Unsure how to restart your career? How Deals Colony helps you begin, one task a week: a community member's case study

A community member was not sure which career path to follow. She wanted to restart, build confidence and find something that fitted real life. This is how one Trial Project and the Team Up program worked for her, told without names so she stays in control of her story.

The starting point

She came to Deals Colony unsure. She had skills and experience, but no clear direction and little confidence about how today's workplaces would see her. She bought a Trial Project and joined the Team Up program.

We started with a conversation. The scope was discussed and agreed with her before any work began. That agreement covered how much time she could give, what we would build together, and what we would both keep records of.

The pattern: a comfortable task, a close look, a small adjustment

The Trial Project was built week by week. Each week followed the same simple loop:

1. Monika gave her a task she was comfortable with.

2. We watched how she went, and what she was drawn to.

3. We adjusted the next task to match her progress and her interests.

Nothing was set in stone in week one. The plan moved with her. It left room for family commitments, and it kept the load close to the 2 hours a week that the Trial Project is built around.

What a week looked like

A typical week had four parts: a task for the week, a short written update, simple record keeping, and a check-in to talk about what worked and what did not. The weekly update used a trial progress tracker. It showed us what everyday impact data can look like when it is captured in plain words: skills used, confidence before and after, and what she tried.

Over the weeks the tasks included building a personalised project step by step, applying her analytical skills by reading the Deals Colony ESG report to build ESG and circular economy knowledge, and learning to apply a service management framework (ITIL) to Deals Colony's own processes. A second real Trial Project, designing a workflow for a health setting, drew on her earlier experience and her Brain Dump ideas. She also built her own knowledge base on national climate targets. Along the way she added small everyday tasks from her own life that fitted around home.

Bonuses for going beyond the agreed scope

The Team Up program includes start-up bonuses. She unlocked some of them by doing more than the agreed scope, for example by creating a separate service workflow chart and setting up her own code environment. Our FAQ explains how contributions are valued as dollar credits under the Gift Economy Exchange Program, which can be used across Deals Colony services.

Bonuses are recognition of effort, not a promise of any result.

How she grew

Week by week she learned, changed direction and added interests that suited everyday life. Her self-reported confidence rose over the first weeks, and she began to talk about data, research and operations work as a real possibility. She reported that within two to four weeks she had two jobs.

It has not been independently checked, and we do not promise this or any outcome to anyone.

What Deals Colony learned

Small, comfortable tasks build momentum faster than a big plan. Watching what someone is drawn to tells you more than a questionnaire. Keeping scope agreed and written down protects both sides. And weekly records, even simple ones, turn a personal journey into data that can later show the community what is possible.

About the figures

Everything here is self-reported by the participant and reported by Deals Colony. It has not been audited, assured or certified. This story does not quantify environmental data. Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions are not quantified and Scope 3 has not been calculated. It is one story, and your experience may differ.

Ready to start your own?

If you are restarting a career or choosing a path, a Trial Project can help you start. See the matching Career restart plan Trial Project, or browse all Trial Projects.

It is a way to start, not a guarantee of income or results.

Have your own story? Share your story and we will help you with the next step. No payment required. No obligation.

Do you want to connect and see what we can build together via the Circular Innovation Network™?

You can start with the free Gift-Economy Exchange membership to access the details.

100% of profits are reinvested for the next two years.