Career Coaching For Women - Why I Started

Photo credit: Jess Marie Photography

As a Fortune 500 hiring manager turned Career Coach for women, people always ask me "what made you want to start doing that?". The second most common question I get is "so career coaching for women, huh?...What does that mean exactly?" So I decided to answer everyone’s burning question by sharing what led me to career coaching for women, and why I decided to do this meaningful work.

For starters, I noticed that over the years, people were constantly coming to me for career advice, whether it be to receive help with their resume, or to get guidance on a challenge or tough decision they were facing at work. I noticed how fulfilled I felt whenever I spoke to each person, particularly the women, who were in need of career advice. They always left our conversation feeling much more at ease and confident in their ability to achieve what they were striving for. It was a feeling above and beyond anything that I had felt in any of my previous jobs that I held before.

So I wanted to do that MORE! I started to dig deeper by asking myself 'why'? Why was I so adamant about supporting women in their careers, and how had I become so obsessed with this so quickly? And that's when I realized that it's because I never had any support throughout my career. When I looked around me, I often didn't see any female leaders who I could trust to help build me up with my best interest in mind.

When it came to transitioning careers, I didn't have anyone to help me through it each time. Someone to help me get clear on what the hell I wanted to do next, someone to help me determine how to showcase my transferable skills so that recruiters and hiring managers would want ME for the position. I had to figure it all out on my own and let me tell you, if I had someone alongside me the entire way, I could've saved myself a whole lot of time and headache.

Now, one thing that I recognize is that although I didn't feel that I had anyone to lean on for any of this, I also didn't proactively go out and seek it; and I own that. Not seeking out guidance/help when I needed it was one of the biggest mistakes that I made in my career. Although I was able to figure it out, successfully transitioning careers multiple times and climbing the proverbial corporate ladder each time that I did, I feel that my trajectory would've been a lot faster and much more seamless had I not made this mistake. This is what I mean when I say "take ownership of your career" - don't just wait for the help to come, because more than likely it won't just show up at your door. You have to go get it! Ask for it!

So that's my story - my why for offering career coaching for women. To help them navigate their careers with certainty and confidence; something that I lacked for so long.

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