I’ll share some posts, maybe some videos and screencasts, to share the journey and give ideas for your own implementation and to support you in being the awesome natural professional that you are.

You can see the first glimpse behind the curtain here.

So then, my friend, thank you for being on this journey.  If you have questions about my decision and new course of action, feel free to ask.

Know that I’m following the light and joy in my heart. The weekend I enrolled, I literally felt like I was surfing a wave of light and energy — that kind of clarity is such a Gift.

For inspiration, ideas and more support on your journey…

At the end of 2015 I produced the New WoW Summit which was Fantastic. Didja miss it?

It consisted of 10 interviews with Creative Women Entrepreneurs leading their businesses differently — they are shining examples of the New Way of Working. From self-care, to decision-making, to biz models… the conversations contain a wealth of rich information.

There was also a kick-ass handbook with tools from the speakers, my thoughts on the New WoW, and a sweet graphic representation of the what the New WoW is about. Sound intriguing? It oughta! (& did I mention that it was Awesome?)

It’s now available as a DIY Retreat — you can get the benefit of the wisdom and experience of these inspiring women.

As for timing, signing up for the DIY New WoW Retreat now supports me in this time of transition.  Get yours here.

Big hug o’love to you,
XO

If you jumped to the end and want to catch the first step o’prep toward Code Camp, it’s here.