How I finally found my career’s purpose

I knew from the first time I met a coach that I wanted to be one. Years ago, a small nonprofit I worked for hired a coach to do an organizational training. I watched her help my coworkers and I better understand ourselves, each other, and our team dynamics and thought, How do I do THAT for a living? And yet, for a long time, fear held me back from making that dream a reality.

I spent the first decade of my career designing learning experiences for students and adults in K-12 schools, nonprofits, and universities. I have always found a deep sense of purpose in personal relationships, and the world of education proved a powerful place for me to come alongside others to help them succeed. But while I loved who I worked with, I didn’t always love the work itself. The days were long, my stress about being responsible for so many little people’s learning was high, and I cared way more about students’ personal development than their academic achievements.

As life prompted me, I used these reflections to iterate and pursue different roles within education. I created niche jobs for myself, freelanced, and went to grad school. I studied others’ career trajectories and asked lots of questions whenever I saw someone doing something that piqued my interest. I opened myself up to opportunities even if I didn’t know where they would lead. But at each new job or organization, despite being surrounded by great people and interesting work, something still felt off.

Sometimes, I felt like a ‘Jane of All Trades’ - good at a lot of things but not great or specialized enough at any. Other times, I felt like I had mastered the scope of my work quickly and was bored thinking about my career growth possibilities (or lack thereof). Was I just being too picky? Maybe I needed to get over the regular doubts and wonderings in the back of my head. But I continued to have this nagging feeling that my potential wanted to be used in a different way.

I’m meant for something different than this I would think to myself. But I didn’t know what that was or how to translate the clear sense of purpose I felt in other parts of my life into my career.

I knew I had a powerful purpose.

I knew I had important gifts, talents, and passions.

But somehow, I was missing some of the pieces I needed to see the whole picture.

After years of feeling this way, I was burnt out from trying and falling short, from doing jobs that weren’t quite right for me. My imposter syndrome was high, my ability to figure it out felt low, and I was frustrated, embarrassed, and ashamed. Was I the only one who, in my late 20s, hadn’t yet figured out my ‘thing’? It seemed like everyone else around me had it together. I had lots of experience and schooling. Prestigious universities and organizations decorated my resume. But something was still missing.

It wasn’t until I was in a toxic work environment and pregnant with my second child that I gave myself permission to say something I don’t think I had truly admitted prior: this isn’t it. That statement was courageous yet terrifying. Allowing myself to say it was such a relief. It gave me the freedom to change my circumstance and meant I didn’t have to keep trying and getting the same result. But it also meant I needed to figure out a more true way to live my purpose. And that could have been a seriously daunting task.

But ironically, it wasn’t. As I started the process, I dug into the underlying root of the work I had done in education. What about it lit me up? Why was I so intent on improving the learning experiences of others? It was then that I began to see an obvious through line between all the roles I’d had: helping people see and be their best selves. At that key breaking point, when I finally took the weight of my own pressure and expectation off, I saw the whole picture clearly for the first time. And with that perspective, I saw that I actually had a lot of different options. There were many contexts and jobs through which I could help people see and be their best. From there, my next step was a no brainer. I had always wanted to be a coach, I had just never felt like it fit into my career trajectory. But when I saw my underlying motivation for the jobs I had taken in the past, it actually made all the sense in the world that I had been so drawn to coaching all those years ago.

Part of what had held me back from pursuing coaching in the past was feeling like it was too big of a shift from where I was. I had a Masters degree and years of experience in education. What if I took a risk to become a coach and didn’t like it? The sunk cost could have been really high, and where would I go from there? But more than possible sunk costs, I was worried about how my career pivots would look to others. And because of that, I kept my job iteration to the world of work I was already in. That was safer, and it made sense. But it only made sense if I wanted to keep going like I was, which clearly - I did not. I had to take a big risk in order to have the kind of payoff I wanted.

As I told my family and friends about my plans to become a coach, it was as if everyone who knew me collectively said That’s exactly what you’re meant to do. But interestingly, unlike other times in my life, I didn’t need their affirmation because I knew for myself. When I finally allowed myself to be honest about my purpose, it was so much easier to be courageous and pursue this passion I’d had all along.

It is my absolute joy to coach. I love witnessing the fullness of who each client is and helping them find their unique path in life. I still pinch myself that this is the ‘work’ I get to do, and I am so grateful for the lessons I’ve learned along this path.