The Biggest Lie about Working with Me

I’ll never forget the time I challenged a coaching client to quit her job – and she said yes.

After months of hearing about her toxic boss, the unhealthy culture, and the real, physical toll it was all taking on her, I blurted out:

“Maybe it’s time for you to just quit.”

I felt the weight of those words as soon as I said them. My heart raced while I waited for her reply.

“Ok,” she said. And she did.

This is a true story – and in an interesting way, it’s also a lie.

That’s because it mirrors the narrative we so often hold about change:

It needs to be big. It needs to be bold. It needs to be immediate.

And sure, sometimes the writing is on the wall and the change really is that radical.

But more often, change is incremental. It’s about tweaks, refinements, daily iterations.

When I talk about how I help my clients get out of a misaligned job, often the assumption is that I’m helping them literally get a new job. And this can be true.

But equally as often, coaching involves supporting my clients to refine and improve the situation they’re in – to make their work more meaningful, more sustainable, more aligned with what they’d hoped they be achieving when they first started.

For example, take my client Kathy – who came into coaching ready to quit, and ended up negotiating a pay raise and a more flexible work-from-home schedule instead.

When we started coaching, Kathy was burned out, anxious and couldn’t focus. She felt stuck in her job, which included an hour-long commute. She’d sporadically search for other jobs but didn't have direction.

“Ashley took my hand and led me to a place where I could see and accept who I was. It was validating for me. Ashley helped me SLOW DOWN and do the work you have to do to find that honest version of yourself.”

Now, Kathy says:

“I seem to approach each day with more confidence, more acceptance. If you want to change your life, and live the life that you have been envisioning, Ashley's coaching will help you get to an honest version of it.” 

Another incredible thing about coaching is that it doesn’t just create external change like raises and promotions, but internal changes, too.

My client M.M. is a great example: 

Before we started coaching together, she was stuck in self doubt. She said “yes” to everything at work but wasn’t being recognized or promoted. She felt inadequate and was constantly trying to prove herself. She tried learning more skills and delved into personal development books and podcasts, but still felt stuck.

As she reflects on her coaching wins, M.M. says:

“Ashley helped me become comfortable with myself. She helped me believe in myself and find ways to trust myself. And to find joy. Quite honestly, the idea of joy wasn’t present in my life before. Especially in work. It was ‘Did you do it right?’ ‘Did you advance or not?’ But now, I know there’s learning and growing. You can believe in yourself and be good AND you can still grow. Growing doesn’t mean there’s a deficit or something wrong with you.” 

Of course, sometimes coaching does lead to taking big action. For my client Liz, it meant leaving her established career in philanthropy and taking the bold step to enroll in nursing school:

“My life and the professional path I’m on is unrecognizable from where I was when I started talking to Ashley. If I hadn’t worked with Ashley I wouldn’t have gotten here, I wouldn’t have picked apart what was wrong from my professional life and I wouldn’t have figured out that there was something so different that I wanted to do. It’s been a monumental change in my life but exactly what I want it to be.”

So tell me, what kind of change are you aiming to make this Spring? 

I’d love to hear more and explore how I can support you as your coach.

Your first step is to fill out this interest form. Then we’ll schedule a call to talk about your goals and how we can work together to achieve them. If it feels like a fit, you can sign up and schedule your first session in the next few weeks!

Keep in mind that enrollment for coaching with me ends on May 19th – after that, my next available openings will be in late Summer.

I can’t wait to hear from you.

Onward,