I’ve always been drawn to the nexus of people, creativity, and culture. I went to a liberal arts college, double-majored in art history and sociology, and got my first job at an advertising agency in London. I remember my boss’s offhand comment that advertising is a young person’s business: he said I needed to lead an agency by 36 or exit the industry. Subconsciously, my ambition was set. Another lesson from that internship: the best people, creativity, and culture make the best work. So I started chasing the work. And finding myself in the right place at the right time. At 37, I was named Managing Director for 215 McCann—it wasn’t 36 but pretty damn close. At 40, I was promoted to President, enjoyed some press, and attended Cannes for the first time. I was living the dream, but at the same time I felt lonely and insecure.
Executive coaching not only helped me deal with imposter syndrome but improved me as a leader, changing the way I felt and performed. It gave me a place to be comfortably vulnerable. It helped me temper that inner perfectionist taking a toll on colleagues, understand and adapt my style to better collaborate with others, evolve from doing the work to delegating and leading properly. It also helped me prioritize my team over the tasks at hand, lean into tension, and have the difficult conversations.
Even more profoundly, coaching changed my life. In one coaching session, my coach asked about my 5-year vision for my career. I drew a blank: I had come to really like my job, and I didn’t feel like I had anything more to prove to myself or anyone else. Sensing something behind my inability to answer this question, my coach probed further and asked about my 5-year vision for my life. I didn’t have a quick answer, but various thoughts and feelings started to reveal themselves. And I began to realize that I had been so focused on career goals that I had ignored other messier, more deep-seated life goals, the most profound of which was my dream to have a child.
Through numerous coaching conversations, I was able to crystallize this dream and map a plan to realize it. Still awaiting Mr. Right, I started my journey to become a single mother by choice (and by science, too). I had my IVF transfer in January 2020, snuck away from a leadership summit to confirm the pregnancy in February, and left the office to work from home in March for the balance of my Covid pregnancy. Henry arrived in September, and the experience of being his mom has truly exceeded my wildest dreams. Most recently, coaching has helped me bring my work and my life into greater balance. I keep coming back to what drew me to this industry in the first place: the people, creativity, and culture. And after exploring an idea that I’ve had for a few years, I’m ready to commit to my next dream: to become an executive coach myself. So here I am, daring to ask what I really want to do in both my work and my life, hanging my shingle, and hoping to impact others as positively and profoundly as coaching has impacted me.
