Like many people, I'd bet on the “traditional” roadmap to bring me the security, success, happiness, and fulfillment I kept hearing about...  and on paper it did. But here's the truth:

The lay-off turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Just a few months earlier, I had written a resignation letter that I kept in my drafts folder.

Why didn't I send it?

Because, even though deep down inside I knew that the position no longer fit the life I wanted to live and I knew that I didn’t actually want what I was chasing, I hadn’t given myself permission to change my mind.

I firmly believed that the time, effort, and energy I'd already invested was too much to just throw away... I thought doing so would be me admitting defeat.

You see, I bought into the idea that proving my value and abilities meant making other people comfortable and helping them get what they need, even if it came at the cost of my own comfort and required me to put what I wanted and needed on the back burner...

I felt that way for far longer than I care to admit, but fortunately Life happened and the Universe stepped in and taught me two important lessons: 

1. things always feel "off" when I don’t listen to (or trust) myself and

​2. it is my responsibility to create—and protect—the life I want to live, no one else's.

Because, dear reader, the security, success, happiness, and fulfillment I craved were already mine. I just had to give my permission to claim them.

Since that realization, I’ve used my fancy degrees (M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University and B.A. from Boston College), my work with college students, corporate professionals, and entrepreneurs, and my genuine interest in how and why people are the way they are to help individuals and organizations all across the globe move from confusion and uncertainty to a clear understanding of what's next for them.