Transitioning from corporate America to starting your own business takes a lot of awareness, specifically, in terms of how you’re going to transfer your skills, knowledge, and expertise into Creating Your Encore Career. 

The Difference Between Corporate Work and Independent Work

• In the corporate world, many things are defined for you or done for you. There’s a lot of structure. When you’re independent, it’s all on you now. 

• Being in charge of yourself and figuring things out is freeing. It doesn't make it any easier and you still have to work a lot. But you're not waiting for some decision to be made about whether you're going to keep your job or not.

• Corporate work is mostly about execution. As an entrepreneur, you’re not only executing, but you also have to be creative. There’s a big shift in how you use your brain.

Things to Consider When Making The Leap From Corporate to Independent:

• You have to create your own structure.

• Pay attention to your finances and figure out whether you need to hire someone or you can just do it on your own. 

• Take advantage of technology to streamline things.

• Find your hook. What is it that you're going to be known for?

• Write down the skills and expertise that you can transfer to your encore career.

• Look for powerful, creative ways to introduce yourself (ex. book, podcast, word-of-mouth)

At the end of the day, it’s all about taking calculated risks. It’s just a matter of figuring out how you can transfer your skills and expertise and create your own structure now so you can ultimately live a life of freedom and purpose.