Career Change Update
In my early 40’s, I was actively asking myself this question: CAN A WORKING MOM OF 5 CHANGE HER CAREER TO SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT? At the time, I had been a music teacher and small business owner for nearly 20 years. I loved my students, their families, my staff and had become really good at what I did. I was also feeling weary because my interest in what I was doing was waning.
At that time, I had 5 children, mostly still at home, a husband with a busy career, a full teaching schedule , and 7 employees who helped at Creative Music Concepts. I volunteered at church and in our community, and faithfully kept up with self care (read: I prioritized working out daily, investing in my spiritual life, going to therapy, eating healthy, having friends, and fun on weekends). So…when I wondered if I could change my career, it was with real practical concern.
Life was good, but I knew I had a limited amount of energy which was being tapped out already. Not to mention stepping into new things always feels like real physical pain to me. Still, I looked at the future, and another 25 years of work life, and I really really REALLY wanted to do something different.
So, I did what any self respecting 40-ish year old person would do. I purchased the book Your Dream Career for Dummies. All joking aside, it’s a GREAT book. It not only helped me to hone in on a career I was legit interested in, but it helped me rearrange my current business so that I wasn’t constantly bored. I highly recommend it.
I landed on a career in Orthotics and Prosthetics for several reasons, but had no idea how to break into it. Like, I knew not a single soul who worked in the industry.
After some online searching, I signed up for an entry level course to be an Orthotic Fitter which also required 1,000 clinical hours. Clinical hours? I had to google what that meant. For realz.
To obtain said clinical hours (whatever they were), I decided to do the one thing I did not want to do. I cold called O & P clinics in Colorado Springs and asked them if I could do my clinical hours there. HOPEFULLY, I reasoned, THEY would know what I needed and could inform me (cause I wasn’t even sure).
I was so resistant to make cold calls, and the thought of doing so caused me so much anxiety, that I told myself I only had to make 1 a day. Luckily, after just a few days, I got a wonderful medical receptionist on the phone who knew EXACTLY what it meant for me to obtain clinical hours and said I could start as soon as I was ready. Wha?????? Ok, then.
I diligently rearranged my teaching schedule and started at Horizon Prosthetics a week later. I showed up on my first day with study materials in hand, over dressed, and repeating my mantra, “They are more scared of me than I am of them. They are more scared of me than I am of them” (because I was scared to death). I wondered if my age would matter to them, if I would appear like some kind of loser person (who works on building a career for 23 years then wants to start over????). I wondered if it would be a waste of time. I had so many doubts, I didn’t even tell friends what I was up too just incase it failed.
Come to find out, the O & P professionals were scared of me exactly zero. Just a group of nice, intelligent, helpful humans who welcomed me in to their midst 9am -2pm….for 9 months. When I wasn’t hands on with someone, I studied my materials, and had plenty of practitioners available to look over my work and answer questions. At the 800 hour mark, we moved to Alabama and I started the cold calling, a little less nervous, all over again. But this time, I only had 200 hours to go.
Once I completed my course, and clinical hours, I tested for the American Board Exam in Orthotic Fitting…and just like that became a practitioner. I got a job immediately on the Orthopedic floor of the hospital, and a year later became the DME Coordinator for Southern Bone and Joint, a large orthopedic surgeons group with 6 locations in our area. I manage the DME (Durable Medical Equipment) departments at our largest locations, and do nearly all of the orthotic fitting for our largest and busiest location. Daily, I see a mix of patients and work with 27 different surgeons and their physician assistants. It’s busy. My personal record is seeing 63 patients in one day. It’s fun. It’s meaningful, and it represents a total career change. Ta-Dah!
I hope, it’s just the start.
I have reasoned out that if this is going to be a second “career”, a long-term endeavor, something to build towards, something to work on daily, then it needs to be a career, not just a job I go to every day for money. That means movement (and I am a 9 on the Enneagram. Believe it or not, movement is hard for me). So, a few months ago, I approached our COO. Still not crazy about putting myself out there, but getting more used to it. I told him that I wanted to rearrange my schedule so that I could start amassing clinical hours under the direction of our Orthotist (that makes perfect sense to me now) to test for an Orthotist Assistant Certification. The next step.
And, I guess, well I hope, this is how you do it. How you build a career from scratch. One cold call at a time, one step at a time, one line of knowledge at a time, one patient case at a time.
Yesterday was another first day for me. My first day with our orthotist. Currently, I’ll be studying under Joe Whatley a couple of days a week, as well as preparing for my exam, as well as doing my current role of DME Coordinator. As a COA, I’ll be able to treat a variety of different diagnoses, and fabricate more complicated bracing solutions (such as those used for scoliosis, cerebral palsy, foot drop, and AFO’s for children).
Honestly? This seems like something OTHER people do. Choosing a career, building it one step at a time. On purpose.
My previous career was birthed from circumstance, ingenuity, and monetizing what I was already personally good at. That has real merit too. But this somehow feels different. More me. And, I’m thankful to get this second chance. If you too are longing for a second go around on career, or perhaps a first career after a long stint of raising your family, it’s not out of reach. You don’t have to know all the steps. Just take the next right step and you’ll be on your way.
I’m thankful you read my updates, and care about the happenings of my small family.
Making my community a more mobile place to live,
Shanna