My head would have had to be in the sand if I didn’t see it coming. I knew there was a possibility my role would be eliminated. Everyone was on guard then, particularly senior leaders in high-cost markets like New York.

So, while it was deeply unsettling at a cellular level, it wasn’t shocking. What would shock the 2024 version of me is where I am now.

My first instinct, after a glass of wine and a call to my mom, was what you’d expect. I tried—albeit a bit halfheartedly—to get right back on the same saddle. I’d spent 24 years building one career. I was respected, knew the landscape, and cared deeply about the subject matter. Some called me a trailblazer.

The job was a huge part of my identity—probably too big. And my spirit and my bank account both need to work. I scoured listings, made calls, updated my résumé for the first time in 13 years—all the things.

And then, after taking space to think and a few deep conversations with smart people—including an executive career coach—it clicked: I didn’t want to go back. That’s the surprise I couldn’t ignore. I felt it in my core. I wanted something else, but I had no clue what that was. I explored law and leadership roles at patient advocacy organizations. In a world without much of a safety net, I was drowning in anxiety.

A good friend told me to write down the things that had made me happiest, professionally. Here's the gist of the list: helping people find their voice and achieve their goals, co-creating and connecting dots, working with smart, thoughtful humans, storytelling, and uncovering how people communicate, think and relate to themselves and others.

I started exploring coaching for real when I realized I'd been doing the core things coaches do all along. And that those were the things that really lit me up. The funny thing is, I had a bias against the few life coaches I’d met while working with celebrities in the mental health space—coaches who appeared to lack the experience, training or ethical foundation I thought the role would require. But who knows?

So becoming one myself required some reframing on my part, helped along by the phenomenal folks I met during my coaching and meditation teacher certification training programs at Gaja Collective and Dharma Moon/Tibet House.

Now that I’ve been coaching for a bit, I’m kinda proud of myself for taking a pretty big leap of faith. My focus is helping people navigate transitions because I’ve learned firsthand that sometimes the hardest part isn’t knowing that something needs to change. It’s figuring out what comes next.

When have you surprised yourself by taking a leap of faith toward something?