Pathfinder Career Narratives 3: Personal Development Coach

Pathfinder Career Narratives is an ongoing series tracking the career choices and experiences of doctoral graduates. You can see all the posts in the series here. You can find all of the Pathfinder resources and opportunities here. This post is by Dr Paulina Trevena, Mindset Coach and Hypnotherapist at No Woo Woo! Find her on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.

Name: Paulina Trevena

Doctorate subject area, and year of completion: Social Sciences, 2010

Role and employer: Business owner, self-employed

Approximate salary bracket of this type of role: It all depends on you!

Until recently, my professional career wasn’t intentional. I simply fell into particular jobs by following my interests and educational background.

My first career was in Teaching English as a Foreign Language. I graduated in Applied Linguistics and a career in teaching was a natural progression. For many years I enjoyed experimenting with different teaching methodologies. I worked as a teacher and lecturer, mainly in private language schools and higher education institutions. I then moved into director of studies positions and even ran my own language school.

I still had an appetite for more learning and doing something different, though. I’d always had an interest in social issues, which led me into another master’s degree – this time in Social Sciences. Following that, I went on to do a PhD in this area. I’d always wanted to do a PhD even though I wasn’t really thinking of a career in academia!

My doctorate was on international migration. My supervisor connected me with the research institute he was affiliated with, and I got into research work early in my PhD. I absolutely loved it and continued to do research for nearly 18 years, mainly in academia, but also for charities and policy organisations. I never felt the desire to go into a lectureship or become a professor, though. I had a real love and flair for applied research, community, and policy work yet as time passed, I was becoming more and more disenchanted with academia. I was getting increasingly tired of the ‘fixed-term contract game.’ I also faced a lot of challenges in my family life which made it hard to keep up with the ever-growing demands of academic work.

I understood there just wasn’t a career path for me within academia. The lack of employment security and opportunities for career progression within a research-only track started really getting to me. Although I had an excellent track record of research and impact work which looked good for the university and successful to the outside world, I felt like I didn’t really have a career. I had no employment security and finances were tight, especially since I had to move into part-time employment, and I’d basically reached a ceiling to my earnings as a researcher within academia.

At that point I was feeling stuck in a professional rut and very much like a failure. I’d invested so many years in getting degrees and worked so hard in academia but I didn’t have much to show for it apart from my publication record! In truth, I felt like I’d wasted many years on a career that did not love me back. I was feeling my enthusiasm for academic research dwindling and felt it was time to move on to something else. I just didn’t know what!

That’s when Covid hit. Lockdown came – a sink or swim situation – and I was looking for something to lift me up. I started delving into the world of personal development. I found a course on positive thinking run by a hypnotherapist. Until then, the only idea I had of hypnosis came from Scooby Doo films – evil hypnotists commanding people to cluck like chickens and the like. But the more I learnt about hypnosis and experienced it myself, the more I realised its huge potential for changing people’s lives. Thanks to a single hypnotherapy session, I overcame 20+ years of grief and guilt following my dear Mum’s death. This truly blew my mind! I decided to train in hypnosis. I became a certified hypnotherapist and eventually decided to end my academic career of 18 years to pursue my new passion.

What do I do now?

In December 2022, I set up a personal development business called No Woo Woo! I want to build on my academic background to show people that hypnosis indeed is not woo woo and is an amazing tool for making big internal shifts – often much faster than possible through other therapy methods. I now help people get unstuck and make the changes they desire in their lives, including career change. Many of my clients struggle with anxiety, low self-esteem, negative thinking, imposter syndrome or perfectionism. I help them overcome these through mindset coaching and hypnotherapy.

I also continue to do research independently, now in the field of hypnosis. I’m currently working on a project on aphantasia (= lack of a mind’s eye) and hypnosis, aimed at developing best practice in working with non-visualisers (as many hypnotherapy techniques are highly visual). This year, I’ve been selected as a speaker for the UK Hypnosis Convention and – as someone fairly new to the field of hypnosis, I couldn’t be more proud!

What I like most about my new career is that I can see the results of my work fast, and that the possibilities of what I can do within my business are unlimited. Everything depends on me and where I take it and I very much enjoy this freedom.

In transitioning out of academia, I’ve had to make a few key mindset shifts. The biggest one for me as a new entrepreneur was – just experiment and take messy action! As they say in the business world: clarity does not come from thinking. It comes from taking imperfect action, evaluating the results, and course-correcting if necessary. I think anyone who’s been in academia longer would find it difficult to just take ‘messy action!’ We’re all so used to being the expert and having to get it right all the time.

My top five tips for finding your next role:

1. Open yourself up to new ideas. Instead of thinking ‘But what else could I do?!’ start listening to people you wouldn’t usually listen to. I highly recommend picking a few podcasts on topics that you’re not familiar with and just listening to what people say. This might be your way of finding new, creative ideas for your new career! I found Diann Wingert’s ‘The Driven Woman Entrepreneur’ business podcast and Tracy Otsuka’s ‘ADHD for Smart Ass Women’ especially inspiring.
2. Before making a career change, work out what you want. What is important to you? What are your values? What do you expect from a job? What lifestyle would you like to have? Let your career change be a positive choice and not one made from fear or desperation. That is the quickest way to disappointment.
3. Don’t let the sunken cost fallacy keep you in academia if you feel this is no longer what you want! Don’t think about all the sacrifices you made to do your PhD or to remain in academia. Your skills and everything you’ve achieved are valuable – there will be many things you can build on in your new career.
4. Equally, don’t let fear of the unknown keep you stuck. Every change is scary but if we don’t make it, we don’t grow. To relieve this fear, it’s important to get out into the world and learn what’s out there for you, in other words…
5. Networking! I cannot underline how important it is for your job search. For just learning what opportunities are out there but also letting people know you’re looking to change careers. LinkedIn is a great place to follow and connect with people in various industries. You can also reach out to them and ask for informational interviews to find out more about what they do and conditions in their industry. Networking and building relationships can open new opportunities you never would’ve even thought about.

Good luck! And if you need some support on your change journey, feel free to connect with me, too.