What is Pathway Pivots? Who are you?
My name is Monterey, and I’m here because I made so many mistakes.
When I was a little kid, I wanted to do something that mattered and that I enjoyed. We say as adults that it’s possible…but I would venture to say that we get told as kids that it doesn't happen until we’re in the last quarter of our lives.
So I did what was expected of me. I went to college, changed my majors several times because I wanted to learn about everything. And also because I was 18 and the only career learning I had ever done was watching Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe.
So I picked two of the majors I enjoyed that seemed to work well together (Environmental Science and Geographic Information Systems), graduated with my double bachelors, and couldn’t find a job because no one told me most GIS jobs were in Texas and along the East Coast. Boo. A fair amount of research could’ve saved years of effort and thousands in debt, but alas.
I blindly assumed that my life wasn’t where I wanted it to be because of money, which I think is a fair assumption based on how we are raised as a society. After a year and a half of working part-time, things took a turn for the VERY difficult.
I became a full-time single mom to my wonderful little toddler.
I really couldn’t figure out what I was doing wrong. In the past, I had blamed it on other people, my circumstances, my situation, my naivety, everything I could, but success always felt so out of my reach. And it wasn’t until I took some serious dedication to really figure out myself, how I ticked, how I worked, what my motivation truly was, etc., until everything really clicked in my mind.
I graduated from architecture school, with good grades but very low mental sanity I have to be honest, only to realize that all of the beginning architecture jobs were very much more-than-full-time jobs. My daughter was about to turn 5 at this point, and I still didn’t want to put her in daycare to pull 50-60-hour work-weeks.
I felt like there were an overwhelming number of options in front of me, and yet no doable path at all. Blindly assuming I needed additional help, and that any would do, I decided to go back to school. I pivoted once again and decided to pursue an earlier dream of becoming an architect. So I went to three years of online architecture school to get my masters! It was by far the hardest years of my life. Including my emotionally abusive marriage. I was a single mom, with a full graduate load, with anywhere from 0 to 3 freelancing jobs at a time, and two business ideas that failed.
I don’t regret the things I’ve learned or the education I’ve received, but some comprehensive research would have been INCREDIBLY VALUABLE at SEVERAL points of my life.
As you can tell, there were many times I struggled to make informed decisions due to a lack of clear information on career options, salaries, job openings, educational requirements, etc. needed for different paths. There are some jobs I didn’t even know were jobs until last year!
An interactive course with a detailed interactive table listing hundreds of career options, including state-specific data on salaries, job outlooks, and required schooling, would have made a world of difference. It would have provided the clarity and direction I needed, reduced the anxiety of navigating both the job market and my own life, and enabled me to create effective career plans that excited me.
THAT is why I created the My Pathfinder course. To not only help students where I used to be, but also professionals seeking to pivot or advance their careers, offering a clear roadmap with valuable information to help them (and YOU) achieve dream careers.
I made so many mistakes, in so many areas of business, career, and planning. This blog will help you see what I often missed: where you’re at, why you’re there, exactly what would fit you best, and how to start your journey. The My Pathfinder course will combine everything you need. It is my ultimate how-to based on my learnings, the highlights of different courses I've taken, the internal society-based teachings I didn't know were holding me back, combined with very practical and useful research into 50+ industries and careers. I want this to be the last course you ever need when finding where you belong and how to get there. I want to change your life and I can promise you, it's going to be worth every moment.
