Episode 16

Career Change at 50? How a Voluntary Severance Package Funded Starting a Consulting Business That Out-Earned Her Salary with Jen Thompson

Have you ever built something so good inside your company that everyone came to you for it, and wondered why you couldn’t build it for yourself?

In this episode, I’m joined by Jen Thompson, a former project management leader who created her company’s M&A Center of Excellence and now runs her own M&A integration consulting business.

After she was passed over for promotion, Jen stopped waiting on her company. She raised her hand for a voluntary severance package with her next step already planned, and her first year of starting a consulting business looked nothing like her second. Jen and I also talk about what finally brought her husband on board, and what corporate burnout had been costing her long before she left.

Jen came into this with no sales experience, which is exactly why her approach to finding clients is worth hearing.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

• How to start a consulting business while you’re still employed, the way Jen did it in one summer
• How to become a consultant in the exact work you already do for your employer
• Where most of Jen’s clients come from, and why she’s never needed to be an online influencer
• How long it took Jen to match her corporate income after a career change at 50
• What Jen tells a friend in her late 50s about what to do after being laid off
• Why Jen doesn’t start work until 9:30, and what she does before then

You’ve probably spent years listing the reasons a career change after 50 is too risky. Jen’s story puts the other list in front of you, the sleep, the health, and the friendships that staying was costing her, and what leaving corporate America gave back.

Here’s to building for yourself what you’ve built for everyone else.

ABOUT JEN THOMPSON

Jen Thompson is a former project management leader who created her company’s M&A Center of Excellence. After she was passed over for promotion, she took a voluntary severance package with her next step already planned, and now runs her own M&A integration consulting business, JT Consulting Innovations. Find her at jtconsultinginnovations.com and on LinkedIn.

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE

• JT Consulting Innovations: jtconsultinginnovations.com
• Jen on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/jendepietrothompson
• Watch the full conversation on YouTube

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So glad you’re here. I’m Sarah Janzen.

Corporate ladder-climber turned 7-figure entrepreneur. Inspiring and helping other women make their own successful leap. Taking my Fortune 500 sales. & marketing experience + Master Coach credentials to help other women with the clarity, confidence, and strategy to build a business they love.