Has anyone changed career at age 40+?

[Elmo2025]

Hi, hoping to hear some success stories from woman who have gone back to uni and/or completely changed their career later in life.

Background; I’ve been working in the same industry for almost 20 years (I am 37) - my job is well paid, I’m fairly senior and have been with the company 9 years. I have a good pension, private healthcare etc etc. I’ve always worked for large global companies and feel like I’m stuck in a rut and am totally fed up of 9-5 corporate bullshite and I’ve got to the point where I don’t actually enjoy what I do anymore.

I have a burning desire to go back to uni and study acupuncture/Chinese medicine - I’d love to open my own practice and spend my mid 40’s to retirement helping others and running my own little practice.

Realistically I would need to study alongside full time work (which would take 4 years) and I would have to dedicate a huge amount of time and effort setting myself up over the next 5 years in order to study, train and eventually open my own practice.

Has anyone done this successfully? Or is considering a complete career u-turn? Any tips? Or am I barking mad? X

Not quite the same but prior to DC and then 7 years as a SAHM, I worked in the City. Trading floor. Not the sort of thing you can go back to after a break and at 36 I was burnt out after 16 years of selling my soul.

I had no degree and no professional qualifications to fall back on and having thought about it decided the easiest way to get them was through HR.

A little part-time job came up locally (I was 43) that fitted into school hours so all the salary, as it was, was mine. I netted £600pcm a month . But it was £600 I hadn't been getting.

After two years they made me an Officer role, two grades higher but full-time. The difference between £600 and the new salary paid an au-pair - well the difference didn't quite cover it. It was worth it because they sponsored my CIPD exams and I worked up to BP.

After eight years I moved roles and within five years I was Deputy Director, then Director, then moved onto the Board.

The children were 6 and 9 when I started and the first ten years took a lot of discipline.

Good luck.

Lots of people change career successfully in their 40s. However, alternative medicine is an area where lots of people would love to work and there are limited potential clients. So you really need to do the numbers before making drastic changes.

Have you looked at potential demand locally? Have you costed out how many clients you would need and how much you would need to spend on training, premises, insurance, supervision?

I'd say it would be challenging to support yourself through alternative medicine but there may be others who have first hand experience and could advise you.

@BishyBarnyBee yes, you are right and it would be my biggest concern, I’d have to do some serious market research.

I go to acupuncture myself and it always seems fairly tricky to get an appointment (I know I can’t open a business based on that 😄 but it really got me thinking). Premises wise we have a huge private garden so I’d hope to have a large garden room. I would specialise in fertility (having gone through years of infertility with no children) I am very passionate about alternative therapy and would love to help others. I’d need 3-4 clients a day, so would have to market myself well and there is already around 3 practitioners in my area, so would definitely be competitive.

i just don’t see myself 40+ working for the same company, dealing with the same stiff and demanding clients. I hate the corporate life, I hate travelling, and as I don’t have children I really want to build a career I love, something that gets me out of bed.

x

It's a good sign if appointments are hard to get locally.

I would slightly worry that targeting the fertility market could be taking advantage of people at their most vulnerable though I can tell that's not your intention. You've obviously found it very helpful and supportive and want to share that with others. Would they be expecting you to work miracles though?

But anyway, sometimes expressing the desire to move on can open doors which aren't exactly the ones you expect.Just saying on here that you don't see yourself doing this for ever is a powerful message to the universe which will help you find the next step, whatever that may be. Good luck with it.💕

Oh absolutely @BishyBarnyBee - I’ve seen reflexologists who charge £45 an hour and £70 an hour for ‘fertility reflexology’, same with acupuncture and counselling, always a premium for fertility, because they know we’re spending 10’s of thousands on IVF. It’s very sad. That’s something I would be conscious of, and never charge a premium for fertility.

I still see my fertility acupuncture lady, after three rounds of ivf, miscarriages and 6 years of trying, I really don’t expect her to work miracles - I just enjoy her company, knowledge and how incredibly relaxing it is. I think it’s hard to find a practitioner/professional with lived experiences and is truly understanding towards your situation. I’ve even had therapist's say ‘well you can always adopt’. 🙃 anyway, sorry for the tangent, but you get my drift.

Thank you so much, I’ve decided to go to an open day and work on a 5 year plan to include a business plan and see where it takes me ❤️ what have I got to lose xx