The Bachelor alum Clayton Echard is setting out on a new path in his life with a brand new job.

ADVERTISEMENT

The former football player and medical sales representative took to Instagram on Monday to announce he's trying out a new career.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Clayton, who starred on The Bachelor's 26th season, posted a photo of himself wearing a suit and ivory turtleneck.

"I meant it when I said I'm bringing turtlenecks back in style!!" Clayton captioned the photo.

"Happy to announce that I have officially signed on with @zabackgroup to be a Real Estate agent in the Phoenix/Scottsdale market! I'm looking forward to this new chapter of my life, as things continue to be on the 'up and up' for me!"

Clayton -- who recently wrote a book and also worked as a public speaker about mental health and body dysmorphia, both of which he's personally struggled with in the past -- wrote in his Instagram bio how he'll be in the residential real estate space in Scottsdale.

Clayton isn't the only former The Bachelor star to test his luck in real estate.

Arie Luyendyk Jr., a former racecar driver who starred on Season 22 in 2018, also currently works as a real estate agent in Arizona, and so it's possible these two men may bump into each other.

Many members of Bachelor Nation congratulated Clayton on his new business venture and also praised his burnt-orange colored suit.

"You should gift a turtleneck at every sale closing... CONGRATS on this new chapter!!!" The Bachelor host Jesse Palmer wrote.

Brandon Jones commented, "The suit is SLICKKK," and Rodney Mathews wrote, "Oh go crazy then!"

Bryan Abasolo also wrote on Clayton's Instagram post, "Congrats! Go crush it!"

Clayton just announced in February that was releasing a book titled 180 Degrees on Mental Health, Mindfulness, and Unlocking Self-Belief.

"8 months later and I officially have a book to share with y'all!!" Clayton wrote in an Instagram post at the time.

"I wrote 180 Degrees partly for myself, as it was therapeutic to document my mental health journey from childhood up until now. It was long overdue for me to address all the jumbled-up thoughts in my head and begin to untangle them little by little."

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELORETTE' COUPLES NOW: WHOM DID 'THE BACHELORETTE' STARS AND THEIR BACHELOR PICKS ULTIMATELY END UP WITH?! (PHOTOS)  

Clayton said he also "created" the book "in hopes of helping others."

Clayton wants people to "find their own self-love, self-belief, and confidence to open up" as well as "begin having necessary conversations centered around mental health, and most importantly, a sense of peace that they are not alone."

"We all face our own struggles," he continued in his post, "but I believe we stand the best chance at overcoming them when we look to others to help us when we can't do it alone."

By sharing his own stories and experiences in the book, Clayton hopes readers will "see there is a brighter path ahead."

Clayton previously told Becca Kufrin and Michelle Young on their "Bachelor Happy Hour" podcast how his ex-girlfriend, The Bachelor 26 winner Susie Evans, had actually put him on the path to writing this book.

"When [The Bachelor] ended [in March 2022], I had lost all stability and structure. I was like, 'What am I doing? I left my job. I guess I'm going to be an influencer now,'" Clayton recalled of his previous job in medical sales.

"I was trying to make the influencer stuff work, but it wasn't working like I thought. Influencing is hard! I hate that people say it's 'so easy' -- it is not easy! It is a full-time job and I'm not good at it, really."

Clayton admitted he was "overwhelmed" and questioning, "What am I going to do next?!"

"And I was like, 'I'm going back to corporate America. I'm going back. I'm going back to medical sales, what's safe,'" Clayton shared.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' COUPLES NOW: WHO DID 'THE BACHELOR' STARS AND THEIR BACHELORETTE PICKS ACTUALLY END UP MARRYING? (PHOTOS)

But Clayton revealed that Susie had "stopped" him from making a mistake.

"She was like, 'Clayton, I see how happy you are on the days when you make an impact on people. I don't think you should give this up yet. I just think that you have more in you. I think you're not done. You've tried, but have you exhausted all options?'" Clayton recalled.

"And I was like, 'No,' so she was like, 'Okay, then keep working. Put your head down and try it again. Give it another chance.'"

Clayton apparently took Susie's advice and tried again, "in multiple areas," and then he said all of a sudden, things "started to turn" in his favor.

"I was like, 'Wait, I actually can make a living off of what I'm doing, and it's not medical sales now, it's my passions -- true passions,'" Clayton explained.

"That only happened because of her. Otherwise, I would be back working my sales job right now."

Clayton and Susie announced their split in September 2022. They've both shared in the media how they broke up because they weren't compatible and had to work on themselves before being able to fully invest in a relationship with each other.

Backlash from Bachelor Nation and being in the public eye also apparently didn't help their situation.

Clayton, a small-town Missouri native, moved from Susie's hometown of Virginia Beach to live with his brother in Scottsdale, AZ, after the former The Bachelor star and Susie called it quits.

Clayton shared late last year how he was planning to buy a house in early 2023, and Susie, for her part, moved to Los Angeles, CA, in January to expand her business as a wedding videographer.

RELATED LINK: 'THE BACHELOR' FRANCHISE COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER?? (PHOTOS)

Interested in more The Bachelor news? Join our The Bachelor Facebook Group!




About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON GOOGLE NEWS