Early in my career, I had an amazing job at Gap, working at the corporate office and then in London. It was a time of extreme growth for the company, adding stores, new divisions and expanding internationally as well. I was helping the real estate team put deals together for new store locations. But there were challenges. I was in my 20s and indirectly managing men in their 40s. I was also ready to put my own real estate deals together, but that wasn’t immediately an option. When I decided to look outside for that opportunity, I interviewed at other Bay area retailers, but every time I interviewed with another retailer, it got back to my boss. He offered me promotions, raises, and more stock to stay in what was essentially a “Chief of Staff” role — but not the job that I aspired to….
One of my mentors finally offered me that job on the real estate team in London where I could do what I wanted and more: co-develop and then lead the execution of the breakout real estate strategy for GAP in the UK; successfully open 85 stores over 5 years which grew the UK operations sevenfold; and most important to me, build and lead talented teams of professionals inside and outside the company to source and negotiate the real estate deals.
But with a small child, another one on the way, and my husband, I struggled to make the right choices for myself and my loved ones. I was raised on the superwoman model, where women were supposed to juggle work and family and everything else without breaking a sweat and that model helped me reach a certain level of achievement in my career.
However, things got to a point where I needed to put my family first and leave the well-paying job I loved. So, I did. This was tough, but it was the right thing to do.
When I was getting my MBA in the mid-2010s, I took leadership classes as part of my management concentration: Leading People and Organizations. One class emphasized the importance of values in leadership. This was the opposite of the achievement-only cultures I’d grown up in. Another class helped me see the value in being present in the moment as a leader, very different from the “just produce” mentality I had encountered for years. It was such a turning point to realize that you could be a real human and achieve great things at your work. One didn’t need to exclude the other, but it took focus and support to integrate the two.
I decided I wanted to help leaders live their lives (be human) and approach their work with a deeper understanding of their values and a knowledge of their innate strengths as the foundation. I realized that sustainable, healthy businesses needed to be run by healthy, flourishing people, and I wanted to help people embrace that, whether in corporate or outside of it.
So, after I got my MBA at the Leavey School of Business at Santa Clara University, I became a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach at the Co-Active Training Institute, a Gallup-Certified Strengths Coach, and received my Professional Certified Coach Credential from the International Coaching Federation. This meant that I could work with professionals with a full understanding of their life and business challenges while having a deep background in coaching. I also created the Life Reinvented Solopreneur Accelerator®, along with a book and workbook, that helped new and existing entrepreneurs (most of whom came from corporate) create their next chapters.
I’ve had extensive speaking engagements. These engagements have included speaking to women’s business enterprise groups, university classes and alumnae groups, and business summits. I also presented monthly two day paid virtual workshops with 150+ participants for 18 months during COVID, along with weekly virtual networking events, resulting in the participation and transformation of hundreds of new and pivoting business owners.
I led a virtual community of 7000+ small business owners nationwide; I hosted and presented 100+ free weekly in person and then virtual business building trainings and nationwide networking meetings.
This is who I am and how I show up for my clients. It is truly gratifying to be the Executive Coach I wish I had at the times that I struggled during my corporate life.
We all deserve to live full lives. It simply takes a bit of re-training the mind, consideration for us, and willingness to get support. This is how we can have it all and more.
