What work have been you doing beforehand?
I used to be an instructional researcher in social sciences and public well being.
What are you doing now?
I run my very own enterprise.
I’m a hypnotherapist, aphantasia educator and a wellbeing and analysis guide.
Why did you modify?
After 18 years of fixed-term analysis contracts, I’d turn into disenchanted with academia.
I used to be additionally dealing with quite a lot of challenges in my household life. This made it very laborious to maintain up with the unending and ever-growing calls for of educational work.
I understood there simply wasn’t a profession path for me inside academia. The shortage of employment safety and alternatives for profession development as a researcher began actually attending to me.
Though I had a wonderful observe file of analysis and influence work which appeared good for the college and profitable to the surface world, I wasn’t actually benefitting from it.
Since I’d moved into part-time employment, I had no employment safety and funds have been tight. I’d mainly reached a ceiling to my earnings as a researcher inside academia.
Educational analysis began feeling like a lifeless finish, with nowhere for me to go.
When was the second you determined to make the change?
I’d been feeling prefer it was time to alter careers for some time, ever because it dawned on me {that a} long-term profession in educational analysis wasn’t viable.
The defining second got here once I gained a prestigious grant as a frontrunner of a analysis staff. This was a pivotal second in my educational profession, a possible springboard to promotion.
However as a substitute of pleasure, all I felt was heaviness. It was this sense that made me realise it actually was time to go.
How did you select your new profession?
In a means, my new profession selected me.
Throughout the pandemic, I wasn’t in way of thinking and I used to be in search of one thing to elevate me up. I began delving into the world of non-public growth.
I discovered a course on optimistic pondering run by a hypnotherapist. I had by no means come throughout hypnosis earlier than (other than evil hypnotists in Scooby Doo movies – clearly not a sensible illustration!) and had no preconceived concepts.
As a part of the course, he was performing some group hypnosis periods and through one in all these, I had a bizarre expertise. This intrigued me a lot that I simply needed to discover out extra (as soon as a researcher, all the time a researcher!).
I turned so fascinated by hypnosis and its potential for enhancing folks’s lives that I made a decision to coach in it.
Nonetheless, this coaching was not with out its challenges and I fell off the wagon a few occasions.
Why? As a result of I’ve aphantasia – weak or missing psychological imagery. In my case, it meant I couldn’t faucet into visualisation or my inside sense of scent, contact, style or listening to.
Most hypnosis strategies rely closely on utilizing psychological imagery. I simply couldn’t expertise all of the fantastic strategies I used to be studying and efficiently utilizing to assist others.
I in a short time acquired the repute of being a ‘tough topic’ and a problem to work with. My issues with experiencing hypnosis discouraged me a lot that I discontinued coaching.
I remained fascinated by hypnosis although and sooner or later got here throughout trainers I actually appreciated and who have been prepared to accommodate me.
After every demonstration they’d verify in with me and ask, “So, Paulina, how was that for you?” To which more often than not I’d reply with, “Meh.”
That’s when a couple of different course contributors received in contact with me to say, “OMG, I’m the identical! And I can also’t expertise hypnosis!”
That’s once I realised that it wasn’t simply me and once more my analysis background kicked in. I assumed to myself: “That is clearly an issue and it must be researched and it wants an answer.”
So I arrange a analysis challenge on aphantasia and hypnosis.
Within the meantime, my fixed-term contract with the college was coming to an finish. I made a decision I wasn’t going to seek for one other educational job however would arrange my very own enterprise.
And that’s how I launched No Woo Woo! in December 2022. My enterprise has modified lots over the previous few years.
As a multi-passionate particular person, I wished to combine all my abilities, abilities and pursuits in my enterprise actions – which I’m positive typically confuses folks.
With time, my work on aphantasia has grown legs and arms. I turned a speaker on aphantasia, run a Fb group for aphantasics, have began a YouTube channel, and run coaching for different hypnotherapists on working with aphantasic shoppers.
That is actually not the route I used to be anticipating my enterprise to go in once I began it!
I now do a couple of issues: analysis and wellbeing consultancy, hypnotherapy, and schooling and coaching on aphantasia (and different issues sometimes!).
Are you pleased with the change?
Sure.
Working a enterprise actually isn’t for the faint-hearted. It’s a giant studying curve and requires quite a lot of laborious work. However on the identical time, it provides me quite a lot of satisfaction.
What I like most about my new profession is that I will help folks immediately and I see the outcomes of my work quick – not one thing that will’ve ever occurred in academia!
Lots of my shoppers battle with anxiousness, low shallowness, adverse pondering, imposter emotions or perfectionism. I assist them overcome these rapidly and successfully by way of a mixture of teaching and hypnotherapy.
I additionally proceed to do analysis – each my impartial analysis on aphantasia and hypnosis, and analysis consultancy.
What I like about operating a enterprise is that the chances are limitless. All the pieces depends upon me and the place I take it. I very a lot get pleasure from this freedom.
What do you miss and what do not you miss?
I miss being round folks and in a piece setting with others.
I’m a solopreneur and make money working from home more often than not so issues can get actually lonely at occasions.
I additionally miss being half of a bigger organisation and all of the alternatives that it creates.
I do NOT miss the politics, the fixed strain on achievement and the sensation that no matter I do, it’ll by no means be ok. I additionally don’t miss writing educational papers!
How did you go about making the shift?
I began doing numerous skilled and enterprise programs.
Earlier than making the shift, I did many, many programs! (means too many, to be fully trustworthy!).
I additionally began connecting with folks exterior academia. I joined a enterprise community months earlier than beginning my enterprise, simply to fulfill different enterprise house owners and see what it’s wish to be amongst them!
This helped me drastically in understanding what operating a enterprise is about and I additionally gained an enormous new assist community, one thing I feel is totally essential when altering careers.
How did you develop (or switch) the abilities you wanted on your new function?
I developed the abilities by way of coaching and connecting with others.
Working a enterprise is the largest private growth journey ever and also you’re all the time having to develop new abilities.
What didn’t go nicely? What fallacious turns did you are taking?
In hindsight, I did too many programs.
I did these as a substitute of implementing what I had learnt and seeing how that labored out.
I additionally over-invested in these which later hit me within the face!
Enterprise could be very financially insecure. It’s significantly better to place cash apart so you’ve gotten a monetary cushion to fall again on than to maintain buying new {qualifications}.
How did you deal with your funds to make your shift doable?
Not too nicely!
I had some financial savings that I dipped into.
What was probably the most tough factor about altering?
One of many hardest issues for me was to start out representing myself reasonably than an organisation.
It was particularly laborious for me to announce to the world that I’m leaving academia to do hypnotherapy. There are such a lot of misconceptions round it and it has a little bit of a repute!
I used to be scared that I’d lose the strong repute I had labored for nearly 20 years and other people have been going to suppose that I’m going by way of a midlife disaster and have simply misplaced it, haha!
This is the reason I known as my firm No Woo Woo! I wished to convey to the world that hypnosis shouldn’t be woo woo.
However now I’m pondering I’ve outgrown that title and it could be time for a change.
What assist did you get?
I received most assist and assist from the enterprise community I joined.
Many individuals shared experiences, recommendation and have been cheering me on in making the shift from academia to enterprise.
What have you ever learnt within the course of?
That operating a enterprise is the largest private growth journey you’ll ever get on.
That you simply may have to let go of your previous id and construct a brand new one. That the traits that may have served you nicely in a single profession might turn into a giant impediment within the different!
That letting go of perfectionism and studying to only deal with the whole lot as an experiment is essential in operating a enterprise. And that you just simply can’t and shouldn’t do it alone.
What do you want you’d carried out otherwise?
I want I’d’ve selected pursuing one factor, constructed momentum after which moved to the opposite.
Somewhat than going spherical in circles in my head attempting to resolve what my ‘area of interest’ or space of focus is.
It’s higher to deal with one factor, get good at advertising it, and construct from there.
What would you advise others to do in the identical scenario?
Construct your networks.
Discover a mentor, take imperfect motion and see how issues work out. Doing this trumps attempting to work issues out in your head each time.
What sources would you advocate to others?
Varied Fb teams for info and assist relying on what profession shift you’re making.
It’s so useful to attach with folks on the identical journey as you or who’ve already made the shift you’d wish to make.
For lecturers wanting to depart academia, I’d advocate Lecturers Say Goodbye, Alt-Educational Careers UK, The Nice Educational Escape, and The Professor is Out.
To search out out extra about Paulina’s providers, go to https://www.paulinatrevena.com/
What classes might you are taking from Paulina’s story to make use of in your personal profession change? Tell us within the feedback beneath.