Reinventing yourself isn’t starting from scratch

One of the biggest fears about reinvention is the idea of starting over, as if we must leave everything behind and begin anew. But here’s the truth:

we’re never really starting from scratch. Life is a continuum, not a one-way street. Every experience, skill, and lesson we’ve gathered shapes who we are, and we carry all of it forward into whatever we do next.

Take Emily Wheeler, for example. Emily is the founder of Furnishing Futures, a charity that creates healing homes for vulnerable families using donated furniture from the interiors industry. But her path to this work wasn’t linear—it was woven from two very different passions.

Emily began her career as a social worker in child protection, work she found deeply meaningful. But after facing burnout, she stepped away and retrained as an interior designer, discovering a new creative passion. When Emily later returned to social work, she brought a fresh perspective, shaped by her time in interior design.

She realised that families in emergency housing often lived in unsafe, poorly furnished homes—conditions that hindered recovery from trauma. Drawing on her own experience furnishing her home on a small budget, Emily began wondering: What if I could do this for the families I work with? That spark led to Furnishing Futures, where Emily combines her expertise in social work and design to transform lives through safe, healing environments.

Emily’s story reminds us that reinvention isn’t about discarding your past—it’s about transforming it. The skills, lessons, and passions you’ve gathered over time come together to create something new. Reinvention is less about starting over and more about connecting the dots in unexpected ways.

Another wonderful example of this is my past client Hollie Hindle, Co-founder of Alfresco Learning, an outdoor learning company dedicated to bringing the National Curriculum together with outdoor education.

When Hollie felt she’d grown out of her teaching career and began exploring new opportunities, she realised that her teaching degree didn’t qualify her for many roles that appealed to her. That’s when the idea of starting her own business began to take shape. After a coffee catch-up with a former colleague, Alfresco Learning was born. Hollie and her business partner, Jenny Wood, brought their teaching expertise and love for the outdoors together to solve a problem, creating a fresh and engaging way to support both pupils and staff wellbeing.

My past client, Aly Henderson, a chartered accountant who followed her dream of starting her own business after 20 years in finance teams at big companies. Aly launched Dovetail Financial Solutions to help small business owners improve profitability and understand their financial performance.

Through our work together, Aly identified her desire for greater autonomy and flexibility to better support her family. She leveraged her deep financial expertise, her passion for helping small businesses—rooted in her own experience growing up in a family business—and her gift for problem-solving to create a business that truly aligns with her values.Then there’s Cordelia Gartside, who completed my six-month program in April 2023.

Cordelia transitioned from a 9-to-5 role in higher education to a full-time musician. On paper, it might look like she started from scratch. But she brought many skills from her previous career to the behind-the-scenes work of her music career, like project management and communication. And while music wasn’t her official career, it had always been a part of her life. Reinvention, for her, was stepping into something that had been quietly waiting for its turn in the spotlight.

Finally, my brilliant client Hannah Phillips, a teacher turned garden designer, found clarity in looking at her wider skillset. Realising she was capable of far more than she’d been giving herself credit for became the inspiration for her new business, offering garden design, gardening services, and mentoring.

These stories show that reinvention doesn’t require you to erase your past. It’s about integrating your skills, passions, and experiences in new ways. Often, the things that feel “irrelevant” at first glance turn out to be goldmines.

Think of reinvention like cross-training in sports: when an athlete trains in a different discipline, they strengthen their overall performance. In the same way, when we “cross-train” between fields, we bring fresh perspectives and unexpected insights to the table.

Your next chapter might not follow the traditional, linear progression of your career history—and that’s okay. Often, the most fulfilling transitions come from seeing yourself as a whole person, not just the sum of your job skills.

To start to uncover your path, ask yourself:

What am I good at?
What do I love doing?
What comes naturally to me?
What do people always thank me for?

When you allow all parts of yourself into the mix, you’ll start to see new possibilities that connect your unique talents with what you want to create in the world.

Finally, remember to listen to those sparks of inspiration. If Emily had dismissed her idea for Furnishing Futures, it wouldn’t exist today. Those quiet nudges often lead us toward our greatest contributions.

With love,

Naama

P.S. If you're thinking about reinventing yourself, feeling pulled to make a shift, I would love to be your guide. I'll be opening a few new spots for 1:1 coaching in the new year. Fill out this form, and I'll get back to you to schedule a FREE 30-minute discovery call to find out if we're a good fit.