What’s wrong with a downgrade?

A friend of mine works for a toy manufacturer. You’d never guess it if you talked to him, but it turns out he once owned a small chain of toy stores. Started with one store at his local mall, and when his revenue peaked, he opened another one in the next town and just kept repeating the model.

Eight stores later he hated his job. He started his first store because he liked discovering interesting toys and wooden puzzles that weren’t in the big box retailers. He got really good at picking items parents would want to buy for their kids. He enjoyed the work, and his stores were a way of making money by sharing all of the cool stuff he found. It was fun.

But with eight stores, it wasn’t fun anymore. He was spending most of his time running the business - managing employees, trying to predict volume, negotiating with suppliers, making sure he stayed up to date on the hot name brand toys and stocked them too since they bring people in, and so on. The “fun” parts of the business were now only a tiny fraction of what needed to be done.

In a casual conversation with one of his suppliers, they mentioned they were looking for a buyer and asked if he knew anyone in the industry looking for work. The job was basically going to trade shows and finding new items for them to take on and take to retail.

Long story short, he took the job and sold his stores. He got to go back to doing what he enjoyed, without having to worry about the other details and day to day aspects of running a business.

The company that hired him saw his background in retail as a huge advantage - not only did they get someone who enjoyed their job and was good at it, but they got someone who had direct knowledge of the challenges their retailers faced and everything that happens on the other side. It was a perfect fit all around.

Your background is a strength too. As a former CEO, you’ve run a business, managed people, and had direct experience with what goes on in your industry. There’s probably an aspect of your business that you really loved, were really good at, and would love to be able to do just that part without all the other clutter.

Finding an opportunity where you can cut out the parts you don’t enjoy and do the things you’re the best at isn’t a step backward; it’s a step forward.

That’s how you need to think about it. And that’s how you present it in your next interview.