How Carla Naumburg Thrives with 2 Careers (Clinical Social Worker, Author)

by | Nov 23, 2020

Meet Carla Naumburg. She is a terrific example of a multi-careerist, as she navigates two distinct fields with dexterity. She has a PhD and is a clinical social worker, so she clearly works well with those in her community. At the same time, she has authored three self-help books for parents. Her most recent one is How to Stop Losing Your Sh*t With Your Kids (Workman, 2019). If you want to be a calmer and even happier parent, sign up for her newsletter, so you can learn directly from her. As you’ll learn, her story is inspirational.

Carla’s careers:

  • Clinical social worker
  • Author

On her motivations for multiple careers

“I’ve wanted to be a writer for as long as I could remember, but in all honesty, it never occurred to me that I could make a career out of writing, so I became a social worker. Having said that, I didn’t set out to have multiple careers; I went into social work right out of college and thought I would stick with that forever. The opportunity to work in children’s literature was an unexpected twist that I am so grateful for. I love my job, it allows me to return to a long-standing passion, and I work from home with a flexible schedule.”

Advice to aspiring multi-careerists

“Pursuing multiple careers is incredibly rewarding, but it does have its challenges. Depending on how well the various aspects of your work connect and complement each other, it can make it challenging to brand yourself and connect with potential clients and work opportunities. My advice to those considering multiple careers is to make sure that you really love all of the work you’ll be doing, and if you don’t, at least make sure your new career path supplements your current career in a meaningful or useful way.”

On overcoming obstacles

“The most common setback to my writing career has been rejections, but rejections are part of the writer’s life so I’m getting better at dealing with them!”

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On managing personal time

“I am fortunate in that my current job in children’s literacy allows me to work from home, and I have a flexible schedule. In addition, I’m a morning person, so most days of the week I get up before everyone else in my family to get work done. However, the most important factor in my ability to manage everything is my support team, including my supervisor and colleagues, my literary agent, and most importantly, my amazing husband, who is a loving and engaged father. I don’t think anyone can manage multiple careers (or even one career) and a family alone!”

On what to share about her multiple careers

“Everyone at my non-profit job knows about my previous work as a social worker, and they certainly know about my books. Having said that, I am careful not to mention or promote my work in parenting and my books unless someone else brings it up first. It just doesn’t seem appropriate.”

 

A Day In the Life

  • 5:30 AM: Wake up, make coffee, hop on the computer and either a)No alt text provided for this image connect with my supervisor (who is overseas in a much later time zone) or b) spend time on whichever manuscript I’m currently working on.
  • 6:40 AM: Husband and I wake our daughters up, get them ready for school.
  • 7:30 AM – 3:00 PM: My workday, including meetings, reading, and writing. I generally sneak in about 45 minutes of exercise and a quick lunch.
  •  3:00 PM – 8:30 PM: Pick up girls from school, afternoon with them. Family dinner, TV show or games after dinner.
  • 8:30 PM – 9:30 PM: Watch TV with husband, work on latest crochet project.
  • 9:30 PM – 10:00 PM: Bedtime!

Where to find Carla

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Kabir Sehgal is a Multi Grammy & Latin Grammy Award winner, as well as New York Times bestselling author of fifteen books. His debut feature film production Fandango at the Wall is streaming on HBO Max. Follow: LinkedInInstagramFacebookTwitterSpotifyYouTube

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