This Career Pivot Playbook features Joel Salinas, a Substack bestselling author and AI leadership strategist focused on helping leaders use AI without losing judgment or values.
Joel did not start out as a writer. He built his career in business operations and higher education. He learned how organizations actually run. Systems. Trade-offs. Decisions under pressure. The parts most people never see.
Over time, he moved deeper into strategy, investing, and advisory work. That sharpened how he evaluates risk, execution, and performance across sectors.
Leadership in Change evolved out of a strategic realization. If he wanted his ideas to travel, he needed direct access to the people they were meant to serve. Rather than wait for permission or distribution through traditional channels, Joel chose to build his own platform. What began as a focused step toward audience ownership became a publication for leaders applying AI in real environments.
But there was no dramatic reinvention. Joel noticed a widening gap. Technical AI conversations were accelerating and many leaders were still trying to translate those tools into practical decisions. So he stepped into that space and began turning complexity into usable strategy.
His work draws on synthesis, systems thinking, and disciplined learning… and his writing centers on frameworks leaders can apply immediately. Substack became the base for that work because it supports depth and direct connection with readers.
This Playbook explores how established expertise, consistent publishing, and platform ownership can expand into a leadership platform and new ventures. It shows that some pivots are not about changing direction. They are about building structure around what you already know.
✨About Career Pivot Playbooks
A public archive of modern career blueprints…
Most careers no longer follow a straight line.
People pivot gradually.
They extend their work beyond institutions.
They combine roles, platforms, and income streams.
Career Pivot Playbooks is a weekly series curated by Katharine Gallagher documenting how professionals build resilient, future-ready careers by turning existing skills into income, often combining Substack with consulting, teaching, research, creative work, or business ownership.
The focus isn’t outcomes.
It’s about how careers are shaped in practice.
About Joel
Joel Salinas is a Substack bestselling author, AI leadership strategist, and the founder of Leadership in Change: a publication and community helping mission-driven leaders multiply their impact through strategic, human-focused AI.
He is also the co-founder of Cozora.org and NewsletterCompass.com.
You can follow his work here →
Joel reflects:
“Can you share a bit about your professional background and the path that led you to where you are today?”
My name is Joel Salinas. I was born and raised in Bolivia, and Spanish is my native tongue. I spent much of my teen years in Central America, which gave me an early sense of how different cultures approach leadership and problem-solving. I got into business quickly, earned my MBA, and shortly after that I got involved in higher education. That’s where I really learned the business operations side of running an online organization: the systems, the strategy, the moving pieces that most people never see. I’ve been working with leaders for years, and I also trade and invest heavily on my own. I’m someone who’s always been curious about how things work, whether that’s a business model, a market, or how a team makes decisions under pressure.
My journey into AI wasn’t some overnight pivot. I’ve always been a learner first. I’m the kind of person who picks up chess, guitar, or a new AI tool just because I want to understand how it works. My expertise started in business and strategy, and over time I became deeply invested in AI, change management, and how leaders can use these tools without losing what makes them effective in the first place. I don’t come from an engineering background. I come from the leadership side, and I think that’s exactly why what I share resonates with the people I serve.
“What sign, moment, or slow realization told you it was time to diversify, and what did you have to push through to actually act on it?”
In April 2025, I decided to write a book specifically for nonprofits on AI. When I started pitching it to agents, many of them loved the idea. But immediately, every single one let me know the same thing: I didn't have the audience that would make the book a guaranteed sell. That was a wake-up call. I realized I had to get strategic about building my own platform and my own audience. That's when I launched my Substack, Leadership in Change, which you can find at LeadershipInChange.com.
“Which skills or experiences from your previous career unexpectedly became an advantage in what you do now?”
I have an MBA, years of working directly with leaders across sectors, deep experience in business operations and higher education, and I’m actively involved in trading and investing. But honestly, what ties it all together is that I just love learning. Whether it’s AI, chess, guitar, or breaking down basketball strategy, I’m always pulling on a new thread. That same curiosity is what drove me to layer a real working knowledge of AI on top of my business background, not from the engineering side, but from the leadership and implementation side. Everything I learn, I turn around and share. That’s the whole point.
“How did you decide where to build visibility or credibility (Substack or elsewhere), and what role does that platform play in your overall career or income mix?”
My focus is Substack. That’s where all my content lives. I use LinkedIn for personal connections and partnerships, but if you want to know what I’m thinking, what I’m building, and what I’m learning, it’s all on Substack. I made that choice intentionally. I didn’t want to spread thin across five platforms saying the same thing in different formats. I wanted one place where I could go deep, build real relationships with readers, and actually deliver value that changes how people lead.
“Who is your work really for, and what problem do you solve so well that people are willing to pay for it?”
My audience is specifically leaders who already have skill, expertise, and experience but want to multiply their impact. Not engineers. Not people looking to get deep into the coding side. Leaders. Within my subscriber group, I have leaders from JP Morgan, Visa, Harvard, dozens of universities, and nonprofit organizations. The goal of Leadership in Change is simple: help as many leaders as possible do more with what they already have, sometimes two or three times their current output, whether that’s measured in revenue, people helped, or time reclaimed. I call it human-focused AI. Keeping human values exactly where they’re supposed to be. That’s what gets me up in the morning.
“What turned out to be harder than you expected when you started, and what was easier than you imagined?”
When I launched, I didn’t have a built-in audience. I had expertise and a clear point of view. I learned fast that consistency matters more than perfection, that paid subscribers want tools they can actually use, and that depth beats volume every time. I’m now a Substack bestseller with hundreds of paid subscribers, and I offer practical AI tools and frameworks through my paid subscription. That milestone taught me something important: people will invest in you when you invest in giving them real, usable value.
“What nearly made you quit, and what actually kept you going?”
The hardest part wasn't learning the platform. It was hearing from every book agent that my ideas were strong, but my audience wasn't big enough. That's a humbling thing to sit with. But it forced me to stop waiting for permission and start building. The pivot from "I want to write a book" to "I need to build an audience first" changed my entire trajectory. It wasn't a setback. It was a redirect.
“What advice would you give to someone considering a similar pivot or looking to monetize their skills in a more flexible way?”
Stop waiting for the perfect moment or the perfect platform. If you have expertise and something worth saying, start sharing it now. Pick one platform, go deep, be consistent, and focus on giving people something they can actually use. The audience will come when the value is real.
“What other platforms, audiences, or income streams are part of your portfolio career, and how do they work together?”
In the past six months, I’ve built three businesses directly out of my Substack. First, Cozora.org: a platform where you can join live weekly sessions with top AI creators. It’s a learning community, so you go from reading to hearing, asking questions, and engaging directly. Second, I co-founded NewsletterCompass.com, an AI toolkit built specifically for Substack creators to accelerate their growth. Third, I launched my coaching business at jsalinas.org, working one-on-one with leaders who want to multiply their impact using AI strategically.
All three of these grew from the same root: showing up consistently on Substack and building trust with a community of leaders who want more than surface-level advice.
Links & Resources
Subscribe and you'll get two articles a week. And if you're ready to go deeper with AI builds or strategy, visit jsalinas.org.
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I’m Katharine — a future-focused career strategist helping professionals build income options and stay relevant as work evolves.
🙏 I appreciate you being here and supporting this growing archive… and thank you to all the creators who contribute, it’s such a pleasure to learn from them.
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🤔Is there a question you wish had been asked?
Drop it in the comments, and let’s keep the conversation going.
Thank you for the chance to share some of my story!
Thank you so much, Joel, for being part of this series!