The title of this post is not just meant to introduce you to me, but it reflects the path I went on to get to this place and the constant journey we all find ourselves on.
I can remember trying to figure who I am since I was a teenager. Though, back then, the question wasn’t a conscious one and I didn’t really give it a lot of thought. It was all about fitting in and other people’s expectations of me. In college, it was different. I had to face adulthood and figure out who and what I wanted to be, as I now was grown up. After college, having figured it out but realizing I may need to rethink it, I had to consider alternatives. Skip forward a decade to my maternity leave and the birth of my first child when I had to try figure out who I was as a mother…with a career.
Do you see a theme here? I considered this question every time I was in a transition: adolescent to teen; student to adult; career transition; motherhood.
The most recent of my transitions began in 2015. I was leading the marketing team for a media technology company – passionate about branding, marketing communications and the evolving media landscape – and then, after nearly 11 years helping to build the company, I was laid off.
Initially, I thought I would get right back into the game but it wasn’t so easy. I wasn’t as well networked as I thought (apparently business meetings aren’t enough) and no one was knocking down my door to hire me. Soon, the ‘who am I?’ question re-emerged as I explored option after option, moving farther and farther away from what I had been doing. It was an iterative process and I spent a lot of time trying to figure what was next for me.
I am grateful that being laid off knocked me off the hamster wheel, and gave me the time, space and awareness to seek out answers. I gained perspective, and the patience and wisdom to see opportunities and to make new discoveries.
“Who am I?” is a question we should ever stop asking ourselves and there may never be one definitive answer. Like life itself, it is a process to be embraced, not rushed through.
I spent all of my career in “business” – working for companies: big public companies, non-profit organizations, small private companies. I have an MBA from a top global business school. I was running a marketing department and helped build a company into a global leader and I in the course of it all, I stopped thinking about who I was.
Today, I am a coach, passionate about helping women in midlife discover who they are. I hope to give women the time and space to be conscious in their lives about why they are doing what they do and perhaps help them discover how to do it differently, better or in a way that makes them happier. I am a work-from-home mom, a wife, a solopreneur, a foodie, and traveller.
It's nice to meet you.
