Career Transitions

Lately a theme has been coming up in the conversations I’m having with clients and peers. Should life be fun? What role does fun have in how I create my life? My career? For many of us—especially those of us who adopted the “good girl” persona in childhood—fun is a secondary priority, if it even ranks at all. As an eldest daughter with cPTSD and an atrophied ability to connect to and make sense of my own emotions, needs, and desires, fun was something I drifted far, far away

One of the most common things I hear from clients is: "I know I want something different... I'm just not ready." At first glance, that sounds perfectly reasonable. But after coaching dozens of people through career transitions, I've started to wonder if we're asking the wrong question. What if readiness isn't actually a feeling? What if it's a set of conditions we can build? The Myth of Feeling Ready Many people assume they'll eventually wake up one day and simply feel ready

When people are trying to figure out what to do next in their careers, they usually start in the same place. They take personality assessments. They clarify their values. They make a list of must-haves and deal breakers. They reflect on what they've enjoyed in past roles, what they're good at, and what gives them energy. They research different career paths. None of these are bad ideas. In fact, I use many of these exercises with my coaching clients because they're incredibly

If you're trying to figure out your next career move, chances are you've already tried a lot of things. You've browsed job boards. You've journaled. You've taken career quizzes. You've talked to friends, family, coworkers, and anyone else willing to listen. Maybe you've even dusted off a copy of What Color Is Your Parachute? You've spent hours thinking about what you should do next. And yet somehow you're still stuck. If that's you, I want you to know something: You're not fa

What If I Don't Know What I Want to Do Next in My Career? A few months ago, a woman came to me feeling completely stuck. She was in her 40s and deeply unhappy in her work. Not because it was objectively terrible, but because she couldn't shake the feeling that she'd somehow ended up in the wrong life. As she told me about her career, she kept apologizing for how "all over the place" it sounded. Does this look like you trying to explain your career path to people? "I've never

Shame shows up at every stage of the career transition process. It can show up when you first begin admitting to yourself that you’re unhappy. When you realize the career path you worked so hard for no longer fits. When you compare yourself to peers who seem more successful, stable, or certain. When you think about leaving a role, industry, identity, or salary behind. When you update your resume and suddenly feel like none of your experience makes sense anymore. When you wond

A few weeks ago, a client (let's call her Amy) told me about a journal entry she had found from ten years ago. In it, she wrote about feeling depressed. About hating her job. About feeling trapped and wondering whether life was supposed to feel this dull and meaningless. As she reread the entry, she felt a chill run through her body. Not because she'd forgotten how unhappy she had been, but because she could have written the exact same words today. Ten years had passed, but t

I disappeared a little bit over the past few months. Not intentionally, exactly. But slowly. Quietly. I stopped posting regularly. Stopped emailing. Stopped showing up in the ways I normally do. And the truth is, I’ve been deep in the messy middle of my own career reinvention. You know the version of career transition that gets talked about most often? The inspiring version. The brave version. The “follow your dreams” version. And sometimes it does look like that. But there’s

Where does one's purpose come from? How do we find it? A friend recently asked me this and it led to a fascinating conversation. As I thought back on my own 20-year exploration of this question, I noticed that the way I think about purpose has changed dramatically. In my 20s and early 30s, my ideas about purpose were much more rigid. I believed each of us had one clearly defined life purpose and it was our responsibility to uncover it as quickly as possible so we could get on

Today is my 41st birthday. As I think back to one year ago, I am amazed at how much I’ve changed and grown since turning 40. One year...

When I tell people that I use improv exercises in my coaching workshops, I often get a puzzled look. "What does improv comedy have to do with career transition?" More than you might think. A few years ago, a friend invited me to an improv show at Happier Valley Comedy. At the time, I was navigating my own transition—figuring out what came next professionally, wrestling with uncertainty, and trying to build a life that felt more aligned. What started as a night out eventually

What happens when the only thing keeping you going is momentum—and you’re terrified to stop? For a long time, I kept moving because slowing down felt dangerous. I was on the hamster wheel, overachieving and overextending, convincing myself I could rest once things got better. But they never did. Deep down, I craved a pause—my body was screaming for it—but I couldn’t imagine how to step off. I didn’t want to let my boss or coworkers down. I was afraid of being judged. And hone