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“It’s lonely at the top.” I was reminded of just how true—and how heavy—that can feel in a conversation last week with a senior leader I’ve been coaching. Our work often centers around solving real, tangible challenges—decisions, team dynamics, competing priorities. But just as importantly, I serve as something else: a sounding board, a mirror, a thinking partner. A space where he doesn’t have to perform leadership—he can simply be . This time, he paused mid-conversation and

I recently attended several panels about the job market. Different industries, different speakers, different perspectives. And yet the message was surprisingly consistent. The market is tough. AI is accelerating change. And many of the rules we used to rely on are dissolving. Again and again, the discussion turned toward the same question:  What actually makes someone stand out now? Not surprisingly, the answer wasn’t just technical expertise. The people who will thrive in th

I almost didn’t go. It had been one of those days – back-to-back calls, brain slightly fried. Low energy. The couch was calling. It had just started raining outside. And the event felt optional…at best. I stood in front of my closet longer than necessary. Changed once. Changed again. Checked the time. Considered texting an excuse. You can skip it,  I told myself.  You’ve already been productive today.   No one will notice. And deep inside of me, a familiar debate was playing

Uncertainty has a way of changing any room. A difficult email lands in your inbox. A decision shifts above you. A market changes. A plan falls through. A client pulls back. A conversation doesn’t go the way you expected it would. In those moments, it can feel like something is happening  to  you. Pressure rises. Your chest tightens. Your thoughts speed up. You move quickly—because you feel the urge to defend, explain, fix, withdraw. And it all feels automatic. But in the midd

You’re asked a simple question. “What do you do?”  “What have you been working on?”  “What are you proud of lately?” And suddenly… your brain short-circuits. You  know  you have words. You use them all the time. But in this moment? Gone. You start talking, then stop. You hear yourself saying “um” more than usual. You’re halfway through a sentence and already wondering how to soften the ending. Your mind is racing:  Don’t sound braggy. Don’t make it weird. Don’t take up too mu

YOUR ORG CHART IS LYING TO YOU. AND IT’S COSTING YOU PERFORMANCE.  I’ll never be able to forget the amount of different org charts I have seen during my time as an executive recruiter and consultant. They all “flowed” differently, but every role was labeled, every role had a neat box and every reporting line was defined.  The chart promised clarity and control, but more often, it boxed people in, constrained collaboration and slowed down decision-making. Meanwhile, the real w

A client recently said to me, “I don’t hate my job… I just don’t recognize myself in it anymore.” She paused after saying it, as if waiting to see whether that was a reasonable thing to feel. From the outside, her career looked solid. A respected role. A steady income. A trajectory that made sense to everyone around her. The kind of job people point to and say,  “You’re doing well.” And that’s part of what made it so confusing. Internally, she felt disconnected — like she was

At the beginning of a new year, excitement is supposed to be the default emotion. Fresh calendars. Clean slates. Big intentions.  But for many people, the feeling is quieter than that—almost muted. Not because nothing is happening, but because they’ve just lived through a year filled with noise. Constant advice. Endless opinions. Metrics telling you what matters. Expectations you didn’t choose. Other people speaking with certainty about paths you’re the one expected to walk.

As this year comes to a close, it’s impossible to ignore how heavy it has been for so many. We’ve seen continued reductions in force. Shifting priorities. Persistent uncertainty. Even the most seasoned leaders have felt it — that quiet pause, that recalibration, that question beneath the question:  How do I keep leading when the ground keeps moving? And if we’re honest, all signs suggest this environment isn’t resolving anytime soon and a similar climate will follow us into 2

There’s a particular kind of restlessness that shows up for most of us, at one point in life.  Not the dramatic, storm-the-castle kind of urge for reinvention— but a quieter, nagging pressure under the ribs. I know this feeling intimately. Many years ago, when I was still an executive recruiter—seemingly at the height of my career—I started to sense a subtle shift inside me. To the observer on the outside, I had a dream career. But on the inside, something started feeling, we

We’re often told that confidence is the key to career success.  “Believe in yourself,”  they say.  “Fake it ’til you make it.” Confidence is celebrated in interviews, in performance reviews, in leadership programs. We admire people who speak effortlessly, present confidently, take up space, and appear self-assured. But here’s the inconvenient truth: Confidence alone rarely changes careers. Confidence is a feeling—fleeting, inconsistent, and heavily influenced by circumstances

As a society, we’ve decided to follow AI wherever it leads—even if that means walking ourselves over the edge. I know this opinion might not be popular. In fact, it might even sound a little naïve, cynical, or “anti-progress.” That’s fine. Because someone needs to say it — out loud, without the spin and without the hype. We’re all being swept up in a wave of AI "enthusiasm" that feels unstoppable. The momentum is intoxicating. Everyone’s talking about transformation, disrupti

This weekend, I found myself watching back some of the recorded sessions from the UN General Assembly in New York. And one thought kept coming up again and again: Courage is missing at the top. And I don’t just mean politics. I mean CEOs, business leaders, and anyone who holds influence and power. We live in a world where power is concentrated in the hands of a relatively small group of people—people with visibility, access, and a platform. And yet, too often, we see that pow

Part 8 of my "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter Let’s have an honest conversation. Fashion has never looked more diverse on the surface. Runways, ad campaigns, and glossy brand reports showcase a beautiful spectrum of faces, identities, and cultures. And yet — behind the curtain, not much has changed. If you’ve worked in this industry long enough, you’ve seen it firsthand: People of color, women, LGBTQ+ professionals are welcomed in the door… bu

Part 7 of my "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter In the last article in my  Behind the Glamour  series, we looked squarely at the quiet crisis happening in fashion and business in general:  Ageism .  A pattern of marginalizing—sometimes subtly, sometimes brutally—the very people who helped build the brands we now celebrate. But there’s another story happening in parallel. One I see unfolding in almost every coaching conversation I have with exper

Part 6 in my "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter Let’s talk about something the fashion, luxury and lifestyle industries refuse to confront head-on:  Ageism. Behind the curated campaigns and DEI pledges, there’s a silent but devastating trend playing out in boardrooms and hiring pipelines—where  brilliant leaders over 50 (especially women)  are being quietly pushed out or passed over. It’s not subtle. It’s not rare. It’s a pattern. And it’s getti

Part 5 of my "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter “They let me go in a 10-minute Zoom after 12 years.” I wish that quote was rare. It’s not. It’s one of many I’ve heard lately — and it says everything about where the fashion industry is right now. Behind the runway shows, glossy campaigns, and DE&I panels, there’s a workforce that’s disillusioned, burnt out, and quietly watching loyalty disappear.  One restructure at a time. One 10-minute Zoom at

Part 4 of the "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter "It’s a dream job!"   "I’d take a pay cut just to say I worked there."   "We don’t offer top salaries, but you’ll be part of something iconic." Sound familiar? These are the stories I’ve heard — and the language I’ve seen used — across fashion, luxury, and lifestyle organizations for years. In an industry that trades on image, prestige, and aspiration, the  compensation illusion  is one of its mos

We often talk about burnout in terms of external forces — crushing workloads, relentless demands, toxic cultures. And yes, those things are very real, as I just explored in my recent article  The Cult of Overwork - Burnout as a Badge of Honor. But after 20+ years working closely with leaders, creatives, and high performers in fashion and lifestyle industries, here’s something else I’ve learned: Sometimes, burnout doesn’t just come from what’s being done to us. It comes from w

Part 3 of my "Behind the Glamour" Series - Confessions of a Fashion Headhunter Let’s be real. In fashion and adjacent industries, there’s an unspoken code — a myth so embedded in the culture it barely gets questioned anymore: They call it "paying your dues." I call it  glamorized burnout ! Overwork isn’t just accepted. It’s glamorized. Burnout isn’t seen as a warning sign. It’s worn like a badge of honor.  Late nights? You must be dedicated. No holidays? What loyalty! Emails