Scaffolding Your Expertise with Jean Burgess

Audio on the From Expertise to Authority podcast at https://pod.link/1865211396Article at https://substack.com/@mattydalrympleVideo at https://www.youtube.com/@mattydalrympleWhat if every unexpected career turn you’ve taken was actually building something powerful? In this episode of the From Expertise to Authority podcast, host Matty Dalrymple talks with Jean Burgess—author, editor, playwright, and former theater educator—about how a deliberately zigzagging career can scaffold expertise in ways a straight-line path never could.Jean shares how decades moving through professional acting and directing, college-level theater education, marketing, and now fiction and nonfiction writing have stacked on top of each other to create a uniquely versatile platform. She reflects on the surprising way skills from running marketing for an IT business transferred seamlessly to promoting her debut novel—and why understanding what is truly transferable (versus what just looks transferable on the surface) makes all the difference.Jean and Matty also dig into the mindset shifts that make career pivots work: why Jean doesn’t have the phrase “writer’s block” in her vocabulary, how she conquered imposter syndrome by reframing it as a problem to solve, and why she believes community building—not selling—is the real engine of an author’s authority. Plus, Jean shares what it felt like to realize she had arrived as an author: not when she got her first speaking fee, but during the Q&As at her presentations, when the audience’s questions tell her she had truly connected.If you have a non-linear career and have ever wondered whether all those pivots are working for you or against you, this conversation will give you a new way to see your own story.#ProfessionalDevelopment #SecondActCareer #SidelineCareer #CareerTransition #Sidehustle #FromExpertiseToAuthorityJean Burgess is an author, editor, playwright, and former theatre educator. She writes both nonfiction and fiction, enjoys presenting writing workshops and presentations, and volunteers as a facilitator with a local Teen Writing Club. Jean holds a Masters in Theatre from NorthwesternUniversity and Ph.D. in Educational Theatre from New York University.Matty Dalrymple is the author of the Lizzy Ballard Thrillers, beginning with ROCK PAPER SCISSORS; the Ann Kinnear Suspense Novels, beginning with THE SENSE OF DEATH; and the Ann Kinnear Suspense Shorts. She is a member of International Thriller Writers and Sisters in Crime. More at mattydalrymple.com. Matty also writes, speaks, and consults on the writing craft and the publishing voyage, and shares what she’s learned on THE INDY AUTHOR PODCAST. She writes nonfiction books for authors; her articles have appeared in Writer’s Digest magazine; and she is a Partner Member of the Alliance of Independent Authors. More at theindyauthor.com. She also guides professionals in building their presence through a sideline or second act through her platform From Expertise to Authority. More at theindyauthor.com/authority. Get full access to From Expertise to Authority at mattydalrymple.substack.com/subscribe