Zoe Carmichael* loves to see the lights turn on. Whether she is teaching her class at Kendell College of Art and Design or coaching a client on presentation skills, she is most energized when she sees a student light up with new understanding or when she helps a client present with a newly burgeoned sense of enthusiasm and confidence.
As a wife and mother of twin 10-year old daughters and founder of her own consulting business, she has realized how important it is for her to see the results of her work. She recommends finding what makes you happy and ensuring you have a connection to the end result. She has a friend who works in a huge corporation and struggles because she doesn’t see the effects of her efforts. Zoe says that it helps her to have a short distance from her work to her impact. This is critical to everyone at some level – to know you’re having an influence and to know your work affects others. Find the things that make you happy, she says. Find a way to see how your work matters, and this will keep you energized.
Zoe has a keen sense of what matters. She is a survivor. At only 40-something, she has come through a bout with cancer and it has changed her. And it hasn’t. She has new renewed clarity about her passions and her talents. It sounds cliché, she says, but she focuses on alignment between her values and how she spends her time. In running her own business, she chooses what she works on. She chooses how she invests her time. She chooses how she lives her life.
When she first discovered her cancer, her doctors said it was nothing, but she wasn’t convinced. One night as she was driving she was struck by a voice over her shoulder saying, “It’s not nothing.” She pushed for more tests. It’s a good thing she did. Today she is free and clear of cancer, but listening to her own instincts and paying attention to that inner voice made the difference.
She’s done the same in her career. When she came back from her time away from chemotherapy and radiation, the same job didn’t bring her joy in the way it had previously. It was the same, but she was different, she says. Again, listening to that inner sense of herself and her passions was critical. She made changes and adjusted her path. Her advice? Listen to that inner voice and don’t be afraid to take the path that is best for you.
Zoe feels the responsibility of her second chance at life. She is healthy and has started eating better, running, and paying attention to life’s smallest decisions. There are a lot of demands and expectations on our time, she says. We need to pay attention to career, and kids, and family, and girlfriends, and, and, and… Through all this, we need to be sure we’re not forgetting to take care of ourselves, because in taking care of ourselves, we can make the greatest contribution to others.
*Zoe Carmichael is the founder of Zoe Carmichael Consulting. She is a teacher, trainer, facilitator, speaker coach, and adjunct professor at Kendall College of Art and Design. She volunteers for TEDx and for Art Prize.
Would you like to tell your story? If so, let me know by emailing me at tbrower108@gmail.com. Why? One of the foundations of Bringing Work to Life is abundance: the idea that it is possible to find fulfillment, have it all, and avoid the trade-offs between work and life. After all, work and life aren’t separate things to be placed in containers, but part of an integrated whole of a satisfying life. Another foundation of Bringing Work to Life is the idea of multiple right answers. As we’re all seeking ways to bring work to life – and bring life to work – we can learn from each other’s unique solutions and stories. I’d love to learn about your story!
Tracy Brower is the author of Bring Work to Life by Bringing Life to Work: A Guide for Leaders and Organizations.