From Corner to Coach

I believe that luck is when preparation meets opportunity. I’ve been fortunate to have a lot of luck in my professional life. I was lucky to find a passion for television as a teenager. My high school had a television station and I was able to take production courses that created a hunger to learn more about the business of television. I was also lucky enough to be recruited to play soccer at a University that had one of the best communications programs in the country, along with a degree in television management.

My senior year in college, I got a call from a headhunter who saw my resume online and I landed an interview at CBS, the company I had just finished writing a senior thesis about. Fast forward 15 years and I had moved up within the company to an executive position, getting to travel around the country, attend amazing parties, build businesses and work with some really great people. In that time I also got married, moved eight times and had three kids.

I had so much to be thankful for, but something deep down was restless. I couldn’t shake this feeling that there was something more for me in life. I felt guilty. Instead of diving into the unrest I started to spend more money on material things to get that momentary high. I exercised more, kept busy and when Google called to see if I would join their team I made the jump, thinking maybe a job change was the key to my happiness.

Spoiler alert: it didn’t work. Google is a wonderful company to work for filled with extremely smart people driven to make the world a better place. But, as I learned over a short period of time, even the best job can’t fill a broken spirit.

I had worked with a coach years earlier who helped me navigate a career transition at CBS, and remembered thinking that the profession was something I might want to look into at some point. My mindset at Google was at an all time low, and so took acton to do something to jump start my brain. I did some research about certification programs and decided to sign up for iPEC, a coaching school that offered courses close by.  Nine months later I found myself crying in a Trader Joe’s parking lot while on the phone with my mom telling her I found what I was meant to do.

I’d be lying if I said this transition was seamless. Walking away from a comfortable salary and my corporate identity has not been easy. I never would have thought myself to have an ego, but ego takes many forms and it’s amazing how much self-worth I subconsciously had tied up in my pretty, packed corporate image. School pick-up and drop off culture was foreign to me. I had two wardrobes, corporate and slouchy weekend. I no longer brought large monetary value to my family. The change in my profession made me question the importance of and existence of my role in every relationship in my life, including the one I have with myself.  

There within lies the purpose behind why I feel so passionate about my role as coach and why I work to challenge women to lead more intentional lives. I never want another woman to wake up one day and wonder how the heck she got to where she is. If we continually ignore the unrest within we risk leading an unremarkable life. Don’t ignore yourself. Don’t lead your life based on what someone else thinks is right for you. Constantly push to know yourself so well that each choice is clear and aligns with your values. This journey isn’t easy, but there is such beauty in the mess. Redefine success. Redefine why it is you are on this earth and the impact you want to make. You are more powerful than you know.