From There To Here: Stories about the 'dragons' encountered in a career reinvention from PR to higher ed
It seems strange – some might say stupid – to wake up one morning convinced going back to graduate school to get a Ph.D. is the right career choice for someone in their 50s to make. This is especially true when you have a good job, and you are making real money. But that is exactly what I did.
Let me explain.
I had a great career in public relations. I helped open a Detroit office for a global PR agency, and substantially grew another one. But I wasn’t happy, and I knew I needed to have a career where I could work well into my 70s. I was at least smart enough to know agency life was not going to get me there.
So, at 51 I became a student again, and I took the first steps at reinventing myself. This Substack is about this journey and lessons I learned in going From There To Here.
Here is being a professor at Michigan State University where I teach strategic communication. And, I am a on the last few chapters of my dissertation which should be (I promise) completed in the next couple months. I am happy.
This path has not been an easy one. There have been a lot of starts and stops, mistakes and do-overs. Those struggles and successes will be grist in From There To Here’s mill.
When I started on this journey there was no map or set of instructions. Sure, I had an academic adviser, a damn good one. But he’s been an academic his whole life. He has not done this. I had sail by the stars and hope there was land over the horizon. There was.
That is the reason I started From There To Here. I’ve run across a lot of people like me. People looking to leave the corporate rate race – or being kicked to the curb for someone younger and cheaper – but still feel they have something left in their tank.
Maybe they always wanted to start a consulting business (yep, did that). Or they are thinking about going back to school to finish that degree (yep, did that, too). Perhaps they want to rekindle that dream they gave up on 30 years ago (that is me).
Given the uncertainty of our increasingly service-orientated economy, there are going to be a lot of professionals who will want or need to reinvent themselves. I intend for From There To Here to be a guide for those sojourners, a place to learn and to share.
So, what’s in it for you?
Readers can expect reasonably good writing about my life from PR to academia. There will be pro tips and war stories. But I want this newsletter to be more.
For starters, I will be speaking with other people like me. I want to bring my subscribers their stories, too. I want From There To Here to be an engaged community of value.
The weekly newsletter is free, and it likely will remain so. As I put some miles behind me, I plan to add paid features like special content, coaching, workshops, and exclusive interviews. But that will be a couple months down the road, at least. Stay tuned.
Ultimately, From There To Here will reflect your needs and interests as well as my own. This is how it should be, and it is what I like best about being on Substack. No algorithm. No pressure to feed the beast with clickbait. Just good writing for people who find good writing and stories ends in themselves.
I would love to have you along for this journey. Please consider subscribing.
What’s in a name?
From There To Here is homage to There and Back Again, the fictional memoir of Bilbo Baggins, the main character in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. We are all on a journey. This newsletter is, in part, a memoir of the people, places, adventures, and, yes, even dragons encountered on my path.
Thanks for reading, and I’d appreciate it if you left a comment or two. Brickbats are as welcome as bouquets – just don’t lob them at my head.
Be well. Do good.
