I’m someone who remembers dates. From important ones to not so important ones.
Last month marked 40 years since my first AA meeting. Today, I found myself thinking about another “anniversary.”
Three years ago today, my 12-year career with SapientNitro/SapientPublicis/Razorfish ended.
At the time, it felt like a disruption.
Looking back, it feels more like a continuation.
A Pattern Emerges
When I look back at my life, there’s a pattern I didn’t see at the time.
In my 30s, I sold exhibit space for a trade show for emerging media technologies. It’s where I nurtured my love of technology and learned how to talk to people, how to listen, and how to understand what they actually needed. I also discovered I really like to write around this time.
In my 40s, I returned to my first career in video and media production. That’s also when I started dabbling in SEO and online marketing.
Two weeks before I turned 50, I got let go from a video job. In my exit interview, they told me I knew twice as much about online marketing as people half my age.
Not exactly subtle.
So I listened.
My 50s became about online marketing. SEO. Strategy. Building something stable.
At least, that’s what I thought I was doing.
The Itch to Change… Again
As I approached 60, I felt it again. That familiar itch to do something different.
At the time, I was heavily involved in AA. Like a lot of people in recovery, I started thinking about becoming an addiction counsellor. It made sense on paper.
But I was still working at Razorfish, making good money, and not quite ready to walk away from that.
So I didn’t.
Instead, something else happened.
I Didn’t Change Careers… I Expanded Them
Around the same time, I started my healing journey The Gatehouse. That gave me something I didn’t expect.
A way to “scratch the itch” without blowing up the life I had built.
I became a peer facilitator.
That role gave me what I was actually looking for when I thought about becoming an addiction counsellor. The connection. The purpose. The ability to sit with someone and be part of something real. And if I’m being honest, it’s had a tremendous impact on my life. The same kind of impact I imagine many addiction counsellors feel in their work.
The difference is, I didn’t have to walk away from my career to experience it.
I didn’t have to choose between stability and meaning.
I could start integrating both.
Then Life Gave Me a Push Anyway
Three years ago, my agency career ended. It came out of the blue, but it wasn’t completely unexpected.
There was a hefty severance. Enough to give me space.
At the time, I had already been thinking that when I eventually retired, I’d start a small agency focused on helping small businesses with SEO. My motto was, “Agency results for storefront rates.”
Turns out, I didn’t need to wait for retirement.
I got shown the door… and handed the startup capital.
Looking Back, Nothing Was Random
For a long time, I thought I had changed careers every decade.
Now I see something different.
In my 30s, I learned how to connect.
In my 40s, I learned how to tell stories.
In my 50s, I learned how to build and scale visibility.
And now?
I’m using all of it.
Not just to build a business, but to share something that actually matters.
What I Know Now
I didn’t miss my chance to change careers at 60. I just found a way to evolve without throwing everything away.
Today, I still work in SEO as a freelance consultant. I still enjoy it. And it still pays the bills.
At the same time, Inside Out Healing and my work with The Gatehouse continue to grow.
Maybe one day I step away from SEO. Maybe I don’t.
One never knows.
What I do know is this:
Every version of me is still in play.
Nothing was wasted.
Nothing was random.
And none of it needed to happen the way I thought it would.
If you’ve ever felt like you’re “starting over,” maybe you’re not.
Maybe you’re just building on something you haven’t fully seen yet.
