“Pivoting and Excited About It”
In October 2025, I was sitting at my desk in my home office searching for all the encouraging phrases I could think of. I get a Facetime call from my daughter that began with, “why are you at home in the middle of the day?” In a real quiet voice I say, “I’m not sure if you are ready to hear the reason why I’m at home in the middle of the day.” My daughter says, “ok when you’re ready to talk about it, call me back.”
See, I wasn’t quite sure of what happened or why it happened let alone having the words to explain it to someone else. The truth is, for the last 30 years of my life, I had a place to go. Those places filled my day from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. That particular morning, I was glued to my home office chair trying to manifest my next move. If only I were Barbara Eden from “I Dream of Jeannie” I would just fold my arms, twinkle my nose and manifest a multi-million-dollar lottery ticket. Since that was highly unlikely, I had to manifest a landing place, solid ground. A place that would remind me of who I was designed to be.
Well, in the middle of a recession, while milk was expensive and fortune 500 companies were laying off top earners, I decided to start my own company.
Life was breathed into “FF Consulting Solutions, LLC.”
Talk about a boss move!!
The name of the game is “Pivoting.” I don’t mean to use the term in the trendy manner in which it’s showing up all over social media. My intent was to acknowledge that I needed to make a move, one that 30 years earlier never crossed my mind.
We cannot be afraid to make a move… to “Pivot” even in the 4th inning.
I was no way near retirement age, I wasn’t ready to rollover and give up. Life is not a football game, we don’t always have time for a final ‘hail Mary.” My regularly scheduled programing was under new management. What did I do with those 30 years of experience? Well, I put pen to paper and pulled together my first piece of marketing material.
Listen, yes I’m middle age, yes I’m pre-menopausal and yes I drank water straight from the water hose but don’t count me out. Not just me, but all of my friends who fall into the over 40 club who are so graciously packaged in a protected class. Yes, you are a protected class. What is a protected class? Glad you asked.
Here are the main federally protected classes:
Race & Color: Prohibits discrimination based on skin color or racial ancestry.
Religion: Protects beliefs and practices.
Sex: Includes pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity/transgender status.
National Origin: Based on place of birth, ancestry, or culture.
Age: For those 40 and older (under the ADEA).
Disability: Protects individuals with physical or mental impairments (under ADA).
Genetic Information: Includes family medical history (under GINA).
Familial Status: Protects families with children under 18 (under the Fair Housing Act).
In this season of our lives, we must fight to remain relevant. We must fight for what we have built. We must “Pivot” when we see a lane change up ahead. Click on all those open tabs in your mind, that you were using in corporate America, and drive like heck through that yellow changing light. I digress.
When you’re overflowing with experience, there is no better decision than to pour out what has been poured into you. I remember pulling together my 1st leadership training, it was called “Pivoting for the Next Generation.” As my almost 50-year-old feet pounded the pavement and knocked on doors my heavenly father began to breathe life back into my dreams of being an “HR Guru.” One office allowed me to stay the whole afternoon discussing the different generations in the workplace. We discussed how they communicated with one another. I gave them statistics on which generation dominated the workplace. See ten years ago, we were estimating when all the baby boomers would be leaving the workforce.
Five years ago, we were up in arms about Millennials lacking work ethics and with the stroke of a pen, today, all of us need each other. Just FYI, Millennials are currently the dominant generation in the workplace, so play nice.
They are not afraid to “Pivot” nor are they afraid to adjust with the ebbs and flows of corporate America, life, nor the pursuit of happiness. The question is, are you?
Felisha Ford, CEO & Founder
FF Consulting Solutions, LLC
ffconsultingsolutions@gmail.com
(618) 671-8803
