Driven by a Desire to Create Career Possibility with You

I’m asked often why I chose to pursue this job as a passionate teacher and career cheerleader. I enjoy answering this question because I truly love what I do. I get up every morning excited to get going and know that there is not any downside to empowering others.

My days are spent exciting professionals like you about how to create career possibilities through communicating your successes and goals in an engaging way. This is critical because in doing so, you can then have a much better chance of being happier in your career, experiencing increased confidence, which has an empowering effect. You’ll also help to pull up the unsung talent around you, as you rise.  This is what I help you do. 

But what’s my “why?”  Why do I feel so passionate about this?

Simply put, I feel compelled to help prevent others from repeating the common mistakes I made during my corporate stretch at various times.  This included:

• Staying in a role I wasn’t passionate about
• Failing to make networking a priority
• Being unaware of the value of a sponsor relationship
• Undervaluing myself at times by not negotiating for salary or opportunities

Thank goodness I righted this sooner versus later, through:

• Self-awareness
• Self-education (voracious reading on self-help, business, psychology, etc.)
• Conducting research into career mobility topics
• Networking outside my company
• Approaching my career with intention and accountability
• Not allowing fear to hold me back from making an ask
• Leveraging relationships

Think of this as a fun, strategic game.  If you’ve ever played Pac Man (or Ms. Pacman) in the 80s or Jungle Pit on Atari, maybe even Frogger, you know the end goal was to stay alive while you were navigating various mazes or obstacles.  (Funny share: My mom actually peed her pants from laughing so hard playing Frogger because she would frantically maneuver her frog within seconds under the wheels of a speeding vehicle, thus creating a lot of roadkill.  Sorry Mom, but too good to not share!)

It was always thrilling to get to the next level because it took a lot of strategy, practice, and risk-taking. Most of the time, it resulted in greater rewards, which kept all of us coming back for the next challenge.  Isn’t what work can feel like if you navigate it smartly?   The only way you get better and receive more reward is through practice and strategy and also avoiding making the same mistakes.   In a sense, it’s survival of the fittest:  Who plays the game better and better, and who is willing to take the risk? And if you fail, are you willing to go back at it again?

• What if someone could sit beside you and give you a reliable game plan to successfully reach the next level, and then the next level, as long as you had a plan, were willing to practice and could make it exciting and rewarding? 

• What if you, in turn, could create more and more adept players because you now have a proven strategy? 

That’s why I get so geeked up about your career.  It’s amazing to create possibility together and see it actually unfold.

In spite of losing a few lifelines here and there to speeding or unexpected obstacles coming my way, I’m still alive and having a blast! This is how we create more of an empowered, and strategic career movement for women. We have to do this together. Make it exciting to take risks, realize that change you are seeking, and celebrate each time you overcome an obstacle or extend a lifeline! 

In the meantime, I hope you will share some of your career successes or pitfalls here too, so we can all learn from you and cheer you on to your current or next adventure, and the possibility you are creating for yourself and others. 

Check back soon; I’ll have another blog post about why I feel especially compelled to help other women in business.