Lessons From a Late Bloomer

“It’s OK to be a late bloomer as long as you don’t miss the flower show.” —Jane Fonda

That’s a quote that today’s guest, Jenna Valovic, pulled to remind herself that not all of us are what she calls straight arrows when it comes to career paths, landing on a singular purpose early without wavering, and experiencing success and achievement from a young age.

Late bloomers, on the other hand, can learn to embrace the winding road—at least once they stop shaming and blaming themselves for not having it all figured out yet.

After all, as Jenna says, “Few things make you appreciate achievement more than waiting years to experience it. Consequently, many late bloomers find success to be even more savory when it comes.”

Listen in to this week’s conversation for strategies on embracing the best parts of being a late bloomer, while having patience in the process of self-discovery and self-expression.

More About Jenna: Jenna Valovic is a Certified Professional Co-Active Career Coach (CPCC) who brings an open mind and holistic lens to help clients build a life that feels impactful, aligned, and fully in integrity. She is one of our Pivot coaches, and holds a masters degree in leadership and organizational development, with a background in positive psychology, breathwork, and vinyasa yoga. We met many years ago through Google, where Jenna has worked for nearly a decade, most recently in executive recruiting.

🌟 3 Key Takeaways

• Three qualities of late bloomers: They take a circuitous path; they tend to be experimental, rather than conceptual; and they are often misunderstood.
• Own your choices while still considering the soil you’re currently planted in: “When a flower doesn’t bloom, you don’t fix the flower, you fix the environment.”
• Hindsight is helpful: Often the outcome of where you end up is so much better than what you could have imagined, so make a practice of reflecting on where you’ve been and the accomplishments that brought you to where you are now.

✅ Try This Next: Set up a small, low-stakes pilot (even at an hour a week) for something sparking your curiosity. Park your insecurities on the side while embracing a “willful suspension of disbelief.”

🔗 Resources Mentioned

• Jenna on the web, LinkedIn, Pinterest
• Work with Jenna as your Pivot Coach
• Articles: Jenna’s Lessons From A Late Bloomer: How To Uplevel Your Post-Pandemic Life and In The Wrong Career? Consider Planning A Pivot Now, New Yorker: Late Bloomers by Malcolm Gladwell
• Video: Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling | Emilie Wapnick
• Personality Tests: Enneagram, Myers-Briggs

📚 Books Mentioned

• Free Time: Lose the Busywork, Love Your Business
• Pivot: The Only Move That Matters Is Your Next One
• Life After College
• Switchers: How Smart Professionals Change Careers and Seize Success by Dr. Dawn Graham
• The Way of Integrity: Finding the Path to Your True Self by Martha Beck
• Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement by Rich Karlgaard

🎧 Related Episodes

• 282: The Honor Roll Hangover with Melody Wilding
• 56: Perfection Detox with Petra Kolber
• 112: Whose Voice is in Your Head? Perfection Detox Round Two with Petra Kolber
• 197: Should You Start a Podcast? "It's A Love Game" — Interview by Petra Kolber

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💻 Check out Jenny’s Pivot courses on LinkedIn Learning: Figuring Out Your Next Move, Holding 1:1 Career Conversations With Your Team, Managing Introverts, Coaching New Hires, and Coaching New Managers

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