From Career Breaker to Dream Maker: How to Make Your Sabbatical Work for You
Want access to this video and dozens of other resources?
Just want to see this video? Enter your email
My desire to take a career break started early on in my career. I had a good job but frequently felt burnout. As the years went by, the allure of climbing up the corporate ladder and waiting until retirement to live my best life began to fade. The real turning point for me occurred when my...
My desire to take a career break started early on in my career. I had a good job but frequently felt burnout. As the years went by, the allure of climbing up the corporate ladder and waiting until retirement to live my best life began to fade. The real turning point for me occurred when my dad passed away — before retirement age. His untimely death inspired me to reevaluate my life, quit my job, and embark on a life changing career break which ultimately led me to the lifestyle of my dreams.
In this chat, I want you to walk away with:
- A practical guide with 4 key steps you can take to put your dreams within reach (please see attached guide that I can offer to anyone who is interested)
- An understanding of the various career break options (e.g. sabbatical, gap year, mid-career break, etc.)
- Key factors to consider when exploring career break options
- Tips on how to turn your career break into a growth opportunity (e.g. career pivot, lifestyle change, passion project, etc.)
Meet The Speaker
Sharolyn Wynter is a growth strategist and lifestyle coach within the travel community. She leverages insights from her travels to over 50 countries and her 10+ years of consulting experience to help companies and individuals elevate their brand.
In her current role as the Director of Strategic Partnerships for Girls LOVE Travel, she creates mutually beneficial collaborations with strategic partners for an active and engaged community of over 1 million female travelers. She is also on the Board of Directors for Raising Expectations youth development program, where she serves as an advocate for youth development, STEM exposure, and proper representation of minorities in underrepresented spaces.
Sharolyn holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Spelman College and M.S. in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. The Detroit native currently resides in Lisbon, Portugal where she spends her spare time scrapbooking, exploring, and investing in passion projects.
More Topics You Might Like
Q&A
Q&A guidelines-
What are the critical questions to ask when deciding a career shift?
By: Catherine, DevelopmentDirectorPosted on 2020-10-23 -
I am approaching the end of month 4 of my career sabbatical. The "break" from my successful 20 year sales career (always field based, 6 figure, Senior title, individual contributor roles at 2...
By: Tera, SalesPosted on 2020-10-23 -
Are you happier now living your best life? What is Portugal like? Do you feel welcomed there?
By: CynthiaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
What, if any, personal discovery strategies did you utilize during your time off to figure out your next move?
By: KatherinePosted on 2020-10-23 -
What do you need to have in place to even be able to consider something like this? Is there a savings thresh hold? Do you need permission from HR or is this a move you make completely on your...
By: KellyPosted on 2020-10-23 -
Looking back on it all, would you have made the same decisions you did?
By: MelessaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
What was the biggest surprise about Lisbon? Do you have any passive streams of income?
By: RosannaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
How do you prepare financially for such a move?
By: LisaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
For those taking a career break with the intention to return to the corporate world, what is your advice to explaining and even leveraging the time gap that will be present on a resume?
By: CarlitaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
Hello Shar, for individuals working in fields were taking a break could deal a possible blow to their career trajectory how do you suggest incorporating meaningful breaks?
By: HarrietPosted on 2020-10-23 -
How did you know when it was the right time for you to take a break? Do you wish you had done it sooner?
By: AishwaryaPosted on 2020-10-23 -
When you decided to take the career break, did you give yourself a set date to make the shift? What was that process like?
By: HayleyPosted on 2020-10-23 -
How do you figure out how to earn money using your gifts when you've traditionally made money by working for traditional corporation?
By: NicolePosted on 2020-10-23 -
Can you explain the first steps you took to transition from corporate life to a "life well lived"?
By: Veronica, Legal Project ManagerPosted on 2020-10-23 -
How did you make a decision about where to spend your sabbatical year?
By: KarenPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How did you know it was time to quit?
By: RitaPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Do you believe there is a certain age or period in your career that is reasonable to take a sabbatical?
By: Khadijah, Advertising OperationsPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How to build up the courage and self esteem needed to find work again after countless rejections from job opportunities.
By: Jenel, WriterPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Do you recognize the woman you were a year ago? What advice would your current self give your younger self?
By: DaniellePosted on 2020-10-22 -
I lost my contract job in March and have been on what I consider a forced break. I've done what I can to make the most of it. What I'm curious about is how does someone who has been self-employed...
By: Courtney Beth, Creative Services ProviderPosted on 2020-10-22 -
What was/were the most important things during your time off?
By: Boriana, Program Project ManagerPosted on 2020-10-22 -
What did you do with your time while you were on your break? Did you do any work in your previous field? I'm worried that the preoccupation with financial security and "staying relevant" will...
By: Erica, WriterPosted on 2020-10-22 -
After seven years as a purchasing manager in AG, I left my position because I could not submit to my director's toxicity another day following a near heart attack from stress. I feel like the move...
By: AlliePosted on 2020-10-22 -
I feel a bit of imposter's syndrome when I call the last two years a "sabbatical". I am not wealthy, and walking away from my job didn't feel like a choice. I left an incredibly toxic work...
By: Carla, ReservationistPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How did you know it was time to go back?
By: GPosted on 2020-10-22 -
When did you know that you wanted or needed to take a career break?
By: KerryPosted on 2020-10-22 -
how do you know when it's time to take a sabbatical? like what is the point of realizing "i need to do this"?
By: zet, Web DesignerPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Did you ever think of a career pivot during sabbatical?
By: Manju, Product ManagementPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How did you determine the length of time that you needed off?
By: Kim, Program Project ManagerPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How do you get back into the working world when your break is done? and how do you explain that break as a voluntary one?
By: Maggie, ExecutivePosted on 2020-10-22 -
Did you have a goal or a direction for how to spend your time during the career break? How did you actually ‘reset’ and found yourself a new way of living?
By: Anja, ConsultantPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How did you manage finances?
By: Paola, ConsultantPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Would love to know how to financially plan for a break while also keeping retirement plans from derailing!
By: Stephanie, Software EngineeringPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How did you plan - financially for a sabbatical?
By: Renata, Channel Engagement ManagerPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Do you wish you took your sabbatical earlier than you did?
By: Pia, Frontend DeveloperPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How do you craft a summary for example, in an interview or the about section of LinkedIn to Include the career break?
By: Alona, Program AnalystPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How’d you handle the fear of “jumping”?
By: Atiyah, Fullstack DeveloperPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Any advice if you want to do something fun using experience but only 10 hours a week, phasing to retirement? How find companies open to this?
By: Anne, SabbaticalPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How do you know if it's time to take a career break?
By: Marina, MarketingPosted on 2020-10-22 -
Did you financially prepare for your sabbatical? If so, how did you financially prepare? What would be your word of advice for someone who is feeling burnt out but burnt out at a job that only...
By: Precious, Frontend DeveloperPosted on 2020-10-22 -
how to position the time off with prospective employers
By: Dawn, Software TesterPosted on 2020-10-22 -
What are two of the biggest differences between the corporate world and entrepreneurship?
By: KristenPosted on 2020-10-22 -
How do you check-in with yourself to determine if you have the things you want/need as your gap year evolves?
-
How did you prepare financially and lifestyle-wise to make such a huge career pivot? What were the main things you wanted to have in place as a “safety net”?
By: BrianaPosted on 2020-10-21 -
I personally have found your story to be inspirational. Given that you were far along and progressing in your career, I’m sure you had those who not-so-subtlety discouraged you from deviating from...
By: JoshuaPosted on 2020-10-21 -
Looking back on your journey, what’s one thing you were scared about that was justified? What’s kept you grounded during this time? Did you incorporate any self care activities to manage any stress?
By: ElizabethPosted on 2020-10-21 -
What are you plans for entering back into the work force? (if that's even in the plan)
By: ChawnPosted on 2020-10-21 -
How did you know it was the right time? How did you friends/family take the news? What’s something you experienced that you didn’t expect?
By: BrianaPosted on 2020-10-21 -
How did you figure out how much you needed to save before taking your career break? Can you go into details with how you restructured your budget?
By: AustinPosted on 2020-10-21 -
What was the driven force that led you to your decision?
By: SharonPosted on 2020-10-21 -
Your initial planning/saving for this sabbatical began pre-COVID. How has COVID shifted your financial planning and how you utilize your time with current restrictions?
By: SimonePosted on 2020-10-21 -
1. Besides not working, what’s been your favorite or most memorable experience during your gap year? 2. What advice do you have for those wanting to take a gap year but are too afraid to take...
By: CaliciaPosted on 2020-10-21 -
Did you save specifically for your sabbatical? to did you have some type of income when you decided it was okay to do it?
By: Liliana, Technical Program Project ManagerPosted on 2020-10-21 -
Did you save all of the money that you needed to live prior to leaving? How long have you been abroad?
By: Jordan, Hralth and Science Intership CoordinatorPosted on 2020-10-20 -
Did you actively work to have income (passive or even active) during your sabbatical to ensure you didn't come back broke?
By: Patrice, Proposal ManagerPosted on 2020-10-19 -
How did you decide on Portugal? Have you been able to connect w/a community there? Would you recommend it to others?
By: AshleyPosted on 2020-10-19 -
After leaving, did you recognize that you had some undercover expectations of living abroad that you had to Adjust?
By: TonyaPosted on 2020-10-19 -
Did you make a career change or did you find something you could do within your field?
By: TishaPosted on 2020-10-18 -
here you nervous when it was time to officially leave?
By: TanishaPosted on 2020-10-18 -
How did you manage visa and legal things to live abroad
By: Briana, Account ManagerPosted on 2020-10-15 -
How did you decide, prioritise and execute what all you wanted to in your gap year?
By: PranitaPosted on 2020-10-15 -
Did you continue to pay off debt while abroad? If so, can you detail how you did it?
By: Asia, Executive AssistantPosted on 2020-10-14 -
Question 1) Was there a shift in how Sharolyn’s family and friends responded to her gap year/move abroad BEFORE and AFTER US departure? Question 2) Going into your gap year, did you have ideas,...
By: Lauren, Digital marketingPosted on 2020-10-14 -
How do you stay focused? I jump around
By: MilkaPosted on 2020-10-14
Ask a Question
Is there a specific question you have for the speaker? Let us know!
More events you might like