5 Strategies to Escape the Great Detachment and Find Your Calling

Before you begin reading the newsletter, I would love to hear your opinions and ideas!!? Please take this VERY SHORT (2-3 minute) survey to help shape the content and programs for the Marni’s Midlife Marketers community. All individual responses are 100% confidential. In exchange for only a few minutes of your time, you will be the first to hear about an opportunity to give a special gift to yourself in early 2025! Click HERE for Survey: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfh0E_hbwPSdLiii_z7yQp567g5zHd4Rpwy2sCJNUPH70qQJw/viewform?usp=sf_link

As the job market has cooled off and employers have the upper hand, many employees feel bored and stuck in their roles.? According to Forbes , the Great Detachment, the dark-side of “quiet quitting”, is here, but it’s not so great.? While employee detachment has always been a challenge, it has become worse within the last year as it has been more difficult to build meaningful relationships in a hybrid world post COVID, workloads have increased due to layoffs and staffing reductions, and the lack of trust in the workplace continues to decline.? Companies with the highest rates of employees experiencing the Great Detachment have cultures with a lack of trust and authentic interest in their staff and their development.

Life is too short not to love your career!? Here are 5 strategies that can help you reconnect with your career interests, explore new possibilities, and ultimately find a sense of fulfillment in the next chapter of your professional life.

1. Reflect on Past Experiences:? Set aside dedicated time to revisit past projects, campaigns, or roles you’ve been a part of throughout your career. What aspects of those projects excited you the most? What tasks felt more like fun than work? This can reveal consistent patterns of what you've enjoyed doing, providing clues about your core passions and strengths.

2. Engage in New Learning Opportunities: Enroll in courses, attend workshops, or participate in webinars in areas of marketing that interest you but are unfamiliar. Look for cross-disciplinary learning (e.g., data analytics, storytelling, or digital transformation). Stepping into new learning environments may ignite fresh inspiration and help you uncover a niche you're truly passionate about.

3. Experiment with Passion Projects: Start a side project outside of your daily responsibilities—whether it’s writing a blog, creating content for social media, or volunteering your marketing skills to a cause that excites you. Passion projects allow you to experiment without pressure, uncovering interests that may not surface in a typical work setting.

4. Network with Industry Peers and Mentors: Reach out to colleagues, mentors, and other professionals in marketing for informal “coffee chats”. Ask them how they discovered their own passions and if they’ve noticed particular strengths in you. Gaining an outside perspective can help you see patterns or strengths you may not have noticed yourself, helping guide you toward the areas that resonate most.

5. Work with a Career Coach: Consider working with a career coach who specializes in helping marketers find a career they love. A coach offers an external perspective, helping you identify blind spots and encouraging you to explore new career possibilities with confidence.? If you would like to schedule a 30 minute “chemistry call” to learn more about working together and hear more about “midlife marketers” individual and group coaching programs, email me at [email protected] .

Marni's Top 10 Favorite Marketing Jobs

Please check my LinkedIn profile activity daily for all of the job listings I share on an ongoing basis.

Benefit Cosmetics, VP, PR and External Communications

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Director, Corporate Engagement

Dynasty Financial Partners, Events Marketing Manager

Fetch, Partner Director, Agency

Laundrylux, Graphic Designer

Marriott, Director, Luxury Content Marketing

OLIPOP, Director, Brand Marketing

Pfizer, Sr. Manager, Paid Search

Pure Storage, Lots of Marketing Job Opportunities!

Verizon, Senior Manager, Creator Marketing

About this Newsletter

As mentioned in Forbes , “A midlife crisis is defined as a period of emotional turmoil in middle age, around 40 to 60 years old, characterized by a strong desire for change.”? However, marketers begin their midlife crisis much earlier.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , the average age of a US marketing/advertising manager is 39.0, compared to 46.7 for all managerial roles.

While the marketing industry has responded to issues of gender, race, and sexual harassment, there continues to be no movement against ageism.? This issue has been swept under the rug, but it is very real.

When I was laid off from my job in advertising in my 30s, it was a dark and scary time.? I had no idea what was next for me and needed to figure out a way to reinvent myself.? I remember all of the people in my network who went out of their way to help me and those who let my emails go into “cyberspace”.? That experience made me realize how important it is to “pay it forward” to help other “midlife marketers” figure out what’s next in their career journey.? Life is too short to stay in a job that doesn’t align with your core values and connect to something greater than yourself.

This bi-weekly newsletter for “midlife marketers” (from new managers to senior leaders) has easy-to-read tips and actionable advice on ways to design your own career path, take your career to the next level and how to master the art of networking.? This newsletter will leverage my insights to help you navigate your career journey. Each issue will also include a curated list of job opportunities shared from my network of 8,800+ marketers.

• Find your ideal career: Discover ways to find your dream career that aligns with your values, strengths and passions.? Learn how to manage career transitions and leverage your transferable skills to design the life you want.
• The art of networking: Learn how to build and maintain authentic relationships over time to find hidden job opportunities.
• Hot career topics: including designing a portfolio career, setting boundaries, dealing with ageism, imposter syndrome, self-care during transition, and more!
• Curated list of my favorite marketing job opportunities

About Marni Gordon

Marni is passionate about paying it forward to help marketers who want to thrive in a career they love. Marni is an Associate Certified Coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), a Certified Career and Executive Coach from New York University (NYU), and a Certified Group Coach from Group Coaching HQ (ICF Certified Program) with 25+ years of corporate marketing leadership experience. Marni has an extensive background creating community, networking, training individuals and groups, developing individuals in a variety of high-performance roles, and facilitating discussions to help clients uncover their own insights, action plans and accountability. Marni is a super connector and will help you become one too.