When a sudden disability impacts your career path

Originally Published on LinkedIn: Article Source

Careers are often windy roads. My job path wasn't direct or typical in any way, that had equal parts pros and cons. What happened when I thought I had set on a clear path and life + sudden disability hit?

Jack of all trades, Master of none. Generalist. Wearer of many hats. There are plenty of names for those of us that have played many parts "in the play". There is an aspect of this that also is a product of my specific career and the timing of when I entered the industry.

The OGs, the first generation, call us whatever you like... But there is a segment of digital creators, especially designers that started in the industry when it was less evolved. This meant that we were figuring it out together and specialized roles didn't really exist yet. Designers were often also doing front end development. We were designing email blasts and then slicing and building them. We were designing CD-ROM (Yup!) interfaces but also authoring them in Director (yup Lingo). We did a little of it all, we were around when Flash was introduced and how it removed all boundaries from web experiences (aka the wild west of web), and when it fell from grace. So fast forward 20+ (cough cough) years and when you look back at the career path its most similar for those that entered the field at that time (hey 90s I see you girl).

Then specialists were created, eventually you had to have a focus or you would have a rough time getting a job. You had to fit into a box, you typically couldn't span design and development. You had to pick a path and I picked one "Innovation" or "emerging tech", which turned out to be a bit of a purple squirrel and a hard box to find consistently across many orgs.

Eventually after a sabbatical (on the beach), some experimentation and some soul searching I landed on a focus. Design, Creative Direction. That was the heart of my passion. Creating. Driving a vision, defining a vibe, expressing an identity and so on. It was a role/title that could be found easily across many orgs, it was a role that didn't require lengthly explanation. It was a role that was rarely met with the follow up question "what does that mean, what does that job do?" Awesome I was set!

So there I was creative directing my little heart out and enjoying the ride. When BAM life hit. Suddenly thanks to a rare manifestation of a virus my face was partially paralyzed, this was a blow to my ego and my vanity. But it was loss of my vision, my hearing, impacts to my speech, intense fatigue, brain fog and my mobility that had a far more devastating impact on my career.

Look I took my facial paralysis in stride, I rocked my pink hair and an assortment unicorn, mermaid and rainbow eyepatches. If I was going to do an eyepatch I was going to make it on brand and cute. But seeing double at times, intense fatigue after using my senses, hearing issues and hypersensitivity to visual motion stopped my career in its tracks.

I have used the analogy in the past its like a painter losing some of their fingers, you can still paint, sometimes, but it's harder. Perhaps you need to learn to paint with your other hand, or adjust your technique or your art style all together. We can always adapt! But that doesn't happen overnight and the process takes some trial and error.

What happens when you either just can't do the job anymore, or you just don't want to because you can't perform to the level that you need to or want to. It's much like an athlete that gets a career ending injury. Can they play, yes. Can they play professionally no.

So whats next? A new path completely? Become a coach? Explore other roles in the same field where your abilities are more a fit, but your inherent knowledge is of value? All are possible options. But which option will work for you physically and also emotionally? Which new path will make you happy?

There is no right answer. In fact what is right today might not be right tomorrow. The same way you have to roll with the punches recovering from an injury or adapting your life to your new set of available skills. Your new career path will also be a journey and likely a windy one. I guess I can be thankful for my past experience as the dreaded "generalist" and that windy path because I also have a bit more experience navigating this. Rather than the driver of needing to determine a path being dictated by corporate org structures or no longer relevant roles, this time it's being driven by taking inventory on your abilities.

You also have permission to mourn your career, if you need to. I think this is a concept we really understand for those with physical jobs, like sports or manual labor. But less often do we think about this for jobs where your day looks more like sitting at a computer all day.

Also in some instances, like mine. I look "normal", my disabilities are more invisible and not always apparent to those around me or working alongside me. With this you might need to navigate others understanding the new you. There is some empathy needed for others to understand why your path may not seem totally clear or direct. They will need to understand that they need to not hold your pivot against you, and that in some cases you may be going "through it" emotionally, especially when your disability comes on suddenly or abruptly. This doesn't minimize those that navigate this for more gradual situations, but there is a bit of a shock factor and less time to process this change when its' abrupt.

Part of this journey also includes some personal ups and downs, self doubt, confusion. You need to figure out who this new version of yourself is. The things that may have been important to you in the past may have changed. Coming to terms with those changed priorities is also part of this experience. Not having all of the answers is also part of this experience.

Many people experience career pivots, some experience it for reasons completely out of their control.

(This post is dedicated to those that have had a role in helping me navigate my new career path as a result of getting Ramsay Hunt Syndrome. Those actively playing a part in helping me see what types of things I can still do well and what new things I now do well.)