Reinvention After 40 Is Possible—and Powerful

Episode Description - Reinvention After 40 Is Possible—and Powerful

“You deserve to be happy.” That one sentence changed everything. It changed her career, got her through her divorce, and started her personal reinvention after 40. 

Karlin Clayton, a certified leadership executive and career coach with over 20 years of corporate talent development experience, has navigated multiple major life transitions. She has lived through major identity shifts. Now she brings both professional expertise and personal understanding to helping others do the same.

In this podcast episode, Karlin shares her values-based technique for building a more fulfilling life from the ground up.

Whether you're considering making a major transition or you’re already deep in the middle of one, this conversation will provide you with simple, actionable steps so you can start moving forward at any age or stage. 

Karlin’s insights provide an empowering reminder that you get to decide what comes next in your life.

Show Notes

About Karlin

Karlin Clayton is a certified leadership, executive, and career coach who brings over 20 years of corporate talent development and people leader experience to her coaching relationships and organizational initiatives. During her tenure as an HR executive, she worked with all levels of leaders to build skill and enhance effectiveness through growth-oriented goal setting and achievement. She has deep experience in managing cross-functional relationships and large-scale programs. As a coach, she brings an empathetic, strength-based approach to meet people where they are, supporting them in taking the small steps that will lead to the bold changes and improvements they want to make.

Connect with Karlin

You can connect with Karlin on LinkedIn at Karlin Clayton Live To Learn and visit her website at If / Then Coaching and Consulting.

Upcoming Events

Watch for Karlin’s upcoming webinars and labs coming soon.  Connect with her on LinkedIn to watch for her announcements.

• An interactive webinar on crafting your professional pitch. 
• Resilience
• AI and Data Leadership in HR
  

Key Takeaways From This Episode with  Karlin

• Karlin suggests focusing on what you can control. You can't control outcomes like divorce or job loss, but you can control your next steps and response.
• Use this time to reframe your identity.  Ask "What is my 2.0 version?" and align with current values instead of clinging to past roles.
• Challenge your limiting beliefs. Question stories like "I'm too old" and show up with current skills and forward-thinking approaches.
• Network strategically, jobs come through networking, not cold applications. Be specific about what you want and practice your pitch.
• Develop emotional intelligence. Recognize negative thought patterns, acknowledge them, accept them, then let them go.
• Embrace the "gig mindset". Having multiple interests is now advantageous - volunteer or consult to explore new directions safely.
• Practice the "flip it" technique. Transform negative self-talk into positive narratives about your experience and strengths.
• Learn from strong leaders. They ask for help, fail fast, learn quickly, and don't dwell on setbacks.
• Take incremental steps, break overwhelming goals into small actions while staying focused on your main objective.
• Cultivate positivity as a skill. Happiness can be developed through gratitude practices and positive psychology techniques.

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Share the love so more people can benefit from this episode too!

Transcript

Reinvention After 40 Is Possible—and Powerful

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

 transformation, resilience, identity

SPEAKERS

Karen Covy,  Karlin Clayton

Karen Covy Host

00:10

Hello and welcome to Off the Fence, a podcast where we deconstruct difficult decision-making so we can discover what keeps us stuck and, more importantly, how we can get unstuck and start making even tough decisions with confidence. I'm your host, Karen Covy, a former divorce lawyer, mediator and arbitrator, turned coach, author and entrepreneur. And now, without further ado, let's get on with the show.

With me today I have the pleasure of speaking with another entrepreneur, Karlin Clayton. Karlin is a certified leadership executive and career coach who brings over 20 years of corporate talent development and people leader experience to her coaching relationships and organizational initiatives. During her tenure as an HR executive, she worked with all levels of leaders to build skill and enhance effectiveness through growth-oriented goal setting and achievement. She has deep experience in managing cross-functional relationships and large-scale programs. As a coach, Karlin brings an empathetic, strength-based approach to meet people where they are, supporting them in taking the small steps that will lead to the bold changes and improvements that they want to make.  Karlin, welcome to the show.

Karlin Clayton Guest

Thank you, Karen.

Karen Covy Host

And I am so excited to have you and talk about all things transformation and change and identity, and there's a million different directions I want to go with this conversation, but let's start, if you don't mind with your own personal journey. I know you have some experience with divorce. You have some experience with going from corporate to your own gig. Can you tell me a little bit about those?

Karlin Clayton Guest

01:58

Yeah, so I was married for many years and unfortunately it did end up in a divorce, and so I know what it's like to go through that experience and to bring my children through that experience. And I've been through job loss and I've been through hard things and I think that helps me relate to my clients who have also been through hard things, because there are better things waiting for us on the other side.

Karen Covy Host

02:23

Yeah, I think that's an important message for people to hear, although when you're in the midst of it it's a hard message to hear because you don't really believe it. So what would you say to somebody who is just in the beginning of some major transitional change, whether that's starting a business, losing a job, losing a spouse, you know, divorcing a spouse? Whatever the transition and everything looks dark, what would you say to that person to start? How can they start?

Karlin Clayton Guest

02:58

So I'm not going to paint a picture that it's easy. People say to you oh, just stay strong, oh, you can get through anything, and when you're in it, it doesn't feel that way. And so when I look back on my own journey and what helped me get to where I am, it's really about resilience. And there are things in your life that you can control and there are things that you can't control. And you can't control that you got divorced and that you had that outcome. You can't control that you lost your job or you lost a loved one or something like that. You can control what you do. Next, you can control the steps that you take to set you on a more positive path. And then you know from there, it is recognizing that any bad situation you're in is temporary.

03:50

If you can just acknowledge like, yeah, I have to go through this right now and it's not any fun and it's temporary, and so then it's also a matter of starting to be grateful for things beyond just oh, I have a roof over my head, you know. Oh, it is being grateful for yourself, being grateful for the things and the strengths that you bring. So maybe it's I'm grateful that I'm a really organized person. I'm exceptional project management. I am grateful that I'm fantastic at building relationships and quick rapport, and I know that I can find you know another, I can find more friends, additional partner, you know another partner, whatever that is, and so I think it's you know. It's knowing what you can control, what you can't, knowing that anything is temporary, and then charting this path for yourself, having that positive outcome on the other side so that you know where you're going. This path for yourself, having that positive outcome on the other side so that you know where you're going that makes a lot of sense.

Karen Covy Host

04:46

But I want to focus with you on something that we don't talk about a lot and I think a lot of people don't think about, but it comes up when you're going through something like a divorce or a job loss or a career change and all of a sudden you feel like you're adrift. Like you know, you can't even connect with yourself anymore because you identified as I was a wife, I was a mother, I was a. You know, I was a lawyer, doctor, Indian chief, you know. Name your profession right. And now, if that's gone, who am I? What would you say to somebody who's like having those kinds of thoughts?

Karlin Clayton Guest

05:35

Again, I've been there and I coach a lot of people who are in that space Like but I've always been this person who did this, I've always been a successful business person or I've always been this. You know, I've always been the stay at home parent who has just taken care of everything, and now it's, you know, now it's all really different. And so the first thing is you know, all of those experiences made you who you are today, and that's great. And who are you now and where do you want to go? What is, what is Karlin 2.0? What is, what is this next version of yourself?

06:09

And I think that a good way to begin that process is to take stock of your values, identify what are your values today, because what your values are today might be different from what they were 10, 20 years ago, when you were starting a new career, get you know, newly married or whatever, and so what are your core values now and are you living those values?

06:30

And they can be personal values, like authenticity. They can be professional values, like collaboration, and begin to begin to kind of align yourself to those values and seek out experiences, jobs and people that that align with those values, and then you start to feel this sense of authenticity and you begin to feel who you are, and then you know. Then comes the confidence part. We all tell ourselves these stories. We tell ourselves these stories of who we are and oh, I'm not good enough or I can't get that job because they're just hiring young people, or the technology is too much, or it'd be too big a change. And so it's time to create a new story, a new narrative for yourself. Start thinking about who you are, where you want to go, and maybe practice that narrative with some friends or family. And talking about who you are and begin to build that muscle of talking about this new version, this sort of 2.0 version of yourself.

Karen Covy Host

07:23

Okay, Let me interrupt for just a second and play devil's advocate all right. So you're like okay, I can think all those thoughts that this is my 2.0 version and blah, blah blah. But it's true, nobody wants to hire someone who used to be a this or is this old or doesn't have this qualification. We all tell ourselves stories or is this old or doesn't have this qualification Like we all tell ourselves stories. I get that. But what do you say when you're like no, but it's true that people don't want to hire someone my age, or they don't want to hire someone who's been out of the workforce X number of years or who's had this position or whatever. Insert story right. What do you say to those people? How do you help them get over that hurdle?

Karlin Clayton Guest

08:06

I guess the first thing I say is how true is that? I think we have our truth with a capital T. We have our truth with a little T. How true is it? Again, how do you know that to be true? And yes, is there ageism in the workforce?

08:20

I see it all the time and you can't control that. You can control how you show up, are you adapting, are you learning new skills? Are you showing up in interviews with not just talking about what you did 20 years ago, but the things that you're doing now and how you're forward thinking. So maybe you talk about an AI course that you just took. I've really been thinking about automating workflows and you show that you're adept and show that you are cutting edge and you're not just resting on your laurels and there is so much value in a more experienced person coming into an organization. I am seeing in all of the Gallup data lately manager engagement is down. When manager engagement goes down, employee engagement goes down. They need strong leaders. They need strong, mature, experienced leaders to come in and help guide these organizations and you're the one who can do that and not somebody who's fresh out of college.

Karen Covy Host

09:14

I love that. I love the idea that, you know, is there ageism 100%? However, are we also, by how we're showing up, what we're bringing to the table, what we're talking about, you know? Do we play into that ageism right? Do we increase the perception that we're outdated? Absolutely. And so what would you recommend? Let's say, somebody has just been downsized because that has been happening a lot lately, especially across the tech industries to people who had great jobs, but now they're being replaced by AI or adrift and they're thinking, sheesh, now what? Where can somebody like that start to pull themselves together and to look for what that next chapter is? And this applies whether they've been downsized or just out of the workforce because they were taking care of kids? You know, insert your reason, but where does a person like that start?

Karlin Clayton Guest

10:29

So I think a person like that starts with, first of all, having a pretty clear idea of what it is you want to do. And maybe it's not one thing. You can't go out and talk to people like, oh yeah, I'm just looking for another job in marketing.  That's not clear, that's not specific. So begin to think about, look at your strengths. What are you really good at? What is your professional identity? Where do you want to go? And get really clear at telling that story. Get really clear with your professional pitch. So, no matter who you meet and when, you have your two sentences and you are ready to go.

11:06

And I would say what I'm seeing most now in people who are successful in securing jobs is that they are doing it through their networks, the days of cold applying and you know I'm not saying you can't get a job that way, but the statistics are pretty low because you're out there competing against hundreds of other people for any job.

11:27

I mean, I talk to recruiters all the time and they're like, oh, I had a thousand applications to that job last week. I don't mean to paint a bleak picture, but the way people are getting jobs is through their networks. So let's say, you're in HR, you join a local HR community and you begin to do that. Reach out to people who you used to work with one, two, three jobs ago. And again, not just hey, Susan, I'm looking for another job in project management. But, Susan, hey, I want to let you know that I'm looking for work in project management. I know you have experience in this field. I would love to get your input on what you're seeing in the workforce right now and how I might be able to share my story. So being super specific about what you're asking for, I think, is really, really helpful, and that only comes through values, identification, strengths, identification, knowing your value proposition and practicing it all the time.

Karen Covy Host

12:22

Yeah, when you talk about network, though, do you just mean your personal network, like in-person network, or is there value to, for example, building a network on LinkedIn, being part of larger groups that maybe are not all local?

Karlin Clayton Guest

12:42

I would say, definitely, look at both. There's all kinds of LinkedIn groups. There are virtual chapters of different kinds of professions that you can be a member of. If you're a little bit more looking into I don't know, maybe doing your own thing. Alignable is a really great resource and there's groups. That way, you can meet people from all over the country. I have so many connections on LinkedIn. I'm constantly talking to people and I get connected in really interesting ways, and so I would say, yeah, is my neighbor three doors down? Does she work for Google? Yeah, she does, and so definitely, definitely, I'm talking to her about things, and you know who else. Am I going to a local networking event? Am I going to a virtual networking event? Is it? And you know who is my target audience? Do I want to always network with people who are just like me, or do I want to work with people who are maybe in other areas where I want to go?

Karen Covy Host

13:39

Okay, so you know you, I. I see that you're starting with a wide net. You start with your own network. But correct me if I'm wrong, but still, unless you get your head in the game and your emotions lined up, you're still going to limit your success.

Karlin Clayton Guest

14:05

So, in your experience, what are some of the emotional blocks that you see people throwing up that keep them stuck where they are? Well, I think, as we talked about earlier, definitely those stories that we tell ourselves I'm not good enough, why would anyone want to hire me? And we get into these. I don't know these thought patterns and you know, and I would say that knowing being self-aware, which is a trait of emotional intelligence, being self-aware of what does trigger me or set me off or make me feel down about myself or not show up you know the way that I want to show up. Being really self-aware is the first place to start. Oh, there's that situation. I'm talking to somebody who has a really brusque personality and I don't know what to do.

14:48

It's okay, it's part of who you are. Acknowledge it, accept it, accept it and then let it go, because it doesn't serve you. It doesn't serve you to be in a space of swirl. It doesn't serve you to be in a space of being stuck, because it doesn't get you where you want to go and that's, you know. That's really what emotional intelligence is about. It's self-awareness, self-regulation, it's the way that you are able to use your emotions and create relationships and deal with conflict and stress and those sorts of things. And so yeah, acknowledge it, accept it and let it go and try something new.

Karen Covy Host

15:33

Speaking of trying something new, I've heard a lot in the zeitgeist lately about especially in the world of entrepreneurs, of just. You know things aren't working the way they used to work. Should I just burn it all down? Is there a way that people can explore something else without burning down whatever it was that they've spent years building, whether it's a career, a profession, a business or whatever? Is there a way that you can have it all or start to have it both?

Karlin Clayton Guest

16:08

I think that 10, 20 years ago you had your one job. You showed up at work at eight, you went home at five and that was kind of what you did, and having something on the side was kind of frowned upon. Oh you're doing work off the side of your desk. Oh you're, you know, you're doing something else. That's conflicting. It's not the case anymore.

16:30

Gig work is what's happening. And so if you are, if you're working and you have a job, you're interested in another area. Why not volunteer at you know, at a different kind of organization? If you are, if you're wanting to work in a, in a role where it's more mission driven, why not start volunteering at your local not-for-profit and begin to see how that feels and maybe you can transition into that? Or maybe you I don't know maybe you start doing some consulting on the side and on the weekends, maybe you start doing some coaching. Or maybe you I don't know start designing some materials and you sell those on Etsy. I mean, there's all kinds of things that you can do based on whatever your experience and your skill set is. I think it's so much more common now to people, for people to have multiple things going on, and I think you should embrace it.

Karen Covy Host

17:21

You don't think that it makes you desperate?

Karlin Clayton Guest

17:29

Aren't you like more than the sum of your parts? And sure, I mean, there is so much comfort and so much stability to saying I'm a senior project manager and I have my stable pay and we, you know, so many people want that and that's okay. It is okay to want that stability and to have those things. But why not do a little bit of experimentation on the side and go take a course, go get a new certification, go meet people in a slightly different area and see if that's maybe some, you know another direction that you want to go. So maybe it's your main focus and you have one other focus and then and then maybe you don't feel scattered. I think it's a little bit of your tolerance for ambiguity.

Karen Covy Host

18:18

Yeah, I think and the reason I asked the question is again to just sort of maybe give voice to what I have heard people think that it's their own mindset that's getting in the way, that they think that, well, if I do that thing or if I try this, or if I have a side hustle, it means I'm not successful, or it means I'm not good enough at what I'm doing, or it means whatever kind of crazy story we all make up, because we all make up stories like that, right. So how can somebody get past their mindset? You know the negativity, you know, besides saying, oh, just buck up and do it, it's like are there any tools that you could share with people to help them get out of their own head and just see their situation differently?

Karlin Clayton Guest

19:06

Yeah, I think you know again, gratitude, having some sort of gratitude practice, I think is highly important, and so you begin to appreciate the more positive things in your life. There's also a positive psychology activity that I call flip it and it comes out of positive psychology research, and you take this, you take your sort of negative viewpoint. Um, I, you know,  I'm an old school project manager and I don't know how to keep up with what's going on and flip that into something more positive. I have years of experience leading highly technical projects and I bring that experience to help my company be successful.

Karen Covy Host

19:53

I love that and I, you know I've seen there are some people who seem to innately be good at that, Like I have listened to people tell their story, and I and I know their story and I'm thinking that's different than what I, you know, but all they're doing is taking the basic facts and spinning them in a way that builds them up instead of tears them down, right, so is that a skill? Is that something somebody could work on to develop?

Karlin Clayton Guest

20:26

Absolutely. Everything that positive psychology says is that you can work on it, you can build that muscle and you can increase your level of happiness, increase your level of personal fulfillment, just by practicing some of these skills and getting good at them, because they become innate. And what's funny is that people change when they talk about change. If I talk about, I'm a positive person, I have a positive outlook on life, and if I'm saying these things, I'm talking about changing, I am going to change. It's just something about human nature and your consciousness. And, yeah, you got to work at it, but you can absolutely do it and you can absolutely build that muscle.

Karen Covy Host

21:20

You know you had me when you said you know, getting to fulfillment and positivity and joy and personal happiness and that kind of thing Does all of this. How does how do those things or the tools that you're teaching, how do they increase your personal fulfillment not just get you a job, because that would be really cool if you could get both.

Karlin Clayton Guest

21:47

Well, and they're almost like related, like two sides of the same coin. If I show up into a job interview as a more positive person, I might be more likely to get that job, and so, but, yes, do I work with people about getting jobs or maybe being a better leader or whatever it is? But all of those things happen because I am beginning to have a more positive sense of myself, that I am strong, I am beginning to believe that I can do hard things, I can move through hard things, that I can transform and be, you know, be this next great version of myself. So, absolutely, the mechanics of finding a job yeah, any career coach can do that. Where the really special stuff happens is when you do incorporate increased fulfillment, wellbeing and happiness.

Karen Covy Host

22:48

Well, yeah, because that sounds like it's where all the juice is right. Yeah, Now, mind you, I understand. Paying the bills is a good thing, Having an income, whether it's business income, career, it doesn't matter but you need money to survive, right, so that's good. But to be able to also transform yourself and change your life, now that's sounding really interesting.

Karlin Clayton Guest

23:20

Yeah, it's powerful, because then, if you're feeling more, you know feeling more empowered or happy or fulfilled imagine the effect that's going to have on the people around you. Imagine how you can multiply that effect with your children, with your partner, with your coworkers. It's contagious.

Karen Covy Host

23:42

That sounds like it. Would the opposite also be true, that the negativity that you're around also affect your kids, your coworkers? What have you?

Karlin Clayton Guest

23:52

Absolutely. I mean, we've all worked in toxic environments and you think about why? Why did that feel toxic? To me, usually it's because you had a really negative coworker or a negative supervisor that just brought you down, always saw the dark side of things, and I don't mean to say that everything is always sunshine and rainbows. You always have to have positivity, because that goes into toxic positivity. Right, but still believing that you can move through things and have a positive attitude about it, you can solve problems and you can come out better on the other side is a good place to be.

Karen Covy Host

24:30

Well, and the reason I asked the question, I mean coming at it from the angle of divorce, which is the angle that I tend to come at things relationships, right, and people. I mean divorce is not particularly positive experience for most people and most parents are worried about their children and it's just an interesting thought to think about how their own attitude may be affecting the children negatively. You know everybody wants to say, well, it was the divorce, or my spouse, or you know, it's those things that are external to us and I'm just wondering what your view is on how much our internal state spills out without us even being aware of it.

Karlin Clayton Guest

25:20

I think it happens a lot and I think that even if you think your children don't notice, they notice. If you are in constant inner turmoil and if you're not taking care of yourself and if you're not doing some of the hard work to get you to a better place, it doesn't matter. If you're not saying the words to them, they know. And then are you creating this dynamic where they're walking on eggshells or maybe they're not learning themselves how to move to a place of positivity.

25:50

I think it can have a dramatic effect on your children and you know, with my own children, we talk real and when we're having a bad day, we talk about having a bad day and why, and we're like yep. And we also talk about the future together and we talk about getting to a better place. You know what the three of us have been through together, cause you know we went through some rough times and but now we we're in so much of a better place and I think that is three of us working together that got us there.

Karen Covy Host

26:19

That's awesome, that's. I really appreciate that and sharing your story, because I think when you're in the thick of it, when you're in the middle of the ugliness, it's hard to believe that there will be a better, there's a better side, that better days are coming, and you're very much proof that that's true.

Karlin Clayton Guest

26:44

I will tell you. The moment that things shifted for me this was right before I asked for a divorce was a friend of mine. He said one night, when I was kind of sharing some things, he looked at me and he said Karlin, you deserve to be happy. And I don't know why, that night, that person that resonated with me and I felt it in my core and from there on everything changed. I'm like, yeah, yeah, I do, my children do, and we're going to, we're going to figure out how to get through this.

Karen Covy Host

27:18

That's amazing. That's really, really awesome, and I think that a lot of people need to hear that, that it's just and you're not the first person I've heard this from that you know you can hear the same thing over and over and over. It doesn't hit home. And then one day it's just right place, right time or you're ready to hear it and all of a sudden, your world shifts. You know the perspective changes. So, you know, I know you work a lot with leaders and you know people who have the perspective and the mindset that it takes to succeed even when things are not going well. What have you learned from those leaders that you could share with the listeners to help them change their perspective and mindset, if they're not in the best place at the moment?

Karlin Clayton Guest

28:10

Sure, the strongest, most effective leaders that I know don't go it alone. They know when they need to reach out to their network, whether it's within their own organization or maybe it's some peers in other organizations. They know when they might need I don't know maybe a little bit of advice, maybe they need to bounce something off someone else. They are not afraid to ask for help and it's not seen as being too vulnerable or anything like that. They're just bringing in the right people to help in any given situation.

28:45

Another thing that strong leaders are very good at is trying something and failing fast and then learning from it and moving on. They don't dwell on this space. Oh, I had this big corporate initiative and it didn't go the way I wanted it to. And then this person. They don't spend all this time ruminating. They're like, oh wow, that wasn't the best decision I ever made. Let me figure out what happened and let me change and let me do something different next time, and then they just move on. They just don't dwell in this space of rumination, and I really appreciate that about strong leaders.

Karen Covy Host

29:21

Yeah, I think that so many of us have the tendency to get stuck in the negative headspace and then it's just a spiral down, right. It's really hard to pull yourself up out of that once you've been practicing going down the tubes for a very long time, right? So if somebody feels that if they're just like this sucks, life sucks, everything sucks, right now I can't. You know how. What can they do? Is there something that they should read or watch or listen to or do Like something to start pulling themselves up so that they can get to that mindset that says you know what that thing didn't work, but I'm not done yet. I can go on.

Karlin Clayton Guest

30:11

Yeah, there's so many good resources out there. There's so many good resources on positivity and you know, and, and happiness and those sorts of things. So I would say, even just go, go, read a book on the happiness research, because it's not all just like oh, it's not cheerleading, it is science, it is research-based activities and things you can do to increase your happiness and to increase your positivity. I will tell you right now me personally, I'm getting a lot of value out of Mel Robbins and her podcast and her Let Them book. And if people think that, let them and find someone that resonates with you, find somebody whose message you like and start kind of following them and seeing what works for you and hearing other people talk about moving forward and doing positive things. I think it really invigorates me and it really challenges me to change my own thought patterns. And maybe you know if I'm in a lower spot, no, I can pull myself out. I know how to do this because I've read these books or watch these podcasts or you know whatever it is.

Karen Covy Host

31:19

But you know you, you raise a really important point, which is knowing, having that faith in yourself, that yeah, I can do it. And if it takes reading the books and or listening to the podcasts I mean Mel Robbins' Let them Theory is one example. Another good example is Mo Gaudet. He has a whole, he's got a book on making you know how to make yourself a little bit happier and he's got, he's given a lot of talks. I mean, there are so many resources available on YouTube on podcasts, but you know like. So, whatever it is, I love your advice to people to go find one of those resources and realize that they have that ability in themselves and they just need to get in touch with it. I guess that would be the best way to put it.

Karlin Clayton Guest

32:15

Yeah, I mean, we're the experts on ourselves. We know what makes us tick, we know what makes our heart sing. We know and sometimes we just need a little bit of help to keep us on the course that we know we should be on A hundred percent.

Karen Covy Host

32:33

And in the work that you do, how do you help your clients stay on course? Because I've got to imagine, like every other human on the planet, they have their ups, they have their downs. How do you help them stay the course so that they can create the job or the business or the life that they really want to live?

Karlin Clayton Guest

32:55

So first we think about sort of the meta goal, like what is the big overarching goal, you know, is it, is it to get a new job or a different job? Is it to be a better leader? You know, kind of what is what is the big? The big thing? So that's always the North Star.

33:16

So you keep that in focus and then you begin to break down in little incremental steps what are some ways that get you there, what are some small things that you can do, because the last thing that you need to add to your life is more overwhelm. So how can you break it down into small things? Oh, I can go work on this certification. Oh, I can go to three new networking events over the next two weeks. You know, I can research this new job path and see what kind of things it takes to even get into that field, like, and you begin to break it down.

33:50

So what I do is I serve as an accountability partner and you know, sometimes, sometimes I just kind of follow people. They're super motivated and I follow right behind them and just make you know, sort of stay there. And sometimes, you know, sometimes maybe it's a little more, a little more guiding, a little more directing, because maybe you know I'm not going to tell someone what to do, but if they ask, like, what do you think? Yeah, I'm going to tell them, but it's not. I ask the questions because people have the answers within themselves, and so we just keep on the path. We keep and we work the plan. Basically, we work the plan and we always make sure that that plan is in alignment with your values and who you are at your core. And how does it? And then maybe, if we're looking at emotional intelligence, how am I leveraging different aspects of my emotional intelligence to stay on course and to stay with this plan?

Karen Covy Host

34:41

That makes so much sense. And, speaking of initiatives and things that are coming up, what have you got going on for people, because I know you've always got something.

Karlin Clayton Guest

34:53

And it was funny earlier when you said well, do you feel like you know, if you have too many things going on, that you're showing goes desperate? I'm like, absolutely not, because I always have something going on. Right now I am. I'm in the final stages of working on a perfect, your personal pitch virtual workshop and I hope to have that ready in about another month or so, and so I think and that's going to be really going through not me telling you what to do, but you working through a formula and you doing the work so that, at the end of the hour, you have your professional pitch that you can then go and use. So I've got that coming up.

35:28

I'm also working on a on a learning lab for HR leaders and how to incorporate AI into what they're doing and be eight and be AI leaders in their organization versus people who are taking a back seat, and I expect and I'm in partnership with another woman to do that and I think that'll be coming out also within another month, and I might have some stuff going on with resilience. All good stuff, All good stuff. So I would say the best thing to do. I would love for anyone to connect with me on LinkedIn. I post all the time and I will be sure to share all of these upcoming things, but I think it's going to be a pretty busy summer up in the show notes and when you are listening to this, I like to be ahead of the game.

Karen Covy Host

36:21

So by the time people are hearing this, it's going to be right around the time when all of your stuff is popping. So definitely, if you, you know, if you're interested in learning more, working with Karlin or, look you know, maybe going to one of her workshops definitely check her out. So should people go to LinkedIn or your website? What's the best place for people to find you?

Karlin Clayton Guest

36:43

I like LinkedIn best because that way if we want to have a conversation, we can. Certainly you can go to my website and kind of learn more about me. My company is called If, Then Coaching and Consulting, and that will be linked, I know, in your show notes. So go to my website, learn some more about me. I'm always happy to have a conversation. I love meeting people and just having a virtual coffee anytime. So if you just want to talk, I would love to have a conversation.

Karen Covy Host

37:11

That sounds wonderful. And, Karlin, thank you so much for coming and having a conversation with me and sharing your wisdom with all of the listeners and the viewers. I really appreciate it. And, for those of you who are watching or who are listening, if you enjoyed today's conversation, if you'd like to hear more conversations just like this, do me a big favor. Give this a thumbs up like. Subscribe to the podcast, subscribe to the YouTube channel, and I look forward to talking with you again next time.