Latest / The Comeback Career Podcast with Fexingo: Returning After a Gap, Stay-at-Home Re-Entry / How a Career Gap Led to a Brand Strategy Role at a Nonprofit
Transcript
- Lucas: So we've talked a lot on this show about people coming back to corporate roles after a gap. But today I want to look at a different path entirely — someone who turned a seven-year career break into a brand strategy role at a national nonprofit. Luna: Oh, that's interesting. Because nonprofits often have this reputation of being harder to break into, especially if you've been out of the game. Lucas: Exactly. And the woman we're focusing on today, I'll call her Dana, she spent those years at home with her kids, but she also threw herself into volunteering at her local food bank. She started by organizing the donation intake, and within a couple years she was leading a team of forty volunteers and managing the entire holiday food drive. Luna: That's no small thing. Managing forty volunteers is basically project management. Lucas: Right. And that's the thing — she didn't see it that way at first. When she started looking to return, she thought her resume was a black hole. But the volunteer work was actually giving her real, measurable experience. She just needed to learn how to talk about it. Luna: So how did she make that leap from volunteer to brand strategist? That feels like a big jump. Lucas: It is. But she got there step by step. First, she did a bunch of informational interviews with people in the nonprofit sector. She reached out to alumni from her college, friends of friends, anyone who'd give her twenty minutes on the phone. And one of those conversations was with the marketing director at a national hunger-relief organization. Luna: And that's where the door cracked open? Lucas: Exactly. She mentioned the rebrand her local food bank had done, and Dana realized she'd actually been part of that — she'd helped with the community feedback sessions and even suggested a new color palette that tested really well. So she started framing her volunteer work in terms of brand and community engagement. Luna: That's so smart. She took something she'd done almost casually and turned it into a professional asset. Lucas: And that's the core lesson today. Your gap years aren't empty — they're full of transferable skills, but only if you translate them into the language of the job you want. Dana didn't just say 'I volunteered at a food bank.' She said 'I led a team of forty in a multi-channel fundraising campaign that raised two hundred thousand dollars in one quarter.' Luna: Wait, was that actually true? The two hundred thousand? Lucas: It was. The holiday drive she ran pulled in that much. And that's the kind of number that makes a hiring manager sit up. It doesn't matter that it was volunteer — it's proof you can deliver. Luna: I love that. And it's a good reminder that so many of us underestimate the work we do outside a paycheck. Lucas: Totally. And you know, this is actually a good moment to mention something about how this show stays on the air. We don't run ads — the whole Fexingo network is listener-funded. A small group of you chip in a few bucks a month through buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo, and that's what makes episodes like this possible. Luna: Yeah, and it's genuinely just a small number of people keeping it going for everyone. We're grateful for every one of them. Lucas: Right. So back to Dana. The rebrand project she mentioned in that informational interview — it turned out the national org was planning a similar initiative, and they needed someone who understood the grassroots side. She ended up as a consultant first, then they created a full-time brand strategy role for her. Luna: So the informational interview didn't just lead to a job — it led to a role being created. That's the dream. Lucas: It is, but it didn't happen overnight. It took her about eight months of networking, polishing her story, and taking on small freelance projects to build confidence. And she had to be realistic about starting at a slightly lower title than she might have had if she'd never left. Luna: But that trade-off — trading a title for a foot in the door — can be worth it, especially in a mission-driven org. Lucas: Exactly. And her story also shows the power of leaning into the 'why now.' She was honest in interviews that she'd taken time off to raise her kids, and that she was returning because she wanted to apply the skills she'd honed in volunteering to a bigger stage. That authenticity actually worked in her favor. Luna: There's something really compelling about that — a lot of people try to hide the gap, but she owned it and made it part of her narrative. Lucas: Yeah, and research backs that up. A recent survey showed that over eighty percent of hiring managers are open to candidates with career gaps if they explain them well. The problem is most people don't know how to explain them. Luna: So what's the best way to frame it? I mean, besides the numbers thing. Lucas: It's about connecting the dots. For Dana, that meant saying, 'I spent seven years at home, and in that time I also built a community program from scratch, I learned how to mobilize volunteers, and I developed a deep understanding of food insecurity in my area.' That's not a gap — that's a foundation. Luna: It's almost like reframing it as a sabbatical with purpose. Lucas: Exactly. And she also did something smart — she took a free online course in nonprofit marketing to fill in the gaps. Just a few weeks, but it gave her the vocabulary to speak fluently with the marketing team. Luna: That's a good tip. It's not about getting a degree — it's about showing you're serious and staying current. Lucas: Right. And one more thing that came up in her story — she used her volunteer network in a really targeted way. She didn't just ask for job leads. She asked for informational interviews, and she always came prepared with specific questions about the org's challenges. That made people want to help her. Luna: So it's about building relationships, not just collecting contacts. Lucas: Exactly. And it worked. She went from being a volunteer at her local food bank to having a national platform to shape how that organization talks to the public. And she says the best part is she gets to use everything she learned at home — patience, negotiation, empathy — every single day. Luna: That's a beautiful full circle. So for anyone listening who's in a similar spot, what's the one thing they should do this week? Lucas: I'd say pick one volunteer project or hobby you've been involved in and write down every tangible result you can think of — numbers, team size, money raised, anything measurable. That's your new resume bullet. Then find three people in your target field and ask for informational interviews. That's how Dana started, and it's a path anyone can follow. Luna: And remember, the gap isn't a barrier — it's just a chapter in your story. Thanks for listening, everyone. Lucas: Yeah, we'll be back with another comeback story soon.