Jun 18, 2026 · 44 min · 11 segments
What happens when you leave the career you've spent decades building? Julie Fedele, a Future of Work strategist and portfolio career mentor, explores why career transitions are as much about identity…
Rishad TobaccowalaHostAnd I actually was senior enough and knew what I was doing that I worked with my management over a period of about two to three years so that I could move from phase one to phase two.
I went to 50% of the time working for the company and 50% of the time writing my new book and doing other things.
And then even when I completely segued, I remained an advisor to the company.
And that was one of my, what I would say, income streams, if that makes sense.
So untying or leaving is something that you'd like to talk about, which is what actually breaks when you leave corporate after a couple of decades, a decade, three decades.
So tell us a little bit about that because you've actually done it and you've seen other people do it.
So you give them advice and you're going to let all of our people know what they are going to go through or endure.
And the first thing I would say is like, it is uncomfortable, right? Like it is an uncomfortable feeling in your body.
And so my experience and actually every single person I've worked in who's done this transition, it's really interesting.
I thought that when I resigned my job and I had income streams that I would just be so excited not to have all of the emails, all of the team's messages, all of my team coming at me.
But actually I found when I started working in this new format, I went into a bit of a, more of an identity crisis that I wasn't wanted.
Because for 20 years, I had to schedule myself even to have like a 15 minute break to eat you know, my protein in the afternoon because I was so back to back with meetings.
And so I would say that one of the things that really surprised me was how much of me being wanted and stretched by other people was a part of my identity, my worth and value.
There's a different way you end up working with people and the spaciousness that you have.
I had to really reckon with, well, if I don't have every minute of every day filled, do I still add value in this world? And of course the answer is yes, but that is a real emotion that I went through.
And I actually was senior enough and knew what I was doing that I worked with my management over a period of about two to three years so that I could move from phase one to phase two.
I went to 50% of the time working for the company and 50% of the time writing my new book and doing other things.
And then even when I completely segued, I remained an advisor to the company.
And that was one of my, what I would say, income streams, if that makes sense.
So untying or leaving is something that you'd like to talk about, which is what actually breaks when you leave corporate after a couple of decades, a decade, three decades.
So tell us a little bit about that because you've actually done it and you've seen other people do it.
So you give them advice and you're going to let all of our people know what they are going to go through or endure.
And the first thing I would say is like, it is uncomfortable, right? Like it is an uncomfortable feeling in your body.
And so my experience and actually every single person I've worked in who's done this transition, it's really interesting.
I thought that when I resigned my job and I had income streams that I would just be so excited not to have all of the emails, all of the team's messages, all of my team coming at me.
But actually I found when I started working in this new format, I went into a bit of a, more of an identity crisis that I wasn't wanted.
Because for 20 years, I had to schedule myself even to have like a 15 minute break to eat you know, my protein in the afternoon because I was so back to back with meetings.
And so I would say that one of the things that really surprised me was how much of me being wanted and stretched by other people was a part of my identity, my worth and value.
There's a different way you end up working with people and the spaciousness that you have.
I had to really reckon with, well, if I don't have every minute of every day filled, do I still add value in this world? And of course the answer is yes, but that is a real emotion that I went through.
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