When Your Career Plan Falls Apart: Rebuilding Work, Purpose and Ambition After Disability with Guest Cassandra Brandt
What happens when the career you worked towards suddenly isn't an option anymore?
Do you keep trying to force the original plan? Or can changing direction actually lead you towards work that fits your life better?
In Episode 4 of Accessible Ambition, Mattie Cummins is joined by Cassandra Brandt to talk about rebuilding a career after disability, changing direction when plans don't work out, and creating work that accommodates your health instead of asking you to sacrifice it.
Cassie's career has already taken several turns. She became an ironworker and welder in her twenties before sustaining a catastrophic spinal cord injury in a car accident in 2015 that left her paralyzed from the shoulders down. Years later, after publishing her first book, she returned to school and completed a master's in education with plans to teach literature.
When that career path became unavailable to her, Cassie had to rethink what work could look like again.
Working with Cerebrations and vocational rehabilitation, she began exploring other possibilities and eventually developed Iron Minds, a coaching program influenced by the Stoic philosophy and trauma-informed tools that had helped her through her own experiences.
More importantly, the business gives Cassie something a traditional nine-to-five role couldn't: the flexibility to work around unpredictable health complications without compromising her own care or the support she provides to clients.
In this episode, you'll hear:
How Cassie rebuilt her career after a catastrophic spinal cord injury
Why her original plan to teach literature didn't work out
How she moved from disappointment and uncertainty towards entrepreneurship
Why the right career isn't always the career you originally imagined
How Stoic philosophy influenced Cassie's approach to resilience, acceptance and moving forward
The role therapy, vocational support and Cerebrations played in helping her explore what came next
How imposter syndrome can show up when you're starting a new career or business
Why protecting your energy and giving yourself permission to change direction matters
One of the biggest themes in Cassie's story is that changing direction doesn't mean you've stopped moving forward.
Sometimes the job you thought you wanted isn't the job that best fits your health, circumstances or life.
Cassie talks about learning to give herself breaks, allowing herself grace when health complications arise, and being willing to change gears instead of seeing a pivot as failure.
That's what finding the right job at the right time can look like.
Not forcing yourself into a version of work that no longer fits, but staying open to what else your skills, experience and ambitions could become.
Resources Mentioned in This Episode
Cassie Brandt
Portfolio of published work: www.cassandrabrandt.com
Books: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B0B6LP3NKY/allbooks
Iron Girl: Tomboy, Tradeswoman, Tetraplegic – Cassie's memoir about her life and spinal cord injury
Seven Secrets of a Sedentary Stoic – Cassie's exploration of Stoic philosophy, resilience and the tools that helped shape her perspective
Iron Minds – Cassie's trauma-informed coaching program focused on acceptance, mindfulness, perspective, productivity and resilience
Website www.ironminds.org
Explore Cerebrations' Free Resources
NeuroCareer Collective – Free career community for neurodivergent professionals: https://cerebrations.org/neurocareer-collective
The Brilliance Collective – Support for women with disabilities exploring entrepreneurship: https://cerebrations.org/small-business-incubator
When the Original Career Plan Doesn't Fit Anymore
Changing direction doesn't erase everything you've already learned, built or overcome.
Sometimes it allows you to create work that better respects your health, energy, strengths and life.
Cerebrations helps people with disabilities, chronic illnesses, and neurodivergence find the right job at the right time and build careers that work with their needs instead of against them.
Explore our programs, services, and free resources:
Your ambition is valid. Your accessibility needs are non-negotiable.
Listen to Episode 4 of Accessible Ambition and hear Cassie's story of rebuilding, changing direction and finding work that fits.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4jvefkJSQbAlqpX7Vmqipu?si=U0vCAQnhTNquxXr935he3g
