A pattern I see with every client, regardless of age: their parents come up in our sessions. Every. Single. Time.

Whether my clients are 25 or 55, their family's influence on career choices runs deep. Here are the three most common patterns I observe:

The "Safety First" Legacy

Some clients are still making peace with families who prioritized stability above all else. They were pushed toward "safe" careers that never aligned with their natural strengths or genuine interests. The result? A lingering sense that they're living someone else's vision of success.

The "Passion Pressure" Paradox

Others grew up watching parents who were absolutely lit up by their work—sharing passionate stories at the dinner table night after night. These clients carry an invisible burden: When will I find MY passion? Why is it taking so long? The comparison becomes paralyzing.

The Financial Rollercoaster Effect

Then there are those who lived through the uncertainty of a parent's entrepreneurial journey or inconsistent income. They learned early how to contract their needs during lean times. This childhood instability often lives in the body, driving fear-based career decisions decades later.

This last pattern hits close to home for me.

My father built a thriving plus-size dress company when I was young—he was truly ahead of his time. But when I was 9, everything shifted. The business collapsed, and he had to dissolve the company entirely.

It was the first time I saw my father cry.

That business meant everything to him, especially since his own father had mentored him in that world before passing away just as Dad was finding his first taste of success. Suddenly, he faced a complete career reinvention with two young kids and a lifestyle we could no longer afford.

He pulled us out of debt by transitioning to life insurance sales—the perfect blend of his natural sales ability, need for autonomy, and desire for stability within a larger organization's infrastructure.

But here's how it affected my career:

For years, I dreamed of entrepreneurship but couldn't imagine facing that level of instability. I chose steady paychecks over pursuing my vision, trading my dreams for what felt like safety.

Eventually, I found ways to move through that fear—building self-belief, getting granular with my financial data, and creating multiple income streams.

Do I still have moments when income dips and I wonder if it's all falling apart? Absolutely.

That's when I remind myself: I'm letting old family stories drive current decisions.

I breathe through it, seek support, and make adjustments—because running a business requires creativity, and I love the life I get to live.

Questions for Your Own Reflection:

• What was your family's story about work?

• Which memories still live in your body and influence your career decisions?

• What would you pursue if you could be free of their opinions?

• Where do you wish they had provided more guidance instead of leaving you to figure it out alone?

Start here: Notice your rigidly held career beliefs that lack current evidence. These often trace back to family stories that shaped your worldview.

Explore these patterns with compassion. Remember, they came from people trying to keep you safe.

Now that you ARE safe—what's next?

A few weeks ago I was wrapping up the 2025 cohort of my Career Command Four-Month Shift program. It's hard to believe it's already that time of year!

We were discussing feedback on the program and ways I could continue to improve it. Being someone who likes to jump into action quickly, I threw out to the group, "What if I make the program shorter?"

And I heard a unanimous, "NOOOOO!"

The time and space to pause and reflect, to investigate and discuss, to imagine and explore – this was what they needed most. Many of them said they wanted even more of it.

Now, I know not everyone can take months to reflect and experiment. If you're in a toxic workplace that's harming your mental health, or you're unemployed and need income immediately, you'll need to focus on tactical job search strategies right away. Even then, some career visioning will help guide your search – but the timeline is different.

Yet for those of you who are…

• In roles you mostly like but you’re getting that nudge for a change.

• In an industry that is shifting, but you’re not sure when you should make the move.

• On a career break and want to return to paid work at your own pace.

I’m excited to say, I have something new for you. 

Did I mention I like to get into action quickly? May my action support your time to pause and dream. 

Introducing…

Career Clarity Sessions

This virtual group program brings together 6-8 women ready to gain career clarity and assess their readiness for change.

We will meet for 60-minute sessions on Tuesdays at 12pm ET: July 8, 15, 22, and 29

You will walk away from the 4 week program with a clear understanding of:

• What's currently working for you and what’s not in your career

• Your level of readiness and a timeframe to make a shift

• The thoughts holding you back from making the change and tools to navigate them

• A vision for a content, full and balanced-ish life

• A plan to connect with your people so they can help you step into that life

In addition to the live group sessions, I’ve also created  30 days of journal prompts to deepen your discovery of your career desires and what’s holding you back from going after them. 

The cost of the program is $575 or two payments of $300. This is an excellent value and one of the lowest priced options available to work with me right now. 

Ready to start imagining your next chapter?

Some of my favorite emails I receive are from former clients who share:

“I was reviewing my notes from the work we did three years ago and  I smiled realizing again that my role now is everything I said I wanted (but wasn’t sure I could have) back then.”

Or

“I got a new role that’s a great fit (yes, through networking!) and I used all of the tools you taught me in my last search for this latest change. They remain so important to me!”

That’s the goal. You internalize the tools. I work myself out of a job. 

Some may say that’s not the best business strategy, but I haven’t found that to be true. 

This way, I get to help more people. 

And the people I help, build self-trust and faith in their own ability to move confidently into any career shift. They have a step-by-step process in their back pocket–and practice experimenting in the midst of uncertainty. 

Oftentimes this agency in their careers translates to advocating for themselves in romantic partnerships, to setting different boundaries in friendships, to making time for a creative project–just because it’s energizing and not because it has side-hustle potential. 

Be warned–the side effect of defining your terms and unapologetically negotiating for them in your career, is that you will believe you are worthy of those terms in all areas of your life. 

I don’t promise those results on our initial call, but I’m so grateful when I get the updates on the ripple effect, months or years after we’ve completed our work. 

Here for you when you’re ready to find your agency in your career–and in your life

I’m beyond thrilled to be featured in The Cut – talking all things side hustle. Their rise in popularity, the why behind the ones that work and many ideas for folks to start thinking about how to launch their own.

Read the article and get your side-hustley juices flowing…

Some Side-Hustle Ideas to Help You With All That Money Anxiety

I had so much fun contributing to this article and full transparency was brimming with ideas about the potential of having more than one revenue stream in these unstable times.  

With the mass layoffs in certain sectors right now, many of my clients and job seekers in my workshops are making bigger shifts than they have at other times in their careers.

Their resumes and their LinkedIn profiles are focused in one sector with progressing titles within that industry.

Yet – they’re looking at job postings for new opportunities within another sector. They’re connecting the dots in their heads, so they’re assuming when they apply (often cold without a contact) others also will.

Sorry, but they won’t.

Applying to job postings on LinkedIn without a contact is ineffective when you’re applying within the same industry you’ve worked in for the last 5+ years.

It’s even worse, dare I say, a total waste of time when you’re applying in a new industry.

Please stop doing that if that’s how you’ve been spending your unemployed days.

So, what should you do instead?

Talk to people and ask for help.

This is the way successful career shifters make it happen.

Get your story down. Build the bridge from your strengths to the role you want.

Set a goal or and ask for the conversation.

Do it again and again.

You will get better and sharper and more dynamic in how you tell your story.

And people want to help you.

Even if you haven’t spoken to them in ten years. Even if you never met them, but they went to the same college or worked at the same company or grew up in the same town.

The biggest job searching mistake people make is keeping the search to themselves. A shameful little secret they don’t want to burden others with.

Another way to see your search is as - a problem or puzzle to solve. An adventure where you can learn something new.

Which way sounds more fun to bring into conversations?

If you’re struggling with how to have these conversations, check out my Elevator Pitch Mini Course. At its core, it gives you the language to go out and start connecting with people…today.

So, get talking and asking – and I’ll be here when you need support.

This is a moment in time when many of us are feeling helpless. 

Colleagues, friends and workers across the country are losing jobs without notice, without any cushion of even one more day’s pay. 

If you’re like many in my network,  you want to  support these talented employees in critical sectors with deep expertise who are feeling lost and panicked, but you’re not sure how. 

So, guess what. 

I have a way. 

I know something you can do right now that will not take a lot of effort on your part AND will be invaluable in the life of someone else. 

When someone who has lost their job in one of the career tracks decimated by this administration gets up the courage to  reach out to you on LinkedIn–write back. 

Even if you don’t know them. 

Even  if they’re not in your industry. 

Even if you’re not sure how you can help them. 

If you can jump on a 30-min zoom call, that would be great too. 

And if you can make intro’s to others who could open doors for them–that would make them feel like they are not alone. Their careers and their expertise have meant something. And still mean something. 

I’m always blown away by the generosity of my network and how they show up for my clients with informational interviews and coffee chats. I’m so grateful when you share your time, your wisdom and your expertise. 

Yet this ask isn’t about me or my clients per say. It’s about thinking creatively about what you have to offer the people who reach out to you–and what you can proactively do to show them that you’re available to help–even if they may worry about asking. 

I appreciate you being part of this community. 

A few weeks ago, I had a huge parenting win. I received this text from my 13 year old. 

She’s listening!

And she feels the calm trust within herself to explore. To not rush the process. To play and experiment.

To be a kid.

Now I know there are kids who feel like they have a calling. They want to be doctors. Or actors or astronauts. At 9, I said I wanted to be a therapist–and my gut instinct wasn’t too far off.

Yet, even when a kid appears to be heading in a straight line, it benefits all of you to validate that hunger and drive AND also note early and often–there are a lot of things you can be that will give you the thing you’re looking for in being a doctor. It’s a clue, but it doesn’t have to be an answer. Especially not the only answer.

My work with clients and the challenges that show up in our sessions helped me to develop this approach to parenting and career with my kids. It also makes me dig in further as they get older.

Many clients show up stressed that…

They never figured out what they wanted to be when they grew up.

They spent time and money becoming [insert career path] and they don’t want to leave their profession.

They’re bored doing what they’re doing but they can’t picture doing anything else–because they never have.

Their work is tangled up with their identities. Who would they be without it?

We are winning when we teach our kids to focus on their interests, their strengths and their quirky personality traits that make them who they are. With that self-awareness and some gentle guidance from you and other experts who can show them what’s possible, expose them to different career paths and they will find their own answers.

And it may take some shitty jobs, experiencing what they don’t want to get clarity on what they do want. Most of us have had those and we’ve lived to tell the tale.

If we put the pressure on too early, we cut them off from their natural creativity. And they will need this creativity time and time again as their windy career paths unfold.

Careers have many more transitions than they once did, so the tools of reflecting, experimenting with clues and taking risks jumping into new roles–will be MORE important to their careers than the specific paths they choose.

Here for you and your thoughtful kids declining to answer school surveys that limit their futures.

Often when people first come to me, they share stories of interviews that felt just ok and rejections that came shortly after those meetings.

My response: Did you want the job?

Well…Long pause.

So, that’s a no. We both smile and agree.

Now, financial needs are real – and sometimes you need to get a new job immediately even if it’s a temporary measure to meet your financial responsibilities.

Yet, I find that people often apply to roles they don’t want – even when they’re not in a rush or in a financial crunch.

Guess what – even if you think you’re putting on a great show during the interview, it still comes through. In body language, in things that aren’t said, in energy. Any emotionally intelligent leader will see through even your best performance.

So why do many apply for the wrong roles?

Impostor syndrome and a fear of change.

And it’s this struggle with worthiness and uncertainty that cuts off their self-awareness at the knees.

They jump straight into the tactical action of doing, skipping the most important inner work steps that require…

Slowing down

Thinking and reflecting

Clarifying priorities and desires

Gathering data on strengths

From this essential work and only from here do the purposeful dots connect, does the energy rise from within and adhere to intentional paths.

The truth feels real in conversations, in interviews because it is real.

And the traction, the momentum, the optimism also becomes real.

This is the work I do with clients in the first month of my 1:1 Coaching Program. So if you’ve been on the hunt for a while and you know you’re applying to roles you don’t want – let’s talk in a complimentary 30-min zoom call.

I can’t wait to show you what it feels like when you actually hope you get it!

---

March Office Hours: Open to ALL!

This 60-minute session is an opportunity for you to drop in and ask career questions, make connections, or simply say hi. Typically these sessions are reserved for current and former clients, but this session will be open to all.