If you’ve ever looked at the state of the world and thought, I want to do something that actually matters, but had no idea where to start, this episode is for you.

In this conversation, I’m joined by Dolores Rio, a Professional Certified Coach and former humanitarian leader with 23 years in global public health, to break down what it actually looks like to build a meaningful career right now.

Dolores spent over two decades working on the frontlines of global health, helping design and deliver programs that addressed everything from child malnutrition to large-scale public health crises, shaping systems that determine whether people have access to food, care, and basic survival.

Now, she helps women who feel called to something more figure out what that actually looks like and how to move toward it without starting over.

We get into how to tell the difference between reacting to everything going on in the world and feeling a genuine, lasting pull toward impact, what social impact careers actually look like today, and how to move in that direction without starting over.

🔥 What we get into

→ how to tell the difference between reacting to the world and a real, consistent pull toward meaningful work

→ why “meaningful work” doesn’t have to mean nonprofits or NGOs and what other paths actually exist

→ how social impact careers are shifting right now and where new opportunities are opening up

→ how to translate your existing skills into impact-focused roles without starting over

→ what hiring managers are actually looking for when you’re coming from a different background

→ why having conversations before applying will save you time, energy, and wrong moves

→ how to think about purpose and pay in a way that actually reflects your quality of life

→ how to use the Five Ps framework to define what you actually want from your career

→ where future demand is heading including climate, healthcare, AI, education, and more

⏱ Timestamps

00:00 Intro

00:53 Meaningful Work Questions

01:50 Meet Dolores Rio

03:28 Despair vs Purpose

09:35 Defining Impact

11:27 How Social Impact Work is Changing

16:43 New Career Paths

20:40 Transitioning from Corporate

23:24 Networking Before Applying

25:57 Purpose vs Pay

29:37 Quality of Life

30:57 Impact Moments

34:16 First Steps

36:04 Five Ps Framework

37:46 Future Demand

45:25 Closing

🚀 If you’re ready to take the next step

If this conversation made you realize you want something different, but you’re not sure what that looks like yet:

Join my free masterclass:

👉 Start Your Career Change in 3 Simple Steps

I’ll walk you through how to:

→ get clear on what you actually want

→ identify roles that actually fit you

→ move forward without starting over

Connect with Career Coach Dolores Rio:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/doloresrio/

Connect with Career Coach Theresa White:

• LinkedIn: @Theresa A. White
• Facebook: Career Bloom Coaching
• Instagram: @theresa_careerbloom
• YouTube: careerbloom
• TikTok: @career.bloom
• Website: www.CareerBloomCoaching.com

#careerclarity #meaningfulwork #careerchange #socialimpact #findyourpurpose #careergrowth #careertransition #purposefulwork #careercoaching #impactcareers #professionalgrowth #careerdevelopment #workthatmatters #careeradvice #careerpath #careerplanning #careercoach #womenincareers #personaldevelopment #growthmindset #careergoals #jobsearchtips #careerstrategy #fulfillingcareer #worklifebalance #careerexploration #impactdriven #futureofwork #careersuccess #workwithpurpose

Ep 95 Dolores

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On Career Clarity Unlocked, we're all about those light bulb moments. I'm talking to people who are still trying to figure out what they're meant to do, coaching them live to reach that magical yes, this is it moment. And we'll also hear from those who've already found their dream careers and figure out exactly how they did it.

Whether you're looking for inspiration or actionable advice on finding a career you love, I've got you covered. Time to unlock some career clarity. Let's dive in

After navigating her own career crossroads, she now supports purpose-driven women in social impact careers who feel called to something more but aren't sure yet of what or the how. Known as the Career by Design coach, Dolores blends deep self-reflection with clear strategy, helping women move from confusion to clarity and from hesitation to confident action.

Oh, I love it. And that's the community I want to serve. Yes. Outside my coaching. Yeah, exactly. And right now, the conversations I'm having over and over with people at the moment is Right. Our new cycle globally is. Just bad news after bad news. No matter if you're thinking about the climate wars, human rights violations, there are just so many bad news coming at us.

The genuine call that you're mentioning about, and first of all, I think I would like to say, uh, that, well, the despair is real. . Um, it's okay to acknowledge it, to feel that emotion, right? Uh, it's not just a, it's not just a symptom that, uh, because we are watching too much news, it's really there and it's affecting many of us.

Whether we are working social impact, whether we are not working in social impact careers. And I would say , the impact that I see before I even tell you how we can make a distinction, is that for people who are already in social impact carriers, what I'm noticing is that they've been spending their life.

And maybe for those who are not. And to add to that, I'm actually just have a question on that. I would imagine people who are in social impact, they're very passionate about the work they do, and you work so hard and so passionately towards a cause, and then seeing this big back sliding on everything you're working towards, I can just imagine how that must lead to burnout or a very different form of despair.

We spend our life thinking about the traumas of the world, right? Mm-hmm. It just feels different and more heavy these days because we also have less resources. So how am I going to make an impact and what's going to happen? It's a big identity question. Yeah. To the question of despair versus General Cole, I think I like that because also it makes me think about even the conversations I have with, uh, professionals in the careers that are being reactive versus being responsive and maybe people who are not in social impact, but they're seeing how the world is suffering.

Um, and when the world is going to settle, will that pool towards contributing and the healing and being there in social impact? Will would it still be there? And that's where the genuine call comes in because for someone who's really cold towards this work, whether we are in a quiet season, I believe there will be spring after this winter.

The call will still be there. The desire to go and contribute and make a positive change will still be there. It's not going anywhere. So to me it's more like what's genuine is that whisper that is the constant, um, thread, whether there is that mega crisis around the world or not, because there is always a crisis, by the way, in the world.

My parents told me to become X, Y, and Z, or I went to school for this. Um. But in the back of the head, it's like that whisper of like, Hey, actually I wish I could make a bigger impact on this world, or a different impact. And all these crises we're seeing exploding all over the world right now on a daily basis, make that whisper a louder voice.

And for some people, even a scream of like, I can't, before that we could ignore it. Now it's like we can't ignore it anymore. Yes. And I think that's valid. That should be listened to and pay attention to. And maybe you don't have to go too far to listen to that whisper and make something with it. It can be just next door.

So it's everything that is possible within that reon, and I think it deserves attention if this is really a call inside that you constantly have. Yes, I love that and I. Invite clients often to think about the impact they wanna have in what is the problem you would most want to solve in this world?

So that can also be a way to distinguish of where you feel drawn to. The scale is a great question. I love that and it makes me think of a client who is in social impact, but realize that actually the impact that she wants and she cares about his. Being a good mom. Oh man. And that was just the most important thing.

And we had to rework even a identity around that because she had been growing with the idea that she needs to create an impactful, the country and the world, her country first and then the world. And then she was coming back to that reality that I think if I can raise good humans, I know there would be a ripple, ripple effect for the world.

Absolutely. The ripple effect is there. Yeah. I'm also curious, um, as we're seeing all these global shifts over the last year or two, how have you been seeing social impact work being reshaped? How is it changing? This year in, in the current, in the current environment, um, reshaped in terms of what we do or how we organize our work is what you mean, right?

Yeah. Okay. Okay. There are so many things to say there. What's coming to mind? Um, I think there are a few things. Um, and maybe I'm going to answer it also a little bit from someone who has been 23 years in that, in the humanitarian system, so there are different dimensions of social impact and personally I was more in the humanitarian aspect, meaning, uh, emergency crisis response, and there are development things.

And since last year, it's very different. It's just a continuation of events that is impacting the sector, you know? In a way more intensive, critical manner that it, that means rethinking how we do work, rethinking how we do social impact, and. Actually even the women, the, the people, the professionals, the men asking for themselves, where else can I create this impact?

To the point that we were just mentioning about it can also be, uh, local. So for a long time, the, the impact of the social impact work meant, you know, working with a recognized kind of institution, international NGOs or UN agencies, the foundation , and frankly this. This is fragile. Now we know it. Uh, it's not stable as much as it is great in many ways.

Uh, the philanthropic world is becoming bigger in terms of having to respond to, um, rapid, uh. Emergency sometimes, or grant, at least grant making, local organization. And there is a whole conversation about localization, um, so that we can have a giant response, integrated response, , that is also a new dimension.

For impact modern. More than we hand before I fail. It's actually beautiful and it gives me hope. Yeah, to hear you talk about it because it's, yes, funding is being cut for some very, very important work that has been done and that the world needs, and at the same time. Don't just be like, okay, now we're not doing that anymore, but humans are finding other ways to contribute and now they receive for profit because we need money.

Okay, let's create this product or this service, or this idea, um, that allows us to contribute. And as much as it is messy and many professionals right now are really suffering, and I, and my heart goes out to them, um, it's also an opportunity, frankly, to, to stretch the way we do social impact and to be more innovative, creative and use the private sector to do it.

Of course, ethically we have to be clear like yeah, it's um, social enterprise and B Corps and the kind, but, um, there are possibilities. Yeah. Yeah. You just spoke about these possibilities. Can you shed more light on it? What roles and what opportunities actually exist for professionals outside of the traditional social impact careers?

As now we're saying, Hey, you can also do impact in different ways. And the roles are, are are many from public to to private sector, from policy makers, logisticians, health practitioners, operation, admin, hr, you name it. Mm-hmm. Whatever roles you see in the corporate, you probably have the equivalence in the social impact sector.

And also, , because , the sector, I think, , at this point where we are. They need. Um, I, I believe, I mean it's probably a, a perspective that I have right now and, um, might be, um, challenged by others, but I think that the corporate world, uh, will be a added value. People coming from the corporate, coming from another sector would be a great value add to this sector that needs.

A little bit of reinvention needs a little bit of innovation. So we, we would have such a great opportunity to have new bloods in our organization, new ways of thinking, um, this way forward. You know, the way we maybe navigate digital integration, maybe we navigate the change that, that we need to do that others have already done.

I mean, your skills, I would say your skills are valuable and, and it's about understanding where you really stand out. But there are so many, A natural way would be. To, if your organization has that to go into CSR and incorporate sustainability. I would say this is quite an easy entry, staying inside your, uh, corporate world, but moving towards the part of it that is trying to do something different with, um, the environmental, social, and government strategy.

That the corporate might bring that they need and it's a greater value than us. Others in social impact would, would not have social enterprise, B Corp, you know, and of course the, the traditional, , sector. But there are different entry point and the values are, , from the skills or the experiences of the corporate could really be a benefit in the social impact right now, because of the restructuring.

More of a, if you don't have that specific experience, we don't even want to consider you. Okay. I cannot be in their mind, but I would say if you lead with your values, and I'm thinking of certain areas like. Um, digital innovations, right, and integration. I mean, there is so much need around that, and I would think that many, , social impact organization are behind.

There are roles that will require more, , of experience than others, , for sure. But there is always a way to stand out through the values that you bring to the organizations, right? Yeah. And what you just said is actually something I emphasize a lot as well, is lead with the value you bring and when you are making a career change, it doesn't matter what change, if that is from corporate into nonprofit or NGOs or the other way or somewhere completely different, no matter what, just from one industry to another, from one role to another.

The hiring manager is gonna be like, okay, good for you. But if you say, this is what I did and this is how this impact. This is how this would translate into your world. And if I were given the opportunity, this is how I see leveraging those skills and making this specific impact, then they're suddenly like, oh my God, yes, I see it.

Absolutely. Yeah. And that makes me think of a point there is like, uh, for whoever who might be thinking of, well, I'd love to have a social impact move or moving into social impact, having the conversation, I mean, I, identifying the type of role that seems interesting and having the conversation with the people so that you really, uh, understand

, Theresa, what you're saying brings another thought in terms of whoever is thinking of moving to social impact areas.

The conversations will make a huge difference. And they're willing to percent. We like that. And again, that's the same for any change you want to make professionally True is you cannot, if you've never worked in this role or in this industry or that company, you cannot assume from just the job description that you have really have a full understanding of what they're looking for.

Absolutely. You just saved yourself. Big, big, big time and investment of energy and resources that could have gone into making that career change and finding out it's not right for you. Absolutely. Yeah. So, yeah. And then the other, what I see all the time as well is the other way where someone's like, oh, I don't know if I'd be interested in these roles.

Um, and then I encourage them, like, before you would say no, like when I make a suggestion. Consider these roles. It's like, I don't know if that be right. I'm like, before you shut it down, can we have one conversation with someone doing the work and they come back and be like, oh my God, I didn't even know this work exists.

Their values are not in alignment with mine, but I make a very good income. I want to do something where I can make an impact for my work. Feels purposeful, but it feels like there's always that trade off of money and income and purpose, and you have to choose one of the two. Do you see that this is a reality or that there are opportunities where there is a good balance of both?

And yes, the pay cut might, might be, uh, real, especially sometimes in transition. Depending if it's a complete different role or something. But what I also wanna say is that the nonprofits, um, also acknowledges that. They need talent. They, they don't need people who are not, who don't have expertise and talents, and they come in, they come out because you don't create an impact when you don't have talents.

Right. And when you cannot retain your talents, I mean, that's a problem. So they invest, they do invest, uh, for the results for the people, and that means the pay. They also pay. So the compensation, , I would not know exactly the scales. Of course there would be different, uh, cases to, to explore. Um, but from different, , reading, it's like maybe you will think of a 10, 20% below corporate.

I suddenly I'm in social impact. I have a little bit. , Less, , as I enter the, the social impact might be less, but I am, in my element there is growth and I'm also paid more. I just know just you, the trade off is indeed, , real. And you have to think about that alignment piece and what it creates and frankly, just, , to say like when you are working at senior level, even mid career, , and you're interested to work on global issues.

I was well paid, there was not a problem for me. My life was good. And we have, because of that international aspect of it, we also have other benefits, right? The, the school, the health, the, the vacation, more than private sector in America. Yeah. So it depends where it's really a yes and no, and then it depends the longer term to me, impact of all this.

We look at the quality of life money as one important component, but then there's also how do you feel if I think back to when I was in corporate, I was miserable. I was unhappy. All the money in the world would not have made me happier. Yeah, that's true. It might have made me to give me temporally some relief by getting some oxytocin from a shopping trip or something, but it's not.

The, it's not the quality of life. So maybe, and I think you're doing a lot of that work with your clients of like, what do you want your life to look like? Yeah. What is the financial aspect that is needed, but then what are the other aspects that are needed? The work life balance, the how you feel about what you're doing.

Ah, that's a good question. Well, I, I'm thinking of a few things, but I've been working, um, uh, a lot at beginning of my career in the field, closer to communities and, and I think people who are in social impact will probably relate with what I'm saying. But these were the moments where you feel. Wow. I mean, I would never trade that in the world.

Uh, working for me it was therefore, for instance, and trying to set up, , life savings programs with doctors without Borders who wind up so much. Um, those moments are. They felt you were going to bed feeling exhausted, but feeling, oh wow. , I think we did something today. And, , there are big moments.

Yeah, it, it, it is, it is moving. It is, um, a hard life to be in the field, but it is moving. And then you evolve that career into different dimensions. And I would say, , when you move to the field to more global and you start shifting policy work, this is big too. Like you start putting big policies, big strategies that you know are going to influence the way we are going to treat.

People, uh, people, and I'm thinking of children because I worked a lot with children and I worked in nutrition. So when you work on policy work around obesity and protecting children from food that could harm them or protecting children so that they can receive food so that they don't die on the other forms of malnutrition, which is, uh, starvation sometimes that is also, that feels also meaningful.

What do I want to say about my life or where I want to contribute? And there could be many areas where we think about that big question. Where do I want to contribute? What are the problems in this world that I always feel there is always this pool somehow. And I do ask this question a lot to my clients and it's very, it very, it varied completely.

We are not the same, but there is always that constant thing that comes back. If I could. Contribute somewhere. And this is the way I would do it. This is always something I read about. This is always I could go in the street and stand for. So just to notice that and then, exploring what the world of social impact, what would be a match and the, and then the conversation.

And there is very often this question I ask is that if you were to describe your ID career, uh, which is, um, a very general question, how would you describe it using the five Ps? I dunno if it's something that you. Uh, you've heard of this five P framework, the people you wanna work with, the places you want to, you know, hide what type of places, the pace, the purpose, and the proficiency, the strength you want to use.

Mm-hmm. Can I realign within? Yeah. Or can I, or do I really have to look outside? I love this Dolores, and it also is such a great, um, diagnostic tool because maybe you realize four of those areas are aligned, for example, but the people area is not aligned. That doesn't mean then you need a complete career change, but that can mean like, okay, I need to work in a different team.

Yeah. Or another area is totally misaligned. Like you're not using, you actually love the environment you're working in, but you're not using your strength. You're not stepping into your full potential. So that. Leads us in a completely different direction. So love this. Thank you for sharing that with us.

I don't know if you share this optimism. Um, but , where do you see future demand? In what spaces? When we thinking about all the ways we can make impact in the next five to 10 years, where are the fields you feel like there is gonna be real demand in? People need to be paying attention to this, and we need people stepping into that space.

Every sector, every work is important. What I am seeing, however, in terms of common theme that are seriously emerging right now, that I think we all need to pay attention moving forward because there's going to be more and more demand is on climate. Yeah, I know it's not the opinion of everybody, but, um, the world is moving towards those conversations more and opinion of everybody or, or certainly not every country supporting it, but those conversations are real.

The repositioning of the world that we do is real in terms of around climate. Yeah. So our program and thematic and technical areas are being absorbed around that. Yeah. So that's very true. Um. For the focus of the future. Yeah. Another area to me that remains very important, education is big, but I would say also healthcare education is big, would always be big in my opinion.

Uh, I'm not as familiar in terms of where are we at in this area, but I think will be critical and certainly people who are in the corporate, in the tech area will have a value add is around AI and accountability and responsibility. Uh, this is a space that is growing really fast and people are really hangry, hangry with the edge to bring the human right lens to it, right?

Mm-hmm. Well, we are going to to prioritize life savings. So we've got to have this ability to respond and to help the countries to respond to crisis and emergencies and prepare for them, because if we don't have money for other activities, then at least we've got to save lives. So that remains important.

Yeah. But it's a hard question for me because frankly, I think of governance and diplomacy. I mean, this is so big to me as well. Yes. Um, but climate, ai, health and education and innovation with financing. So that we tap into the private sector. Yeah. And there, you know, the corporate world brings things that, uh, social impact professionals don't have as much in terms of the sales, you know, the business perspective.

Oh yeah. And we can talk about trillionaires to come. Yeah. While these could feed everybody and therefore bring health upward, bring education upward, and with that more peace. I mean, we have to think of all those ripple effects. Yeah. Yeah. And as you were saying it, what came actually to my mind was actually the Maslow's hierarchy of ne needs that pyramid.

Food and water, that's the climate. If we don't have the climate that this planet depends on, we have no food and water. Yes. So we don't wanna think of climate as the NGO, uh, green, whatever, like the green agenda. It's not that we are talking about, we are talking about financing of climate issues because climate has an impact on so many things on violence too.

1000. If I'm starving, I'm sending on on sexual violence. I'm sending my girls to make money because I don't have food at home. The impact is huge. So it's climate that embraces different components, um, that we are addressing through that big umbrella. Right. Thank you for sharing that. I, my deepest hope is.

I could talk to you for another five hours and pick your brain. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom with us today. And where can our listeners find more and learn more about the work you do and follow you? Yes, well , uh, your listeners can actually find me on LinkedIn. This is where I'm the most active.

My website is down currently, up soon, so, um, not necessarily where to go immediately, but LinkedIn, I'm there. They will hear me. Share and speak. And if anyone is considering to move into social impact, I have clarity calls to also help them understand, hey, what's not working to make you know the differentiation?

Oh, thank you thi, it was a pleasure. I love this conversation, and I hope you did too. And if there's one specific thing to take away, for me it is making an impact doesn't have to fit into a one-size-fits-all box, and it definitely doesn't have to look like anyone else's version of success. Whether your impact is global, local, or even within your own family, what really matters is that it feels aligned with who you are and what you care about.

The link to that is in the show notes. And of course, don't forget to join me again next week for another episode full of insights, inspiration, and actionable advice on finding a career you love, because you shouldn't, and you definitely don't have to settle. Please keep chasing what makes you come alive, because what the world really needs, especially at this time and especially in this day and age, is more people who have come alive

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