ANNAPOLIS, MD. - The Avoka Group CEO Barb White sat down for an enlightening conversation with artist and entrepreneur Jen Sterling in the second installment of the Transitions video series. The series features interviews with dynamic start-up founders, bold career pivoters, and industry pacesetters to share with our community unique and authentic stories and perspectives.

In this installment, Jen Sterling shares the story of her career change from a structured, corporate job and business owner to her new career as a full time fine artist. A proclaimed “serial entrepreneur,” Jen led a fulfilling career as the founder and CEO of Red Thinking, a digital brand strategy and design group prior to pursuing abstract art. Her passion for painting didn’t begin until she was an adult and looking for a way to describe the landscapes on a vacation out west, and she made that passion her career only last year. In conversation with Barb White, she discusses her “epiphany moment,” her pivot support team, and the challenges of diving into a completely new industry.

“You feel like you’re building this mountain in front of you of all these things you have to overcome,” Jen says of starting in her new field. "When I actually took a step… [the mountain] wasn’t that bad.” Jen goes on to describe the usefulness of her initial fear about her transition as a motivator for her to succeed. The fear never leaves, she says, but you learn to repurpose it to push you forward.

The full conversation with Jen Sterling is available for viewing here. A breakdown of topics by timestamp is provided below:

1. How Do You Know It’s Time for a Change? - 4:55

2. Finding Structure as an Entrepreneur - 7:35

3. Losing and Using What’s Holding You Back - 9:46

4. Being Your Own Boss - 11:48

5. Support Networks - 13:58

6. Risks and Risk taking - 17:58

We thank Jen for joining The Avoka Group on Transitions. To learn more about or support Jen Sterling Art, log onto https://www.jensterling.com/.