Happy New Year, friends.

I had planned to ease gently into the beginning of this year, embracing a slower pace, but the fire horse energy (ref Chinese astrology, even though we don’t officially step into it until February 17th) has already come charging into my life. If this is any indication of what’s ahead, I’m excited and buckling up for the ride. How has the new year been unfolding for you?

At the close of last year, I came down with the flu, which forced me into rest and reflection. While I wouldn’t wish illness on anyone, the unexpected pause was oddly heavenly. After years of sowing and watering seeds, the stillness helped me sense that a career pivot may be on the horizon this year. That realization led me to reflect on all the elements that need to align for a true turning point to take place.

I’ve been leading a private foundation for many years now, and working in philanthropy has been a real privilege. This job and the role helped expand my social and political consciousness - a profound gift to my immigrant self. And yet, after working in the nonprofit sector and philanthropy for a very long time time, I’ve been contemplating the role work plays in my life. Whatever space it occupies, it needs to feel aligned across people, position, pay, and purpose.

I’ve always struggled with the idea of a “dream job” because, for me, it’s not one title or role. It’s the intersection of those four Ps above that creates meaningful work. For years, I focused on lateral or vertical movement within my sector, and while those shifts mattered, it was ultimately a series of conversations and saying yes to networking meetings that brought me to where I am today.

One of those meetings, about four years ago, led to a suggestion that I take an aptitude assessment with the Johnson O'Connor Research Foundation. The goal was to confirm whether my current work aligned with my natural aptitudes and could therefore lead to greater satisfaction. I’ll admit: at first, I was offended - I take any and all of these types of tests and assessments with a grain of salt. But I also love a bit of behavioral psychology, so I went for it.

What I learned was affirming. I had already been making choices aligned with my aptitudes from a very young age. When broken down further, advising, coaching, consulting and even careers like law or being an electrician ranked highly for me. (That last one still makes me smile and in the parking lot for the future.)

For a while, I didn’t do much with this information. Coaching was something I vaguely understood and felt intrigued by, while advising was already woven into my professional life. Then, at a friend’s birthday party, I reconnected with a former colleague who had since become a successful coach. That single conversation led me to enroll in an ICF-accredited coach training program.

Out of curiosity and believing it was a low-risk, low-harm experiment I signed up for an affordable program (Corporate Sponsored Coach Training) on a bit of a whim. Over the duration of a year, I learned how to be a thoughtful coach while also unlearning everything I thought coaching was. This work has opened up entirely new pathways that hadn’t been visible to me before.

I launched my own practice, and even that process became a powerful teacher, stretching me, grounding me, and revealing new capacities. As I now prepare to sit for my ACC credentialing exam, a clarity has began to emerge. Alongside my coaching practice, I can envision stepping into a senior executive or leadership role, one that centers on guiding organizations and people through transition and transformation. Whether that happens within an organization or through my private practice remains to be seen.

None of this has fully materialized yet (fingers crossed), but the process itself feels deeply meaningful.

I’ve always been inspired by stories of both famous and everyday people who make bold choices, decisions that appear to turn their lives completely around. I used to believe those moments happened overnight: one decisive morning followed by instant change. And while the decision itself can be a clear, memorable moment, the path forward is far more nuanced. It’s shaped by countless small and large decisions, made consistently over time.

What once felt like magic now feels much clearer. Transformation, I’ve come to understand, is awareness meeting intentional action. Transformation = Awareness + Action.

And since my mantra has long been I create as I speak, well, all of this feels very much in alignment. I’m learning to trust that clarity comes not all at once, but in motion.

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