It was a real pleasure to speak to friend and career changer, Ludmila (Ludi) Fadejeva, for this month’s episode. For 8 years, Ludi was a Civil Engineer working on wet infrastructure projects in Europe and the Middle East. 12 years ago, Ludi made a brave career pivot into software sales. Today, Ludi is a Strategic Global Account Executive serving the UN ecosystem with a major SaaS (Sales as a Service) company.
We hear how a chance comment from a colleague led to Ludi discovering a new career that she loves, and that suits her natural strengths and personality. Her journey is also a prime example of how you can slowly side-step away from one career into another by first working for a client or supplier in the same industry where you have valuable knowledge and credibility (engineering) but changing your skillset (to sales, in Ludi’s case). The key for Ludi was a past connection she had at a company where she’d seen a vacancy advertised.
Ludi’s experience shows us the need for grit and perseverance when changing career, and the ability to sit through the initial years of discomfort when you’re new to a career. In Ludi’s case, the short term pain really has led to long term gain for her and her family.
Listen below via Spotify, or on Apple Podcasts. You can also watch the interview on YouTube.
Alice coaches those who want to change career but don’t know what they want to do instead. She offers Career Coaching designed to help career-changers gain a clear vision of what career is right for them, and how to achieve it. She is also an accredited Coach Supervisor, and host of The Career Change Diaries podcast.
