My Power Move: Megan Dalla-Camina
In this occasional series, we talk to women whose lives have been changed by a big career move taken at the right time.
Women Rising CEO and founder Megan Dalla-Camina spent the first two decades of her career successfully climbing the corporate ladder. In her 40s, with everything to lose, she opted out of her corporate career and started her own business. She has never looked back.
I Made My Big Career Move In My 40s
At 43, I left an 18-year corporate career to start my own business. Being a single mother to a 13-year-old, it was a big move leaving behind a stable salary and a high-profile role to step into the unknown world of entrepreneurship. But I knew that it was time to back myself and do purposeful work helping women rise. I had a very strong intuitive sense that I needed to do it then and not wait for more years to pass. I built an exit strategy, a financial plan, mitigated my risk as much as I could and began the journey.
It Changed My Life
As any entrepreneur will tell you, the path of business owner is not always easy. There are moments of wondering where the next contract or client is coming from and how the mortgage will be paid. Yet I always knew that this was my work to do in the world and if I just kept showing up the path would unfold – and it has. Now we are in a really strong position to scale Women Rising, our women’s career empowerment and leadership development business. My life has changed because I have more freedom. I choose the work I do – the offerings, the clients I work with as well as how and when I work. There’s something so powerful about having agency over the legacy you want to leave, which is something I think about more now that I have reached the beautiful 50 mark.
How The Opportunity Came About
For the last seven years at IBM, I got more involved in supporting women and in leadership development. I was the executive sponsor for gender diversity, an inaugural implementation leader in the Male Champions of Change with Liz Broderick, and was speaking and coaching around women’s leadership.
I thought I would be in corporate forever, but I started to get an inkling that there was something more for me. I wasn’t interested in GM and VP roles, so I started building the path. I had already done executive coaching training and a masters degree in wellness and positive psychology and I wrote my first book on women’s development, which affirmed the path ahead even more. I will always be grateful for the incredible corporate career I had, but leaving was the best thing I ever did.
What You Need To Know
There is a practical answer and a more spiritual one. Be clear about what is it you want to create. Do you really want to leave your job and run a business, or is it something you could fulfill as a side passion project? If you do want to go for it, then build a plan. How much money do you need in the bank before you step out? What’s your plan B? How much revenue do you need to earn and by when? Where are your clients going to come from? These are all practical and critical questions so you can map the path in a way that the risk is mitigated. The more spiritual answer is, ultimately, learn to trust yourself. Listen to your intuition and trust that you are capable of creating whatever you are dreaming about.
Discover Lisa Chung’s Power Move
Want more Tonic delivered straight to your inbox? Subscribe here
Interview_ Marina Go
Photo_ Supplied