We were lucky to catch up with Becca Carnahan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Becca, thanks for joining us today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

Have you ever taken your kids to a playground and then found yourself in deep conversation with Aiden’s mom who you just met? Suddenly you go from “Looks like our kids enjoy playing together” to “I’ve heard great things about that pediatrician” to “I’m stressed all the time and have no idea how to fix it.”

If so, you aren’t alone! As parents we often walk around with a lot bottled up and those playground conversations can turn into an outlet we didn’t know we needed. And that’s exactly how my business, Next Chapter Careers got started.

For many years, I worked in career and professional development in the higher education sector. I loved my work helping students walk the bridge from education to career and navigate their job searches. When I had children, my love for the work didn’t change but I did start to question HOW I wanted to do the work in a way that would fit my life and my new goals and dreams.

The answer came at a playground when another mom mentioned to me that she didn’t know what she wanted to do next in her career. She had worked incredibly hard to reach a level of professional success, but as her children grew and she was watching them explore the world, she wondered if she could still explore too. At the same time, she was worried about what life would look like when the kids were out of daycare and into kindergarten and everyone’s schedules changed.

Her questions resonated with me as a fellow parent, and they inspired me to take everything I knew from my career in career development to coach parents just like her. What this fellow mom was asking for was fulfilling work, flexible work, and a way to be a working parent that actually worked with how she wanted to live her life. It wasn’t too much to ask for! I wanted to help her get there.

Now that is exactly what I do. I still have the occasional playground chat, but I have also created a community around these questions about parenthood and career. I’ve built a program that provides parents the structure and support they need to decide what’s next and go after it. My business, Next Chapter Careers, is dedicated to helping parents land fulfilling jobs they love without giving up the flexibility they need and every single day we get to see that mission come to life.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am a career coach, author, and mom of two from Massachusetts. As a career coach and CEO of Next Chapter Careers, I specialize in helping mid-career parents land fulfilling jobs they love without giving up the flexibility they need.

Next Chapter Careers offers both group and 1:1 career coaching, giving parents the support, tools, and strategies they need to define goals for the next chapter of their careers and lives. We then work closely with clients to help them achieve those goals with job search strategy, personal branding, and negotiation coaching. It is incredibly rewarding seeing the parents we work with thrive both at work and at home.

Prior to launching my own coaching business, I trained as a career coach at Harvard Business School and have 14 years of experience in the career and professional development field. Currently, I still write and coach for Harvard Business School working alongside a team of talented professionals supporting students and alumni. I also previously worked for the Boston Celtics in sales which was an amazing jumping-off point for my career. My original career plan was to work in sports marketing for the long haul, but what I took away from my experience at the Celtics was that I love connecting with people and hearing stories about what lights them up. Now I get to do that on a regular basis as a coach!

In addition to my work at Next Chapter careers, I am also a bestselling author of 3 books. My two children’s books, Belinda Baloney Changes Her Mind and Benji Baloney Learns to Be Brave, were collaborations with my illustrator sister-in-law, Sarah Horan. It’s been wonderful for us both to show our children what’s possible when you dream big dreams! My motivational self-help book for parents, When Mommy Grows Up, is an engaging and funny career development book that helps parents figure out what they want to be next when they grow up, and share lots of laughs along the way.

I have a BS in Marketing from Boston College and an EdM from Harvard Graduate School of Education. In my work, I get to use both my business and higher education training on a regular basis as I build my company and help others to build their own personal brands.

Can you talk to us about how your side-hustle turned into something more.

My business originally started as a blog and very much a side hustle! After my youngest child was born, I started to feel a disconnect between myself as a person and myself as a mother. I loved spending time with my children, but at the same time I needed to find something that was mine outside of parenthood and work. Writing was the answer and I started a blog sharing funny stories about my childhood and the adventures of being a new parent. I loved writing the blog and as it grew I found that I could monetize my writing through freelance opportunities and through advertising on my own website.

Knowing that I loved to create, I started seeking out more opportunities to write at my day job in higher education. I wasn’t prepared to leave my full-time role yet financially, so crafting my existing role to be better aligned with my interests was the ideal scenario. Then as I started to incorporate more about career coaching into my parenthood blog, and started having those aforementioned conversations with other career-confused parents on playgrounds, I realized that by taking my blog and turning into a coaching business I could move this work from side hustle into full-time business.

Now what started as a blog in 2017, is a six-figure career development business that I have been running as my full-time role since 2020.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

Hands down, the best source of new clients has been referrals. I love that many of my clients come from referrals from previous clients because that means I doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing! On a regular basis, I hear from previous clients who have gone on to incredible jobs and are enjoying the new chapters of their lives. It’s the best feeling! Then when those happy clients send their friends and family members my way, that feeling is multiplied!

I also have found that LinkedIn has been a great source for prospective clients to get to know me and my work. The content I share on LinkedIn is full of helpful tips and strategies, but it’s also colored with lots of humor. We can offer serious advice and have fun with it – I don’t find the two to be mutually exclusive. When clients find me on LinkedIn, they have seen my background and have already gotten to know my style as a professional. It’s the perfect place for me to be as a career coach!

Contact Info:

• Website: beccacarnahan.com
• Instagram: instagram.com/with_love_becca
• Facebook: facebook.com/withlovebeccablog
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/beccacarnahan

Image Credits
Christine McShane Kelly Whitman