Welcome! Novofemina is an online space dedicated to the enlivening, complex, and perpetual process of transition in our lives.
I’m Linda Rossetti, a mother of two middle schoolers, an author, entrepreneur, Harvard MBA and former c-suite executive. I am a socially minded life-long learner who encountered transition by chance in my mid-forties – and it has made all the difference.
In 2011 this unexpected transition compelled me to start this conversation, Celebrating Women’s Transitions. At the time, I didn’t really understand transition but knew deep down that it held something special for women everywhere. It needed to move away from an environment that breeds uncertainty and self-doubt towards one of promise, possibility and purpose.
Since starting Novofemina, I’ve initiated a conversation about transition with thousands of women. More than 200 participated in my formal research that led to the publication of my first book, Women and Transition: Reinventing Work & Life (Macmillan 2015), an Amazon Top Seller with a 5-star rating! Check out the >60 reviews here.
This incredible path has allowed me to bring shape to transition in new and provocative ways. My journey of understanding is chronicled in Novofemina’s posts. You can also watch a Primer on Transition on YouTube.
My observations to date…
When I started this process, I thought transition was all about my search for a new answer, one that would integrate the demands of my professional life with the ever-changing demands of my growing family. I expected it to mean a new job, maybe a new way to think about working.
What I’ve learned is light years away from that starting point. I can now confidently tell you that transitions occur when there is a shift in what holds value or meaning to us. It differs from change but requires us to embrace change.
Transition is grossly misunderstood in our society – to our detriment! Very often we misinterpret the earliest stages of transition, a miss that can lead to stalling, disengaging or retreating from living the lives we imagine.
All sorts of life events – like marriage, divorce, retirement, career change, job loss, empty nests – or even feelings – like boredom or a desire to explore more of our potential – can lead to a transition. It can occur at any age or in either gender.
In my travels, I always hear women say things like, “I thought I was the only one.” If you’ve ever thought that, you are not alone. I’m now convinced that transition is hiding in plain sight for many of us.
I hope you enjoy Novofemina and its on-going conversation about transition. I continue to learn about transition and advance our conversation about it online through my posts. Please join the conversation or send me a note. I look forward to your voice in our on-going exploration.
Linda R.
@Wmn_transition
Copyright © 2011 – 2018 NovoFemina.com – All rights reserved. No content on this site may be reused in any fashion without written permission from NovoFemina.com.
NovoFemina 
Your blog speaks to me.
As a single parent, juggling two teenage boys, a high-tech job – not career, I think about transition every day. What do I want to do? How do I want to contribute? And, while balancing the care and responsibilities for my children, family and friends; and of course eking out some fun and laughter.
S0, I will stay tuned to hear about how other women are making transitions that are healthy, productive and self-fulfilling, and am open to share.
Looking froward to reading your insights!!!!!!!!!!!!
I totally agree with the feeling of “no one is talking about this”. Over the last dozen years I have transitioned from home to work and back again as a working mother. Sometimes it was my choice, sometimes not. I have looked extensively for information on how to handle the new opportunities, the constant balancing act, and the self doubt that comes from being in this unchartered territory. From my efforts, I offer two pieces of information to this conversation. First, I found one book particularly helpful to understand the societal, corporate and governmental forces at play on working women called Glass Ceilings and 100 Hour Couples by Karine Moe. From it I realized that I was not imagining things – it IS hard to have a good marriage, and be a present parent, and have work you love, and be only one skirt size bigger than you were in college. There simply isn’t that much support built up around us, except each other. Second, I wrote a very short piece for a lifecoach’s newsletter that outlines my top three tools for making the transition from software tech exec to stay at home mom. I made a webpage for it at http://www.onmariasmind.blogspot.com for you to reference. I am still figuring it all out. I look forward to following this blog to keep the conversation going.
Linda,
I enjoyed hearing you speak at the recent WITI event in Waltham.
This information on a 2-day HBS course came to me through my connections at Boston College Leadership for Change (’03) and I was reminded of your current focus on women’s transitions. I wanted to share this information with your audience –
Harvard Business School invites you to attend the “Charting Your Course” program, June 1-2, 2011 in Boston, MA.
http://www.alumni.hbs.edu/careers/cyc.html
Charting Your Course is a two-day program that uses case studies, team exercises, and lectures to help women develop a strategy for blending
career and personal life. Charting Your Course will help you set a clearly defined vision and well-articulated strategy towards a new professional direction.
This course is for you if:
• You are at a transition point in your career
• You are looking to re-enter the workforce after taking time off
• You wish to reenergize your career
Charting Your Course is now open to non-HBS alumnae. Please pass along this information to anyone in your professional and personal network who may be at a similar stage in her career.
Experience a program that has enabled hundreds of women to rediscover their core interests and capabilities. Visit the Charting Your Course website for additional information and to register. Please feel free to contact Ann Carey of HBS Alumni Relations at acarey@hbs.edu or 617-496-6260 with questions.
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