Substack is personal stories woven into takeaways. LinkedIn is personal updates, client results and best practices.

Now some of this makes sense — I’m game for mining my dating life for career lessons to share with you all, but they don’t need to be broadcast all over LinkedIn!

But last week, as I was writing a LinkedIn post, I started questioning all of these boundaries. Mainly, I was writing about some pretty amazing client results and just didn’t feel like 1k characters organized into pithy soundbites really captured the essence and importance of the message.

So given that it’s the last week of summer (or first week of fall?), let’s go wild and break some rules.

I want to celebrate several very remarkable women in this community and spend multiple paragraphs doing so.

FIVE women in this coaching community got exceptional new jobs this summer.

Now, I know it can be hard to hear about someone else’s success when you’re working towards a similar goal, but may not have gotten there yet. But I firmly believe we’re at our best when we’re celebrating each other.

Plus, these women are proof that you’ll get the same result. In this special community, you have the same capability, credentials and commitment. Their results will be yours soon.

Plus, it’s never a zero sum game. Their offer doesn’t mean there’s fewer for you — more likely, they’ll be making the right intro for you in a few weeks (this literally happened just last night in one of my groups).

So join me in celebrating these women who got the following roles this summer 👏 🎉 🥳:

• Sr. Director of Strat + Ops @ Series-B Health Tech

• Head of Commercialization, Pre-IPO Tech

• Product Lead, Series-A Fintech

• Director of Experience, Public Food Retail

• Product Manager, Tech-for-Good

In some ways, these offers don’t tell us a ton — it’s just a title and company descriptors. But really they tell us so much about where these women are headed and what changed for them.

In one single line, we know: their level and scope, function and company archetype. And each of those pieces represents…

• Level: almost all of these women are in the upward leadership levels of their companies, with mandates, objectives and teams fully aligned with their capability and potential.

• Function: for some women, these are pivots, for others, it’s a continuation or refinement of what they’ve been doing. But all are excited about their roles and have done the due diligence to confirm they align with their strengths, which is important, as your daily mandate has the most significant influence on job satisfaction.

• Company archetype: there’s the obvious here — some women were looking for high-growth startups, others looking for mission-alignment, others for slow-growth. But what each of these women knows for sure is they’re going to work alongside excellent colleagues — people they can learn from, build friendships with and build together.

And even more subtle and buried deeper beyond the one-line titles and job updates on LinkedIn are shifts and results worthy of equal celebration.

Each of these women feels so remarkably different than they did six- and even 12-months ago. Each came to me at a slightly different starting point, but universally, they felt stuck, disappointed and unmoored by their careers at that point — a company had been acquired changing the culture, business model and mandate overnight, a handful had been laid off or knew a potential restructure was looming and the rest were just plain burnt out.

They put in real work over the past several months. They reflected on themselves like it was their job (ha!), and got very honest about what actually made them happy, what skills they wanted to build from and which they wanted to leave behind, and what they truly needed from their careers.

Armed with a deeply authentic and resonant vision for the next chapter of their career, they networked like crazy. They asked for introductions, sent cold emails, went to in-person events. One woman sent 165 outreach notes. They were dogged, consistent and scrappy. It was never comfortable, and often exhausting. But they kept to it and the results followed.

And perhaps what makes me most proud of these women is that they stayed resilient. Job searching in 2026 is perhaps one of the hardest personal growth portals you could go through, and each of these women found a way to manage the lows, consistently bolster their confidence and keep moving forward. The self-management tools they developed will serve them for the rest of their lives — and they’re all stronger for it.

Lastly, they just plain feel better — or at least my hope is that they will once they get into the groove of these roles (most are starting last month and this month)! Instead of those feelings of burn out, disappointment and stuck-ness, they feel aligned, purposeful and supported. Plus, they’re growing, being stretched and challenged in all the right ways and making a meaningful impact — what more can you ask for?!

We spend so much time at work that how we feel in our job is how we feel in life, and these women have made the change to ensure they feel pretty good in both.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t include that all of these women all used our Ambition Reimagined methodology to get clear on the work they’re meant to do and to build the plan and confidence to make it theirs.

And I’d be remiss not to invite you to the do the same — if you want to take the first step towards making a career change this fall join us for our Career Clarity Masterclass on Sept. 27th. We’ll guide you through the first module of the Ambition Reimagined methodology — getting clear on your priorities, strengths and passions — so you have the clarity you’re so deeply craving and need to figure out’s what next.

And who knows…perhaps in a few months, I’ll be featuring you in the next round-up!

—

I’ll close by going back to where we started…job titles and offers are important, but its’ what those offers really represent — the mandate, the culture, the growth opportunities — that matters.

These women have showed all of us what’s possible when you say I’m not willing to stay stuck, I know there’s something better on the other side, and I’m going to make it happen.

And then they did.

Thanks to all of these women for being our inspiration and thanks to you all for celebrating with us 💜.

But a few weeks ago, my partner suggested making a short weekend trip to NYC. I instantly recoiled — and the how and why I got to a summer by the ocean came flooding back to me.

(And for all my NYC readers, take this with a grain of salt. This is not an anti-NYC post… it’s just a NYC is hot and a bit smelly in August post 😉.)

Flash back to the summer of 2022. I subconsciously and very subtly put in motion a process that’s now become the recognizable pattern for how and when to make a big change in my life.

The summer was hot. One of those stretches where it felt close to 100 degrees every weekend, and it felt like we were all forced inside or out of the city.

And that was the definition of my summer.

I was either driving home to Rhode Island to go to the beach with my family or holed up in my apartment next to the air conditioner.

Similarly to me, my friends were escaping the heat. They were off on family vacations, jetting to the beach or gallivanting around Europe.

It was hard to sync our schedules. So the weekends I was home in NYC were quiet (read: boring) and indoors.

After one particularly meh indoors weekend, I started paying attention.

These summer weekends — inside, in solitude — just didn’t feel like me. Summer is my time! My peak living!

So how could I figure out how to design my summers differently? To recapture the magic of summer and in turn, recapture some of the essence of me?

And so began the gradual process that took me from reluctantly huddled next to my AC to fully, fully maximizing summer.

I’ve taken very few pictures this summer — too busy making the most of every minute! — but here are a few favorites to give you a taste…and as you can see, my dog both loves and swelters through it 😅.

With almost five years of hindsight (and many other big life shifts), I can see now that what I did is my trusty and repeatable process for intuitive and aligned change — the slow, exploratory and inquisitive process that I need to go through to figure out exactly what I need to change and then go about changing it.

I realized I was disconnected from a core part of who I was.

Growing up in RI or the “ocean state” where our state is more water than land, going to the beach was my family’s religion. If we weren’t in the car with the beach chairs and sandwiches by 7:15am on a Saturday, we were doing it wrong.

Somewhere along the way, I had stop counting beach days per week and started counting them per summer.

And that number of 2-3 just didn’t feel right to me.

Huddling next to my air conditioner in a city that trapped heat wasn’t me.

The beach, the ocean was me.

I’d allowed this important part of me — my love for summer — to dim in the name of logistics and practicality (i.e., I owned an apartment in NYC).

Instead of continuing to let myself prioritize logic over possibility, I allowed myself to really feel that misalignment.

To feel like I was wasting a summer weekend. To feel bored and lonely at the end of a weekend. To feel sad that I was missing out on what brought me so much joy.

I felt the misalignment until it started to turn into motivation.

My mind was expanded.

I realized I had been operating under this very pre-Covid norm of live primarily in one place. You have a home, you go to work in an office five days a week. That’s your base, where you spend the majority of your time.

But then, armed with my misalignment and starting to ask myself hard questions, I realized…my best friend had already upended the model.

Right in front of me was a different, more flexible model of living. She spent a month on the west coast with her family — a tradition started in Covid and continued because it was so magical for her entire family.

I just hadn’t fully seen it.

But then one of my oldest friends mentioned her dream to live between NYC and RI.

I had a deep and visceral reaction in the moment.

It literally felt like my mind was one of those 🤯 emojis and I realized I wanted to do exactly that.

I needed other people to share their dreams, so I could a) realize that’s what I wanted too, and b)see that it was possible for me to.

I asked for help and allowed myself to be helped.

Ok, fast forward to the spring of 2023. I had my vision for a summer in RI. I knew what town I wanted to live in. I could see my morning dog walk. I could practically taste the salt water.

I pulled up the local rental site ready to find the perfect summer home.

And…

[cue the record scratch sound effect]

There wasn’t a house available for under $10k / week. Several $ks above my budget.

I felt my heart sink. It’s hard to describe how devastated I was. The summer highlight reel I was already playing in mind ground to halt.

I called my mom on the verge of tears (in tears, if I’m being honest).

She pulled up the same rental site and realized that I had read the calendar feature wrong. Within five minutes, she’d found the perfect apartment for me (one that I’m still living in today).

And so here I am, four summers later, full of the sweetest memories with my nieces, leisurely and meandering dog walks and long, lazy beach days, deeply grateful to my 2022 self for paying attention when something felt off.

It’s given me the confidence (and the playbook) to pay attention when something wasn’t right in my Chief of Staff role, when NYC stopped filling my cup, and now countless times, as I tinker and refine my business.

You might not be trying to perfectly optimize your geography right now, but my guess is there might be at least one place in your life where you feel that misalignment…that soft, subtle whisper that you’re dimming some core part of your self.

And, the point of this essay isn’t to teach you my pattern for change, but to help you see that you probably have your own.

Think about a few major decisions you made (or didn’t make) over the past few years…

How’d you first notice something was off? Where’d you find inspiration? How’d you build conviction? What made it easier (or harder) along the way?

That’s your own change pattern. Nudging and guiding you forward.

As long as you’re willing to listen, pay attention and open to acting…

The fullest, most “you” version of your life is on the other side 💜.

—

If one of the changes you know you need to make is in your career, join our career clarity masterclass on Sept. 27th. Aptly titled, “Get Clear On What’s Next,” we’ll help you define what matters most to you, what you’re uniquely good at and what you care about.

We opened registration early due to popular request, so grab your spot today. You’ll get the 14-page reflection guide as soon as you sign-up, so you can start getting the clarity you need to make your change today.

“As Cydnee always says…” or “As Cydnee told me…”

Followed by a phrase or philosophy that (it turns out!) I do say a lot.

I’m fulfilled by this for a lot of reasons — it’s always nice to know your words are landing and having an impact. It’s also continuously building my thought leadership.

But most importantly, this warms me from within because:

It reminds me of my late grandmother.

My mom’s mom — my “Grandma Bigs” — was a powerhouse of a woman who golfed, bowled and charmed everyone well into her late-80s.

She was legendary for her sayings. You couldn’t chat with her for more than five minutes before she dropped in one of her favorite idioms.

My aunt has a list of 30+ written down somewhere.

But some of her favorites were:

“She’s in and out like a Greyhound bus.”

“It’s raining cats and dogs.”

“It’s good on the lips, hard on the hips, and that’s where it stays.”

(Yes, wildly problematic in 2026, but said in the 1970s with care 😅)

“I love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.”

And so when my sayings land with my clients, it makes me feel like I’m honoring her legacy in some little bit.

Since it’s late August, let’s have some fun and honor my Grandma Big…

Here are some of my most oft-repeated truisms and why they matter — for both your career and your life:

(Note, I’m not claiming any of these as original to me — Oprah has probably said many of them! But here’s my take on how they apply to you and your career.)

“Where you go, there you are.”

What it means: No matter how much we try to compartmentalize, put on masks, or ‘fake it ‘til you make it,’ you are the same innate human in every aspect of your life.

So if you’re struggling to hold boundaries or can’t work giving less than 150% effort, moving to a new company won’t magically fix your burnout. If you’re consistently and quietly questioning your capabilities, a strong handshake and eye contact won’t make you feel (or appear) more confident.

This saying is an invitation to look at thorny self-doubt or well-worn habits that might be holding you back from how you want to show up in the world. And, it’s a call forward to do the real inner work needed, so you change at a fundamental level vs. relying on band-aid surface level fixes or hacks.

But it’s also inspiring! If you’re struggling to figure out what you want to do in your career or what you’re good at, your personal life holds more clues than you might think. How you spend your free time, the topics you’re naturally drawn towards, the way you interact with others — this is the roadmap for what you’ll find fulfilling at work.

Because after all…where you go, there you are!

“Say no, so you can say ‘yes’ to what’s right.”

What it means: We humans have finite capacity — finite time, finite mental space, finite energy (as much as we may want to think or try to hack our way out of this!).

When you tie up your capacity in something unaligned, you’re blocking what’s right.

This one is edgy because we’ve been conditioned to say “yes” to all opportunities that come our way — especially the ones that look and sound good. Especially in today’s market when you don’t know when you’ll get your next interview or offer.

But “no” is the most powerful word you can use in pursuit of an aligned career (and life!).

Think about investing twenty hours in a final round case study for a job you’re not going to take, but feel obligated to see through — perhaps your mentor recommended you or your partner thinks it would be a great fit. That’s twenty hours you spent not pursuing alignment — not connecting with folks at your dream company, not working on the business plan for your dream business.

On a more ethereal plane, tying up your capacity is going to energetically block you from being able to receive aligned opportunities. They literally won’t come to you.

I’ve seen clients time and time again bravely say “no” to something unaligned. It felt massively uncomfortable, until the right opportunity showed up a few days or weeks later. shared her own experience with this in Lenny’s Newsletter.

We make small micro decisions on how to spend our capacity — time, energy, mental — every single day. They’re not neutral.

So try out saying “no” a bit more, so you can say “yes” to what you really want.

“What will your 70 year old self think?”

What it means: There are a few different variants on this (“how will you think about this moment at your retirement party?” is another favorite), but they all drive back to perspective.

When you’re in the midst of a tough stretch — recently laid off, a few months longer unemployed than you want, needing to take a step back to get to where we want to go — our brains naturally catastrophize. Our minds tend to hyper-focus on why this is terrible or the worst case scenario.

As soon as you zoom out to how you’ll feel at 70, 80 or 90, you’re able to get healthy perspective. These few months is a small chapter (maybe even a footnote) on your total career.

My other favorite application is asking what your wisest or sagest version might do. We’re all growing into wise, brave, self-assured, fearless older women. No doubt that that version of yourself will inspire and motivate you, so channel some of her into today’s decision.

“People remember how you make them feel, not what you say.”

Ok, this one is most definitely not original to me. But could not be more true in your job search or most parts of life.

What it means: Most of networking is vibes. Your vibes are great, so take some of the pressure off.

Yes, there is a lot of strategy to networking and interviewing, which we get into in Ambition Reimagined. But at the end of the day, the people you’re connecting with aren’t tracking every last word that you have to say.

They’re evaluating two things:

Would I want to work with this person? Do I think this person is smart and capable?

Which means the two things you need to in a networking convo are: 1) build rapport, 2) establish yourself as smart and capable.

Make small talk. Ask good questions. Provide your perspective. Reference your experience.

It’s that simple. And you can do that with ease.

“Trust Yourself.”

I’m a broken record on this one, but I couldn’t not include it as I’m sure Wispr Flow will tell me its one of my top-5 most used phrases.

What it means: This stretch of our lives are fraught with heavy career (and life) decisions. Many will feel intimidating, fraught or impossible. But if you trust yourself, you can handle and thrive through anything.

More specifically, in this stretch of life, you’re making decisions about where and how you want to build your career…if you want to push for the C-Suite, if you want to pivot, if you want to start your own thing, if you want to scale back…

What I’ve learned in observing 125+ women make these decisions, is that part of why they feel so hard is that we discount our inner wisdom and capabilities. We’ve been taught to outsource our confidence to our bosses, performance reviews and best practices.

But the most important thing you can believe (and what allows you to make a scary decision with confidence) is that you can figure it out.

And truly, you can.

You have the instincts, scrappiness and resilience to make anything work. If the start-up tanks, you’ll find another job. If you crash and fail at this new function, you’ll pivot again. If your business tanks, you’ll do something else.

Rely on yourself and anything is possible.

—

My Grandma Bigs never thought about her legacy. She kept saying the things that were true to her…over and over again…until they became ours.

And so I hope I’m doing that for you too. These are my truths, and I’ll keep repeating them over and over again, until they become all of ours.

So remember that where you go, there you are. Say “no”. And trust yourself 💜.

And if you want support putting these truisms into practice, we’ve opened registration for our “Get Clear on What You Want Next” Masterclass early. We’ve had a lot of asks about it, so come join us on Sept. 27th!

Less masterclass, more mini-career exploration sprint, this experience includes 14-pages of our best reflection questions and frameworks, two-hours of expert coaching and learning and a 1x1 with me.

At first glance, this seems like a very generic and straight-forward marketing question. I should write the newsletter!

But as always with the questions that pester us, there was something much deeper going on.

The newsletter in question was writing about the value of being a generalist. This has been a hot topic amongst several clients recently, which is always a sign that I should write about it.

Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t get myself to sit down at my computer and type out the essay.

It took me a bit to figure out why…

But then I realized: I’m in a period of evolution.

And I want every word that I write — and share with you — to represent the version of myself I’m stepping into, not who I’ve been.

In the same way, I that encourage my clients to embrace every interaction — every informational chat, new connection, email follow-up — as an opportunity to show up as the most empowered, convicted and true version of themselves, I needed to take my own medicine.

So I’ll probably write this email on being a generalist at some point, but I need to write it in a way that reflects more of my journey and depth, and not hide behind “five-best practices” — or the easy frameworks I sometimes default to that anyone on the internet (or AI) can write.

By now I’ve probably piqued your interest or you’re just wondering what is all of this soul searching because of a simple email about being a generalist?! So here’s what I mean when I say I’m “evolving”…

Coming into this year, as I neared the three-year anniversary of my business in July, I felt a bit stagnant. I had a deep craving to learn, to be stretched.

Or to put it simply: I needed to blow up my comfort zone.

But I wasn’t sure exactly what it was or how to get there.

The irony was not lost on me I’d been feeling exactly like so many of my clients when they come to me: stuck, restless and so ready for more. I feel that too!

Over the past few months, after a few pivotal sessions with my coaches, my own reflection and listening to intuitive nudges, I’m starting to see where I need to head.

I’m going deeper in some places, gradually evolving in others and yes — blowing up my comfort zone.

Here’s what’s percolating:

I feel more dialed in and clearer than ever in our career coaching work.

Excuse the sorta tech bro lingo, but Sarah and I have really hit our stride in knowing what the women inside Ambition Reimagined need and partnering together to provide that. It feels like we’re in flow — and our clients are getting real results.

The women in the program are also totally dialed in. They get each other — at a deep level, with no explanation needed. And they show up so fully for each other, challenging and championing each other. They want to be in the room together, and it shows in every single conversation.

And I say clearer than ever because “career exploration” can feel lofty and intimidating. But at the heart of it, we’re really just helping women do four things:

• Get clear on what they really want

• Give themselves permission to go after it

• Own their value, and

• Connect with others as the truest, most authentic, human version of themselves

As long as we stay focused on those four things, and then wrap it with the right packaging, strategy and mindset, our clients get where they want to go.

It feels so good to be in this space, to keep investing in it and know it’s only going to get better.

The other part of my work is evolving towards identity and embodiment.

This spring, I was feeling curious about my 1x1 work. I love working with a select few women in a deep partnership, but Ambition Reimagined covered career transitions so well, I found myself wondering: what was the value proposition and differentiator for my 1x1 work?

After a powerful coaching session with one of my coaches (yes, I have multiple!) in April, I realized that my 1x1 work is for women who need to fully transform. These women are done playing small or safe. They have massive ambitions for how they want to show up in the world, and know they need to unleash the most empowered, self-trusting and fully embodied version of themselves.

On a walk one day, I heard a whisper “this work is about identity and embodiment.”

I thought “huh, that feels right, but how am I ever going to market that?!”

Well, the joke was on me. The universe got the word out somehow and fast forward four months later, my 1x1 slate is full with remarkable women who are doing deep work to bust every single block that stands between them and the woman they know they’re capable of becoming.

I’ll share more about this in the next few weeks, but the work is awesome.

The three-year vision for my business is emerging.

I realized earlier this summer that the three-year vision I had been working towards since I started to scale my business in 2023 was nearly complete — in a really cool, beautiful way. I’d had this vision to expand from pure coaching to build a platform, speak on stages, get press.

I don’t have the book contract I’d envisioned and haven’t gone viral, but for the most part, I’ve done it.

I realized I needed to start working towards a new vision, and while I don’t have a crisp three-year goal or strategy (or feel a need for one), I can see shapes of the vision slowly emerging:

• The community and in-person connection that’s become such a big driver of my work this year is stronger, deeper and more potent.

• I’m still at the front of the room, but instead of standing on a stage in business clothes teaching, I’m in softer clothes facilitating. I’m not sure exactly what the topics are, but it’s all a little gentler, deeper and more explorative.

• I’m still coaching, and have expanded and amplified my work by weaving in somatic (physical body) practices and spirituality. These methodologies have been so important to me in my growth, and it’s time to bring them to my clients.

I’m trusting that if I just keep moving towards this vision one day at a time, it will get clearer and clearer until it becomes my reality.

I’m strengthening my craft, by going deeper and broader.

My intentions for 2026 were radiance (nurturing my body and energy), spirituality (learning new methodologies, deepening my intuition) and being authentically on-stage.

I love time-bound intentions as they really hold you accountable!

Last week, with the clock ticking down on these intentions (I had made some, but not massive, progress), I signed up for a new immersive training: Journey Dance Teacher Training.

This is a somatic dance practice that incorporates mindset strengthening, vocal empowerment and healing — all strategies that will amplify my core coaching.

It’s totally woo and I cannot wait.

I’m not going to teach Journey Dance (but never say never! I said I was never going to coach professionally before starting coach training in 2019), but this is massively outside my comfort zone in all the right ways.

As part of the training, I’ll have to practice teaching dance and music — two modalities I have zero experience in. It’s going to be goofy, awkward and no doubt, make me an even better coach, facilitator and connector of women.

The first training is in late September and I’ll be sure to share more about I “journey” through it ;).

—

So there you have it.

I feel like I’m in this cool period of leveling-up. My business and visions are getting crisper. My voice is getting stronger and more true. I’m holding myself accountable to growing.

And, I want to share that more with you all.

So I’ll still be talking all things career, personal growth and evolution in this space, but continuously experimenting to do it in my own voice.

Grateful to be learning, growing and expanding alongside you 💜.

Unbeknownst to Jordan, our paths first crossed in 2019 — a colleague mentioned using 81cents to help negotiate her offer and I immediately volunteered as one of their offer reviewers.

For the next few years, 81cents was my connection to the work I wanted to do full-time one day — a way to channel my energy towards empowering women before I could make it my actual career.

I followed Jordan from a distance. She was filling a real need in the market with a creative solution. The execution was thoughtful and few years later she successfully exited. I really respected her.

Fast forward to last summer, and Jordan reached out for support in figuring out her next chapter. I got to know the human behind the founder — and my respect for her only deepened.

Like so many of my clients, Jordan had done a little bit of everything. The startup operator job description is essentially being a generalist. She was ready to find a path that fully utilized her strengths and do it for a mission that had become increasingly important to her: empowering those not born on third base to build generational stability.

While Jordan knew the change she wanted to make — she didn’t know what or how, and was having trouble discovering it in the midst of her full-time career.

So she did something she’d never done before — or even thought possible — she quit without another role lined up to give herself space to figure it out.

Over six-months of testing, learning, real conversations and honest inner work — using our Ambition Reimagined methodology and then surrounding herself with other women making bold moves in our On Purpose Together alum community — Jordan found the exact role she dreamed of:

Product manager building build tech tools that reduce the number of people in the incarceration system at a mission-driven start-up that operates like a tech company with the heart of a non-profit.

I’ll let Jordan tell you exactly how she got here herself.

In our conversation, Jordan and I cover everything — how her exploration spanned from tactical job searching to turning the lens deeply inward, and that one brave decision that kicked off everything. We talk about:

• How to tell the difference between leaving a role from fear and leaving from strength – and how envisioning Jordan’s 70-year-old self gave her the confidence to leave

• …and how writing down her fears and figuring out how she’d manage through the worst-case scenario gave her the comfort she needed to leave without her next role lined up

• How Jordan “test drove” different careers through short-term freelance projects instead of trying to guess her way there through informational interviews and analysis on a spreadsheet

• How she figured out exactly what she was looking for – a mission-driven start-up that operated like a tech company with the heart of a non-profit – and then identified the indicators to find the right professional home

• How she learned to see her own experience and potential the way a hiring manager would, instead of discounting it before anyone else could

• How to tell when your ego is leading you astray vs. giving you valuable feedback pointing you toward work you’ll be proud of

This is a great conversation for anyone who knows there’s something better out there, but can’t quite figure out how to get from here to there within the constraints of your full-time job (and life!). Jordan’s story is proof that you can leap and trust that the net will appear.

Or to just learn from and be inspired by a remarkable woman.

To learn more from Jordan, connect with her [here].

Thank you so much, Jordan!

» get inspired

If you’re curious how other clients have radically realigned their lives, check out these other episodes. I guaranteed you’ll be inspired by each of these remarkable women and they’ll expand your sense of what’s possible 💜.

I’ve chatted with so many women recently who all want the same thing:

Stability.

Now, I’m also working with several women right now who are reconsidering and redesigning every facet of their career — blowing the roof off what they thought was possible for them.

But there’s a growing desire to find stability — a secure job at a healthy company with a regular paycheck and rational people. A place where you can stay for a while.

And I get it — I’ve seen the corporate world churn women up and spit them out over the past few years…

Whether that was…

Doing exhaustive due diligence on a company only to have her beloved manager leave a month after joining.

Getting laid off when a new CEO joined the company and decided to deprioritize her entire function.

Riding the boom and bust cycle of start-ups and experiencing three layoffs in as many companies.

Ping-ponging between emotional highs and lows depending on the mood of her mercurial boss.

The corporate world can just be tough (and perhaps a few of these resonate?).

And so stability can feel like the only thing that lets you breathe, plan for the future and stop bracing for impact.

In these conversations, women are usually desiring stability in one of two scenarios (one or both might sound familiar to you):

• A full-time role at an organization that is well-led, strategically sound and people-first — a professional home where they can stay long-term (and reap all the benefits above)

• A full-time role at an organization with all of the above with a steady paycheck, instead of the variability of entrepreneurship

I also get this deeply. I do.

Some of the best years of my career were mid-way through my 5.5 year stint at a company — I knew how it operated, had deep relationships and credibility. I could be perform without pouring every single ounce of myself into the work.

Plus, I definitely wouldn’t mind knowing that a sizable dollar amount was dropping into my bank account some months 😉.

AND…

What I’ve learned over almost seven years of doing this work with 125 women is that you can’t rely on a company for stability.

We’ve known that the old corporate value proposition — work at a company for 40 years, retire with a golden parachute pension — is long gone, but yet, most of us still equate having a W-2 corporate job with stability.

Now this is not an anti-corporate manifesto.

I loved working within corporate structures and have helped my clients find many, many good corporate jobs.

But it’s a clear-eyed look at professional work today.

Companies are just dynamic. They’re comprised of humans working under significant pressures — the volatile macro economy, AI transformation or whatever is happening in their personal lives.

And so these humans will make decisions that impact you — whether that’s your boss leaving, a CEO reprioritizing or the people team recommending your team for the first cut.

So instead of solely relying on a company for stability (and outsourcing your agency to one of these aforementioned dynamic and pressured humans)…

Here’s my invitation to you:

Build your own stability.

Cultivate your own sense of security so no matter what happens in your day job, you know you can manage through it.

Get in the driver’s seat of your career and know what you’ll do next if a layoff comes this fall.

Instead of seeing networking as a periodic endeavor (or when you have time), stay in continuous touch with your contacts.

Build your personal brand outside of your company, so you’re known for your own body of work, not the name at the top of your resume.

If you want to start your own venture, figure out how to build in stability. Perhaps it’s working part-time as you do it, keeping corporate doors open or be clear on how much you’ll invest (and protect).

With a disclaimer that I’m not giving financial advice — take a look at your emergency fund, consider diversifying your income (don’t we all dream of having an Airbnb empire?!) or know what business you’ll start or what you’ll consult on if needed.

Ask yourself what else is going to make you feel more secure and then do that.

Taking action will give you a sense of “I’ve got this.”

And while you take action, shore up your inner sense of self-reliance.

Remind yourself that you are infinitely capable and can handle anything that comes your way. Because you can and will.

Know that if you get laid off, you’ll find another, better role or start your own thing.

Know that if your boss leaves (or stays too long), you’ll decide whether to stay or go from a place of grounded power, not panic.

Know that the highs and lows of a job aren’t a verdict on your worth, and you can derive fulfillment outside of work, not project milestones.

It’s my favorite power trio of: self-trust, self-belief and self-worth.

And know that you don’t have to do this alone.

If you want support in building your own stability — taking control of your career and deepening your self-trust, join us on Tuesday for our once-quarterly Ambition Reimagined Experience. This is a unique opportunity to experience the coaching and community that make this program so powerful, and feel if it’s the right fit for you.

We’re at capacity, but I just opened two more spots this morning. I’d love to have you join us.

I’ll leave you with this:

There are good professional homes in the corporate world. There are!

But your stability is too important to outsource to your boss or CEO.

Build your own stability — by owning your career and deepening your inner self-reliance.

Keep reminding yourself: “I’ve got this.”

Because you do 💜.

I can’t wrap up this anniversary celebration without talking about the most important part of my business:

My clients.

Or the wildly remarkable and thoughtful women who trust me to guide them through the deep, challenging and often vulnerable process that is career discovery.

These women are the reason I have a business. And yet, I don’t talk about my clients a lot.

Not nearly as much as marketing experts and business development mentors encourage me to.

And that’s because the work we do together is deeply personal. The subtle shifts in their confidence or new perspective on what’s possible can’t be perfectly captured in a screenshot or sound bite. Plus, I guard their privacy fiercely.

But today, I’m going to shout from the roof top about these women.

They are doing remarkable things in their careers, while also very intentionally crafting lives that are deeply true to who they are and what they care about. I want you to know about them! To be inspired by them. To celebrate alongside of them.

So consider today’s note both a massive brag on my clients and a massive thank you note to them.

I’ve worked with 125 women since I first started coaching in 2019.

Over the past 18 months, I’ve paired my 1x1 coaching work with a significant community element. I had a hunch that getting these women in conversation with each other would amplify their expansion and boy, has that proven true.

I was chatting with an industry colleague about the community she was building and she described hers as a place where “iron sharpens iron.” I immediately thought to myself “ah, that’s (almost) it.”

These women are coming together to challenge, support and champion each other. The energy isn’t quite sharpening iron, but more blooming together — strengthening their roots, nourishing their core and pruning as they grow towards the sun together.

I describe my clients as “ambitious millennial women.”

They come from the top business schools (my current clients hail from: Haas, HBS, Kellogg, Tuck, Yale SoM, Wharton) and have the right titles at the top brand names.

I use these affiliations as short-hand to try to capture my client’s magic.

Their specialness is much less about the brand names they have on their resume, and much more about how thoughtful, committed and capable they are.

I’ll do my best to give you a flavor of just how special they are (while also speaking in generalized terms)…

They’re deeply introspective and intentional about how they show up in the world, the futures they’re building and who they’re becoming.

These women are allergic to the status quo. They will not stagnate. They will not stay in jobs that are boring, draining or just “good enough.” They’re always asking themselves how they can grow.

I’m working with a few women right now who after a few tough breaks in their careers are ready to blow the roof off their potential. They know what they’re capable of and are going all in to get to the level of influence, scope and industry authority they deserve. They’re reclaiming control of their careers and creating their own destinies.

And I have other clients who are questioning everything — looking honestly at what really motivates them, wondering if a corporate environment is the right setting for them to thrive and debunking others’ expectations and definitions of success.

These women aren’t tweaking around the edges. They’re asking themselves real questions so they can get to the real answers that are right for them.

They’re willing to do deep work to strengthen their foundation — no band aids or quick fixes here.

A good portion of my clients come to me after having been laid off — a number that is only increasing in 2026 — or after a toxic boss or culture that’s destroyed their confidence.

It’s incredibly vulnerable to say “I don’t know what I’m good at anymore.” Yet, these women do it and bravely ask for help.

And then they commit just as fully to the “inner work” as they do to updating their resume and LinkedIn profiles. These women have their journals at the ready and are willing to look at every single old thought pattern, heal the most painful lingering memories and remove the blocks holding them back so they can rebuild their belief — in their capabilities and themselves.

This work is critical to getting their next role, yes. But it’s also deep foundational work that will serve them for rest of their lives.

They’re unafraid to make bold, unconventional moves.

Ok, this is a fun one! In the past year, my clients have:

• Quit their jobs without another lined up, because they needed a break and / or needed time to really be thoughtful about what’s next.

• Started new ventures, finally allowing themselves to pursue long-held dreams. They’ve vibe coded, made brave asks, built social media followings and run at their visions.

• Had brave conversations with their leaders, asking for what they need, not what’s best for the company (part-time roles, internal transfers, boundaries).

• Stayed with their current companies - despite initially thinking the only path was out - realizing that the real growth was stepping up to a new level, rewriting their relationship with work and setting meaningful boundaries

All of this a lot of new jobs, hobbies, board service, marriages, kids, homes, cities, etc!

They’re deeply invested in each others’ expansion and success — and fully believe they’re better together.

I saved my favorite one for last. I refer to my group coaching work as “communities” for lack of a better descriptor. Community implies comradery and shared interests, but doesn’t fully capture how deep and potent each of these groups are — they’re containers for mutual growth, expansion and realizing dreams.

Or blooming together.

This week alone in our group sessions, I witnessed multiple clients questioning themselves, only to be met by the others who wouldn’t let them doubt or down-play their value. They were all met with “you bring X unique perspective” and “remember this company needs your exact skillsets.”

A participant shared a question she’d been wrestling with. Before the words were even out of her mouth, she was met by two others exclaiming, “I feel the exact same way” and “that resonates so much.” The relief in being seen and knowing that they weren’t alone was palpable.

And lastly, I reached out to an alum recently asking her to connect with a current client. She responded with “Of course. You know you don’t have to ask. I’m happy to talk to anyone in this space.”

These anecdotes perfectly sums up the energy in these communities.

These women are there to empathize deeply, champion and open doors for each other.

These women could be navigating their career solo, but they know that they’ll get to better outcomes — a deeper sense of self, peer support and accountability — when doing it collectively. They’re better together.

These women are truly remarkable — both my current clients and every single one of the 125 women I’ve worked with. I don’t think I could use more effusive adjectives (or the word “remarkable again”), so I hope I gave you a flavor of what makes them so special.

And hopefully a dash of inspiration if you’re coming off your own rough patch, wanting to make a big, bold move or knowing you need to figure out what’s next.

I know that every single person reading this newsletter is equally as remarkable.

So if you see yourself in any of these women — needing the same space to reflect, realign your career and bloom alongside other women — I’d love to invite you to learn more about Ambition Reimagined.

We’re hosting our once-quarterly Ambition Reimagined Experience on July 21st. This is a fantastic opportunity to get a firsthand feel for the expert guidance, curated community and proven tools the program offers.

You’ll get to:

• Hear how recent participants navigated pivotal career decisions

• ​See how the program creates clarity and forward momentum

• ​Experience live coaching on a real challenge

• ​Get a feel for the caliber of women in the room

We’ve capped attendance and there are only six seats left - grab yours today [here].

I’ll wrap with a massive thank you to every single one of my 125 clients reading this (and I hope are blushing!).

You are designing a remarkable career — and most importantly life — and doing it alongside a very special community of women.

I am immensely grateful that I get to learn from, be inspired by and guide you every single day.

Here’s to more blooming together 💜.

Last month, in the bustle of my regular day-to-day, I glanced at my email and saw a headline that said something along the lines of “Hiring managers says enthusiasm differentiates candidates.”

I thought to myself, “Oh, perfect! This backs up exactly what I teach my clients.”

Made a mental note to come back to the article and share it with you all.

Fast forward a few weeks later, and after exhaustively searching my inbox and Google, I either hallucinated that article or it was an article about demonstrating enthusiasm for AI tooling when applying to AI start-ups (important! but not at all what I was getting at).

But the point still stands, and we don’t need an external POV to confirm what we already know:

The vibes you bring into an interview are what differentiate you.

There are only really three things that matter when you want to make a career transition. And truly, this applies to any big swing you’re taking in life — whether that’s recruiting in today’s competitive job market, advocating for a promotion or betting on yourself to launch the venture you’ve always dreamed of.

You need:

1. Clarity or to know exactly what you’re going after and why.

2. Narrative or the words, proof and story to demonstrate why you’re exactly the right person for this opportunity.

And…

You need the right energy. Or vibes.

As the (imaginary) article posited, it’s about enthusiasm and passion, yes.

But even more importantly, it’s the energy of believing in yourself, your capabilities and your ability to master the opportunity in question.

My coaching clients had the privilege of learning from Joanna Lovering, an expert in executive presence, last month. She taught a true masterclass, but one of the most important reminders was the simplest: 93% of communication is non-verbal.

People remember how you make them feel, not what you say.

This holds true in high-stakes meetings and every touchpoint you’ll have in your job search — from your informal coffee chats and recruiter phone screens to the final round interviews.

For many women in this community, after 10 to 20 years in the corporate world, you’ve encountered your fair share of knocks and tough breaks — challenging moments that have left you feeling uncertain about yourself or wary of corporate life.

Think about…

Your recent layoff after months under pressure as your company missed revenue targets or tried to brute-force AI adoption.

The toxic boss who micro-managed and under-utilized you, leaving you with the only responsibility to track down follow-ups or take meeting notes.

The role, company and mission that seemed so promising when you said “yes,” only to realize it was a house of cards once you go inside.

[Fill in the blank with your own tough recent moment]

The details are different but each of these moments has left you with a little scar tissue covering your self-belief, optimism and fortitude.

And that impacts how you show up in conversations.

It’s subtle and a little unconscious…

You can be saying all of the right words, but if your energy doesn’t match what you’re saying the person on the receiving end will sense it.

My favorite spirituality podcast has been talking about this a lot lately in terms of your signal or frequency.1

In the same way you can instantly sense if your partner is in a bad mood or you might think “wow, X has infectious good energy” after chatting with your neighbor, we’re all emitting some sort of frequency or subtle energy.

It’s worth checking in with yourself:

Is the frequency you’re emitting confident, grounded, convicted? Or is wobbly, hesitant, doubtful?

There’s a reason so many business books and change management experts espouse the adage: “culture eats strategy for breakfast!”

The same is true in your job search or big swing:

Your mindset eats your strategy for breakfast.

You can have a shining resume and nail your pitch, but if your energy doesn’t match you won’t get the opportunities you want.

Said differently: if you’re not getting the opportunities you want and can’t figure out why, it might be a sign to check in on your signal.

I share all of this with an invitation or call forward for you:

Don’t skip over or rush past the inner work. Get curious about what energy you’re giving off. Give yourself time, space and support to clear and strengthen that energy so it matches what you’re truly capable of.

If you’ve hit one of these bumps in the road over the past few years, give yourself time to really process and heal from it. If you’re struggling to believe in yourself, commit to the exercises in my Self-Trust Toolkit. If you’re just feeling wobbly, double-down on strengthening your mindset.

Know that shifting your energy isn’t a one-and-done thing. You can’t magically release the doubt built up from a toxic boss in one cathartic journaling session. It takes consistent, focused effort.

And you’ll never be 100% confident without a hint of self-doubt! After all, we’re humans! Strengthening our mindset is our life’s work — there’s always going to be something to work on.

But know that over time, your energy will shift. Your vibes will get stronger.

And watch how the people around respond differently. What opportunities will stay open for you.

This is why I’m so proud and unapologetic that one of the core pillars of Ambition Reimagined is “Inner Work.” You won’t find it in the average post-MBA career planning programming, but it’s such a critical part of effective career strategy.

And even more importantly, developing the self-belief and self-trust to show up as the wildly competent and powerful woman you are.

We’re hosting our once-quarterly Ambition Reimagined Experience on July 21st. If you’re curious to get a feel for the depth, honest and momentum that defines Ambition Reimagined, come join us. This is the one time each quarter we open the doors to Ambition Reimagined so you can get a real taste of the program: what it's like to work through a career question live, hear from alums who've been where you are and see how the coaching actually works.

Sign-up [here]. We’re limiting this to ten spots to preserve the intimacy of the experience, so grab yours today! We’d love to have you join us.

I’ll wrap with this: I don’t have an article to share, but I think that perfectly sums up this idea. Instead of relying on an external source to explain it, I’m sharing my own expertise — and trusting that the energy behind it is clear, confident and authoritative.

So with that…

Enjoy the long weekend. Give yourself permission to rest, indulge and have fun — good vibes will beget more good vibes.

You’ve got this 💜.

They want to:

• build the business they’ve been daydreaming about for years

• start a fractional business that maximizes flexibility, or

• maximize their passion and creativity through a portfolio career

Their ideas range from an e-commerce platform to a bookstore bar to a pilates studio to fractional consulting to writing.

It may just be something in the water.

But more likely, it’s the pressure of the modern corporate environment — you can’t open the news right now without seeing coverage of yet another layoff.

The value proposition of full-time W-2 employment — stability — is no longer reliable. Some women are deciding that stability isn’t something they want to outsource, but instead, it’s something they want to create.

And for others, it’s about how they feel on a day-to-day basis. Being tethered to their desk for ten hours of meetings a day doesn’t give them the flexibility they need in this life chapter. Nor is it fueling their creativity to be caught in a loop of politics, bureaucracy or AI upskilling. They women want to work in a way that’s life-giving, not draining.

Historically, about 80% of the women I’ve coached have been working towards new full-time roles, with 20% wanting to start their own thing. That balance is subtly shifting.

If you’re in that 80% wanting full-time employment, know that you can still very much find a good professional home (listen to my conversation with Kyra last week as proof or these convos with other clients)! It takes intention, due diligence and a willingness to advocate for yourself.

Today’s newsletter is for anyone with the inkling or faintest daydream about creating your own thing… (or just want to be voyeuristic!)

I’ve now spent three years building my own business (as of July 1st — woohoo!). And it’s a real viable entity. Not a side hustle, but a real business that supports my life, pays my bills and allows me to do my soul’s work.

When women come into my orbit dreaming of starting their own thing, they’re typically wondering the same 3-5 questions.

I had every single one of them too.

So today, I’m sharing my answers to those questions from my personal experience. Pulling back the curtain on what it’s been like to build my own business — what’s been hard, what’s been unexpectedly wonderful and what I recommend to anyone considering it.

I want you to see — and to know — that if I can do it, you can too.

The Stability Question

This is without a doubt the single most common refrain I hear — “I can’t leave the stability of my corporate job.” Sometimes framed in a question. Sometimes just a declarative statement.

I get this so deeply. That was me too. I thrived in companies! Loved knowing what my goals and growth areas were, and working towards the next-level step-by-step.

So I’m going to be honest with you:

Entrepreneurship isn’t unstable. But it is variable. And hard.

Entrepreneurship — or being responsible for how much money hits your bank account every month — is just hard, there’s no way around it.

No matter how successful your business, there will always be a lot more variability than getting five-figures dropped in your checking account twice a month.

I went full-time in my business in July 2023 and the first 18-months were pure hockey-stick growth. By fall 2024, I was close to out-earning my full-time salary.

I was smug. I thought I had out-run or out-smarted entrepreneurship. What was all this scrappiness or stress people talked about? I was a success.

And then Trump got elected. And we all went into a collective freeze. No one wanted to risk making a career change or discretionary spending (aka coaching).

Within a few months, I went from annualizing >$200k to not making enough to cover my rent.

Welp. Ok, so apparently, that is what entrepreneurship actually is.

Uncertain. Variable. Rocky.

I was so stressed. I had never dipped into my emergency fund before and it was unnerving. How much was I willing to use?

I did a lot of soul searching. Was this a sign to go back to my corporate life? Did I have the appetite for this type of risk and variability?

Ultimately, I decided the answer was a resounding “yes.”

I was doing my soul’s work. Every single client interaction was an endorsement to keep going.

Fast forward, a year later, and my business has rebounded. I haven’t fully replaced my corporate salary, but I’m on my way — and the freedom I have has more than made up for the financial gap.

But more importantly, figuring out how to earn every cent that comes into my bank account every month and weathering the inevitable cycles of business building have made me incredibly proud.

It’s taught me that I can create my own stability. have a sense that “I can handle anything.”

So instead of fearing the instability of entrepreneurship, know that there will be inevitable peaks and valleys but that you can create your own stability. No matter curve balls come your way, you’re going to figure it out. You are going to be successful, relying on your own ingenuity and super-powers vs. outsourcing that to a company.

The “But I Don’t Know How I’ll Make Money” Question

I laugh a little when women say this because I think we’ve collectively convinced ourselves that entrepreneurs start with a brilliant business idea and a beautifully crafted “right” business plan. The reality of business building has gotten lost in too many rocket ship, unicorn glory stories.

I certainly did not have a perfect plan from day one.

I quit my corporate job with a feeling — a deep conviction that I need to coach women, but not much more than that.

I didn’t create a business plan. I didn’t know what the business model was going to be. I didn’t know how I was going to get clients.

I hung out my shingle (posted a few times on LinkedIn) and just started.

Now, I wouldn’t recommend this strategy exactly. Creating at the very least a high-level financial plan would have helped me make a lot more money from day one.

So do crunch some numbers, but don’t perfect them.

Trust that once you know yourself well enough — especially your Career DNA of Operating Principles, Strengths and Passions and North Star — if you start talking to people, experimenting, perhaps every building, you’ll figure out how to monetize something.

And from there, the business model will emerge (and will keep evolving and changing — sometimes daily!).

You’ll get clarity on what resonates with your target customers and clients. You’ll learn very quickly what you don’t want to do. Your bravery will increase every day. You’ll make money.

In the same way investors bet on founders, not business ideas, bet on yourself.

As the CEO of your brand new venture, you’re going to be able to figure it out. You just need to start.

» inspiration

If you’re looking for inspiration for your venture, check-out the businesses four other clients have built. From D2C caviar to soft skills training, you can truly create anything — as long as it’s the work you’re meant to do.

The Logistics Question.

Or “how am I going to pay for healthcare?!” question…

This was me too. For two years before I went full-time in my business, I’d open the spreadsheet with my monthly carrying costs (mortgage, car payment, retirement, healthcare, spending — all the things that make us very responsible adults!), think “nope, not for me” and immediately close it.

The number felt high, and I just didn’t believe I could figure out how to earn that much money every month (see point above about not being an natural entrepreneur).

Eventually, that spreadsheet started to nag at me and I realized the number wasn’t so high…with some intentional planning, I could probably figure it out.

I didn’t want logistics to stand in between me and freedom.

But also quite honestly, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice my lifestyle at this point in my career. So I did the math on how much I actually needed to give myself 12-14 months to get my business off the ground. The number was not small (north of $50k).

And then in what might be the craziest — and best — decision of my life:

I invested that in myself and my business.

Three years later and I have spent every single dime in that savings account.

(Some other life stuff came up, as it always does).

I’m well aware that there are way more practical ways to have spent that money — I could have put it towards a down payment or made a ton of money in the stock market.

But I don’t regret a single cent. That money gave me freedom, authenticity and soul-aligned impact. It set my career (and life) on a different trajectory that I couldn’t have gotten to without the investment.

There’s no better gift I could have given myself.

When you want to go after the biggest, more inspiring vision of your life, you do have to put skin in the game. There might be meaningful start-up costs. You might earn less than you’ve been used to for a while. You’re not going to be able to able to immediately replace your corporate salary.

But there’s going to be no better ROI.

» further learning

I dug even deeper into the logistics questions (and a few of my best mindset tips) last winter — take a read if you more guidance on how to solve very solvable logistics.

The Self-Direction Question

I hear this from a lot of women — they’re worried they can’t carry a business on their own. They worry they need a co-founder, more accountability or someone telling them what to do.

I’m going to gently call BS on this one.

Every single woman reading this newsletter is extraordinarily motivated. You know how to master a work plan. You didn’t end up here by accident.

And here’s what I’d offer instead: what might feel like a lack of self-direction in your corporate life is often just a response to an environment that isn’t life-giving.

When you’re doing work you actually want to do, your motivation changes. You will be able to figure out what needs to get done and do it.

The Freedom Question

This one is less of a hesitation or question and more of a desire — women want to start their own thing because they’re craving freedom.

Agency, autonomy over their time, maximum flexibility.

And I’m very happy to report:

The freedom is priceless.

I didn’t know freedom was something I needed, wanted or should even value.

But now that I have it, I don’t know if I can ever go back.

Freedom in terms of creation, time, physical, mental load.

I work on the projects I want. I write the things I feel called to. I connect with the people I feel drawn to. When something stops being interesting or starts feeling draining, I stop it.

I work from any location I want. I can take a leisurely Thursday morning. I’m going to give myself some Summer Fridays over the next few months.

And I also don’t have the low-level stress that comes with most corporate jobs these days. I don’t worry about a nasty-gram blowing up my Sunday AM or a last minute fire drill coopting my vacation.

If you want more freedom in your career, and see building a business as a way to create it, I say go for it. It’s probably going to be even better than you think.

I’ve never felt more proud or convicted in myself — and that’s also priceless.

Entrepreneurship has changed my relationship with myself. I have this sense of “I can handle anything.”

Because I have. I’ve weathered through low-earning months, I’ve figured out how to cover my healthcare, I’ve sold almost $500k worth of my services.

And here’s the thing:

If I can do this, if I can handle anything…

You can too.

There’s nothing unique or differentiated about my disposition or business idea.

I just decided to bet on and invest in myself.

So if you’re on the cusp of or dreaming of starting your own thing, go for it.

As my favorite Peloton instructor says:

“Fear it and do it anyways.”

You’ve got this 💜.

» my invite to you

If you’ve been feeling the desire to start your own venture, but don’t know what, how or where, join us in Ambition Reimagined. We’ll help you get clear on who you are, what soul-aligned, freedom-based venture you’re meant to create and build the conviction to start.

As Ambition Reimagined grows, we’re investing more deeply in every participant to make sure you don’t just leave with clarity, but with more confidence, self-belief and a truer sense of yourself. The investment is increasing on July 1st, and we only have one (!) spot left to join at the current rate ($825 / month).

If you’ve been deeply craving a career change, consider this your invitation to get started. I’d love to explore whether it’s the right fit. Apply [here] and I’ll be in touch to schedule a call.

In every interaction, she showed up with a calm confidence.

She breezed through LaGuardia security to catch the Delta shuttle to Boston minutes before the doors closed. Patiently (very patiently!) taught me how to align PPT boxes. Taking big project changes and very long hours in stride.

We were both very much in that mid-2010s girl boss era — working exceptionally hard to accelerate as quickly as possible.

Our careers at that point were less about alignment, and more about what “made sense.” The right growth, exposure, exit opportunities.

Little did I know, Kyra felt just as “off” as I did.

Her career (both consulting and the high-growth start-up years that followed) all looked so good from the outside, but just didn’t fit who she was.

Fast forward a decade, and Kyra and my paths crossed again in the summer of 2024.

Driven by moves across the world to New Zealand, back to New York and then ultimately to Boulder, CO, Kyra was feeling good and satisfied. She had created a rich personal life — a strong community, a regular rock climbing practice, a burgeoning interest in public service.

But there was just one (major) piece still missing: how Kyra felt in her career.

She was ready to find the same alignment in her career as she had created in her life.

Kyra fully committed to coaching — first working through my Ambition Reimagined methodology and then surrounding herself with other women making bold moves in our On Purpose Together alum community — and week-by-week, month-by-month, slowly but surely, created the exact change she wanted.

Fast forward again to 2026, and spoiler, she’s found that alignment!

Kyra is in a role that feels like a natural extension of her strengths and working for a company she cares about, all while serving as board member for her local parks and rec department and and investing deeply in her community.

I’ll let Kyra tell you exactly how she got here herself.

In our conversation, Kyra and I dive into everything — how she redesigned her career and life, and the one decision that started it all. We talk about:

• How to hear and trust your quiet inner voice – especially when it lacks conviction and everyone around you seems so certain

• Why untethering your identity from your career is one of the most important and powerful shifts you can make

• How Kyra finally found the right function, and how good it feels to be building on the right path

• The unexpected, serendipitous way she landed her current job – and why it’s so important to be open to new connections and opportunities, even in the most unexpected places

• How to build a robust personal life and meaningful community, and how to integrate it with your professional priorities

• The importance of getting involved in local government

This is a great conversation for anyone who knows there’s a better — more aligned, more energizing, more meaningful — version of their career and life waiting on just the other side of the hill, and they just can’t figure out how to get from here to there (or how to take the very first step).

Or for anyone who just wants to be inspired by and learn from another remarkable woman!

Kyra will show you that you don’t need to have every choice mapped out – you just need to start. And that the most fulfilling life won’t come from others’ opinions, but what you create for yourself.

If you want to learn more from Kyra, whether about her career, local public service or building community, connect with her [here].

Thank you so much, Kyra!

» my invite to you

If you want to create the same change in your career — and go from feeling constantly discontent or stuck to feeling as deeply aligned and at peace as Kyra — you can use the exact same process she did in Ambition Reimagined, our flagship 1x1 and group career coaching program.

Ambition Reimagined is growing — and as it grows, we’re investing more deeply in every participant to make sure you don’t just leave with clarity, but with confidence, self-belief and a truer sense of yourself. The investment is increasing on July 1st, and we only have two spots left to join at the current rate ($825 / month).

If you’ve been deeply craving a career change, consider this your invitation to get started. I’d love to explore whether it’s the right fit. Apply [here] and I’ll be in touch to schedule a call.

» get inspired

If you’re curious how other clients have used coaching to radically realign their lives, check out these other episodes. I guaranteed you’ll be inspired by each of these remarkable women and they’ll expand your sense of what’s possible 💜.

This birthday feels particularly significant as I turned 39.

Gasp! The number feels high. I feel youthful.

I am grasping the waning days of my 30s and somehow already embracing the liberation I can taste in 40s (liberation from what? I’m not quite sure yet, but somehow I sense that all of our 40s are about being fully unleashed).

Over my 30s, I’ve made three monumental decisions that — while totally right for me — took me off a “traditional” path:

• I broke up with my long-term, live-in boyfriend at 33.

• I quit my multi-six-figure, c-suite job at 35.

• I moved out of NYC at 38.

It’s like I took the core cornerstones of life — relationship, career and home — and shook them up like a Magic 8 ball to see if there was a different answer.

(Quick side bar to note I know moving out of NYC is not necessarily stepping off “a path.” But, I liked the symmetry of three short pithy bullet points :). The TL;DR: is that I left NYC, my home of ten years, last summer not knowing where I wanted to move to next.)

“Traditional” can be defined in so many ways, but I think there’s a general societal expectation that most people will use their 30s to get married, buy a house, have kids and accelerate in their careers.

I essentially moved in the opposite direction.

Not because I don’t want those things. But because I want to do them in a way that feels really, deeply aligned.

Alignment is squishy, ethereal concept that we don’t have time to fully dive into today, but generally I think of alignment as:

Working and living in a way that feels cohesive with my values, priorities, strengths and passions.

No contorting, trying to fit into a box or jamming a square peg in a round hole.

And while I do feel really, really aligned on a daily basis (and I’m grateful to my younger self for making these decisions), none of these pieces have “landed” yet. I don’t know what the “aligned” end destination is.

• I’m in the early stages of a new relationship.

• I’m still building my business.

• I haven’t chosen a city or lease almost a year later.

I’ve very much still on the journey for each of these.

And while the wisest version of myself trusts that the right answer will emerge for each of these pieces, this journey has been catnip for the inner critic or the smallest version of myself that lives at the back of my head.

Shaking up that Magic 8 ball triggered a soundtrack of self-doubt and critique I didn’t even know I had.

While I know that these were the right decisions, sometimes (often!) my inner critic kicks into a loop of:

My audience should be bigger by now.

I should be making more money by now.

Why can’t I have the partner and family everyone else has?

You couldn’t make it in NYC.

Yeah...

It’s loud, persistent and not all that enjoyable.

And at times has made me feel behind. Off track. Unsuccessful.

Until about two months ago…

I was on a walk or doing something totally innocuous when my inner critic started to trip into this downward spiral of discontent. All of a sudden I head a new thought:

“What if I was just content?”

Ha! I hadn’t even realized how uncontent I was until that moment. But yes! What if I was just content?!

What if I focused on what I do have instead of what I don’t?

In my next thought, I realized that if I wanted to be more content, I had to break up with the potent pressure cooker of:

Comparison and Time Pressure.

I realized that at the root of my self-judgement were two universal dynamics — constantly evaluating myself against others’ public success and creating arbitrary timelines for milestones.

Who can’t relate?!

Comparison really is the thief of joy.

A friend of mine first said this to me a few years ago. Perhaps you’ve heard it too. But I didn’t really realize how perfectly true this aphorism was until the last year.

I work in an industry in which most people are running solo shops or small businesses and are the face of their brands. So my peers are knowable. I count many of them as colleagues and friends!

But I’ve found myself tripping down a rabbit hole of comparison every time I opened LinkedIn…

I’d see another coach’s post with 750 likes and start questioning why I couldn’t write better posts, why my content didn’t resonate, why I’d never be able to go viral, why, why, why….

I’d scroll past that post and see the women I once almost took a job with who just started a new role at Anthropic. Cue the comparison in over-drive: Wow! That will set her up for life. She must be making so much money. I could never get hired at Anthropic today. And on and on and on…

Objectively, I understood that social media is just a highlight reel (we all know this intellectually!), but scrolling through the platform felt like trying to navigate a field of landmines — I never knew when the next post was going to set off a spiral of inadequacy.

Why did I care about this?! I have zero desire to work at Anthropic. A viral post has nothing to do with impact or business performance.

Eventually, I realized that I didn’t care. I couldn’t care.

Energy is my most valuable asset in my business, and I was wasting it.

These women’s business and career success had nothing — truly nothing — to do with mine. We weren’t competing. Their success didn’t mean there was less for me.

They’re running their race. I’m running mine.1

The only race that matters is the one I’m running.

And whew, that feels good.

It’s all going to happen, so why does it matter by when?!

This has been the most freeing and liberating realization of the past few months.

I’ve put so much time pressure on myself.

I’ve been running this subconscious race of box-checking…must find partner by 40, must have kids by 38 (the math isn’t always logical!), must replace my corporate salary in first 18 months, must hit $500k by year three.

Perhaps overly influenced by “most successful 30 under 30” lists, I’ve been operating under a subtle, internalized belief that I have to have every piece in my life clear, resolved and fully successful by the time I enter my 40s.

I’ve felt like I’m sprinting towards a finish line before 40.

But why? Millennials are healthier and will likely outlive all other generations. My friend’s grandmother just passed at 103 — what is my rush?!

Case in point: I started dating someone new earlier this year. He’s wonderful.

But I found myself trying to figure out if he was my life partner after two months. Overly influenced by narratives around dating in your late 30s…”at this age, you just know,” I was so in my head, evaluating every interaction for “is this marriage material??” I couldn’t enjoy getting to know each other.

Eventually ChatGPT set me straight, and I realized that it’s not reasonable to make a final assessment on my feelings after only a few weeks. We’re still getting to know each other.

I took a few deep breaths and allowed myself to just relax. We’ll figure out if this is the real thing or not, so why did it have to happen by a set date?

I’ve been trying to take the same approach to my business.

I’ve exceeded most metrics for a successful coaching business. But I don’t yet have that runaway success of a viral public platform, book contract or $1M business.

And my inner critic has been anchored on that gap.

Instead of dwelling, I’ve decided to remind myself that I’ve always been good at working. I know how to step into a new role, figure out what I need to learn and then work hard to master it — I’ve done this successfully at every other point in my career.

So why would this chapter be any different?

I know I’m going to be able to reach the threshold of success (impact, revenue, influence) that I aspire to.

So why does it matter if I meet certain revenue targets in 2026 vs. 2028? Why does it matter if I write a book by 40 vs. 43?

It doesn’t.

Compounding interest will take care of any financial difference. And the rest — the public platform, book — will emerge when I know what I want to say.

I know I’m going to be able to create everything that I want in my life.

It’s not a question of if and it doesn’t matter when.

Here’s the punchline:

I actually do feel more content.

It’s only been a few months, it’s remarkable how different I feel.

I’m appreciating what I have, instead of always measuring the gap. I’m letting things emerge vs. forcing them by a set timeline.

The chatter at the back of my head is quieter, allowing me to be more present.

I share this all because what women on this list wouldn’t enjoy being more content — we’re wired to always want more. If you’ve been distracted by self-judgement or false urgency, I hope you take this as inspiration to eradicate comparison, time pressure or whatever may be driving it.

So here’s to our 30s. A decade of wondering, transformation and building for all of us.

And, hopefully more contentment 💜.

One of the remarkable women in Ambition Reimagined asked me this at the end a session a few weeks ago.

I paused.

I have a very strong perspective on five-year plans (and one you might not expect for an expert in career planning!). This philosophy is baked into my coaching and has shaped almost the last decade of my own career.

But I realized I had never shared my POV out loud (or in what’s about to be a a Substack dissertation). And I was a little hesitant. Well, because…

We, ambitious millennial women are planners.

I know because I am one.

There is nothing we can not or have not been able to achieve without the right plan.

We’ve all created and mastered some version of…

…A two year plan to master the GMAT or GRE, craft the perfect essays, impress the admissions team to get into business school. Check, done.

…Three-year plan to get the perfect brand name job post-business school, get promoted as quickly as possible, maximize exit opportunities. Check, done.

The utility of long-ranging planning is reinforced in almost every interview as we’re asked: ”where do you want to be in five-years?”

We thrive on goals, focus and to-do lists.

Plans serve us.

So this is what feels edge-y to declare out loud:

I don’t believe in five-years plans (or any time-bound plans, really. I know most of have more two-or three-year plans than five- or ten-year plans. But the same concept still applies).

Five-year plans a) presume you can predict the future, and b) are immensely limiting.

I’ll explain all of this in more depth below (ardently!).

But if you’re reading and wondering, “ok, but I need something. I can’t just not have a plan…”

Pick your direction, instead of a destination.

Plans fueled me. Until they didn’t.

If you’ve been a long-time reader, you know that my early 30s were defined by immense career malaise — I felt lost, confused and deeply unmoored.

I had always had the plan.

Copy-paste each of the examples above to my own life…

I wanted to live abroad in my early 20s. So I executed my plan with diligence until I was on the plane to Cape Town.

Followed the plan from there to business school.

Perhaps my clearest plan was my two-year plan post-business school:

1. Get promoted as quickly as possible

2. Pivot from big firm consulting to mission-driven consulting

Check, done. Perfectly on schedule.

But that’s where things started to go off the rails.

I got to the end of that plan and I had no idea what the next plan was.

The plan had “worked” as far as you could tell on the surface. But internally, I was puddle of burnout, confusion and aforementioned malaise.

What was my next step?! If the last plan failed me so badly, how could I trust that my next roadmap would be right?

Subconsciously and through a bit of chance, I started to experiment with what it was like to not have a plan.

I had this huge “a-ha” while working with a career coach — I was deeply motivated by people. And fairly ambivalent about commercial strategy, market sizing, or any of the more typical consulting questions.

But…!!

I had no idea if I would like people-focused roles.

And had all sorts of questions and internal judgements (you know the type…“did I need an MBA for this?!” and “what are other people going to think?”).

I had this hunch, but was so hesitant to let myself go after it.

Then one day, I was scrolling LinkedIn and saw this mic drop post from Adam Grant (as his so often are). It said something along the lines of:

“Don’t worry about your five-year plan. Focus on what you want to learn in the next year. Do that and the opportunities will follow.”

I felt such am immediate deep sense of relief. If Adam Grant didn’t need a long-term plan, I didn’t either! I want to learn about people and culture roles, so I’m going for it!

My company just happened to be hiring for a people and culture leader at that time. I took a deep breath and pinged my boss to let her know I was interested.

Fast forward, and four years later, that single decision had accelerated me to my Chief of Staff promotion (the best role of my career), leading a team of seven and being elected to our firm’s partnership.

I hadn’t had any sort of plan, but somehow I had accomplished goals I had never thought possible when I was debating that very first people role. I had found more satisfaction, growth and success that my mind could have never even imagined.

My first big “unplanned” career move paid off — maybe there was something to this?!

Here’s why five-year plans don’t work.

Years later, I think Adam Grant’s advice is just ok.

There’s something liberating about discovering an interest and just going for it. But you can get to a similar result with a little more intention and confidence vs. a blind faith leap of trust.

Let me back up a second.

Five-year plans don’t work for two reasons:

You can’t predict the future. You’re probably thinking, “well, duh.” But hear me out. Whether it’s a two-, three- or five-year plan, your plan is usually focused on a single outcome. It may sound something like “get promoted to VP of Marketing” or “pivot into big tech product management.”

Those plans mostly assume things with will stay static:

The boss you love will stay at your company. Your company will continue to grow. Your industry will change incrementally, not radically. Your interests and priorities will mostly stay the same.

In reality, you and the world around you are so much more dynamic.

A five-year plan doesn’t give you space to evolve.

Your mind will limit what’s possible. When envisioning the future, your mind only has certain inputs - what’s happened to you previously, what you’ve seen around you. So when it’s using those inputs, your mind might imagine the most ambitious vision possible for your future, and still limit your potential.

Here’s a few examples…

Your mind might decide you want to be promoted to SVP in five years. In reality, an old mentor might tap you to be the CEO of a mid-sized company she’s on the board of.

Your mind might want to build a successful, steadily growing home goods business over the next five years. In reality, you might go viral, end up on the Today Show and hit $20M in ARR by year two.

See what I mean?

We can’t fully comprehend how successful or serendipitous our careers might be.

And in reality, the future is almost always going to be so much better than we can imagine!

Set your direction, not your destination.

Ok, so if five-year plans are limiting and Adam Grant’s one-year “just go for it” approach is a little risky, what do we do instead??

Get clear on your North Star.

Your North Star is a short statement that synthesizes who you are, how you show up and what you’re meant to do.

My fractional coach calls it the TL;DR: of who you are.

And then once you have your North Star, pursue opportunities aligned with it; say no to opportunities that don’t align. It’s that simple!

Think of your North Star as the direction you want to head towards on your proverbial compass. Take steps that are warmer to your North Star. Avoid steps that move you colder or further away.

Your North Star is the anchor that will make sure you pursue opportunities that feel aligned, purposeful and build career capital, while also giving you the flexibility to grow, evolve and succeed in ways you can’t even imagine.

Here’s my favorite example:

A decade ago, current US Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) set her North Star of getting more civically engaged. She attended community board meetings, volunteered on Bernie Sanders’s campaign and led a few protests. Fast forward, and she was asked to run for Congress.

AOC never set out to run for Congress — it wasn’t within the realm of her imagination!

Consistently taking those warmer, aligned steps led her to more success and impact than she could have ever planned for.

And if you want another example, Adam Grant’s podcast (ha! it’s all full circle) just released an interview with a former Microsoft exec on how she’s used her North Star to shape her career.

If you want to craft your North Star, check-out this step-by-step guide with client examples »

I’ll wrap-up this manifesto with a call forward.

If you feel constrained, uninspired or even just confused by your current plan…

Loosen your grip.

Figure out what’s important to you, how you’re meant to use your talents, how you want to show up in the world.

Do more of that. Do less of what doesn’t fit.

And —

Meaning, impact, fulfillment, success. It will all follow.

You’ve got this 💜.

» An invite for my NYC community

If you want to connect with other thoughtful, professional women in a meaningful way (i.e., not forced networking), I’m headlining an event for NextUp NYC and Inmar Intelligence next Wednesday (May 20th).

It’s going to be an hourlong workshop exploring how to navigate the different dimensions of growth - leadership, capability, relational, emotional, identity - we all experience at different chapters in our careers.

There are a few tickets left - would love for you to join us!

I have the privilege of meeting dozens of new women every quarter (welcome if you’re new here!). These are wildly accomplished women who — just like you and every single person in this community — have managed their careers with care, diligence and gumption to date.

If they put their mind to something, they can achieve most anything.

Yet over the past few months in these conversations, I keep hearing a similar refrain…

“I’m just not excited about anything out there.”

Which is a particularly frustrating place to be…

It’s not like they’re comfortable.

They want to leave — they’re desperately over the politics, the pressures, the unspoken norms.

They’re deeply craving something different — work that is more soul-aligned, more energy-giving, more legacy-building!

And yet…

As soon a they start to take a step forward, their enthusiasm wanes.

And their motivation plummets.

Nothing feels compelling enough to move toward.

All of a sudden their daydreams and expansive sense of what’s possible is lost in scanning dry job descriptions and scrolling hopelessly on LinkedIn.

This is a) totally natural, and b) totally fixable.

So here is my PSA for you:

If you’re in the cycle of “everything feels meh” and just can’t get excited about the next step in your career, one of four things is likely happening (I’ve seen this across all 110+ women I’ve coached).

See which of these you recognize yourself in and how to adjust. Let’s reignite your career spark!

1. You need a break » Focus on rejuvenation.

Be kind to yourself — you might just be too burnt out to job search right now.

In a twist of irony, job searches often coincide with the energetic low points of our lives. When you need a new job the most, you have the least creativity, enthusiasm and motivation.

If this is you, don’t stress!

It doesn’t mean you have to burn everything down and take a six-months eatpraylove-style sabbatical (go for it if you can!).

Hold firm on your boundaries and incorporate small reenergizers into your day-to-day. Swap Netflix for painting. Swap scrolling for a walk. Give yourself 15 minutes to eat lunch and take a few deep breaths. It will add up.

Or consider a bridge job that gets you out your current situation and allows you to stabilize before moving forward.

Slow down for a few beats, so you can go faster later.

2. You’re burnt from your last job » Feel it, heal it, free it.

The corporate environment in 2026 is tense. Somewhere in the last 18 months, corporate leaders started treated employees like widgets, instead of humans.

I know way, way too many women who have been suffering through toxic bosses, unreasonable work expectations, borderline discriminatory terminations or unexpected and devastating layoffs.

As much as we try to pretend work is just work (and thus we can compartmentalize or shrug off what happens to us), the emotions — the trauma — of these experiences follow us.

When you feel burnt by your last role, it’s hard to believe or trust that any company will be better.

Why would any new company — where you don’t know the people or the norms — be any different?

As one of my favorite coaches once told me (and you’ve probably heard this from your therapist) — you have to feel it, so you can heal it.

Experiment with this “career therapy-esque” exercise to release the emotional charge of your prior experience and can approach your next steps from a place of neutrality.

Feel it, heal it, free up your energy for what’s next.

3. You jumped to the answer too quickly » Figure out your “why.”

Inevitably, in half of my conversations, someone will mention how boring job descriptions are.

“Yes!” I exclaim because if job descriptions are in the mix, it’s an easy fix.

Two things are happening: a) you’ve jumped to an answer first (and too quickly), and b) job descriptions are dry.

When we want a new role, we often default to pulling up job descriptions and sending off applications. After all, that’s what we were taught in college!

But job descriptions rarely help us figure out what we want to do next.

It’s hard to discern what’s right, wrong or demotivating about a role when your values, strengths and passions are muddled amidst job functions, outcomes and required experiences.

How can you tell what the turnoff is?

Instead of scrolling endlessly, take a step back and get clear on what makes work work for you — what is the unique mix of priorities, strengths and passions you want to build you career around?

Once you have that, you can create a clear vision for what’s next and start magnetizing, not chasing, the right opportunities.

masterclass invite »

If you need help getting clear on what you want next, join us for our Masterclass on May 3rd. In two hours of learning, live coaching and workshopping, we’ll help you reconnect with you are today and matters to you most, so you can find the role made for you with clarity, conviction and confidence.

Career Clarity Masterclass

Secondly, it’s important to remember that job descriptions are HR tools. They exist to convey the basics of a role to a candidate.

It’s impossible to feel the excitement of solving big questions! the potential of collaborating the C-Suite! being mentored by a great boss!

…from a few bullet points mostly written by AI.

So once you know what you’re looking for and why, start talking to people. Find out what they love about their job or what other leaders or companies they admire.

Don’t let a dry job description turn you off.

Take a step back, zoom out, get clear and then connect.

4. You’ve defaulted to “should” > “want” » Get radically honest with yourself.

Ok, I’m saving the toughest but most real feedback for last.

If you’ve done the work, know what you’re looking for and have been in the market for a while but still can’t find anything that lights you up, you just might not be looking for the right thing.

You know the feeling…a sense of ambivalence, annoyance or even dread when you think about your next networking conversation or interview.

It could be because somewhere deep in your career strategy, you made a decision based on what you think you should do next or what you think a loved one expects you to.

It might be the logical, practical or safest choice.

My guess is you’re probably not having all that much success in your search either, as folks on the other side of the process sense your ambivalence.

So instead of keep running at a brick wall, take a step back and ask yourself, “is this really what I want?”

And really listen — not just with your mind, but with your heart and gut too — to the answer.

And then give yourself permission to go after what you truly want.

The only way to find true excitement is to follow the sparks.

You spend too much time working not to feel aligned, purposeful and supported in what you do.

And a job search requires way too much mental, physical and emotional effort not to be fueled at least in part, by excitement.

If you’ve been missing the excitement recently, take a look at what’s dimming that spark.

It often doesn’t require an overhaul or massive strategy, but just an intentional slow down so you can go faster.

You’ve got this 🫶.

And do join us on May 3rd if you need the structure, guidance and support to get clear on what you want next — enroll [here] by May 1st. We’ll help you re-spark that excitement for what’s next!

I thought as I open up my email app and skimmed the email I’d been waiting a week for.

I quickly screenshotted the email and sent it to my mom and my sister with a short note: “woo! they resigned.”

Then I clocked the buzzy, tight feeling in my stomach — the sign I’ve come to recognize as my intuition’s subtle cue that something was off, not right.

The more I felt it, the more I wondered if outsourcing one of my biggest decisions of the year was not the right move.

You see, I’m in a bit geographic quandary right now — just wrestling down a big existential question around where to live, nbd (background reading here).

So every thing in my life related to geography feels complicated and fraught.

Coming into 2026, I knew I needed to make a decision on whether or not to sell my rental unit. I bought it in 2021. Lived in it for a few years, rented it out for a few years.

On one hand, the unit has served me well — it’s incredibly low maintenance. But more importantly, my life has a lot of variables in it this year and it would be nice to reduce as much uncertainty as possible.

On the other side, property taxes kept increasing and it isn’t clear how much the local market will continue to appreciate, making the economics of holding onto the unit fine but not great.

Plus, I might want the financial flexibility to invest in a new home later this year.

There were pros and cons on both sides.

It felt like I had to predict the future to make a decision.

So instead of grappling with the decision,

I punted.

Decided to offer my tenants a renewal offer.

If they re-signed, great. If they moved out, fine.

They’d make the decision for me.

Ha! How perfect!

I hacked this big decision — I didn’t have to make it.

But…

As soon as I got their affirmative email, I knew it wasn’t right.

I’ve been thinking a lot about how to make a good decision recently.

As with everything in life, when you need to learn a lesson or break a pattern, it will keep showing up in your life until you learn the lesson.

Weighty, murky decisions have been everywhere in my life recently, so clearly there’s something for me to learn or deepen about making decisions…

A few of my loved ones have been grappling with big, uncertain decisions. Same for a few of my clients — trying to pick path A or B (or C or even D).

What I’ve learned in doing this work — both coaching clients and observing my own evolution — over the past decade is that there are different flavors of decisions.

There’s the obvious flavor: Large and (seemingly) small.

But also, the degree of conviction and clarity you have behind your decision.

There are choices that feel so clear and obvious that it’s like you’re actually being propelled towards it.

It might feel scary, but you know in your heart of hearts that it is 100% the right move for you — this might be accepting your wildly aligned dream job offer, saying “yes” when your partner proposed, submitting your resignation to scale the venture that’s been giving you life or perhaps, bringing home your first pet.

And then there are the decisions that are anything but…

The decisions that feel murky, thorny, uncertain.

There might be multiple different options and no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get a read on what’s right for you.

Perhaps this is where to move to next. Whether or not to ask for promotion in an uncertain market. Whether or not to leave a “good enough” job in pursuit of fantastic. Or to leave a role without knowing what’s next.

Your mind can likely make either option work — heck, it can argue for and against anything until you’ve talked yourself in circles.

And your intuition isn’t kicking in loudly enough to guide you towards one thing vs. the other.

There’s no one clear “right” decision.

Just tons of uncertainty.

And that’s because…

We’re never going to make a “right” or “perfect” decision.

There’s only the decision that is best for you right now.

Best based on what you know about yourself and the information you have on hand.

And what I’ve learned — in coaching 110+ women through some pretty thorny and not so obvious decisions and making some bold ones myself — is that ultimately, the only way to make the “best” or “aligned” decision is to:

1. Know where you’re headed. Have a clear vision of what you want in your life or the future you’re building towards. The aligned decision moves you closer to that vision, other decisions will move you away.

2. Know what’s important to you. Understand what your Operating Principles, or the mix of values, priorities and anchors that make you feel grounded and whole. These can be helpful in establishing what your non-negotiables are.

3. Check-in with your intuition. Once you have the pro-cons written down on paper, check-in with your body. Even if subtle, it’s likely nudging you one way or another.

4. Trust that you’ll be able to make whatever happens work. Once you’ve run the decision through checks #1-3, know that you’ll be able to manage through whatever happens on the other side of your decision.

Then take a deep breath, make your decision and move forward.

It’s not a leap of faith. But it’s also not “right” or perfect.

It’s grounded in who you are and who you are becoming, anchored in your ability to handle most anything.

That’s aligned decision-making.

And now back to my big real estate question…

As soon as I clocked my body’s reaction — the warning sign that “oof, this is not right…” — I had a good sense of what I needed to do.

Yes, it would be nice to avoid the logistics of selling this apartment and the uncertainty of whether or not it would sell. That was definitely the safest, most practical choice.

But more importantly, I wanted the freedom to invest in another home — to put down roots in my new city (once decided!).

One of my core Operating Principles is Community, and I have this clear vision of hosting dinner parties in my next home. And building the depth of community I crave requires putting down roots — knowing where I’m going to live and really investing in the people around me.

My long-term vision, Operating Principles and intuition helped me muddle through the murkiness to get clear on the aligned decision.

I consulted again with my advisors (my mom, sister and best friend - thank you!). I wasn’t looking for them to sign-off on my choice, but more to test what it felt like saying out loud.

Then I took a deep breath and reminded myself that I could handle anything that came next…

Disappointed tenants. A below market sale. Complicated logistics.

Whatever it was, I’d be able to figure it out.

With that, I opened my email and started drafting a note with an updated offer.

Here’s the thing —

There’s no happily ever-after to this story yet.

I can’t say that I made this decision and it all unfolded perfectly — that I sold the apartment for $xk over ask, easily found the right next apartment.

I haven’t even listed the apartment for sale.

But I made the “best” and most aligned decision possible.

And I’ll be able to handle whatever is on the other side.

If you’re the midst of your own murky career decision — and constantly distracted wondering “what’s next?!” — join our Career Clarity Masterclass on May 3rd.

We’ll help you get clear on what matters to you most so you can move make the best, most aligned decision for yourself.

You’ll get direct coaching from me, connect with other women exploring the same questions and unlock new clarity in this potent two-hour session. Would love to have you join us — [sign-up here].

He had just asked if I wanted to get dinner with his best friend and his wife who were in town for Easter.

Conceptually, yes! I did want to get dinner. I really like Alex and was curious to get to know his wife.

But in practice…

It was a Tuesday. A school night! During a busy week.

45 minutes of driving in each direction.

Would likely miss my bedtime (I guard my sleep fiercely during the work week).

I told him I’d let him know in the morning and slept on it.

As I put my phone down I realized that my #1 Operating Principle is “quality time and showing up for loved ones.”

What was this dinner invite if not quality time and showing up for loved ones?!

All of a sudden, the inconvenient logistics and pending lack of sleep faded, and I knew I’d be there.

I responded with an affirmative and enthusiastic “yes!” in the morning.

And you know what?

I got home way later than even anticipated.

There was traffic and the drive was an hour in each direction.

I went to bed late, slept in and totally threw off my morning the next day.

Was way less productive than I wanted to be.

And, more importantly…

Dinner was fantastic.

They took us to their favorite restaurant where they’re locals while in town. We got to experience their special place.

We compared favorite AI weight-loss hacks (a budding trend in for those in mid-to-late 30s?). I showed off my mom’s new Claude-designed website.

We gushed over their newborn. Heard about the men wreaking havoc as teenagers.

Laughed a lot.

I’m so glad I didn’t pass on the dinner in favor of an easy night on the couch.

It was the best part of my week, easily.

My Operating Principles were so clarifying in that moment — helping me cut through the logistics to get at what really mattered to me.

Instead of inconvenient, it was deeply aligned.

Your Operating Principles are the unique and deeply personal mix of values, priorities and anchors that make you you.

(quick primer on your Operating Principles here)

When you know what’s truly and uniquely important to you, you don’t just know what you’re looking for in a new role, you’re able to shape your whole life around what matters.

The real magic of your Operating Principles are not just the obvious or easy decisions, but harder, more counter-intuitive decisions. These decisions — professionally and personally — might not make sense to the people around you, but feel deeply true to you.

Using my Operating Principles as a guide over the past few weeks, I’ve…

Said “no” to multiple different revenue opportunities. Kind of crazy for someone still establishing her business (and is dreaming of a few different vacations), but my Principle around “Intentionality” made this an easy decision to make. I live my life by “quality > quantity” and am trusting that reserving my energy for the right-fit opportunities will turn into the more revenue in the future.

Volunteered at a half-day career event, with no new business prospects. I said “yes” to this event weeks ago without much thought. But when I saw it pop up on my calendar this week, my stomach sank. I’m preparing for several big events later this month; three hours out of the workday didn’t feel like the most strategic use of my time. But as soon as I got on the call and started coaching the women, the chat lit up with “this is so inspiring” and “[coachee], this really resonates! I’m going through the same.” All of my hesitation faded — this was living my Principle of “Community” and helping women understand their experiences through connection with others.

Started every day with an hour-long dog walk. There a dozen other more “productive” ways to start my day — working out, writing, working (mornings are my productivity power hour). And my dog doesn’t “need” an hour-long tour around the neighborhood. But as the mornings have been getting lighter, the birds chirping and the weather slightly warmer, I’ve felt so drawn to starting the day with a long, meditative walk — trusting that prioritizing my “Wellness” principle will pay off in other parts of my life.

Helped an old friend with his job search strategy. Now this is a friend I probably haven’t talked to since 2022. But when he texted me to let me know of his layoff and ask for help messaging it on LinkedIn, I got on the phone with him immediately. Then spent the afternoon workshopping his announcement. A tiny part of me felt disappointed that he only calls in time of need, but that was over-shadowed by my Principles of “showing up for loved ones” and “Abundance,” which I in part, define as being generous. Instead of resentment, I leaned into catching up and bonding over the tough experience.

Objectively, you could look at each of these decisions and argue they don’t “make sense.” I should be protecting my time, grinding for revenue, only doing things with tangible business return.

Perhaps these decisions weren’t “strategic.” But they felt true to me.

And I know — having done this work for myself and with countless clients over the past six years — when you prioritize alignment over what’s logical or practical, success follows.

I’ve been working with a client recently on her legacy and how she wants to show up for her family, colleagues and community over the next 40 years.

As we’ve been doing this work, I’ve been struck by how we show up is a sum of a hundred small, micro decisions we make on a daily basis.

Those decisions can be made on auto-pilot, debated endlessly or defaulted to what “makes sense” or what you “should do.”

But when you know what’s important to you — you’ve defined your Operating Principles — you have a simple, authentic rubric with which to make decisions.

So those hundreds of micro decisions aren’t just easier to make, they add up to the person you want to be.

If you want to define your own Operating Principles, so you can make decisions — macro, micro, professional, personal — that feel deeply true to you, join us for our Masterclass on May 3rd.

Aptly titled “Get Clear On What You Want Next,” we’ll help you define the deeply personal and unique mix of priorities, strengths and passions — the career DNA that makes you you — so you can stop wondering “what’s next?!” and create the career meant for you.

Enroll today and you’ll get the pre-work immediately, so you can start swapping your questions for answers: https://www.cydneedetoycoaching.com/masterclass.

I celebrate and empower women every single day in my business, so some years, I don’t pay much heed to these events.

However, this year, I was inspired to:

1. Celebrate a few of the amazing founders in this community

2. Inspire anyone dreaming of starting their own venture

Since I started coaching in 2019, ~80% of clients partner with me to move from one corporate job to another. About 20% use our coaching to launch something new.

And, then there are several who start something after our work together — fueled by the clarity of their North Star and sometimes helped by a nudge of burn out, sabbatical or toxic culture.

The clients that come to me dreaming of starting their own thing are typically fueled by passion, are deeply craving (time, financial, creative) freedom and are ready to bet on their potential. We get crystal clear on what they want to create, build their conviction to do it and take their first brave steps forward.

As a result, this community is home to a few pretty amazing founders.

I mean truly amazing — we’ve got everything from a direct-to-consumer brand disrupting the luxury caviar market to an advocacy organization challenging corporate power.

I wanted to highlight a few of them in case you have the same entrepreneurial itch — let these women be your inspiration. Learn what they wish they had known before starting, what they’re most proud of and more.

And if you don’t have founder dreams, join me in celebrating these brave and inspiring women — and support each of them (they tell you exactly how!).

So without further ado, let me introduce you to…

KK Durante

Co-Founder of Roe House, a D2C caviar brand.

Tuck MBA | Former Healthcare + Retail Product Manager

• Tell us about your company: Started by three neighbors-turned-friends, with a mutual love for good food, great company, and saying yes to adventure, Roe House was created to make caviar fun and approachable. We believe sharing high quality caviar should spark laughter, conversation, and connection. Each jar is an invitation to turn the everyday into something worth savoring and celebrating.

• How does it feel to run your own company? One of the most rewarding parts of building something from scratch is the ability to not only grow a business, but also shape the culture — how you work, how you share feedback, how you approach change; it’s a natural testing ground to establish norms and values for a team. What you are working on day in and day out becomes this amazing incubation lab for healthy disagreement & important conversations toward alignment and growth.

• How can this community support you? Visit our site, follow us on social media (@eatroehouse), try/share/enjoy Roe House using the following discount code: CydneeCoaching

Reynolds Taylor

Founder, Run on Power and Power Law + Policy Lab, two interconnected advocacy orgs reimagining corporate power.

(ed note: yes, Reyn started not just one but two organizations!)

Northwestern MBA / JD | Human Rights Lawyer

• Tell us about your company: Run on Power supports local and state candidates running on platforms that challenge corporate power; Power Law & Policy Lab uses novel policy design and strategic organizing to reimagine the legal architecture governing what corporations are and who they serve. The two work in tandem — Power Lab builds the legal and policy case for transformation while Run on Power shifts electoral discourse to expand the boundaries of what’s possible.

• How does it feel to run your own company? Every day is a trust-fall exercise, with me catching... me. I feel destabilized but also grounded — like I’m stretching in new, uncomfortable ways while also rooting more deeply into myself. I also intentionally started before I was ready; in a way, I forced my own hand! I knew I wanted to do it, I believed I could do it, and I knew I would do it if I launched publicly.

• How can this community support you? Help me get the word out! Follow me on LinkedIn, and share Run on Power with those in your orbit contemplating a future run for office.

Clare Rubey

Founder, Clare Rubey Style, a personal style platform.

Georgetown Law | Big Tech Lawyer

Tell us about your company: I create fashion and style content focused on helping women get more out of what they already own. My approach is less about what to buy next and more about how to build thoughtful, wearable outfits that feel effortless and personal.

How does it feel to run your own company? It’s both creatively fulfilling and a constant exercise in trusting your instincts. I started this as a way to explore a long-standing interest in style, and over time it’s evolved into something much more intentional. There’s something really rewarding about building something from your own perspective and seeing it resonate with other women in a real way.

What do you wish you knew before you started? You don’t need everything figured out to begin; clarity comes from doing, not waiting.

How can this community support you? Follow along on Instagram (@clarerubey_style) where I share everyday outfit ideas and styling tips, or pass my page along to someone who wants to feel more confident getting dressed with what they already have.

Liz Batsche

Founder, Well Hosted, “human” skills trainings for client-facing teams.

NYU Stern | Former Luxury Spirits Commercial Leader

• Tell us about your company: Most sales teams are trained to sell—of course they are! I train them to host because, in relationship-driven industries, how you make people feel determines revenue flow.

• How does it feel to run your own company? It’s freedom and responsibility at the highest level. No one is telling you what’s right! I have to decide, test, and stand behind my decision. But there’s nothing more energizing than watching my ideas translate into real behavior change for clients which increases revenue for them (and for me)!).

• How can this community support you? Thank you for asking! I’m currently partnering with HR, L&D, and Sales leaders who want to up-level their teams’ client experience and conversion skills, especially in high-touch environments. If someone comes to mind, I’d be grateful for an introduction. And if you’re curious, follow me on LinkedIn for practical hosting insights you can apply immediately.

Massive thank you to these women for showing us what’s possible when you stop waiting and bet on yourself. As Clare and Reyn shared — you don’t need to be ready, you just need to start.

Follow them, refer them or connect with them. There’s nothing better than women supporting other women 💜.

And if you’d like to get to know this female-founded business better, join us for our Ambition Reimagined Open House on Monday!

This is an unique opportunity to get an inside look at my flagship coaching program — and understand how it will help you build career clarity and momentum, hear from recent alums and experience live coaching.

We only have two spots left — would love to have you join!

In January of 2025, I made a commitment to you, and perhaps as importantly to myself, to publish weekly.

Writing a good newsletter that creates value — which makes you think, change or feel — takes real time, creativity and deep thought.

I hold myself and my work to an incredibly high standard.

If a newsletter doesn’t meet that bar of creating value, then I’m not going to send it.

I also don’t drop balls.

When I say I’m going to do something, I do it.

I imagine this resonates?!

Plus, it works.

This newsletter now reaches 1,1k women and almost every week I’ll get a thoughtful reply from someone it resonated with — or an inquiry from someone who’s been quietly reading for months.

This is where the rub comes in.

I’m in a season of growth and evolution — the exact inflection point that often requires us to shift, change or loosen the standards that have made us successful.

I almost didn’t send a newsletter this week because I’ve been ferociously leaning into one of my 2026 New Year’s resolutions:

To be more analog.

Or to spend more time live — in-person or virtually — with my community.

I did a lot of reflecting over the holidays and realized something uncomfortable, but incredibly important:

Live connection is my ‘zone of genius.’ Content creation is my ‘zone of excellence.’

One gives me energy. The other I’ve learned to do well.

So I’ve been hard at work hosting live masterclasses, alum happy hours and community connection events.

It’s been amazing.

Nothing beats getting to meet clients I’ve coached since 2021 in 3-D or to see the recognition sparked between two women grappling with the same massive career identity questions in a masterclass.

These events are exactly what I hope they would be: real connection.

Buttttt…

Even though I know these events are exactly where I’m supposed to be putting my energy and effort — I’ve spent the past several days ping-ponging back and forth over whether I should send a newsletter today…practically berating myself for not meeting my commitment.

I can’t quite shake my old commitments and holding myself to expectations of what’s worked in the past.

I’m living in real time the tension that so many of my clients feel when they’re shedding an old identity to fully step into the work they’re meant to do — the fear of letting others down, a desire to stick with what they know or is safe, a recalibration of their own and others’ expectations.

We often talk making a career change in purely logistical terms…1

If you want to pivot into something new, reframe your resume, update your elevator pitch, follow the playbook. And voila! It’s simple, neat and tidy.

But in reality…

Allowing yourself to evolve, grow and expand is hard.

You have to reintroduce yourself to others. Reset expectations of what are you available for. Risk disappointing folks you care about (perhaps a mentor, a beloved boss). Make a bet that it’ll work.

And perhaps most importantly, you have to reintroduce yourself to yourself. Reset the way in which you want to show up in and relate to the world.

So I am sending a newsletter today (ha!), not to meet my commitment or to check the box but to share what I’ve been wrestling with in case it resonates with you.

I’m also resetting my own expectations for myself (and with you!). I’ll send newsletters when I have a perspective that needs to be shared, perhaps not ever week. And, I’ll continue to shift my energy towards live connections.23

If you’re in a season of evolution too, I hope you give yourself the same permission 🫶.

In the spirit of evolution and live connection, I’d love to invite you to our Open House for Ambition Reimagined on March 30th.

If you’re curious what it actually feels like inside Ambition Reimagined — whether you’re considering joining soon or simply exploring what career coaching support could look like — this is a fantastic chance to experience the thoughtfulness, honesty and momentum that defines the program.

​During the open house, you’ll:

• ​Hear how recent participants navigated pivotal career decisions

• ​See how the program creates clarity and forward momentum

• ​Experience live coaching on a real challenge

• ​Get a feel for the caliber of women in the room

​This isn’t a sales pitch — we want you to leave with a real sense of whether this feels like the right kind of support for you.

The event is capped at 12 attendees to preserve the intimacy of the experiences — and half of the spots are already taken. If you’d like to join us, register here: https://luma.com/eic14bqx.

I’m thrilled — this is taking the conversation we have so frequently within this community mainstream:

How our ambition evolves — and why what you wanted at 22 might not be what you want at 32 or 42.

And, why navigating that difference can feel exhausting, confusing and deeply unmooring — until you adjust how you’re measuring success.

It’s exciting to see Fast Company choose to amplify this conversation. It’s an experience shared by so many, but one that doesn’t get nearly enough candid airtime.

I’m also just plain proud.

It’s cool to see my words in (digital) print. Gratifying to highlight my clients’ big moves.

When you’re building a business, there aren’t natural markers of progress like promotions or increase in scope so I’m really celebrating this one…and appreciating the effort I put in over the past year to make it happen.

Thank you for celebrating with me 🥳.

So without further adieu, here’s the article…

You can read it [here] or below. And like all of my content — rigorous! — I’ve included a worksheet to help you go deeper.

You’re not burned out—you have the wrong definition of success.

How misaligned success is draining high performers.

Feeling numb as your boss announces your promotion. Fighting back tears as you skim the email offering you a new stretch opportunity. Knowing you “should” be excited to grab coffee with the industry leader who could open doors, but really it just feels like a drain.

On paper, you’re doing everything right and hitting the milestones you once worked so hard to reach. And yet, internally, you feel exhausted. Disconnected. Frustrated by a success that looks good, but doesn’t feel good.

This doesn’t mean you need a vacation. It means you may be burned out for a reason no amount of time off or spa days will fix.

While burnout has become so common that the World Health Organization now recognizes it in their classification of diseases, most burnout advice still focuses on strategies that help temporarily but miss the real issue.

In my work coaching and facilitating workshops for more than 5,000 corporate leaders, one pattern shows up consistently: solving burnout is rarely just about setting firmer boundaries or adding more self-care.

Yes, some people are burned out because of an unhealthy work environment. But plenty of others have roles that are objectively “good” and yet are still draining them. That’s because burnout isn’t always about what’s happening around you, but about what’s happening inside of you.

When your definition of success stops working

Most high-achieving professionals begin chasing a version of success early in life. The script is familiar: work hard, get into a great school, land a prestigious job, prove yourself, get promoted. Repeat.

Over time, the extrinsic markers that once made the long hours feel worthwhile lose their charge. The promotion you thought would energize you lands with a thud. The next milestone feels less like a win and more like an obligation.

Research on motivation shows that while external rewards can drive performance in the short term, sustained engagement depends on internal factors like autonomy, meaning, and a sense of connection. When those are missing, achievement alone isn’t enough to offset the drain.

This is where many high performers get stuck: continuing to optimize for a definition of success they’ve quietly outgrown.

And when burnout is rooted in misalignment, self-care alone isn’t enough. Treating it with time off is like treating chronic pain with painkillers. It may dull the symptoms, but it doesn’t address the cause.

Without changing what you’re working toward, burnout has a way of returning—often faster than before.

Redefine success for who you are today

The most effective way to address this kind of burnout isn’t to do less—it’s to update your definition of success to reflect who you are today, not who you were when you started your career or what others say you should care about.

Try asking yourself a few questions you may not have considered before:

• What goals am I striving for that I no longer value?

• What results or impact makes me feel most satisfied?

• What do I wish my performance was assessed on?

• If someone wrote a retrospective on my career, what would I want that story to say?

Take the common themes and distill them into your personal definition of success, or the intrinsic motivations that feel deeply satisfying and renewing.

For example, you might decide: “Success is building with intention—not just toward scale or speed. I want to lead teams where people leave better than they came.”

Or: “Success used to mean proving I belonged. Now it’s about using my seat at the table to drive real change, not just deals. I want to mentor more women and diversify the leadership pipeline.”

To help you dig deeper, I’ve created a worksheet with additional prompts and examples to help you define what matters to you most today.

Staying ambitious even as you shift your success marker

Updating your definition of success doesn’t mean opting out of your career or undoing what you’ve built.

For some, it means finding deeper meaning within their current role. A marketing executive I worked with realized that while advancement still mattered, what energized her most was building strong teams and developing people. Refocusing her effort gave her renewed motivation—and made her more effective.

For others, redefining success leads to careers that look different than expected but fit better. Another client was accelerating quickly in high-growth startups when she decided to step into a leadership role within her family’s business—not to slow down, but to lead in a way that aligned with her values.

And for some, redefining success means recognizing that personal milestones matter, too. One client gave herself permission to prioritize starting a family rather than chasing the next career move. She was promoted while out on parental leave.

When success reflects who you are now, your ambition doesn’t disappear—it becomes more focused, more sustainable, and far more powerful.

In other words?

Burnout isn’t telling you to quit. It’s asking you to evolve.

How to onboard to a new role effectively.

Getting a new job offer — especially one that feels totally aligned, exciting and career capital building — is thrilling! A relief! Rewarding!

You have been working towards this for months. With focus, diligence and stepping outside your comfort zone, you got what you wanted. Your effort paid off.

And then as quickly as the euphoria rushed in, it rushes out…replaced by all sorts of questions and apprehension about starting your new role. How will you ramp-up quickly? Build relationships, demonstrate your value, learn the ebbs and flows of your new team?!

That euphoria is quickly replaced by all sorts of apprehension, doubt, nerves, stress.

This is a totally natural and human experience, especially for this ambitious group of women who holds themselves to a high standard…

You want to good work and contribute, but also — to prove yourself and show your colleagues that they made the right hire.

I’ll pause for a second to offer my weekly reminder that you are a remarkably capable woman — trust that as long as you show up as your thoughtful and committed self, you’ll be successful!

But I get it.

Showing up with bravado is easier said than done, and you need an actual play-by-play on how to establish yourself.

I coach senior managers through VPs on how to navigate this transition every week — and in my past life as a Head of People + Culture, I designed the onboarding process for dozens of new team members at every level. I’ve seen what launches women forward, and where they get stuck.

Before we dive in, a quick disclaimer — the list below is not about crafting your 90-day plan or a summary of standard best practices. There are ample existing guides you can read1, so I’m giving you the mindsets and human skills you won’t find elsewhere.

At every stage of leadership — from senior manager to VP — your first several months set the tone for your trajectory. Here’s how to approach them strategically to build confidence, credibility and influence:

» manage your mindset

1. They hired you. You don’t have to reprove yourself.

Remember that they hired you because they value your capability and the unique experience and perspective you are going to bring to the work and their objectives. You’re not starting from zero. You’re starting from your hiring manager’s endorsement and bet on your potential — build from there, not square one.

2. You’re learning a new language. Give yourself time to get fluent.

Everything about your new job meant to be uncomfortable. And it will be for the first three to six months — there’s no way around this. The best thing you can do is embrace the discomfort as a sign you’re in the right place and growing at the right pace. Don’t judge yourself for it, try to pretend that everything is fine or pressure yourself to feel as competent as you did at the company you just left (that you had been at for years!).

3. Take it one day at a time.

Excuse while I repeat one of the most cliche quotes of all time, but is so apt here: Rome wasn’t built in a day. It’s great that you have high expectations of yourself — this is what’s made you so successful. But release the pressure valve. You’re not going to perfectly fix the bottleneck or backlog that’s been plaguing your team for months in a week. Focus on what you can do today, and know that you’re building momentum.

4. How you start is how you finish.

So much of onboarding advice focuses on making good impressions. This is 100% true — first impressions matter. Buttt before you launch yourself into working all hours of the day to prove your value, remember that you are setting expectations. If you are constantly available and delivering outside of your scope, you’re teaching others that you’ll work at a pace that is unsustainable. Work hard, but not exhaustively. And if you’re worried that you have to prove yourself, refer back to number one on this list

» master the ways of working

5. Seize the quiet to build relationships.

Some of you might not be as busy as you want to be in your first few weeks. Your team is likely shape shifting around you to reallocate work and fully utilize your capacity. Plus, you’re still discovering what belongs on your to-do list. Use the time to get to know as many people as possible. You’re never going to get this liminal period back. Building rapport and trust with others — allowing them to think fondly of you — will go a long way, as you’re building the technical fluency to add value.

6. Pay attention to “the way things are done around here.”

Any onboarding guide will recommend getting to know the ways of working of an organization, but in reality, getting to know an organization and culture is so much deeper and more nuanced than that. Pay attention to the subtle cues of how people connect, collaborate, and build influence. How do they spend the first five minutes of the meeting? What’s their messaging or email style? Who seems to have out-sized influence? What can you learn from observing them? Learning the culture doesn’t require as much technical or subject matter expertise, and so mastering it will significantly accelerate your onboarding.

» demonstrate value

7. Ask good questions.

For your first six months, your greatest ways to create value will be the fact that you: a) have external best practices on how to do something, and b) a fresh, critical perspective. You don’t necessarily want to project all of the best practices from your last gig on your team (we’ve all been exhausted the coworker who starts every sentence with “when I was at [elite company], we did x, y or z…”). But you can and should ask them hard, good, and challenging questions that make them help them think anew about the task at hand.

8. “Test your thinking.”

Okay, I know every single person reading this guide wants to appear smart, strategic and authoritative in your new role as quickly as possible. Here’s the reality: you might not know the context or the situation well enough to make effective recommendations for a few months. However, you can still show your critical thinking and creative insight by approaching your boss, a trusted colleague or team member and starting with “I think I want to recommend or change X — can I test my thinking with you…” It shows the receiver that you’re being proactive, but gives you cover for some places where you just don’t have the expertise you need yet.

9. Solve a pain point.

Okay, I will wrap up with advice you’ll see on other onboarding guides — and that’s because it’s effective. Look for opportunities to solve a major main pain point that creates value for your boss or key stakeholders. This can be large like the first major project you prioritize or small, like improving the efficacy of the weekly team stand-up or culling the number of emails your boss gets a day. Whatever you chose, it will build goodwill with your stakeholders — deepening their excitement that you’re on board.

I always remind my clients that job searching is one of the most vulnerable periods of growth we humans (mostly) willingly opt into.

And your first few months on the job are no different.

But remember, you chose to leave your old role — the environment that was comfortable but only “good enough” — in search of great.

You’re now where — in the role and with the company — where you can create great. Just keep leaning into the discomfort, take it one day at a time and remember how much you have to offer.

You’ve got this 🫶.

It felt meaningful, for sure.

But I don’t think any of us — aside from a few astute economists — could have predicated what a seismic shift it created in the broader economy.

Almost overnight, the contract between employee and employer was irrevocably weakened. Google gave the rest of Big Tech permission to scale its workforce up and down, wantonly, and companies in every other corner of the economy have followed suit.

All of this amplified by a macro economic environment that has only gotten more volatile and uncertain.

But I’m not here to talk economic policy or to get overly apocalyptic.

I’m writing this newsletter because:

Layoffs are ubiquitous.

But there’s still so much stress, stigma and shame tied to them.

Since layoffs are so frequent these days, it can be easy to write them off as purely logistical events — negotiate for more severance, pull back on spending, start submitting job applications.

But for the women impact, layoffs aren’t just logistical events.

They’re about identity.

For the high-achieving women in this community, when you’re laid off…your title, scope, purpose — the way that you relate to the world is eliminated over-night.

I did some quick math and of the 110+ women I’ve coached, 17% have been laid off in the past three years. Almost one in five!

It’s an experience that’s both universal and deeply unmooring.

Layoffs bring a rush of unexpected emotions: shock, embarrassment, perhaps some unexpected relief…

And suddenly not knowing exactly where your professional self fits.

If you’ve been laid off recently or are worried about what’s to come, here’s what you can learn from how my clients navigated the uncertainty with resilience and intention:

1. Give yourself a beat.

Even in an economy where layoffs are omni-present and normalized, the emotional impact is real.

Once you’ve been given notice, give yourself time to process and invest time in healing whatever emotions are caught up in that business decision.

Be gentle with yourself: rest, movement, connection — whatever you need to feel grounded and supported. Then over time, pick up your journal, talk to a therapist or a coach and release any unproductive narratives or internalization of the decision.

Stabilize yourself before you try to stabilize the situation.

2. Release the panic and the shame

As the stats above make clear, getting laid off in 2026 is not a reflection of your value or performance — it is a business decision, driven by poor executive decision making, overly ambitious investments or market forces.

Decide how you want to talk about it, and then talk about it! Don’t edit yourself. Your network will understand. New contacts will empathize. Hiring managers won’t blink.

Remember that this happened to the business, not to your worth.

» if you want a script for how to talk about a resume gap, check-out my most viewed LinkedIn post ever [here].

3. Manage your inputs — not the headlines.

I said this a few weeks ago, and I’ll say it again:

Yes, the job market is challenging. But remember that the LinkedIn algorithm wants you to see and engage with the most challenging job search stories, so you engage with the posts and apply to more jobs (in other words, spend even more time on the platform!).

And the headlines are an aggregation of everyone’s experience, not yours.

You are not “everyone.” You’re a top performer with a strong network and a track record that speaks louder than any macro trend.

Don’t let doomsday narratives convince you your future looks like the average job seeker’s. It doesn’t.

And if you want counter narratives that better match your own, go back to these recent articles:

4. See the opportunity for what it is.

For many women, a layoff is the nudge they’d been quietly contemplating for a long time. You might have been hearing that whisper of “maybe this isn’t right anymore…” for months, if not years.

Now that you finally have time, give yourself permission to listen to that nudge.

There’s no rule that says you need to go back to the same function at a similar company.

Give yourself to explore, daydream and think expansively.

Make your next move what you truly want — not just what you can get quickly.

5. Don’t level-down or shrink.

It is perfectly normal and expected if a layoff shakes your confidence — in both your capabilities and your trajectory.

You might spin yourself in circles wondering why your role was eliminated and others weren’t. And you might get advice to apply for junior roles or not to negotiate — do whatever you can to get in to the door.

Recency bias is powerful.

But remember that you’ve had a long, extremely successful career before the past few months. Remind yourself of the moments you felt most in flow and competent in career — this is actually who you!

Look for and expect roles and offers at the level your capabilities are worth.

6. Don’t make decisions from urgency

As a high-achieving woman capable of solving any problem — quickly — you might be tempted to take the first offer you get to prove “you’re fine.” (And quite frankly to show your former employer that it was their loss).

But the fastest move isn’t always the right move.

Take a few beats to do your due diligence on the opportunity and remind yourself of your value.

A live offer is so tempting, but you will get other offers — and soon. You will!

When you make the decision, make sure it’s abundance-based, not fear-based.

If you need more coaching on how to discern between a “good enough” and aligned offer, check out this article:

7. Let others help you.

You’ve spent years supporting others — taking informational interviews, making referrals, following up on intros. Let your network support you now.

Remember that most opportunities at your level will come through people, not postings. And the people who know your work already believe in you — long before a recruiter will.

Don’t be afraid to reconnect and make an ask. People want to help — the often just need to know how.

A layoff is unmooring.

Feel it, but don’t let it shameful or stigmatized.

It’s an opportunity to take stock, reground into who you are and what you care about and realign your career.

You’ve got this 🫶.