Caitlin Lynch of Cape Cod shares her career transition journey from nursing to full-time furniture flipping and everything in between.
Ever wondered how a nurse turned furniture flipper navigates career changes and family life while covered in paint and sawdust from a project?
Caitlin Lynch shares her journey from nursing to furniture flipping, emphasizing the importance of personal growth and mindset. She discusses leveraging social media for business growth, balancing career transitions with family life, and the supportive community of furniture flippers.
Episode Takeaways
Connect with Caitlin
Jenny Dempsey (00:00.198)
you're not going to grow into this new career. You're not going to be able to let go if you don't grow knowing that you're not going to succeed or you're not going to be able to push into those new networks. If you don't take conscious choice to grow and push yourself. Welcome to the career flipper, a weekly podcast featuring career change stories from people around the world, from a variety of industries about how they get from point A to point B and all the twists and turns along the way. I'm Jenny Dempsey.
your career flipping host. After more than a decade in customer service and experience leadership in the tech world, as well as teaching online courses, speaking at business conferences and mentoring, I found myself laid off and burnt out. Despite my experience though, I couldn't land a new job in this current market and I started to question my worth. Then a friend gave me a really old junkie table. I saw potential.
I binged YouTube videos to learn how to fix it up and I suddenly found joy in giving something unwanted a brand new life. And this sparked a passion for furniture flipping, which I now share as my business on Instagram, as San Diego Furniture Flipper. Despite that though, I was feeling alone and kind of insecure about my new path. I mean, who goes from the corporate tech world to covered in paint and sawdust in their garage?
So I reached out to a few others I knew who've also flipped their careers and hearing their stories inspired me and made me realize that it's okay to change direction at any point in life. And I realized that there are a lot more people who have also flipped their careers. It's not as uncommon as I thought it was. And that's why I started this podcast to share these incredible journeys and offer support to anyone considering having already been through or currently going through a career
So I hope you'll find something in each episode that helps you on your path. And here's something new. I'm really excited to bring you a special bonus episode. it's what I like to call a cocoon episode. These capture people right in the middle of their metamorphosis, offering a glimpse into their career flips as they unfold. It's really a chance to explore the messy, uncertain, and exciting parts of their journey and see how they're navigating the change.
Jenny Dempsey (02:24.01)
I'm excited to surprise you with a few of these every so often, so be sure to subscribe wherever you listen to podcasts to stay up to date on the newest episodes. And in today's Cocoon episode, we're chatting with Kaitlyn Lynch from Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Kaitlyn recently left her nursing career to dive into her passion for furniture flipping. We'll explore how she's balancing this major career shift with family life, how she picked up her marketing skills,
and how she's not giving up on growing and learning while turning furniture into stunning pieces of art. Let's dive into Caitlin's story
Jenny Dempsey (03:02.478)
Caitlin, how are you? Good. How are you? I'm so glad to have you here today. Yeah, thanks for having me. Yes, thank you. You know, we found each other on Instagram. We are fellow furniture flippers. Say that three times fast. And I am always so inspired by the things you post, all of your thrift store finds, which are I'm always learning something new. You're like, what is this? I'm like, I have no idea. Tell me. And you just have such a great upbeat.
you know, energy and the way that you share and educate, you know, the flipping community is, it's just, it's inspiring. And, you know, we were chatting about, you know, how did you get started in flipping? And I loved your story. And I just was like, you got to tell this on the career flipper. thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for being here. So yeah, let's just go into it. Caitlin, tell me about your career. Where do I begin? I think I'm like a serial crafter, a little bit of background. So I've been a nurse for, I don't know, must be 10, 11 years now.
I've worked in emergency medicine, I've worked in labor and delivery, and most recently I was per diem at some local urgent search. I've always had some kind of like craft going on and I think that started right after nursing school when I didn't have a job yet and I was kind of like, okay, how are we going to make some money? And I started like crocheting for people. That has kind of come and gone. I've gone in waves of it when I was
pregnant with my first son, I was pretty much couch bound. So I did a lot of crocheting and just a way to bring in extra cash, you know? So I was making these like Cape Cod, I'm from Cape Cod, so like these sea glasses, like mosaics, and I was selling those. then, you know, randomly, because I used, I want to be an artist and I got talked out of art school. So it's like, go to go to nursing school, go to whatever. So I was doing just random projects that people wanted. Can you paint this or can
draw me this or as a gift or whatever. you know, I make a little just a little pocket money or whatever, whatever you want to call it. And I had, I had turned a couple pieces of furniture mostly for myself, but I did a couple several years back when I was, you know, chalk paint and I hadn't heard of like, you know, I had no idea what I was doing. Stand on the top, you know, paint the paint the legs and, you know, sell it. I just kind of did it casually and bring you back to present time. I know this is, it's all over the place, but present time, I've been
Jenny Dempsey (05:22.22)
reselling with some family members for probably seven or eight years. They do clean outs and we donate a lot of stuff. We also resell a lot of stuff and to help things go throughout the winter, I would help them sell like the furniture. So it really like put a big dent in our wedding bill. We were helping resell the furniture. So I knew the value there of reselling. And then, you know, fast forward, I found it really hard to go back to work with my first child. You know, I always said I don't want
Send them to daycare. Not that it's a bad place. It just wasn't a choice that we wanted to do. So I was like, I want to be home. I want to figure out how to make this happen. I did it. You I went back, I went back per DM. I would do like one shift a week, which was just enough to keep us going. And then, I don't know, I think I found like a $15 table at the resort. And I was like, let me just paint this and see if I can just make some money. So I did it. And then my, um, my, uncle showed me a dresser. I was like, you know what, can I, can I have that? And let me just see if I can paint
My friend came over. I hadn't even posted it on a line yet. And I was like, this is what I was going to ask 350. And she was like, sold. And I was like, I'm sorry, what? Like, okay. All right. Um, so I think that's when it kind of started. Then my, know, I had other family members asked me to go do stuff and, I charged them, you know, a fair family rate. And, um, I was like, wow, okay. I am making some money. Last summer I was pregnant with my second, so I was going to have two under two. I like, how, how am going to go back to work? Like
Number one, I live in a very expensive area. If you can find daycare, like it's another mortgage. Number two, I just, have really strong preferences that we want to have our kids at home. I had to figure out how to make it work. Like my husband has a great job. Like he does lots of extra shifts, but it's still like, live in a very expensive area. So we had to make something work. So I said, you know what, let me save up. Let me just flip some furniture this fall in my last few months of pregnancy, but while I'm still mobile and let me save like a nest egg. So I think I made like seven grand.
for my, which carried me through my first three months postpartum, which, so I didn't get any benefits because I was pro -DM. So I was like, let me, let me make a nest egg. So, and now I picked up again and you know, Imran is like, are you coming back? And I said, no, which was Irving, you know, I've never, I've also been with, you know, a central oil company for five years, which I really loved and may have helped carry me through too, but I've never.
Jenny Dempsey (07:49.154)
been completely dependent on my own sales. And that's, or dependent on another person. I'm a very independent woman. My husband's amazing, but I've never been fully dependent on somebody else. I've always had a very secure thing. And furniture flipping, can be extremely profitable and reselling smalls and things like that, but it's not guaranteed. The past two weeks where there's been graduation, Father's Day, heat wave.
the things field days, it's been super, super slow. So it's hard to get around that, but that's basically in a wrap. I've done everything before nursing. wanted to be a police officer too. So I went through that. And so that's why I say my family kind of laughs at me and I don't know how many people quite take me seriously yet. So it's been about nine, 10 months of seriously furniture flipping. See how long until people really start taking me seriously.
cause I just do all these things and I'm like, I have a great idea. You know, like last year, you know, my mom, came into a circumstance where she was looking for a job and I was trying to figure out a plan. And I was like, we're going to, we're going to open an IV infusion. You're like, can do it. love IVs. She's a nurse manager. like, you can do all the back stuff. You know, we live in a resort community. So I'm like, this is a great, know, have all these great ideas.
But I furniture flipping so far has been the most able, profitable, dependable, know, crochet. got probably $2 an hour for my work. You know, I loved it. It was love, but it's not going to pay the mortgage. know, potential oils. really, you know, went, I was doing that for about five years and I, and I still am casually for the pandemic. got, it just got really polarizing
At least I felt that it was very polarizing to deal with health and wellness. It just changed the way we did things. and I still love it. I still, you know, that's still a little bit of source of income for me, but I needed something regular and dependable. And I think furniture flipping can be that, especially for the time and the hours, if you know how to do it right and do it well, and brand yourself and you know, it can really be. So I'm, I'm still kind of in the middle of the transition. I don't currently have a nursing job to fall back on
Jenny Dempsey (10:01.132)
I can't go pick up shifts right now. Now it's not plan B anymore, it's plan A. And I'm running. Yeah. And it's so, it's, I mean, you're clearly an artistic person at heart. And what stands out is, but something you said earlier was, you you wanted to major in art and, or go to art school and you got talked out of it, you know? And at that time you're like, okay, whatever you bought into it. And I wanted to talk a little bit more about that as well. But what's so interesting is, yeah, you were talked out of it, but you ended up
in it. what the thing is, I'm finding in a lot of when I'm talking with individuals who create, you know, pursue creative endeavors, it all the story is kind of a line like that, you know, where, okay, I was talked out of it, I need to get a real job. And I go get that real job. And then I'm like, you know what? No, I think I want this creative job still. And at some point later on, that happens. So I'm curious, like, you know, when all of the kind of the conversations were happening in the beginning, and we're like, I want to go to art school. And they're like, No.
Like what was kind of going through your mind? How did you kind of navigate that and really like, you know, be okay with the decision that you made, even though it wasn't maybe where your heart was. That's a hard one, because now I'm not going to tell you how old I am, but that was 20 years ago. So I think it was was kind of heartbreaking. But I also, you know, I was such a different person then. And obviously, as at 17, you
I didn't have the life experiences that I do now where I could say, no, no, you know, or such. I didn't even know what the word entrepreneur was, you know, I a lot of us have been raised in that like post college obsessed generation, you know, where that's the only way to be successful is to have a really stable career, nine to five, with your benefits. And that's, that's the best thing that you can do for yourself.
But you see all these people, especially the young ones coming up now in their mid -20s where they're like, something with the entrepreneurship and they're just killing it. I don't know, because I think I still have that voice in the back of my head, like, it's not a real job. It's far in the back, but it does pop up sometimes, it's not secure, it's not a real job. Still a little bit of a battle, if that makes sense. But I think seeing other people doing it just helps be like, no, this can be legitimate, this can be real.
Jenny Dempsey (12:15.064)
just because you want to be an artist doesn't or, you know, pursue some kind of creative outlet doesn't mean that you're going to be, you know, I'm a noodles, like, you know, especially with the, you know, media Facebook was new. That was like the year Facebook came out. Like you had to have a college dorm address email, whatever it was. So social media, think has really possible, but also just shown that
people that you and I would never meet. It's shown us that people can do it and people are doing it. it's showing us that it's happening, but it's also a way you can sell as well now too. It's a social network, it's just expanded. if you use it right, it can be a really amazing tool. Right, and that is the key word right there, use it right, like that personal branding, that marketing, and from your background,
that doesn't sound like that might've been part of it. how did you learn that? Cause you do that so well on your Instagram and you're very personable and you show up with your authentic self and your brand. Like I know who you are just by watching, you know that. So, you know, some people are afraid though, like, well, I don't, you know, I don't know marketing or I don't know this. So I'm not going to flip into this because I'm not going to change my career. I'm not going to do X, Y, and Z because they don't know something. So is that a part of your story?
How did you start promoting yourself and showing what you do and the amazing work and pieces you create on social media? I think, you know, I do a lot of my personal development in the past several years to Young Living and my team with Young Living. We were, you know, they're an amazing, incredible group of women who are just entrepreneurs who aren't afraid. And, you know, we really focused on personal development.
Cause mindset really is so much of it. We also worked on it for anybody who wanted to, doing social media and getting comfortable talking and learning how to use media tools in a way that's gonna help you. I still am learning. I see people, I don't have great content in terms of quality of video and things like that. I am learning. For me, I owe a lot of it to them, to my core group of girls and my core group of people there.
Jenny Dempsey (14:34.062)
But that's how I became comfortable in a mindset. You know, I say all the time, like, I hate the way I look on camera 90 % of the time. But you know what? I'm going to do it. I'm going to bring the energy up with my voice, with my intonation, with what I'm sharing. And I'm going to set the level of whatever I'm trying to portray on there. Like you said, with the things that I get excited for. Like, who would be excited if you're watching Instagram and somebody's picking up somebody else's trash? Like, most of the people would not.
But if you are really excited about it and you involve people and get your followers just commenting and this and that, you know the thing. It's an acquired skill. have to learn skills. You have to learn growth, right? You cannot stay, you're not going to grow into this new career. You're not going to be able to let go if you don't grow, knowing that you're not going to succeed or you're not going to be able to push into those new networks if you don't take a conscious choice to grow.
and push yourself even when it's super uncomfortable. Yeah. Ooh, that sums that up so well. And that could be for anything, for any industry, any, you know, on the side or whatever. Like, you got to have that mindset that it's going to be a little uncomfortable. But if you don't push yourself and try it, it's just, it's, I mean, it won't happen. And, you know, you bring up the community aspect. And I
at least for furniture flipping, we both can speak to the fact that there is such a supportive network of people. When we put ourselves out there and no matter the quality, because I'm too, I'm recording on my iPhone, like my quality is not really that great. But the community is so supportive. You got a question, you can ask. you're focusing on a challenge and you need some insight, you can ask. And others ask and you can give. And it is just such a great community of people that
It feels supportive, right? Yeah, absolutely. And also, think, and I hear this from, I'm not a mother myself, but I have many friends that are. And sometimes, when you are a parent and also navigating a career transition, that's a lot to juggle. And so I'm curious, what is that like for you? I mean, you're in it right now. You're kind of still navigating this. So what has that been like for you with your two littles? Every day is a hot mess.
Jenny Dempsey (16:55.47)
That's hard to answer right now. Every day I'm in the thick of it. It feels like a blur. have a two just over two year old and then a five month old who doesn't sleep. So I you know when I was pregnant it was just my toddler. I was was starting to get into a groove. You know I I put the kids to bed and I go paint after 7 PM. Now it's kind of all over the place. I still try and do that most nights, but it can be a little chaotic, because sometimes with furniture flipping you have to jump on something.
quickly to go pick it up or to make a sale. So sometimes I pack them up and bring them with me or, you know, I have my niece here right now watching my five month old so that I could do this, this call uninterrupted as somebody who has always been a high achiever. It can be hard sometimes because I can't, you know, they are the priority, you know, as much as I want to go grow my career, you know, the focus has to be, okay, what are we, what are we doing it for right now? You know,
I think in two, three years, I would love to have a shop of sorts. And it's hard finding the balance. Like, do I spend some money on a nanny so that I can get some more done and be really present when I'm with them? Because that's the biggest goal, right? Is I want to be present when I'm with them. But that can be hard sometimes, too. Reselling, getting messages on the phone, and having people come pick things up or whatever. So that can be tough.
keeping the goal at the forefront. The goal is to be able to make enough income to be able to comfortably stay home with them. In terms of growth, that'll probably happen in a couple of years when we're, or even a year when we're in a little more of a groove. Right now we're kind of in survival mode most days. Yeah, and you bring up such a good point, like staying true to your goal, to the values, to the things that are important and really
leaning into that when you make these decisions, because it is all over the place and there's so much going on and you want to be there for your kids and that's most important and that makes sense. And it's hard to keep track of all those things sometimes when you're navigating the career side. And because it is such a blur, one thing, so I want to ask you, Caitlin, because the work you do is beautiful. You're clearly present for your kids and you're making decisions and the best interests and doing all the amazing things that you
Jenny Dempsey (19:13.986)
What are you most proud of yourself for right now? I think I'm most proud of staying determined to do it this way, because it is hard. I think it is much more common for people to go back to work. That's great if you have family members who can care for your children, or you can comfortably pay for daycare, or maybe you can't, but you just need to work outside the home. Whatever. Everybody's circumstances are going to be different, but this is what I want.
You know, I want to be able to stay home and raise my kids for the first couple of years. And I'm just, so proud of myself for like just keeping the belief that I can do it and actually doing it. Because we, you know, we went through infertility and we went through IVF to get here. That was a lot of my essential oils and my health and wellness journey was sharing that. We just, took us so much to get here and I want to be here. So I think figuring out a creative way to do it is something that I'm just super proud of.
that's amazing. That's amazing. You're doing it. You're making it happen. And with your creative mind, there is always a way to do it. And I just I love that. I appreciate you taking the time to to share. know your kids are waiting for you. Your niece is probably like, when when you get me done? But how can people find you? Yeah. So on Instagram, that's where I'm most active. And so that's Kate's CAITS no pastry. I don't think you can do a pastry. Kate's flips and finds on Instagram.
And then on Facebook, still, it was Kate's Creations, because that's what it was before. I'm not sure if there's an apostrophe, but it's C -A -I -T -S, Kate's Creations. Well, you are such a big part of the flipping community. I appreciate everything you do. And thank you so much for sharing your story. I can't wait to see what you do in the next few years. Thanks so much. Thanks for tuning in to this bonus cocoon episode of The Career Flipper. Make sure to connect with Caitlin using the links in the show notes. If you enjoyed this
Share it with a friend who could use some inspiration.
Jenny Dempsey (21:11.564)
rate and review the show and make sure to hit that subscribe button for more flipping stories like Caitlin's every Thursday and the occasional Tuesday. Your support helps me reach more career flippers and future flippers to be, spreading the love, support and motivation we all need on this journey. To connect with me or if you want to learn how to support the show, just head over to thecareerflipper .com. Keep on your path, my friend. What's the best that could happen? Talk to you later this week.