I began my career practicing law, working in litigation and corporate environments where clarity, preparation, and attention to detail mattered. Early on, I developed the ability to assess complex situations, build structured arguments, and communicate effectively with diverse stakeholders.
From there, I moved into fundraising and business development roles, followed by facilitation and training, including leading programs in Paris. Each transition expanded my responsibilities and skill set, but it also meant stepping into new professional contexts with different expectations and ways of working.
Alongside these professional changes, my family relocated internationally several times. Each move required me to re-establish myself in a new market, often without an existing network or clear pathway forward. I continued to work in different capacities, but my career unfolded across changing contexts rather than within a single organization or even geography.
During one relocation, I became a mother and started a small product-based business. Building something from the ground up in a new environment added another dimension to my professional experience. It also required adaptability, resilience, and a willingness to experiment.
Across these transitions, I began to see how closely professional identity is tied to context.
This pattern became even more clear through my client work. I met leaders and professionals who had built successful careers, only to find themselves questioning their direction after a move, a role change, or a personal transition. Many struggled to articulate who they were professionally once the familiar markers of success were no longer there.
In particular, I worked with highly capable women who had once been engineers, professionals, and leaders, and who, after several relocations, no longer felt connected to the work that once defined them. Some hadn’t worked in years and weren’t sure how to re-enter the workforce. Others were working but felt disconnected from their sense of purpose.
What they shared wasn’t a lack of talent or ambition, but rather an uncertainty about identity. More than once, I heard some version of, I don’t know how to describe myself anymore. When that context changes, confidence and clarity often shift with it.
Over time, my professional background, personal transitions, and work with clients began to converge. I had worked across law, fundraising, facilitation, and entrepreneurship, often in unfamiliar environments. I had navigated professional transitions alongside personal ones and came to see how easily identity can become untethered when circumstances change.
Coaching felt like a natural extension of that journey. It brought together my background in communication and facilitation with a deeper focus on helping people reconnect with who they are and how they want to lead. After completing my coaching certification in 2022 and working independently as a coach for a few years, I joined The Humphrey Group, bringing together my background in facilitation, communication, and coaching.
The Humphrey Group’s Authentic Leadership framework puts language around something I had experienced intuitively for years. It emphasizes understanding who you are, what you stand for, and how you choose to show up, especially in moments of change or uncertainty. Authentic Leadership is about building self-awareness, intention, and alignment between our values and our actions.
From my work with clients, I’ve learned that rebuilding professional identity often starts with small, deliberate steps: reconnecting with core values, naming transferable strengths, and giving yourself permission to evolve. When leaders can separate who they are from the roles they’ve held, they gain the freedom to lead with greater confidence and purpose, no matter the context.
Transitions can take many forms: a new role, a move, or a shift in lifestyle. Regardless of what you’re navigating, Authentic Leadership offers a practical place to start.
Begin by asking yourself: What matters most to me right now? Which strengths have followed me across roles? What kind of leader do I want to be in this chapter? These often become blurred during periods of change. You may know what you’ve done in the past, but feel less clear about who you are now. Taking time to reflect on the experiences that have shaped you helps rebuild a sense of identity that isn’t tied to a specific title or context.
From there, get intentional about how you want to show up. Define the kind of presence you want to bring into conversations. Consider how you want to build trust, where you need to stretch, and what success looks like in your current chapter. For many leaders, this means practicing how to communicate with confidence in unfamiliar environments, making decisions when the path forward isn’t obvious, or reframing expectations during periods of uncertainty.
Authentic Leadership also invites you to see change differently. Rather than viewing transitions as disruptions, you can use them as moments to realign and make deliberate choices about what matters most and how you want to lead.
Over time, this work helps you move from reacting to circumstances to leading with intention. You gain clarity about yourself, confidence in your voice, and the ability to stay grounded even when everything around you is shifting.
Change will always be part of a leadership journey. What makes the difference is clarity about yourself and intention in how you lead through it. When leaders take time to reflect, identify their strengths, and align their actions with what matters most, they create a steadier foundation for navigating uncertainty.