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Side hustles aren’t just for the young and hungry. More executives are choosing to either leave their C-Suite role or abandon pursuing it altogether for the latest shiny title: not having one. Instead of a traditional 9-5, executives are choosing to have multiple day jobs, opting to pick and choose passion projects and have multiple income streams instead of just one.

From fractional C-Suite positions to speaking gigs and book deals, the latest career apex could be pursuing a portfolio career. And it certainly is for Joanna Coles, former Chief Content Officer at Hearst Magazines, who is now executive producing TV shows, serving as a board member, and is the CEO of a SPAC called Northern Star Acquisition. For Coles, she says taking your expertise from one industry to the next isn’t always as challenging as people think, as long as you remain open to both expected and unexpected opportunities.

“Often the most interesting calls come completely unexpectedly from companies that might have been on your radar, but in a peripheral sense,” she says. “Snapchat, I joined because I'd spent a lot of time working with the company and I'd spent a lot of time with Evan Spiegel, the Co-Founder, and we'd had enormous fun together.” However, her board appointment with Sonos, she says, “came slightly out of the blue” as they were simply looking for someone with a content background.

“You just never know when calls are going to come,” she says. “And I think it's taking the time to think, this could be an opportunity, it's not quite what I was anticipating for myself, but it might be just as useful, or possibly more useful. And it's often interesting learning when you get those calls, what people are calling you for and what they think you have that you might not realize you have yourself.”

To learn more about Coles’ professional journey and how you too can successfully transition into a portfolio career, listen to the latest episode of “The New Rules of Business,” brought to you by Fidelity. And, be sure to follow wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop every Tuesday.

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