It Has Been a Year...

It has been a year.

Last October, I took two trips centered around healing and reconnection, a multi-day hike along the North Shore of Lake Superior with my sister and a solo journey to Iceland and Ireland. After a difficult 2024 marked by my mother’s passing and other personal struggles, I hoped those trips would offer peace and perspective. Time with my sister did bring comfort, and the quiet moments alone gave me space to think. My plan afterward was to refocus on the goals I had set for myself.

Instead, the election came, and the outcome left me shaken. Since then, I’ve often found myself stuck in fight, flight, or freeze.

It has been a year.

One of the core competencies of being a coach is maintaining a coaching mindset which is to remain grounded and present. This past year, I struggled to find that mindset amid so much chaos and uncertainty. I eventually stepped back from coaching, realizing I couldn’t serve my clients well without first finding my own equilibrium. I longed for the calm I felt last October, but it remained elusive. Things felt, and still feel, heavy and unsettled. If I couldn’t help myself, how could I authentically help others?

It has been a year.

Jean-Paul Sartre once said, “Starting from where you are now, you choose. And in choosing, you also choose who you will be.” So now, I choose. I can choose to remain curled up in fear, or I can choose to stand tall in my community. I can let the bullies win, or I can use my privilege and voice to advocate for those who can’t. I can sit on the sidelines, or I can re-engage and help women define who they want to be and how they’ll get there. Every decision is a choice, even the choice to do nothing. My decision is to return to coaching. To re-engage with female executives, to walk alongside them as they choose who they will become.

It has been a year.

I won’t pretend it will get easier. Storms often intensify before they calm. But I am here to help women leaders find awareness and meaning within themselves, to tap into the strength of their integrity and the power of their legacy. I am here to AMPLIFY women.

So, my question to you is: how was your year? Did you retreat, or did you charge forward? How did you navigate these uncertain times? Who have you become and who do you want to be?

If you’re ready to rediscover your voice and reclaim your power, I would love to hear your story and help you make that choice.

Here’s to another year and to choosing who we will be.

Onward and upward,

Kathleen