Happy New Year! With each turn around the sun comes the perfect time to reflect and reset. Reflection leads to clarity and clarity leads to action. Action will lead to a year that’s filled with promise, inspiration, and joy. 2024 is your clean slate–like a brand new notebook (or, in this case, journal!) and you can decide the story you want to write.

Have you ever felt stuck in your career and assumed that the only path to happiness is to find a new job and maybe even change industries? I’ve definitely been there. What I’ve realized over the years is that sometimes this type of major change is the answer, but I’ve also learned that the answer may lie in identifying the parts of your job that bring you joy and exploring ways to do MORE of that type of work in your current role.

Making a career pivot can be scary. I know first hand because I’ve pivoted multiple times in my own career. I’ve worked at big companies like Ernst & Young and Time Inc. and smaller companies like Moviefone. I’ve also worked in different industries from public accounting to consumer packaged goods to media. I now work for myself as a startup investor, an author, and growing my own publishing consulting business, Bookbound. (Bookbound even has a podcast!)

Throughout my career (especially as a mentor, coach, and friend), I’ve been asked many times: “If you have been at a company where you are extremely comfortable and happy but feel underpaid, is it worth it to move to a new company where you're unsure what the environment might be, just for higher pay?” So I wanted to share my thoughts here with you, too.

Once I did find my voice, I saw that it was necessary to speak up in order to be as effective as possible in my role while many of the women around me fell into the trap of being seen as ineffective or weak because they never took a vocal stand. No matter how brilliant and impressive these women may have been in one on one discussions, not speaking up in meetings hurt their chances of succeeding professionally.

Have you ever been the youngest leader at the table and felt like everyone is asking themselves, Why? Why is she here? You’re not alone. Read my strategies to help alleviate those self-doubts!

Is working from home working for you? I share some strategies on how to have a convincing conversation with your manager. Read on!