Hi, I'm Carolyn
BFA, MS Ed, ACC
I believe a fulfilling career can take many forms. And it should be in service to a fulfilling LIFE. I believe a successful life is whatever you decide success means to you. And that true fulfillment comes from letting go of judgement for wanting something for your life outside of society's norms of success.
I believe leadership starts from within. Before you can lead your team or business you need to lead yourself. If you aren't clear about who you are and what you want you probably don't have clear boundaries or clear communication strategies - critical for leading others.
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Do you feel like your profession, industry, or organization has changed so much you no longer recognize it?
And no longer recognize yourself?
I get it. I've been there. More than once.
My first career was in marketing. I loved it for more than 10 years. Until I didn't. I was tired of being the only woman in the room in male-dominated industries.
I was tired of the highs and lows when an economic slump meant the marketing department would face cuts. And I wanted to use my love of behavioral science, meeting people where they were, and communicating with them in a way that called them to action in an altruistic way.
So at 35+ years old, I left Colorado and became a high school art teacher in NYC. But really, I used art to teach life and leadership to young adults.
It was great at first. There were challenges I didn't anticipate - like the lack of autonomy over my schedule. But I had autonomy in my classroom and I was able to use my creativity to help others grow.
Nearly 10 years later, the profession became unrecognizable. And I had no autonomy in my classroom. Autonomy is one of my core values so this, along with other changes in education became deal breakers. Fortunately, I was more than a classroom teacher. I'd led the art department, designed and led teacher trainings and chaired committees.
So at 45 years old, I continued on my path in behavioral science, people development, and communication and moved into corporate learning and development, specializing in leadership development. I found my way back to Colorado and created a side-hobby business helping career changers discover and do whatever was next. But I'd lost my artistic and creative spark.
And then, several years later, the pandemic hit, and the side-hobby became a side-hustle while I took on additional work in leadership development and curriculum design.
I'd gotten coaching certifications in 2005, 2018 and 2020. I'd designed and taught classes in creativity at Colorado Free University in 2005. I led an adult-only art and creativity monthly workshop from 2005-2007. I held outdoor meetup sketching groups. I'd been on personal and spiritual development journeys my entire life.
Since 2020 I've used it all to help accomplished professionals (mostly women at mid-life) lead themselves through uncertainty and into the next chapter of leadership, career, and life. And I'm over 50 years old.
Change is a process, not one step. Maybe not even the next step. And its not too late.