I’ve been supporting people in transition and expansion for 20 years.

As an acupuncturist, I helped my patients move through physical and emotional stuckness. As a creative leader, I helped my teams shift into greater responsibility and reward.

As a coach, I help people shed their default programming so they can create the work and lives they yearn for.

With the benefit of hindsight, I can see that my path to doing this work began as a young adult.

One of my favorite coaching questions today is something I’ve been asking people for as long as I can remember: What would you rather be doing right now?

I think I was hoping someone’s response would point me in the right direction since “What would I rather be doing?” was always such a tough question for me to answer.

Throughout my 20s, 30s, and early 40s, I was a chronic city and job jumper. New York, Portland, Los Angeles. Consulting, journalism, marketing.

On what felt like a whim at the time (now I know better), I stepped off the corporate path in 2007 to study Chinese medicine and become a licensed acupuncturist.

Being immersed in the teachings of Chinese medicine felt like upgrading the operating system of my brain.

It revamped my understanding of energy and our capacity to heal ourselves. It taught me about the relationship between mind and body, and helped me see myself and others as part of an ecosystem.

For years, I practiced acupuncture in private and community clinics throughout New York City. I ran an acupuncture publication and podcast, wrote columns and books, and built a directory of acupuncturists.

And yet, something wasn’t right.

The imposter voices in my head were loud. I was overwhelmed by feelings of unworthiness and fear when it came to charging for treatments.

With the identity I was inhabiting at the time, acupuncture became unsustainable as my livelihood.

At a loss for what to do next, I took a sharp left and started working in tech. This “detour” ultimately led to a pivotal shift in my life.

After moving through several tech companies and leadership roles, I found myself designing digital products and making multiple six-figures a year—and feeling totally hollow.

In the process of trying so hard to keep myself safe, I had neglected my life force.

The moment woke me up and led to a decision: I would stop reacting to my life and start creating it.

I would do whatever it took to overcome the limiting stories and assumptions holding me back.

I would reinvent myself—this time, from the inside.

Six months after quitting my last tech job, I enrolled in Martha Beck’s Wayfinder Life Coach Training.

My operating system got upgraded once again, learning about how our thoughts and actions—not our circumstances—determine the quality of our lives.

Investing in coaching enabled several new possibilities for my life, including the full-circle experience of it now being my job to ask my favorite question:

What would you rather be doing right now?

For more on my professional background, connect with me on LinkedIn.