EP54: Having Success in Flexwork with Kathryn Sollmann

May 10, 2019

What is your cash flow going to look like post-divorce? This is a common question that most women going through divorce have. Whether you are going back into the workforce or if you need/want to make changes in your career, Kathryn Sollman of 9 Lives for Women discusses the 6 different types of flexwork that can better blend your professional and family life. You have many options to work. You can define what success is. You have a voice in what you want to be doing in your next chapter.

The six different types of flexwork are:

1. Professional full-time – today these can be flexible in terms of where you work and what your schedule is
2. Flexible part-time – you can also work in a more mid-to-senior level in a professional way
3. Telecommuting – working from home or even a co-working space
4. Job Shares – less frequent than other options but are still growing, you share a job with someone who has complementary skills and together you share the responsibility of one full-time employee
5. Freelance – independent work, on your schedule, you get to choose what you want to do
6. Independent Consultant – usually set up an LLC, this occurs typically when you want to have a specialty (i.e., marketing), a business built on your own terms

It is important to realize that you need to give yourself a break and not feel that you must aim for the C-Suite and become this ultra-career person. You get to define how you want to work, what success means to you, what your ambition is. This should all be in the context of your long-term financial security. There are many ways to get to long-term financial security and they do not all involve being the head of the department.

So how and where do you find flexwork opportunities whether you are currently working or heading back into the workforce? Well…it is all about being able to ask. 80% of companies now have some sort of flexibility even if you cannot see it. If you are returning to work, the important thing is to know what you want. It is important to ask during the interview about the opportunity to have some flexibility in the job. It creates a dialog and lets the future employer know that you are interested in flexwork. If you are already working a job and now want it to be flexible, you need to do your ask in a more professional pitch method. You need to really lay out how it will benefit the company. Kathryn outlines how to put together a professional pitch in her book as well as providing coaching services to help you through this.

In this episode, we discuss:

• The six different kinds of flexwork
• How to ask for flexibility in a current job or find it elsewhere
• The fact that today there is no hard stop to work at age 65
• Women who return to work in their 40s or 50s still have a long runway for work – and the ability to build financial security

“A Man is Not a Financial Plan” – tagline for WIFE.org

RESOURCES:

Ambition Redefined: Why the Corner Office Doesn’t Work for Every Woman & What to Do Instead

Kathryn Sollmann

Career Coach, Speaker and Author

9 Lives for Women, LLC

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