I quit my day job!
Friday, October 1st, I am resigning from a 10-year tenure as a higher education professional. I'm taking the leap into a “secret” childhood ambition: to be a motivational speaker and coach. I'll be devoting my full energy and attention to my business, Whitney Sullivan Coaching, LLC.
As many have experienced, the pandemic was a catalyst for change. I found myself to be one of the millions of Americans rerouting their career trajectories. Since April 2021 alone, 15 million Americans have left their jobs.
Early in the pandemic, I found myself face-to-face with a powerful reflection:
“What would you create, who would you be if resources were unlimited?”
This stirred up ambitions I'd had since youth: I wanted to be a motivational speaker. I wanted to be a life coach that helped others live their best possible life. I wanted to be an entrepreneur, an identity I had deemed as far too mystical or elite to achieve without some wild sign from the universe that I had permission to pursue it.
These insights were soon followed up by an even more powerful question:
“Why can't you have that?”
A microscopic inquiry that revealed low-quality mindsets of who I was and what I was capable doing. It challenged me to dig into limiting beliefs and work to rewire them. This was some of the deepest and most grueling inner work I’ve ever done. But, I knew with certainty that I wanted to create a career I was proud of, a career characterized by a strong sense of purpose, meaning and duty, and a career that made impact on the lives of others.
And, there was a little part of me that trusted young Whitney and who she wanted to be before anything in the world told her it was far too wild, weird or risky.
With this newfound clarity, enormous courage and intensive strategy, I slowly began to shift the sails of my career path. It was an 18-month journey with lots of twists, turns, ups, downs and help from friends and family to get to this point.
I can't wait to share the lessons I've learned with you all. Stay tuned over the coming weeks as I share the insights, stories and experiences I've gained in this process.
You can be who you dream of being. I'm proud of who you are and what you want to create.
Rooting for you all, always.
-Whitney
