The idea for Refresh Your Step did not appear out of thin air, as if a light illuminated above my head and I suddenly realized what I was meant to do as a career. Part of me wishes it had been that easy, that a light switched on at some point in college; the rest of me, however, realizes now that each step I took prior to this, my career successes, pitfalls and subsequent lessons, all led me down this specific path. For this, I am deeply grateful.
As a bright-eyed and idealistic college senior, I thought I had it all figured out: I loved journalism, I had the connections from a summer internship at NBC in New York and I had the drive. After graduating from the Univesity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I would simply move up to New York, continue working at NBC and, yada yada yada, I'd be the next Katie Couric. What could go wrong?
This was my general train of thought the fall of my senior year, though the little voice in the back of my mind was desperately trying to get through. What about seeing your family? Or living your own life? As much as I tried to tune out that voice with constant reminders of my passion for journalism, I couldn't help but reflect on how miserable many of the reporters and producers seemed, how often they mentioned failed relationships and marriages, never seeing their family or friends and how their original career passion had dwindled as their success rose. I wasn't married at the time but there was the idea of marriage, perhaps children and a life where I could balance it all. As idealistic as I was at the time, I had to wonder if perhaps I needed to think into the future and re-evaluate my career choices?
As I inched closer to graduation, my attempts at muffling the voice began to fail and my idealistic self started to fade. At the same time (or perhaps it was more cause-and-effect) this new rational side of me appeared (I know, it scared me too). I thought that by moving into a field related to journalism, I could still be passionate about my job but also strike a balance between a career and my personal life.
This decision eventually led me to a plum position as the assistant to/analyst for the head of Corporate Communications at Lehman Brothers. This particular public relations position was tied to the media (i.e., journalists), I was able to write and I had an opportunity to learn about finance--what could go wrong? A lot, apparently.
To sum up the experience, I worked for the financial world's version of the Devil who wears Prada (except her clothes weren't quite Prada-esque). Regardless, she screamed, schemed and made me dream of a better day; a day where walking into the office didn't mean a pit in the bottom of my stomach and I didn't tremble in fear every time she called my name. I also dreamt of nights and weekends that were my own and not spent in the office.
Though I eventually switched out of Corporate Communications into a role with the campus recruiting team at Lehman, I couldn't help but feel that my time in the first position at the company impacted me more than I originally thought. Yes, I learned quite a bit about finance but I also learned about the ways of the corporate world.
(Now, I must ask for your forgiveness before moving forward, as I will be stereotyping to a degree; however, the stereotypes are based on both my own experiences and those of others. The consistencies across both companies and industries were remarkable so I will use them for now. That being said, I love to hear about people's positive experiences with their bosses, colleagues, etc. Please email me those at emily@refreshyourstep.com and I will put the stories into a later blog post.)
As I moved through my time in the corporate world, I couldn't help but be struck by all of the extremely successful, highly intelligent and insightful people who, despite their career achievements, spoke frequently of the path not taken, of being frustrated by their work and thought frequently about making a change but simply didn't know how to do so. Many of these same people were also frustrated by the challenges and other unforeseen obstacles that blocked their steps up the ladder.
Concurrent to hearing these spoken thoughts, not to mention thinking them myself, I pondered my own path not taken. In addition to journalism, I had always been interested in psychology, in understanding people so as to help them get to a better place. One day, as I walked my dog through Central Park, a light did turn on over my head. Go back to school...go back for psychology...learn how people learn and what makes them tick.
To begin wrapping up this exorbitantly long blog piece, that's exactly what I did. After researching various programs to teach me such material, I settled on the Educational Psychology program at Fordham University. Though I knew going into the Masters program that I would learn the research behind our learning process, I did not foresee that each class would open up my eyes to additional aspects of our learning processes. I read the research on motivation, cognition, self-regulation, creativity, problem-solving and more; though the information gleaned from these classes was meant for the classroom, I saw the potential for something more.
A vision began to take place early on in my Masters program--I wanted to work with people in the corporate world (or any industry, really). I wanted to help people who were wondering if they had taken the rights steps in their career, unsure of the path they were on, if they should--or even could--switch job paths. Additionally, I wanted to help those people who faced obstacles in their chosen path and wanted to figure out how to surmount said obstacles and continue moving on in their field. Lastly, I wished to help all of my clients learn how to manage their work life so as to maximize their personal time.
To be perfectly honest, the thought of career coaching crossed my mind from time to time. Come to think of it, I believe it was the same tiny voice in the back of my head as I continued telling myself to get the PhD. You're not interested in research. You want to work with people. Why spend more time and money when you can start on your real career now? I eventually started listening to my voice of reason again and voila! Refresh Your Step was finally born.
After several steps down a path filled with career successes (in some way), pitalls and a series learning and reflection, I know what I want to do. I have the tools and drive to do it and am ready. I am prepared to work with every client who crosses my path, to make sure that they figure out the best path for them and to find the strategies to get there.
I've refreshed my step...now it's your turn.
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As a follow-up, I invite you to share your story with me. Have you had a boss and/or job that makes you anxious before you even walk into the office? Have you ever thought about the steps you've taken in your career and wondered if they're the right ones for you? Have you asked yourself about the path not taken? Send me your story and I will put them together in a future post.
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As another follow-up, I promise not to publish any more ridiculously long posts!
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