Natalie Hoop has had an absolutely squiggly career with multiple transitions that demonstrate the power of transferable skills. She started college planning to be a lawyer, but after witnessing the legal system firsthand when her roommate keyed someone's car, she realised law wasn't for her. She left college, fell into retail, and worked multi-unit retail for years, which she credits as foundational to everything she does now. Those retail years taught her transferable skills that allowed her to accomplish things she never dreamed about, eventually leading her to build communities, coach others, and understand how to help people discover their unique value.

We've been programmed to believe we need specialisation to succeed, but humans naturally keep growing and developing - it's odd to think we'd do the same work at 60 that we did at 18. The conditioning around specialisation conflicts with our fundamental nature as humans who love growth and change. What makes you uniquely you doesn't vanish when you transition to a new field or role. Your perspective, way of looking at things, and skill set are unique and can't be replicated. Understanding who you are, what makes you you, and what you want to do next allows those transferable skills to shine because you know what you can bring.

Women especially have been trained that humble is the way to go, that accepting compliments is ego-driven and frowned upon - but learning to take ownership of your abilities is essential for communicating your value. If you don't believe in yourself, the person on the other side of the table won't believe in you either. The key is being able to say "this is what I do well, I know I can do this, here's my pattern of success from what I've done previously, and I can do that for you." Breaking the conditioning around humility is difficult but necessary for advocating for yourself effectively.

Multi-unit retail experience teaches foundational transferable skills that apply across industries and roles you never imagined pursuing. Working retail, especially managing multiple units, develops abilities that translate far beyond the retail environment. The customer service skills, operational thinking, team management, problem-solving under pressure, and adaptability learned in retail create a foundation that enables success in completely different fields. Don't discount experiences that might seem unrelated to where you want to go - they often contain the exact skills that will make you valuable later.

Life happening to you rather than being designed can be the path to where you need to be - intentional design often only becomes possible after you've accumulated unexpected experiences. Natalie couldn't have designed her career path if she'd tried, and she believes she wouldn't have reached her current point without life happening to her first. The unexpected turns - leaving college, falling into retail, making unplanned transitions - created the foundation that now allows for intentional design. Sometimes the most valuable career development comes from being open to what emerges rather than rigidly following a predetermined plan.

🙏 Special thanks to our podcast producer James McKinven! (get in touch for all your podcast needs, he’s really great!)