Making any sort of major career pivot involves a lot of bravery, risk, and complication. You’re not only dealing with the practicalities of switching career paths, but also the insecurities associated with starting over.

On Career Relaunch® podcast episode 96, professional ballerina turned Mooch product designer Rina Takikawa describes what triggered her to walk away from a career that was years in the making and the surprising links you can find between two seemingly unrelated careers.

This sort of decision to let go of a dream you once held onto so tightly turns out to be quite a common one amongst the clients, listeners, and audiences I cross paths with in my line of work. Rina and I talk about why people make these brave leaps, what you can do to manage the pivot, and how much you end up learning about yourself when you’re forced to reconsider what truly makes you happy.

During today’s Mental Fuel segment, I’ll also share a few of the insecurities I wrestled with when I started over in my own career.

Key Career Takeaways

1. Your goals can change over time. When you lose the passion you once had for your career, you owe it to yourself to try and move on.
   
2. Making the decision to walk away from a lifelong dream is never easy, but if you can manage the complexities of letting go of the investment, you may just end up finding much more career fulfillment.
   
3. If you look hard enough, you can find the surprising, common threads across your seemingly disparate professional endeavors.
   

Listener Challenge

During this episode’s Mental Fuel® segment, I challenged you to identify, name, and share one of the insecurities you’ve felt recently in your own career so you can identify it when it shows up, accept it, and not allow it to paralyze you.

Remember, having doubts doesn’t mean you’ve made the wrong choice for your career. It just means you’re dealing with a common dynamic that emerges when you make any unconventional move.

About Rina Takikawa, Ballerina Turned Product Designer

Today, I’m speaking with Rina Takikawa, a product designer based in Los Angeles. She’s one of the founding members at Mooch, a fintech startup building a Gen Z budgeting app, where she leads design and product experience.

Rina has been featured in press outlets such as Business Insider and Built In and has spoken at the University of Arizona, UX Copenhagen, Ideate Labs, and CareerFoundry among others. Before transitioning into the tech sector, Rina was a professional ballerina for the Ballet de Catalunya in Spain.

Follow Rina on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, and her newsletter.

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Interview Segment Music Credits

• Podington Bear- Pives And Flarinet
  
• Podington Bear – Puppy
  
• Podington Bear – Trillium
  
• Leimoti – Leave a Mark
  
• Podington Bear – Jetsam
  
• Bio Unit – Across the Valley
  
• Scott Holmes Music – Ambient Meditation
  
• Scott Holmes Music – Life In A Moment