Why I Became a Career Transition Coach

For a long time, I thought being a hard worker was the goal.

Actually, let me be more honest: I thought being a hard worker was part of who I was.

My first business was a lawn-mowing hustle in my grandma’s neighborhood when I was in middle school. I learned early that working hard could earn you money, praise, independence, and a sense of pride. I liked being reliable. I liked being the person who could figure things out.

So when I started building my professional career, I did what many of us are taught to do.

I worked hard.

I pursued education. I took opportunities. I showed up. I proved I belonged. I built a résumé. I tried to make choices that looked responsible and successful on paper.

And then I found myself in a salaried higher-education job that looked good on paper—but did not feel good in my body.

I was exhausted. I was overwhelmed. I was quietly miserable.

One night after another long day, I sat in my car and called my mom. She asked me a simple question:

“How are you doing?”

And I broke.

I sobbed for almost an hour.

At the time, I did not have language for the experience. I only knew that I had followed the plan I thought would lead to success, and yet I felt trapped.

Now, I call that feeling Career Disconnection.

Career Disconnection is not failure

Career Disconnection can happen when there is a growing distance between you and your work.

Maybe your job no longer reflects your values. Maybe you are burned out. Maybe the work is asking too much of you. Maybe you are underpaid, under-supported, bored, overlooked, or trying to survive in a system that was never built to hold your full humanity.

Sometimes it looks like dread.

Sometimes it looks like numbness.

Sometimes it sounds like:

“I don’t know what’s wrong. I just know I cannot keep doing this like this.”

That does not mean you are lazy, ungrateful, or bad at your job.

It may mean your body, values, and needs are trying to tell you something.

Work can be hard. It does not have to make you disappear.

What Career Joy means to me

Career Joy is not pretending every job is perfect.

It is not loving every meeting, accepting mistreatment with a smile, or forcing yourself to be grateful for circumstances that are harming you.

Career Joy is a grounded sense of alignment, possibility, and well-being in your career.

It is the experience of building a working life where you can honor your values, use your strengths, make choices with more self-trust, and leave room for your humanity.

Sometimes Career Joy is a new job.

Sometimes it is a boundary.

Sometimes it is better pay, a clearer role, a supportive manager, more rest, a résumé update, a difficult conversation, or a decision to begin planning your exit.

Sometimes it is simply having language for what you are feeling.

Why I do this work

My experience in that car did not magically solve my career.

But it did open a door.

It helped me understand that people do not always need someone to tell them what to do. Often, they need space to tell the truth about what is happening. They need language. They need practical tools. They need permission to want something different.

That is the work I do now.

I support Black millennials and values-driven professionals navigating career transitions, professional growth, burnout, self-worth, and the complicated relationship between work and life.

Together, we explore:

• What is really happening beneath “I hate my job.”

• The internal stories and external systems shaping career choices.

• What success means now, not what it was supposed to mean five years ago.

• What values, needs, and supports are necessary for the next season.

• One practical step toward more alignment and less disconnection.

I do not believe there is one right path.

I do believe you deserve work that does not require you to abandon yourself.

Start where you are

If you are tired, unsure, restless, ambitious, hopeful, or somewhere between “I have a plan” and “please do not ask me about my five-year vision,” you are welcome here.

You do not need to have everything figured out before you begin.

Start with one question:

What is my career asking me to notice right now?

That is often where clarity begins.

Welcome to Career Joy, Actually, a place for relatable stories, reflective prompts, and practical tools for navigating work, career transitions, and the life you are building alongside them.

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