Observations from the call

I started the call gently, just asking about life more broadly: where she was personally, work-life balance, what she actually wanted from her days.

We talked about work, and I shared that a company exists to make money and would not likely give her the fulfilment she was looking for. That would have to come from somewhere else, like guest lecturing at a local college or writing a blog on Substack that gave her the freedom to share her thoughts. Things outside work that were hers.

What changed

I sat with the conversation after the call and realised she didn't think she was good enough for an exec role. She didn't believe in herself. I shared this back with her.

Having been an exec, I asked to see her CV. Sure enough, it would never have got her an exec position.

She gave the conversation a lot of thought and decided she wanted to move into freelance work instead. She enjoyed the freedom. We rebuilt her CV around that, and worked through the pricing conversations that came with it.

She's now freelancing for a client, with potential for more. And she's still going for her morning coffee at the local coffee shop, and says she feels much happier in herself.