The Career Pivot Podcast with Fexingo: Changing Industries, Switching Roles, and Mid-Career Moves

In this episode of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the career pre-mortem — a strategic exercise used by project managers and engineers to anticipate failure before it happens. They walk through a concrete example: a marketing manager named Priya who was planning a pivot into product management. By running a pre-mortem, Priya identified three hidden risks — lack of a technical spon...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of career capital—the unique blend of skills, relationships, and reputation you've built. They use the example of a mid-career marketing manager pivoting to product management. Lucas explains how to audit your career capital using a 'Career Capital Balance Sheet' with five categories: human capital, social capital, reputational capital, credentia...

In this episode of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a career portfolio strategy — treating your professional life like an investment portfolio to de-risk your next move. Using the example of a mid-career operations manager who built a side consulting practice before leaving her full-time role, they break down how to allocate your time and energy across safe, growth,...

Episode 101 of The Career Pivot Podcast with Fexingo. Lucas and Luna introduce the concept of a career portfolio — treating your professional identity like an investment portfolio rather than a single bet. They break down how one marketing manager, Priya, used a three-bucket strategy (core role, adjacent side project, and a low-stakes exploration) to transition from brand management to product ana...

In episode 100, Lucas and Luna explore the Career Values Audit—a refreshing alternative to skills-first pivoting. Lucas walks through a real case: a marketing manager at a Fortune 500 CPG company who felt stuck despite strong performance reviews. She ran a values audit, ranking autonomy, craftsmanship, and impact. The surprising result: craftsmanship scored low because her role was too strategy-he...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a career pivot calendar — a structured timeline that helps mid-career professionals plan a move without quitting cold turkey or drifting aimlessly. Using the real-world case of a marketing manager who transitioned to product management over 14 months, they break down the three-phase approach: exploration, experimentation, and execution. The hosts discuss how t...

Episode 98 of The Career Pivot Podcast explores how keeping a structured career pivot journal can clarify your next professional move. Lucas and Luna discuss the science of expressive writing, how to log energy highs and lows, and the specific prompts that surface patterns you'd otherwise miss. They cite research from the University of Texas and share a practical framework used by a former marketi...

Lucas and Luna explore how conducting a personal annual review — a structured, written reflection on your professional year — can clarify your next career move. They walk through a real example: a marketing manager named Priya who used the framework to pivot into product management. The hosts break down the four-step process: review your wins and losses, analyze patterns, identify your energy sour...

In this episode of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a career reverse mentor — someone junior to you, often in an earlier career stage or different generation, who mentors you in areas where you lack expertise. Lucas shares the story of a former marketing VP at Procter & Gamble who paired with a Gen Z product associate to learn social media culture and TikTok strategy...

Lucas and Luna explore how crafting a narrative around your career change can be more powerful than a traditional resume. Lucas shares the story of Maria, a former accountant who pivoted to product management by reframing her audit experience as data-driven problem-solving. They break down the three-act career story structure: the setup (where you were), the conflict (why you left), and the resolu...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of opportunity cost as it applies to career decisions. Instead of just thinking about what you'll gain from a pivot, they argue you need to name what you're giving up. Using a concrete example—a marketing manager deciding between an MBA and a startup role—they walk through how to quantify hidden costs like income forgone, learning curve delays, and network loss....

Lucas and Luna explore the career time audit: a structured exercise where you log every hour for a week and categorise it against your stated values and goals. They walk through a real example of a marketing manager who discovered she was spending 30 hours a week on tasks she disliked, and how that data led to a successful pivot into product management. The episode covers the specific five-step me...

Episode 92 of The Career Pivot Podcast: Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a career user manual — a one-page document that explains how you work best, your communication style, your triggers, and your ideal environment. They use the example of a marketing manager named Priya who created her user manual before pivoting from agency work to an in-house brand role at a midsize CPG company. Priya's...

Lucas and Luna explore how to use your alumni network for a career pivot, focusing on the University of Michigan's alumni directory of over 640,000 members. They discuss a specific strategy: targeting alumni two steps removed from your target role for informational interviews. Luna shares a study from the National Bureau of Economic Research showing alumni networks increase interview rates by 30 p...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a 'skill stack' — the deliberate combination of complementary skills that makes you rare in the job market. They use the example of a former teacher who pivoted into instructional design at a tech company by stacking curriculum development, data analysis, and UX basics. The hosts break down how to audit your own stack, identify low-competition intersections, a...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a 'career rehearsal' — a low-stakes trial run of a job you're considering before you actually commit to the pivot. They walk through a real example: a marketing manager who spent two Saturdays ghostwriting for a tech CEO to test if she wanted to move into executive communications. The episode covers how to design a rehearsal, negotiate access, and evaluate the...

In this episode of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the career pivot gap analysis — a structured method to identify the specific skills, experience, and credentials missing between your current role and a desired one. They walk through a real-world case: a marketing manager targeting a product management role at a tech company. Lucas explains how to break down a job description int...

Lucas and Luna explore the most underused tool in a career pivot: the letter of introduction. Not a cover letter, not a networking email—a specific, strategic document that introduces you to people who can hire you into roles you've never held. Lucas breaks down the three-part structure used by a former marketing director who landed a product management role at Microsoft without a PM background. L...

In Episode 86 of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the career resume autopsy: a structured method to analyze your employment history not for job applications, but to identify hidden patterns, undervalued skills, and pivot opportunities. They walk through a detailed example of a project manager who uncovered an affinity for data visualization through a resume audit, revealing a path...

In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the concept of a skills adjacency map — a practical tool for identifying which of your current competencies transfer most naturally to a new role or industry. They walk through a real example: a marketing manager who used an adjacency map to pivot into product management at Asana within four months. They cover how to build your own map, what to look for i...

Episode 84 of The Career Pivot Podcast explores a counterintuitive tool for career change: your regret list. Lucas and Luna discuss how past disappointments, missed opportunities, and 'what if' moments reveal hidden values and priorities. They examine a study from Cornell University showing that people who systematically analyzed their career regrets made 34% more aligned job changes within 18 mon...

In this episode of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a personal board of directors for mid-career changes. They break down how to assemble a small group of trusted advisors from different spheres—inside and outside your industry—to guide your pivot. Lucas shares a real example of a former colleague who used a three-person board to transition from marketing to product...

Lucas and Luna discuss how a side project can serve as concrete evidence for a career pivot, using the example of a marketing manager who built a small analytics tool that landed her a data science role. They explore the difference between a hobby and a portfolio piece, how to frame side work on a resume, and why hiring managers value demonstrated skill over listed qualifications. Includes practic...

Lucas and Luna explore how a single informational interview can validate or kill a career pivot before you invest months of effort. They break down the specific questions to ask a contact in your target industry — not the vague 'tell me about your job' stuff, but the three questions that reveal whether the role actually fits your daily preferences. Lucas shares a framework from a 2024 Harvard Busi...

In Episode 80 of The Career Pivot Podcast, Lucas and Luna explore the strategic use of career sabbaticals for mid-career pivots. They discuss the case of Mark, a 42-year-old marketing director at a Fortune 500 firm who took a three-month unpaid sabbatical to test a transition into nonprofit work. Lucas breaks down the key numbers: how Mark saved 6 months of expenses, used his employer's sabbatical...