And sometimes, we reinvent ourselves personally in order to survive professionally. As S.G., a health educator with more than 30 years of experience (S.G., personal communication, May 4, 2007) wrote: “My career as a health educator has been varied ― so I guess I reinvented [myself] several times. I went from a volunteer with the Red Cross teaching first aid courses to a part-time staff person with the Red Cross directing the Health and Safety programs at a local chapter to teaching at a high school, to college level teaching, to a full time curriculum developer with a science education organization (writing the health component of the curriculum) to a project officer at CDC to a consultant, to an Executive Director of a professional association. Is that what you had in mind? I also reinvented myself as I was coping with an adolescent child who was having serious problems. The reinvention was to redirect my thinking from “Why me? What did I do to deserve this?” and a focus on her and her problems to, “What am I supposed to learn out of all this?” It was a huge change and made a big difference in my ability to cope ([though] it did not change her acting out).”

A final story, anonymous because of its sensitivity, (personal communication, May 11, 2007) underscores the importance of doing due diligence before reinventing yourself. This health education graduate student decided to reinvent herself when advised that her current health education professional preparation program would prepare her for great success and great future marketability in another field. She therefore studied for her Certification in Alcohol/Substance Abuse Counseling (CASAC) in addition to health education, only to discover she had reinvented herself into a product that was no more marketable than either profession e separately given who decision makers were hiring (clinicians) for counseling positions.

Serial vs. Sequential Reinvention
A final word, if you will, on the concept of reinvention: reinvention need not be sequential ― in fact you can and sometimes have to juggle two or more work experiences at a time. Let me explain.

Most of us think of reinventing ourselves as a chronologic process: First, I was “x”and then (for whatever reason) I became “y.” Certainly that’s one way of looking at it, but many people are not x’s or y’s. They’re “slashes”: x/y…two, or even x/y/z three things at once (Alboher, 2007). It’s a great way to try out a new career or work challenge when you already have a job but want to consider changing or expanding what you do for financial or personal fulfillment reasons. It’s easiest when you have a “safe” “cushy” job as your “main” or “anchor” job to then add on additional “orbiters” or secondary or separate jobs. At one point I was Karen Denard, program manager/adjunct/graduate student, and later I became Karen Denard Goldman, professor/ author/ speaker/ Broadway musical parody lyricist. My very favorite “slash” person is a health educator I met this past year who, after attending my career development workshop, told me she is a school health educator/ dominatrix. You can’t make this stuff up.