...and I’m going to be totally transparent.
I never in a million years could have guessed that my dream career would be as a startup and executive coach. In fact, it wasn’t even a career I knew existed!
So, how did a Broadway loving, NYU Tisch graduate end up working in a multi-million dollar startup, partnering with Evolution and transforming companies and careers?
I began my career-life as an actor, taking the train into NYC as a kid and doing experimental theater in the village. I went on to graduate from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and moved to LA to make my acting dreams come true. But, after only a year in LA, I quickly realized that the dream of making it in Hollywood was no longer in alignment with my vision and purpose.
As the dots began to align though, I received an internship at an LA startup and within a very short period, they realized I was capable of a lot more. One weekend we got 2 million new users and they hired me full time that Monday.
I had a great salary, was highly valued and we were growing quickly (a few weeks in we were at 20 million users). It was tough but it was magical and it opened up a whole new career path for me.
Feeling pretty burnt and not wanting to make a wrong next move, I enrolled in a self-development course. And this is when the dots really started to line up!
That week, I booked 3 consulting gigs and finally fully claimed the expertise I had developed in the entertainment tech space through that initial whirlwind startup experience. Flash forward 7 years and I had consulted with television studios and major multi channel networks..
I joined Pluto TV (acquired by Viacom) the week before it launched and helped it grow to over 6 millions users. It was an amazing challenge and yet I still wasn’t super fulfilled by my role as a marketer. It became very apparent that my most fulfilling time was happening outside of work, with my self-development and leadership courses.
After years of trying to figure out what I was passionate about, I stopped trying to "figure it out" by myself. I created a women's empowerment goal-setting group to do it with me.
With the strength of my new team, it only took 6 weeks for me to figure it out. 6 WEEKS to get clarity on what I wanted to do after stewing in my own thoughts for a third of my life trying to figure it out alone.
I gained crystal clear clarity that my deepest passion was in coaching others. And I ended up coaching the whole group.
I realized that in my pursuit of fulfillment and success, I’d been leaving little pieces of me behind. So, I combined my love of acting, passion for self-development, expertise in the start up world and executive experiences and created the most fulfilled and successful version of me.
I found my mission and purpose in executive coaching, leadership development and startup consulting. I feel privileged to get to be in my zone of genius, have an impact on world-enriching companies and work with powerful female leaders who embody their values in their work and their lives.
Not to mention, my whole life as an actor and improv comedian is now completely applicable to work I do with clients on communication, executive presence and hustle. Plus, I finally fully accepted that it’s okay for me to be a little “woo-woo”, because, you know, I’m a coach and I’m supposed to shake things up!
Looking back now, all the pieces fit beautifully together.
