The Power of the Pivot: Redefining Success

There’s something powerful about reaching your 40s. It’s a chapter where you stop asking for permission and start giving yourself grace. Where life becomes less about proving yourself to others and more about honoring the truth about who you are becoming. For me, this season has brought one of the most significant shifts I’ve ever experienced: the power of the pivot, and fully embracing it.

Throughout my life, I’ve worn many titles: mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend. I’ve been a teacher, a principal, a professor, a paralegal, and a tax preparer. I’ve worked in education, business, beauty, transportation, and finance. I’ve launched entrepreneurial ventures, supported minority-owned businesses, and more importantly, I’ve created one. As a proud owner of a minority woman-owned business, I know what it means to build something from vision and grit.

I’ve been an esthetician, an educational consultant, a leadership coach, and a transporter. I currently hold my CDL permit and am actively working toward obtaining my commercial driver’s license, further expanding my capacity to operate across industries and serve my community in new ways.

My career has taken me across the country—working in Georgia, Illinois, New York, Florida, Missouri, South Carolina, and now, Texas. Each move, each job, and each pivot wasn’t just about starting over—it was about redefining what success looked like for me in that season. It was about reimagining what I was capable of becoming.

Academically, I’ve pursued knowledge with depth and purpose—earning an associate’s degree, a bachelor’s, a master’s, and ultimately a doctorate in Organizational Leadership and Development. I also hold several professional licenses in esthetics, education, and insurance. And yet, with all of that, I’ve learned that success isn’t just about degrees or credentials. It’s about resilience. It’s about rediscovery. It’s about choosing to believe in your future, even when the road ahead is unpaved.

I now see success as waking up with peace. Being able to breathe deeply, love fiercely, and lead authentically. Success is being healthy—mentally, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Success is knowing that I am allowed to change, to grow, and to try something new. It’s understanding that pivoting doesn’t mean you’ve failed—it means you’re free.

Some may look at your shift and not understand it. That’s okay. People will always have opinions—some of them rooted in their projections, fears, or limited views. But your worth is not measured by someone else’s lens. Your value is not diminished by someone’s inability to see your vision. What matters is what you see and what you believe is possible.

Let me be clear: pivoting isn’t always easy. It takes courage to move when the ground feels unfamiliar. It takes faith to release titles, salaries, and external validation. But it also takes incredible self-trust—trusting that you have more than one gift, more than one purpose, and more than one path to fulfillment.

I’ve had to remind myself that former success doesn’t disqualify future transformation. And starting over isn’t really starting over—it’s starting from experience.

So if you find yourself in a place where you’re questioning the next step or feeling called to something new, I want you to know:

• You are not too old to change.
• You are not too late to begin.
• You are not too far gone to dream again.

Your pivot might be the very thing that aligns you with your truest self.

Whether you’re stepping into entrepreneurship, choosing wellness, embracing a new career, or simply permitting yourself to rest, know that every decision made in alignment with your values is a step toward authentic success.

I’m learning to celebrate the journey more than the destination. To cherish the lessons more than the applause. And to define success in a way that leaves me whole, not just accomplished.

The power of the pivot is real. And it is yours to embrace—at any age, in any season.

Here’s to redefining, rediscovering, and rising again—on our terms.

Dr. Kendrah Underwood

Entrepreneur | Educator | Esthetician | Empowered Woman Founder

Level Up Education Consultancy + Confidently Radiant Skincare

Because success isn't just what you build—it's who you become along the way.