Capable, restless, and keeping it to yourself.
I work with people well into careers they've been very good at, who know something needs to change but can't quite say what yet. If you read that sentence twice, this page is probably for you.
Maybe something happened. A role ended, burnout caught up with you, or an opportunity opened that you're not sure you even want. Or maybe nothing happened at all, and you've simply started wondering whether you want the next ten years to look like the last ten. Either way, it's a hard thing to say out loud when your record says you should be fine.
What you think you need
Most people come to me with something practical: whether to stay or go, what comes next, how to talk about themselves now, whether they want another leadership role or something of their own. Sometimes there's a real resume or job decision in the middle of it, and we'll give that its due. It's just rarely the whole story, and you're welcome to bring the rest, including the parts that have nothing to do with work.
What you haven't said out loud
For a long time, a title or an organization did some of the talking for you. You knew what you were good at, so did everyone else, and there was always a next step waiting. Now being good at it doesn't feel like reason enough to keep going, and you want more and less at the same time. Because nothing is obviously wrong, that's hard to explain, even to yourself, so you carry it quietly and keep looking fine. Saying it to someone, even clumsily, is usually where it starts to loosen.
How I work
My part is asking good questions, sometimes uncomfortable but necessary ones, and listening for what's underneath the answers. Most people arrive hoping I'll tell them what to do, which makes sense, but you usually know more than you've let yourself say. What I offer is a room you can trust with the less polished version, where you don't have to defend it or turn it into a plan before you're ready. Whatever comes out of that room is yours.
We meet for an hour at a time, for about six months, at whatever rhythm fits your life.
What changes
Little by little, the question gets more specific, and that alone feels lighter. You get out of your head and can say what you want next, before you have it all figured out. It doesn't stay a career conversation for long, because it was never only about work, and what changes shows up in the rest of your life too.
Sometimes that leads to a bigger move. More often, what needed to change is smaller than you feared, and you leave trusting your own call.
Who am I
I came to this work the long way. I spent a decade as a scientist and strategist in corporate R&D, then left, and I've started over more than once since. So I know what it costs to keep performing well while something underneath isn't right, and what it is to speak for yourself without an institution behind you. My practice is built around the conversations people are carrying but not having. I'm a transition coach and facilitator, PCC, based in Washington, DC.
A place to start
If any of this sounds like you, the easiest next step is a discovery call. Many of the people I work with had never talked to a coach before, so it's simply a conversation about what's going on and whether I'm the right fit. You don't need to have any of it figured out first. Bring whatever version you have.