It was 2009 and it seemed like I found the best case scenario for my career. I had been working for a year as a career adviser and lecturer at McCombs Business School at The University of Texas at Austin. This role was meeting so many of my values and needs. The role combined my prior business experience in consulting, talent development, training and project management, along with my Master’s degree in Educational Psychology and my PCM (Professional Career Manager) certification. I was able to teach a for-credit course on Career Management and Job Search strategies at a Research 1 institution. My values of collaboration, meaning, achievement were all being met at a high level.

However, something was missing. I had to determine what the missing pieces were so I re-examined the values that were extremely important to me in a career. Two values were not being met on a consistent basis: challenge and creativity.

To a degree I did feel challenged in my work, but I wanted to:

• Work with a larger variety of clients with different experiences
• Help clients navigate workplace scenarios that my current roster of undergrads had not experienced to this point in their lives
• Help clients create their career development strategies while navigating different roles in their lives

To do this, I needed to take on clients outside the scope of my current clientele.

While I was able to be creative in my job, that creativity was limited by the overall strategy of our office. Ideas that I had could not be implemented because they did not fit the context of the department head’s vision. I completely accepted this since I was well aware of my role and how it fit into the organization. There were opportunities to create within that vision, but I wanted to create my own vision.

Not wanting to leave my current job as it was such a good fit for me, I had to think of ways I could get those two values met. I distinctly remember when the idea hit me. My husband and I were jogging and I was explaining my situation to him. I remember him turning to me and saying, “why don’t you start your own business?”

Throughout my childhood I received many messages that you should get a job with an employer who will pay you a solid salary and provide you with benefits. The thought of starting my own business had never entered my head before that day. At first, I thought of all the excuses of why I shouldn’t start a business, but was able to quickly rationalize those fears away.

Wolfgang Career Coaching was born. It started as a very part-time business where I saw clients after work or on weekends. As my business became busier, I also had my first child. Now I had three major career roles: business owner, career adviser at UT and mom. I couldn’t keep working 40 hours a week at one job and working nights and weekends in my business and still be the mom I wanted to be. Something had to give. I needed to quit my job or my business but I enjoyed them both.

In the end, I had to examine my own career development and where I wanted to be in five years and in 10 years. I had to re-examine my values again and I what I wanted out of my career and my life. It came down to this: I wanted to say to my daughter with 100% authenticity that she can be whatever she wants to be in her career. She has what it takes within her to make it happen. The ultimate decision was to let go of a job I enjoyed and take the energizing/scary/exciting/overwhelming/inspiring risk of building a business… my business.

Looking back five years, a lot has changed! I have added another child to my family and a great team of career coaches to the business. It has been an amazing journey. I learned many lessons, had many opportunities, took risks that paid off and some that didn’t, made plenty of mistakes, and had a tremendous amount of help from so many people. I have met the most amazing people throughout this journey. My clients and colleagues continue to amaze me on a daily basis. I feel an incredible amount of gratitude for the opportunity and have never regretted the decision.