Two years

Two years ago this week, I walked out the door of my last full-time job into the fresh air and sunshine of a DC afternoon. Feeling unburdened and uncertain at the same time. 

It wasn’t a desperate situation. I was making more money than I ever had, and the benefits were fabulous. I loved my handpicked team and had a fair amount of autonomy. But I’d stopped growing in the role. Things that should have been easy turned into battles. My place in the ever-changing hierarchy of the larger organization was unclear. And despite having finished coaching school more than a year earlier, I wasn’t doing a lot of coaching.

So, I left. Relying on the wisdom and guidance of those who had done this before me, I took what I described as a leap of faith. Peaceful Direction became a full-time endeavor, and I became self-employed for the first time ever.

I billed about $2,500 worth of work in that first month. (Thank goodness for unused PTO and our savings account.) Cautiously, steadily, I found more clients and more contract opportunities. Then, not five months later, the world turned upside down.

I still don’t know the pandemic’s actual impact on my practice. I do know the trauma, grief and uncertainty of those early locked-down days gave clients plenty to talk about with their coach. Many of them have since demonstrated adaptability and resilience they would not have thought possible.

In the last two years, I’ve coached nearly 100 leaders who were complete strangers before we started working together. The business has grown each year. I just passed 2020’s revenue last week. I’m not close to matching my former salary, but I’m fortunate that my household doesn’t require that level of income. I’m also fortunate to be more in the driver’s seat than ever when it comes to how I spend my time and attention. For example, ending this business day early to watch my daughter’s cross-country meet requires no permission and inconveniences no one.

I haven’t yet reached the point where I feel like I’ve made it. I say “yet” even though I’m not sure I’ll ever get to that point. I know coaches who have been in business for years longer than I have, and still wonder about their long-term prospects. The only thing I can say for certain is that this feels like work I was born to do. I’ve spent not a single moment wishing I had my old job back.

What lies ahead for the third year? I’m still learning and growing every day. I’ve been recommending the Evans/Burnett Designing Your Life materials to clients a lot lately and am excited to take part in their coach training later this month. I’m putting the finishing touches on my book about coaching in analogies. I’ll explore podcast and on-demand instruction possibilities early next year.

My “why” is also evolving. I am still here for the growth of leaders whose impact on their teams will increase as a result of the work we do together. And I’ve realized this is incomplete. I’m doing the world, and myself, a disservice if I simply serve to reinforce the power structures in our society as they exist today. I carry around 200 pounds of nearly every kind of privilege there is. At a minimum, I must keep working to find new ways to support, elevate and amplify those who cannot say the same.

Year three… here we go!