From Crossroads to Clarity: Thriving through Transitions with Ellen Rothstein

When you come to a crossroads in life like getting laid off, losing a loved one, or becoming an empty nester, the idea of thriving through transitions like these may seem hard to fathom. The good news is that you have what it takes to gracefully maneuver through life's inevitable changes. And it's easier when you have the guidance of a life transition coach like today's guest, Ellen Rothstein. Show Notes | Transcript "You have the means to get through it. With the appropriate support, you will get through it. But don't compare yourself to other people, because your life is your own and you're unique and you do get to approach this in any way that works for you." - Ellen Rothstein Joining us today is Ellen Rothstein, an accomplished author and certified life transition coach. Ellen went through her own transition, shifting from an artist to the corporate realm and finally discovering her true passion in life coaching. Our candid exchange reveals the significance of heeding the universe's subtle nudges towards our genuine paths and the courage required to follow them. We also tackle the emotional layers of life transitions, recognizing the need to honor the grief that comes with pivotal changes such as career moves, changes in marital status, or the loss of someone dear. Whether you're an entrepreneur facing business challenges or someone navigating personal upheavals, this episode serves as a reminder that you're not alone and embracing change can be both daunting and exhilarating. In this episode, you will learn: Ellen's journey from artist to life coach, discussing career transitions and recognizing signals from the universe. Life transitions involve complex emotions and enduring grief, but progress is made with patience and support. The role of a life coach in providing impartial guidance to help you navigate through life's challenges. The importance of self-care, and breaking down transitions into actionable steps. Looking back on past transitions can give you confidence to face future ones. You're not alone in your journey, you can reach out to others for support. Resources: Join the Soulful Women's Network Connect with Ellen Rothstein: Website: EllenRothstein.com Email: Ellen (at) EllenRothstein.com Connect with Live Love Engage: Send Gloria Grace a message ☕ Support the podcast ❤ Love this episode? Leave us a review and rating LinkedIn: Gloria Grace Rand Facebook: Gloria Grace Rand YouTube: Gloria Grace Rand TRANSCRIPT Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Namaste. Making the transition from employee to business owner isn't always easy. I know because I've been there, done that, and if you're about to make a big change like that, stay tuned because our guest has some tips on how to navigate life's transitions much more smoothly. But first I'd like to officially welcome you to the podcast and, if this is your first time here, I am Gloria Grace and I help female entrepreneurs release negative thought patterns like self-doubt, so you can grow a business that aligns with your soul's purpose. And I also want to welcome those of you who are watching, for instance on social media like LinkedIn, because that is a great place to connect with people, and in fact, it's where I connected with our guest today, who is Ellen Rothstein, and I forgot to double check how to pronounce her name, but I'm hoping that's correct. I'm going to bring her on here shortly, but she is an author and certified life transition coach who helps her clients get unstuck and face those transitions with self-assurance. So, without further ado, I'm going to bring her on. And what's your last name correctly? Well? Ellen Rothstein (Guest) I tend to say Rothstein, but a lot of people don't, trust me. Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Rothstein it is, but we'll just call you Ellen. How about that? Good, well, I usually like to start off our interviews talking a little bit about our guests, about their journey, and I'm guessing that the reason you decided to become a life transition coach maybe it had to do with a transition you were going through? I'm not sure, but I'd love for you to share that with our audience first, so they can get to know you a little bit better and why you have this expertise. Ellen Rothstein (Guest) Well, first of all, thank you for having me on your podcast as a guest. I am delighted to be here and talk to your listeners about the journey that I have gone through. And yes, to answer your question, I did decide to change my life due to what was going on in my life, and the brief overview of that is that I had originally gotten a degree in art. I'm a painter. I did that for many years and then didn't know if I was going to sell another painting in two weeks, two months, two years, so I eventually had to get quote a full-time job, and then that turned into many years. I still did some art on my own on the side, but no longer as my main life activity and income, and so I worked at advertising for many years and then later in digital media. I live in San Francisco, which is a very young tech town and, as you can tell, I am not a young tech gal. So fast forward to 2019 and my company went through yet another round of layoffs and I got laid off, and this time it was very difficult to get rehired. I did get hired for a brief gig at an advertising agency and it was horrible. It was absolutely a nightmare. It was an. I was a round peg in a square hole and I thought why am I doing this? I think I need a full-time job and benefits that much I was pretty clear on. But I really hated what I was doing. I was not good at it, except that I was very good at the people parts. Frankly, when I stepped back from this and realized I can't get hired, what am I going to do? This is a real pivotal moment for me. I looked and I did an assessment of what I actually did like about the jobs that I'd held and it was really when I was being the liaison with people, when I could be the liaison between senior management and leadership and engineers and sales staff and creatives. That was what made me happy. And I had been working with a life coach on my own for quite some time, trying to bridge the gap between the person I felt at home, where I was very much in charge, and the person I felt felt at work, where I felt like I had to prove myself 24-7. And working with her she pointed out to me you know, you've got a knack for this coaching thing yourself. You might think about becoming a coach and I took some classes, but at that time I was still certain I needed a full-time job. So I said, oh no, I can't do that. But then, when I got laid off and had this sort of eye-opening experience about what a bad fit I was in this current work situation, I thought, you know, maybe it's time to really think about this. And so I did, and I decided I'm going to get certified as a life coach and I'm going to pick an area of expertise that really resonates for me, which turned out to be transitions. Because here I was facing my own transition from thinking I needed a full-time job forever to figuring out what actually made me happy and how could I make this work. It meant starting my own business, which was a scary proposition, but that's what I did, and so with I don't want to keep going on and on, so I'm going to turn it back over to you. Gloria "Grace" Rand (Host) Well, I love that and it's it's. It's interesting Similar sort of story in the way that I was trying to figure out what to do with my life too, because we had moved from Miami up to Orlando, Florida, and I wasn't able to work full-time in my job in television anymore, and so I was trying to figure out what to do. And then they said, okay, I was doing some part-time work from them, and they're like we don't need you anymore. And I took that as a sign that, okay, I guess I better do this copywriting thing full time, similar to you, where you're like, okay, I guess, since I'm being laid off, maybe I should seriously look into becoming a coach. And I do think sometimes that even though we're in the midst of it, and it's difficult, I believe in a benevolent universe and I think the universe will throw us lifelines like that, even if we don't always recognize them. I don't know if you agree with that or not. I know there's probably a lot of people in our audience and I know, I'm sure, that have gone through similar situations, certainly even over the last several years, because a lot of people had to, you know, face the same kind of thing with everything, the way our world has happened. So what are, what do you think are the common? I think I want to start here first. What are some of the common struggles, maybe, first, that people have when they're facing a transition? What are some of the things that come up for them? Ellen Rothstein (Guest) Well, people don't like change, myself included it's anything that's new and different is going to pose some kind of challenges. Even if you're excited about the upcoming change, it's still going to be new and different. So what does that mean? Especially if the change is not something that you chose, like being laid off. So then, I think it's really important for that person to step back and identify what is scary, what are the positive outcomes, what are the negative outcomes, what is there to be potentially excited about and what is scary? And if it's scary, thinking about why, is it because it's new, or are there actually reasons? Is there some evidence? A lot of us fall into the trap of feeling like it’s projecting onto the future? It's going to be that, but that's fear-based, it's not necessarily evidence-based. So I like to take a step back and help my clients to do the same to really look at the situation, get some information, gather some facts. What is really going on here? And then breaking it down into small, bite-sized pieces. Oh, I've got so much to do....