The Midlife Career Pivot
How to reboot your career in your 40s
Rebooting your career is daunting, but with our creative careers in turmoil and nosediving, we may not have a choice.
Satoshi Fujii, a Japanese mural artist known as Dragon76, recognized that his career had peaked in Japan by age 40.
Like many professionals facing career plateaus in their 40s, he knew dramatic change was needed. For him, that meant leaving Japan for the larger US art market.
Easier said than done. He and his wife/business partner Ayako barely spoke English, and they had two elementary school kids.
Eight years in, they have their studio space in downtown Manhattan, major mural projects in multiple cities, and are making much more money than five years ago.
I sat down with Satoshi and Ayako recently and dug into how they did it.
Here's the process for success, whether you're switching industries, starting your own business, or like Satoshi, making a significant move:
1. Commit to the reboot.
This is where most of us fail. We stick with what is comfortable and known.
Trained as painters in their youth, Satoshi and Ayako always held onto the dream of moving to New York City.
They gave themselves 12 - 18 months to learn enough English to get by in a foreign language. Uncomfortable? Yes. But they knew they couldn’t take shortcuts.
Commit to a 12-24 month transition period for learning a new language, mastering new technology, or building a different skill set. This timeline is crucial—long enough to build expertise, but short enough to maintain momentum.
You don’t have to stop what you’re doing or making money. Satoshi and Ayako kept earning income from their existing work while upskilling their language.
2. See eye to eye with your partner on finances.
Upending their life with two kids and relocating to a foreign city is costly.
They didn’t move blindly. Satoshi and Ayako agreed to sell the house and move back to Satoshi’s hometown to save money.
Being on the same page with your spouse about money is trickier than it seems. This is the No. 1 conflict topic between couples and business partners.
Money talks; so should you.
3. Be visible.
After moving to NYC, Ayako found a live-painting competition in a few months. It was something Satoshi did regularly in Japan.
She thought this competition could showcase his strengths and give him visibility among fellow artists and like-minded audiences.
To their surprise, he won the NYC regional competition.
He would later win the US national competition, giving him and his work more visibility than imagined.
The key here is the opportunity for visibility. If he relied on social media to post his work, it wouldn’t have been enough. It was the combination of demoing his product in the real world and promoting it online.
Listen to an episode about midlife career transitions on my podcast The Creative Mindset.
Apple Podcast:
Spotify:
Your 40s aren't the carefree season for career experiments. Sometimes that pressure forges better decisions.
Satoshi’s story shows that success comes from committing fully, making money work for you, and finding ways to showcase your value.
Eight years later, what seemed like a risky move has become the basis of a thriving career.
Note for readers: I’m in the process of writing a book and need to shift my focus to it for the next few months. The publishing of the Intersection will slow down (as it has been in the last month or two). I will still aim to publish about once a month.
Thank you for your understanding and readership.
I’m so intrigued by your podcast as a 40 something! Would love to connect