I spent over a decade in digital production and product management in New York, eventually landing as VP of Product at Artnet, leading strategy for four online products in the fine art space. Before that, I ran teams at agencies like MRY and The Barbarian Group, producing work for GE, Samsung, and Johnson & Johnson.

On paper, I had the career most people chase. In reality, I was burning out. And I'd already lived through a darker chapter years earlier, one that eventually led me to coaching in the first place.

In 2008, I was an Executive Producer at an animation studio in New York, and I was a mess. Drinking too much. Thirty pounds overweight. Seeking validation in all the wrong places and plateauing at work without the confidence to do anything about it.

I did the work to get healthy, therapy included, and it helped me understand what was wrong. But understanding wasn't the same as moving.

Then someone gave me a coaching session as a gift, and for the first time, I had a process pointed at where I wanted to go, not just where I'd been.

One hour changed everything. It turned into a weekend intensive. Then a six-month program. Then two years of coach training. Inside a short window, I got healthy, repaired relationships, clarified what I actually wanted, and rebuilt my career with intention.

The transformation was profound enough that I started coaching on the side while continuing my corporate career.

I then took eight months off to backpack the world, bookending the trip with summiting Kilimanjaro and trekking to Everest Base Camp. If I was going to tell people to live their dreams, I figured I should probably live mine first.

Fast forward to 2018. I was VP of Product at Artnet. My son had just been born. I came back from paternity leave and my CEO called me into his office and let me go.

As I walked out of the building with my things in a cardboard box, my phone rang. It was the coaching program I'd applied to months earlier.