Career change after a layoff, where to begin?

After 17 years as an event coordinator I am thinking about moving into a different field. There are 17 people counting on me, so I am trying to be careful. I have good customer skills and I am comfortable with spreadsheets. How did you start?

I took a small pay cut for a year, and it was worth it for the growth afterwards.

Keep everything in writing and save the confirmation numbers. It saved me later.