Moving on Without a Plan B

CareerCast - Life-long Career Development

Tess Vigeland Would you ever leave a job without having another opportunity? While some people are forced to move on because of a job loss, others choose to leave in order to find the career and life they really want. Tess Vigeland, CEO of Tess Vigeland Production, former anchor for public radio’s Marketplace, and author of Leap, is a firm believer in jumping without having all the details mapped out. In this Career Cast, Tess shares her perspective, significant experience, and practical tips to help you consider your next move with or with a Plan B.

Aired November 20, 2015

Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want, Tess Vigeland (2015)

The Accidental Career, Benny Ho (2013)

The PathFinder: How to Choose or Change Your Career for a Lifetime of Satisfaction and Success (revised and updated edition), Nicholas Lore (2012)

Coach Yourself to a New Career: 7 Steps to Reinventing Your Professional Life, Talane Miedaner (2010)

This Is Not the Career I Ordered: Empowering Strategies from Women Who Recharged, Reignited, and Reinvented Their Careers, Caroline Dowd-Higgins (2010)

The 10 Laws of Career Reinvention: Essential Survival Skills for Any Economy, Pamela Mitchell (2009)

Getting Unstuck: A Guide to Discovering Your Next Career Path, Timothy Butler (2009)

Strategies for Successful Career Change: Finding Your Very Best Next Work Life, Martha E. Mangelsdorf (2009)

Your Next Move: The Leader’s Guide to Navigating Major Career Transitions, Michael D. Watkins (2009)

The Career Change Handbook: How to Find Out What You’re Good At and Enjoy–Then Get Someone to Pay You for It, Graham Green (2008)

Turning Points: Managing Career Transitions with Meaning and Purpose, Lisa Severy, Phoebe Ballard, and Jack Ballard (2008)

Over-40 Job Search Guide: 10 Strategies for Making Your Age and Advantage in Your Career, Gail Geary (2005)

Tess Vigeland is a veteran journalist, and a well-known voice to millions of American radio listeners. She is the CEO of Tess Vigeland Productions, a Los Angeles-based multi-media company. Her first book, Leap: Leaving A Job With No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want, was published by Random House in August of 2015.

When she’s not locked away writing, Tess can be heard as a backup anchor for NPR’s All Things Considered, as well as KCRW’s To The Point and KPCC’s Take Two. She also serves as a professional emcee, speaker, panel moderator, and interviewer for conferences and other events. She has also written for The New York Times and The Guardian, among numerous other publications.

Until November 2012, Tess was the host of Marketplace Money, a nationally-broadcast, weekly personal finance. She and her guests took calls from listeners to answer their most vexing money management questions, and helped explain the latest business and financial news. Tess traveled the country for live stage shows of Marketplace and Marketplace Money. She was the recipient of the inaugural Excellence in Personal Finance Reporting Award from the Radio Television Digital News Association and the National Endowment for Financial Education.

Tess joined Marketplace in September 2001, as a host of the overnight series of newscasts called the Marketplace Morning Report. She began hosting Marketplace Money in 2006, and also served as the primary back-up host for Marketplace.

Prior to joining the team at Marketplace, Tess reported and anchored for Oregon Public Broadcasting in Portland, where she received a Corporation for Public Broadcasting Silver Award for her coverage of the political scandal involving Senator Bob Packwood (R-Ore.). She co-hosted the weekly public affairs program Seven Days on OPB television. Tess next served as a reporter and backup anchor at WBUR radio in Boston, where she also spent two years as a sports reporter for NPR’s Only a Game.

For her outstanding achievements in journalism, Vigeland has earned numerous awards from the Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalists. She has a bachelor’s degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She also served as the voice of the Pasadena Tournament of Roses digital program guide for the 125th Rose Parade®.

Tess is an avid gardener, classical pianist, and world traveler, and is currently teaching herself photography. She is a native of the Pacific Northwest, and now resides in Los Angeles.

Tess Vigeland Leap

Read an excerpt of Leap: Leaving a Job with No Plan B to Find the Career and Life You Really Want by Tess Vigeland.

Read the Excerpt