8 Quotes From Women About Career Transitions And ‘Late’ Starts

Changing careers is tough, especially if you’ve worked the same job for a while. Comfort and routine keep us in one place. After all, choosing to make a career transition can feel a lot like risking your livelihood. Times are tough and it can be overwhelming to think about leaping in a new career direction that may not pan out. Despite difficulties, millennial women are still willing to take the uncertain leap. 

Thinkers 50 reported that millennial women ranked the transition from university to their first job and changing roles for the first time as being the most difficult for them. They additionally reported millennial women leaving organizations after 5 to 10 years to seek higher-paying jobs, because of a lack of development, and a shortage of interesting and meaningful work. Plus, a 2024 survey from Deloitte reported that 89% of millennials believe having a sense of purpose is very or somewhat important to their overall job satisfaction and well-being. 

It’s evident that millennial women are career-driven and bring a lot to the table, which is why making these career transitions is vital. Nobody wants to feel like a beginner or as if they’re starting from square one. But these changes can reap massive benefits and inspire other women to make the same changes.

Take Elaine Lee, who made a big career jump during the Great Resignation, according to Business Insider. She went from working at a mega retail chain to becoming a UX designer, increasing her yearly salary by $38,000. 

Ultimately, it comes down to deciding what is important to you and what you desire out of your career. If you’re still on the fence, read on for inspiring quotes from women about career transitions and “late” starts:

“Changing jobs isn’t throwing away everything you’ve worked for. You are not wasting all the time, energy, and money you’ve invested into your career to this point when you make a change.⁠..But the investments you’ve poured into your career up until this point are what will help you be successful in your next career path.” –Tega Edwin, PhD, LPC, Career Coach via Instagram⁠

“You need to understand and believe that you’re not starting your job search from zero. The biggest mindset shift that helped me change my career four times instead of telling myself, ‘I’m not qualified to do the job’, I started asking myself, ‘how can I use my past experience to show this company that I had the skills and ability to do this job?’. Half of the battle is how you believe in and market yourself.” –Christian Lovell, Career Coach via Instagram

“Don’t be intimidated by what you don’t know. That can be your greatest strength and ensure that you do things differently from everyone else.”–Sara Blakely, CEO, Spanx

“If there’s some part of you that’s questioning your career, it’s important to listen to that. Our hearts sometimes know ourselves better than our minds do…Knowing that at the outset — that any career change will probably be followed by more changes, in varying degrees — can help you keep things in perspective if and when you start to re-evaluate things once again.” –Michelle Obama, Former First Lady via Goodreads comment

“Rock bottom is the end of what wasn’t true enough. Begin again and build something truer.” –Glennon Doyle, Author and Activist via Instagram

“If I had not studied Latin in school, I wouldn’t have found it as easy to comprehend the structure of language. Had I not danced, I might never have really listened to music and known I could compose something. You see? I understood early that not everything I did was going to be a masterpiece, but I would try to do it the best I knew how. I’ve listened to an inner voice and had enough courage to try unknown things. And I think everything in its time.” –Maya Angelou, Memoirist and Poet via Harvard Business Review Interview

“Your career is like a garden. It can hold an assortment of life’s energy that yields a bounty for you. You do not need to grow just one thing in your garden. You do not need to do just one thing in your career.” –Jennifer Ritchie Payette, Author