From engineering to marketing, meet Ghalib Hassam in the United Kingdom
In today’s episode, host Jenny Dempsey chats with Ghalib Hassam, who shares his inspiring story of going from pursuing a master’s in engineering in Pakistan to starting his own business in marketing and personal branding in the UK.
Ghalib opens up about:
Ghalib’s journey is a powerful reminder that stepping out of your comfort zone can lead to incredible opportunities—and sometimes, all it takes is asking.
If you’re curious about what it takes to flip your own career or just love hearing transformation stories, you’re in the right place. Don’t forget to subscribe for new episodes every Thursday!
Connect with Ghalib
Jenny Dempsey (00:00.161)
I had already taken such a massive step because when people change careers, there's not just the fact that you're going to start a new job, let's say. For people who have degrees in other fields, for example, engineering, you've invested so much time, you've invested so much emotion, you've invested so much money into it. And when you even think of changing your career, you feel guilty. You feel like I shouldn't even be doing this because did I just waste the past?
16 years of my education. Welcome to the Career Flipper, the podcast that keeps it real about career changes. Every week, I chat with people from all walks of life in all corners of the world to uncover how they made the leap from point A to point B and everything in between. Together, we dive into the twists, turns, wins, and even the messy moments that come with changing careers. I'm Jennie Dempsey, your host.
After getting laid off and unexpectedly pivoting my own career from tech to furniture flipping, I couldn't stop wondering, how do people actually make these big career shifts? And that curiosity sparked this podcast. If you love hearing career stories or you're thinking about making a change yourself, hit subscribe. New episodes drop every Thursday. Today, I'm sitting down with Ghalib Hassam, originally from Pakistan, but now calls a UK home.
Ghalib opens up about his journey from pursuing a master's in engineering to starting his own business in marketing and personal branding. He shares what it's like to navigate imposter syndrome, family dynamics, and why taking risks is always worth it. Plus, he talks about how his engineering background gave him a unique edge and his big dreams of building an audience and starting a podcast. Ghalib's story is all about stepping outside your comfort zone and chasing what feels right, even when it's scary.
You never know what's waiting on the other side. Let's get into the episode now. Welcome, Geli. Thank you so much for joining me here on the Career Flipper. Thank you so much, obviously. Thank you for, you know, having me here. It's a great opportunity to talk about my story. And honestly, I mean, I love doing that because relatability is something that matters a lot. So if somebody can relate to my story and maybe even make a change in their life through it, I think that would be amazing.
Jenny Dempsey (02:21.006)
Totally, it really makes it real. And you showing up like that means so much. And there's people looking for real examples of how to change careers and actually do it and not just, you know, the checklist of like, okay, do this, do that, and then something will happen. It's a lot more complicated than that, I think. And yeah, and we found each other on LinkedIn, gotta love it. Connecting us from around the world. Tell everybody.
who you are, where you are and what you're doing now. And then we'll get into the career flip story. Awesome. So my name is Ghalib. It's a bit hard to pronounce, but you know, you how you make that gargling sound when you gargle water or anything? That's how you, that's how you start it. So my name is Ghalib and right now I, mean, a couple of months ago, my job was starting a new business. So I'm running that at the moment.
I have founders on LinkedIn to leverage their presence to become thought leaders or leverage it for running their business and scaling it basically through content. So my focus is on founders creating content. help them do it. And yeah, it's been, it's been almost three months now that I'm into this solo thing, but it's pretty new, but I'm learning a ton. yeah, through opportunities like these, like talking to you right now today, I think.
I really want to put my story out there for people who want to change careers, who have changed careers, or who are just in the process of it. So I think my story could hopefully help somebody. And if it inspires one person, think that would be amazing. Yeah. And you are in it three months in, but all of the things that led up to get you to this point are going to be so interesting to hear. Cause when you make that switch, I mean, it's not, it's not that simple.
And so I love that you are, you're in it and you're talking about it and you're willing to share what you've learned so far. And this is exciting. So let's just, let's just go into it. How did this all begin? We go back to, I have a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, right? So, you know, growing up from Pakistan, it's you either become an engineer or a doctor because that's like a cultural norm, right? So when I entered in engineering, I realized that I never wanted to do it.
Jenny Dempsey (04:40.718)
I remember I was in my second year, I called my dad and I was like, I can't do this anymore because engineering, I realized with time, it just wasn't for me. And it was a lot of stress. My dad, he passed away in 2016 and this was back in 2014. He said, you know, as long as he had this quote that he would always tell us, his children, that as long as you have a head on your shoulders, like the possibilities are endless. He said, just try to finish it.
the degree and then once you have that degree, just do whatever you want to do in life. I was like, okay, you know, that was convincing enough. So when I changed, I finished my degree partly. And once that happened, a year, I tried finding a job. couldn't learn anything. So I decided I was going to move abroad to pursue a master's degree. And I did. Again, in engineering, because that was the easy way out. Right. You could ask me like, why did you go again for engineering? Because it was kind of familiar to me, the whole engineering field.
And that was the easiest way to go out. I did. Yeah. Just as I was about to finish my master's degree, this was actually moved to Istanbul, by the way, for my master. So this was towards the end of 2022 almost, or like at the beginning in 2022, basically, I realized I need to go back to my country because my, dad's no more. My mom's here. I want to be with her. And how do I do this? Because I know if I go back,
Even with a master's degree, there are no jobs here, unfortunately.
I wanted to find a way out. Finally, I was, I signed up to LinkedIn and when you sign up to LinkedIn as a new person, they give you a sort of like a trial in the LinkedIn learning where you do certifications or, know, do small courses. was like, you know what? Web3 is really in these days and I want to do something related to engineering, but not too far away from it. So I'm just going to go use LinkedIn learning to learn a bit about blockchain, Web3 and become a blockchain security engineer, because I thought that sounded cool to be honest.
Jenny Dempsey (06:43.03)
Yeah. And by the way, I was, I was 27 when this was happening, right? So it wasn't like I was 18 or 19. I was like way into like sort of like my career. Yeah. So when this was happening, I saw a post from a founder from Berlin. His name was Marvin Sahines. He was running a person branding agency. I was like, what is person branding? I read this post and I got excited. I was like, this is marketing. He's offering the remote, you know, he has a remote startup. So I could basically go back to my home country.
Still have a job because the business is remote. Right. That was a major factor for me. Yeah. So I sent him a DM on LinkedIn. This was my first ever DM on LinkedIn actually. And I was like, Hey man, how are we doing? I saw your posts and I, I saw that you're trying to hire. I've got absolutely zero experience with what you're trying to do here or what person branding is. However, I I'm going to work, it's put it in simple terms. I'm going to like, you know, work super hard for you.
You just have to give me a chance because I want to learn how an agency works. want to learn how personal branding works. At the same time, you're a startup, you need manpower. So I want to help. I thought, you know, what could I offer to him so that he could take me on board and teach me basically. Luckily for me, he agreed. was a let's get on a call and I really liked the enthusiasm and let's, let's see where it goes. I went on a call and I landed a remote internship with him. And during this time I moved back to my home country as well.
After Istanbul, I was back in Pakistan. So when I came back to Pakistan, again, the university that I was graduating in from Istanbul, they were like, you know what, we have a liaison office in Pakistan. You can be like a global representative, go there, help students out. And you could basically have a job that I was like, that's amazing. But when I came back and I, when I came back to my home country, I moved to another city for that job that they offered.
And I realized when I went there, I packed everything, I settled down, I went to the office and I realized that they basically weren't sure if they were going to give it to me. So I had come back from another country and I moved back to my own country. moved cities again. So again, I was away from my mom and my family. And I realized that this is probably not going to work out. Yes, I do have a remote internship, but it was free. It wasn't paid. And at the same time, the job that I thought that I had just so that can pay bills, it doesn't exist.
Jenny Dempsey (09:08.718)
My family was with me when they dropped me off to their new city. I didn't tell them that the job is not there because I felt so embarrassed. And I thought that I somehow have to make this work. can't go back to my hometown. So I told them, yes, I got the job and you guys can go now. They didn't know. I was staying at my cousin's place. I didn't even tell my cousin because I was like, what am I going to tell them? And I had some hope because I had this remote internship going on and you know, I thought maybe this could turn into something nice.
After a week, luckily for me, the office gave me the job. were like, you know what? We can keep you. But the moment I entered the, manager that I had, she was very toxic, unfortunately, because she felt threatened because I came from Istanbul, from the same university. And she felt that I was here to take her job, but it wasn't like that. She just felt threatened for no reason. And she made my life living hell. So after a month, I quit that job. Again, I did not tell my family, right? Because I was like, I want to figure this out on my own.
So had this remote internship and then I was like, if I need to do something with my life, then I, I've already changed careers. I was in engineering and now I'm doing marketing, personal branding, which is entirely new. Nobody knows what it is. This was 2022. It's a massive risk, but I want to take it. So I reached out to another agency. This time the agency was in Berlin. They were also offering personal branding as a service. And I was like, Hey, I've got a bit of experience with this Berlin agency.
I also want to work with you guys as a copywriter because I want to learn how you guys operate. They were like, okay, let's do it. So now I had quit the nine to five, but I had two remote internships. The Berlin one, they, I reached out, was like, guys, I want to be full time. Now I've got experience and the founder told me I'm not ready. And it was so difficult because again, when I wanted to reach out to the Berlin agency to get me full time.
The London agency, like I told them like after a month before this, like, Hey, I'm quitting because I think my future is with this other agency. They're like, okay, fair enough. And that other agency, when I had already quit the London one, they told me that. You're not going to put your full time because you don't think you're ready yet. So then again, I was at a moment I had everything. And then again, I had nothing. Right. Yeah. Luckily after a week, the London agency put out a job at early in the thing, like we need full time.
Jenny Dempsey (11:32.053)
person, brand managers. And I reached out to the CEOs like, Hey, are you guys, would you guys consider me? I was like, yeah, let's do it. Let's, let's get on the interview. They luckily for me hired me the full-time role. quit the Berlin agency. Now I told my family, Hey guys, I I've got a remote job. I don't have that office job anymore. And unfortunately I lied to you in the beginning, but now I'm settled. I've changed careers and yeah, that was basically the beginning of my proper marketing career. That's a lot.
That's a lot of thing going on in there. And I appreciate how you mentioned the shame that was involved with, you know, when you're do make a change like that. And especially, you know, when things are maybe kind of up in the air, it is hard to share that with others because you know, they're on your side, you know, they want the best for you and they care about you and they're going to be concerned if something happens. And so the fact that you really took
ownership of that and acknowledged that that must have been challenging. I would imagine it would be to keep that inside and figuring it out on your own when you know that the family that loves you has no clue. I just, I really respect that that shame showed up within the journey. But also I really want to comment on the fact that you
But you're like, sign up for LinkedIn. You took advantage of courses to learn and to like figure things out. Like this free learning, like there's so much knowledge out there. But also can we talk about how you just started reaching out and sending direct messages of like, hey, I'd like to learn this or I don't have the skills, but hey, what can we, I mean, I think, and maybe it's just, I don't know, maybe it's just me, but sometimes there's.
It's hard to do that. It's hard to put yourself out there. Can you talk a little bit more about that moment when you're like, yeah, I'm just going to message this person. Like, were there any like fears in your mind? Was there anything that like could have gotten in the way of you not sending that message? Or was it just all like, I'm curious and I'm just going to put myself out there. Because I think people get hung up on like, I don't want to bother them or I don't want to seem needy or I don't want to seem like I don't have enough.
Jenny Dempsey (13:54.771)
you know, or the imposter syndrome stuff or whatever. You just, you just did it. Yeah. was everything that you mentioned just now. Imposter syndrome. Maybe I'm not enough, you know, I don't want to bother them. Why would they even talk to me? I went through each and everything, but at the end of the day, had nothing to lose. Right. had already taken such a massive step because when people change careers, they, there's not just the fact that you're going to start a new job, let's say. For people who have degrees in other fields.
For example, engineering, you've invested so much time. You've invested so much emotion. You've invested so much money into it. And when you even think of changing your career, you feel guilty. You feel like I shouldn't even be doing this because did I just waste the past 16 years of my education, let's say, right? It's such a massive shift, but I, I was at a stage where I had to do something. I did. And before messaging that founder from Berlin,
I had this notion in my head that this person is not even going to reply to me. So it was almost like no pressure. was like, he's not even going to reply to me. So why am I even bothering you? No pressure on his skills. Like he's not going to reply. Might as well just send him a message. I was definitely not good enough because I had no experience in what he was doing. I had, I had freshly come out of a master's degree in engineering and he was doing marketing, right? Just completely different.
I did text him, but you know, a lot of times people feel like people are unreachable. A founder, a CEO, large company, small company, whatever. You feel like they're so high, highly ranked in the hierarchy that you just can't reach them. That is such a big misconception. If I thought of that, I would have never been talking to you today. Right. I, I reached out to you on LinkedIn through a message.
Because I thought it could work out. So if I, if I had imposter syndrome and I still do obviously, and I thought Jenny's never gonna reply to me, right. I'm, I'm a guy from Pakistan. She doesn't even know me. Why is he even going to reply to me and talk to me about changing careers? But if I thought like that, we wouldn't be talking today. So that is a major factor, but the only one take care out of all of this would be.
Jenny Dempsey (16:12.285)
Don't take yourself as seriously as you think that you're taking yourself. If that would make sense. If you want to send a message to somebody, what's the worst that can happen, right? You send a message, they ignore you. Okay. You move on. It's nothing personal. They're probably busy. They have work to do, you'll never know if it works or not unless you try it. So I tried it. Fortunately for me, it works. yeah, it's just good things lie on the other side of fear is all I'm going to say. Yeah. That's a great way to put it. Good things lie on the other side of.
here is you don't know and you're right. It's not personal. It's a message. Maybe they'll reply. Maybe they won't. I'm so glad you reached out to me. I still remember seeing that message in my inbox and was like, this is really cool. Otherwise, I never would have known who you were. I never would have known your story and we would not be here today. so taking that initiative to put yourself out there with no expectations is great advice.
And it is so important to do it because you don't know what opportunities are out there until, like you said, until you try it. Even if you're scared, the imposter syndrome is there, even if you don't have the experience, I think that that is so valuable for anyone in life, whether you're a career flipper or not, I feel like that is just so valuable. And something that popped in my mind as you were talking was, you know, talking about experience, for example.
you had all this experience and a degree in engineering and along the way you made the change. But when I talk to other career flippers, sometimes there's what I like to call cookie crumbs or bread crumbs of things that have kind of like connected the dots between one or the other and lead us back. So things that you learned from engineering, for example, that actually apply with what you're doing now, but you didn't really know or didn't make the connection. Like for example,
I worked in customer experience for 18 years. I was at tech startups for that time, working on the front lines and customers, managing teams, working with different software, all that good stuff. I never ever would have thought that that would apply to furniture flipping and furniture restoration. It does. There's technology involved. There's process involved, different steps, ways to connect with customers and
Jenny Dempsey (18:34.931)
Just never put up, you know, I never saw that come. So I'm curious if there are things that you learned back when you were, you know, in the engineering world that you actually still use today. Yeah, think that's an interesting question because when you're going through an engineering degree, you have to think very analytically, right? You have to really break everything down to its individual parts and then take a look at the whole picture. And I think that's something that helps me.
Especially now that I'm trying to run my own business, right? Because when I was working with agencies, after I changed careers for two and a half, three years, I worked at top person banding agencies. Berlin one still top of the game. The London one still top of the game. And then afterwards I also worked with one from Dubai remote as well. Still top of the game in UAE region. Now that I'm my own business, I understand that I have to really, in order to do
the best service possible for my clients. I really have to figure everything out on my own, right? I have to really break it down. And I think that has helped from what I've learned in engineering because yes, I did change careers. a lot of the times people, you know, I mentioned in the beginning that you feel like you wasted 16, 17, 18 years of education that by changing careers, it's not like that because what you learn a university, basically it's not just for a degree, but it teaches you how to talk to people.
how to present yourself, how to think about situations, how to be more analytical in life. And I think that's something that I've really taken from it. And a lot of people have this misconception that the only reason you go to university is having an engineering degree. I think of my own, like having a degree, sorry, when I think of my own journey, if I didn't go to Istanbul, I wouldn't have as much confidence as I have today. I wouldn't be able to talk to people as I do today. When I went there, I was exposed to such a large
pool of audience people, could say people from different areas of the world and I interacted with them. I learned about their cultures. It made me realize that I need to calm down, right? Because the more exposure that you get, the more your perspective changes. And you basically kind of like calm down. I don't know if that happens to you or I know people can relate to it, but you feel like the more you absorb in terms of how people are in this world, the more you relax because
Jenny Dempsey (21:00.147)
People who have no knowledge and information or context, they're very more as opposed to people who have the whole context. So that thing, I learned a lot from getting an education, right? Or getting an engineering degree, speaking with professors or anything, people who are so analytical and technical. And I'm so glad because now I can get to apply all of those things that I learned through a secondhand experience, you could say, by getting a degree. Yeah. Well, that makes total sense.
And yeah, the kind of the calm down thing that you mentioned, right? That definitely hits. feel like the more you learn about different people, the more you're like, well, I'm going to take what matters most. You know, not super subjective or like, you know, pushing anyone away, but sticking to your core values in a way and picking up things that resonate. And then some of the other things just kind of like,
letting them roll off you. feel like working in customer service, I was able to worry less because I dealt with so many different types of people, very overworked about certain things that didn't seem like problems to me, but they were problems to them. And there's a level of empathy that has to be, you know, shown because people get, you know, people have their own experiences and we have to let them have their own experiences.
We don't know their history or what led them these triggers, you know, all the things. And so to be able to see it from a broader perspective is maybe more of what I'm getting at is like, it just causes you to accept more and worry less and let the other things just kind of roll off you. So I love that you brought that up. And, and now, you know, not to like switch gears too much, but I want to jump back to your family. Cause I know a lot of other people, career flippers, for example, family and friends are a big
part of our support system. Having a support system is so crucial when you're making a change like this. But in your case, you know, it was not necessarily communicated early on and it sounds like that has been resolved. So what is your family? Where does your family think of what you're doing now and how does that impact you? Yeah, that's a good question because when you haven't achieved anything and you don't have any results to show, I think it can be
Jenny Dempsey (23:23.737)
Very difficult to have that conversation. For example, telling your parents, say like, Hey, I've, just invested thousands of dollars into my degree. And guess what? I'm not going to use it now. What are you talking about? But, but the reason I kept it to myself is because I wanted to go to my mom and basically have something with me to show it to her. Like, Hey, this, this, happened. I changed careers. I achieved this. And that's just.
I want to keep you in the loop now, right? This is what happened. So that's how it happened to me, right? I knew they were going to support me anyway. It's not like they were going to reprimand me or something, but I didn't want to disappoint them. there's being, I think it's a part of being human. I didn't want to come off, maybe it's just in my head. I didn't want to come off as a failure because there are so many questions in my head. You, for example,
especially for people very early in their career changes or who are thinking of changing careers. They don't want to let people down. Even now, I still have that feeling because I'm a new dad. I got married recently. I've got a six month old daughter. Sometimes I hesitate bringing the topic up of me running my own business and how hard it's been because I want to be strong for them, obviously, right? For my mom, for my wife, for my daughter.
But at the same time, there's a feeling at the back of my head that I don't want to disappoint them. I don't want them to think that I can't figure it out, which is obviously wrong. I should be sharing more with them, but I think it's such a huge part of my whole life, how I was brought up or culturally, what the effects were. But I've always been the kind of a person who has kept things to himself. So even now I suffer with that. I know my family is going to support me. And sometimes I'm
I'm stressed about something. And then after a while I tell my mom or my wife, and then they're like, why didn't you tell us before? I was like, I don't know. I just couldn't, you know? So I like to back to your question. was difficult keeping things from them, but it was harder for me to have a conversation before having something tangible to show to them. Like, I have a remote job now. I get paid a salary. So everything's chill. It's not like I'm struggling. But yeah, it was hard for me to share it with them because of that. And I think that's, that was a major, major blow.
Jenny Dempsey (25:45.597)
off from in the beginning, my sharing things like that. Yeah. Yeah. I, I understand that it's hard to talk about those things because yeah, I feel that I wouldn't, don't want to be a disappointment either taking this different path and learning new things. And it's, can be a little weird and sometimes hard to even find the words. don't like, I don't even know sometimes how to really communicate my challenges because I don't know the right words to say and keeping it inside until I kind of
process and figure it out can, you know, be a little bit of inner turmoil, but also make sense because of going back to what you said. You don't want to disappoint, but also when you do share it, you know that the support is there and then no matter what they're going to be on your side. And I think that that is a good reminder because it can feel very isolating when you make these changes and when you do hold it inside and you're going through and you're, do you just want to show that
you're going to be okay and you're doing these great things and you don't want them to worry. And yeah, it puts you in an interesting situation, but it makes sense. totally, that resonates. It is hard to talk about it in some instances. And on that note of talking about these things for the people listening, whatever, you're in it. Let me back up a second.
in it, this is still pretty fresh. And what do you have coming next? Like talk about the upcoming things that you have that you see yourself doing in the next, you know, six to 12 months or, know, the next several years, we're going to take this where you see it going. And what do you think will be the fuel to keep you to keep the momentum going? Yeah, great question. Because I think about this a lot.
The jobs that I had after changing careers with the agencies, it was good because I enjoyed it. was a different environment, marketing, new career. But I feel like at the end of the day, I was doing it for money because I knew I was never going to get paid that much if I was working in my home country as an engineer. It's a fact, right? I don't want to short-code anything. It's a fact. Money is a big factor. So I was doing it for the money and I realized it after my third job.
Jenny Dempsey (28:08.797)
I quit after two months because the pay was great for me. Right. And I was absolutely loving the pay, but every day I woke up and I was stressed and I realized that maybe I'm doing all of this for the wrong reasons. So that is also one of the reasons I started my own business. Now in the next six to 12 months, I want to build an audience. Number one, I think in the right now, the creator economy is as of this year, it's worth $250 billion. So it's such a huge market. Right. So if you.
are a creator and you have an audience that you can leverage. You're already ahead of a lot of people. So that's one. Second thing is I want to reach as many credible people as possible in what I do as a service. Right. So for example, I help founders on LinkedIn leverage their brand to scale their businesses. I want to find people who are already doing it and they're doing a great job. Right. So a founder who is creating content on LinkedIn to scale their business. As simple as that. And that is
One of the reasons I mentioned earlier to you actually Jenny is I want to start a podcast, right? So in the next six to 12 months, the podcast, I want to have guests on it who are already doing a great job. But at the same time, I want to dig into their stories because just, just like you have a story, Jenny, just like I have a story. These people have stories too, right? These founders, they weren't born founders, right? They had to tackle diversity or they had to overcome some obstacles.
I want to show the world that these people are human too. And this ties back nicely into what I mentioned earlier. People are reachable. It's not like they're gods or anything. These people are reachable. You just have to have that willingness in the beginning to reach out to them. Right. So by showing their human side to people professionally, yes, I want to show how great they're doing, but personally as well, by showing their human side to my audience, I think they're going to relate.
themselves to these founders, which are going to make them more human. think that's going to close down that barrier of, you know, untouchable people. So for the next six or 12 months, it's going to be a massive focus for me. Creating an audience, people who relate to these founders. And at the same time, obviously I want to talk to these people because I want to learn how they're doing such a great job so that I can apply it. And the service that I provide for my clients, I want it to be top-notch. I was talking to my wife the other day and I told her I was doing it for money so far.
Jenny Dempsey (30:32.836)
And it's great. You know, money's good, but this time I want to do things differently. Jenny now I want to do it because I enjoy it. And she was telling me, she's like, I feel like you're not doing this so that you can have a nice incrementing. I feel like you're doing it because you're enjoying it. was like, that's the whole point. Because I want to enjoy what I'm doing. So for the next six to 12 months, I intend to enjoy myself. And I think money, these are all, this is, this is a by-product. If you're good at what you do and if you're actually doing it because you enjoy it.
Money is going to come somehow, whether it's a sponsorship, whether it's a new client, anything, it's a by-product. And I think it's super important, especially for people changing careers. I changed careers in the beginning, massively for money as well, because I wanted to get paid more as opposed to being an engineer getting paid pennies, right? But I realized after two and a half, three years, that money alone is never a good enough reason to change careers. Never a good reason.
Because if you do it for the money, it's not sustainable. Yes, you can do it for two, three, four, five years. But what happens afterward? Because it's going to seep into your family, into relationships, how you wake up, how you go to sleep, when you go to sleep, when you wake up. And I see you gesturing Jenny, because I think you relate to it. It's such a massive point, right? So for the next six to 12 months, I want to do something that I thoroughly enjoy. I love talking to people. So I want to do that. But at the same time, I feel like the money and everything else.
creating an audience, it's all a by-product. So yeah, it's an experiment to be honest with my career, which is scary. I'm not going to lie, right? It's still marketing, but I somehow have to find a way so that I'm financially, I have enough runway for the next six to 12 months so that I can focus on this and not worry about paying bills. Once I have that covered, I think, it's going to be a good experiment. that is to answer your questions. That is what I want to focus on for the next six months to 12 months. You have the absolute right mindset.
I love that you brought up. hope so. You do at least from my perspective. I'm not an expert or anything, but I that and that just clicks. It just makes sense. The money part that you brought up, of course, money is important. Just like you said, we need money to do that. They like to have a place to live, like to support our families, whatever, you know, we need it. But also what are we willing to settle for for that money? And the fact that you brought that up.
Jenny Dempsey (32:52.44)
You know, it makes me think about when you were working for, there was that toxic boss that you had and just thinking how many people maybe even listening right now are in a situation where they're like, yeah, I get paid really well, but my boss incredibly toxic, but I'm willing to settle and everyone can settle for different things. all have different, you know, boundaries, but it just is to think about it in a different way, to really rethink what money means.
and how when we do the things that bring us joy, that light us up, typically those are also things that bring joy and light other people up. And that then will be reciprocated. Like it all does find a way. And just like you mentioned, there's a sponsorship. There's, you know, there's, you know, however a client, finds you because you're enjoying what you're doing and that energy shows, and you can bring that to others. And I think that that
When we're flipping into these new areas, it's important to remember that, yes, we need to have this calculated risk in mind. We need to have the financial support, but it's not all about that. And sometimes taking a little bit of a dip in what we actually need. We don't want to be paid pennies like you mentioned. You didn't want that. That's not what you're worth. You're worth way more than that. But also,
you know, do we need the millions and millions and millions of dollars? Sure, that'd be nice, but do we need? So we sometimes have to think about what actually success means and what that looks like and what, you know, what we actually need on a regular basis. And I'm glad that you brought that up because a lot of people will not make a career change simply because they don't want to lose that stability of a paycheck.
what they're making and yeah. So, but on that note, I want people to be able to connect with you and learn from you. There's so much more in this conversation and people, you you're, putting yourself out there and you're going to have the podcast and people have a lot of opportunities to really absorb your, your wisdom. So where can people find you? Yeah. Thank you for that.
Jenny Dempsey (35:11.012)
I mainly document my journey on LinkedIn because I'm a huge believer in that, you know, starting from scratch, doing what you do. I've documented everything, my career change, my business, all it's going there every single day. You can find me on LinkedIn by searching for my name, Ghalib Hassan. That's G-H-A-L-I-B-H-A-S-S-A-M. So I'm there. I'm documenting my journey every single day of the week. And yeah, if you, I, one of my, you know, one of my
for reasons for documenting my journey is because I want people to relate to it and learn from it and possibly change careers. So yeah, if you're stuck, you can hopefully find some inspiration from my journey. And yeah, you can find me there and I've put a lot of stuff in there. So hopefully that's helpful. I love that. And I'm sure you will always answer those direct messages that come in from people because just as you put yourself out there, I am fairly certain you are reciprocating that too. 1000 % of course.
Thank you so much for coming on today and sharing your story, being so vulnerable. just, it means a lot. And I know it's going to inspire a lot of people. So thank you so much. Thank you for having me. And yeah, it was, it was amazing talking to you, Jenny. And thank you for giving me this opportunity. Thanks for tuning into this episode of the Career Flipper podcast. Be sure to connect with Kaleep using the links in the show notes.
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