Let's rewind to three years ago. I'll paint the picture for you, I had just landed my dream job at my dream company and I had successfully negotiated a sign-on package I was extremely proud of (thank you for your help mentors). I was joining one fo the top rated tech companies as a sales leader on their Customer Growth team, helping their customer base find even more value in the world class product suite.

The first few months were incredible, the team I joined was experimental and had been in place for just under a year when they hired me. They were thrilled with my extensive background selling to customers and were convinced my experience would make a huge impact. And then a bomb was dropped on all of us, they were dissolving the team. Despite the success, it wasn't having the impact on their retention numbers in the way they wanted it to. I was told I'd be joining the direct selling team (new business) and focusing on companies of between 5-25 employees in size.

Let me provide some context, up until this point I had never...

1. Sold new business before

2. Worked with companies of less than 1,000 employees

3. Worked in a sales segment of more than 40 people

It's not that I couldn't do these things, but I have to admit, I wasn't thrilled about it. My experience and expertise did not match what they were asking of me and my energy matched that. I consider myself an upbeat and pretty optimistic person and on the surface I tried to put on this front. Deep down, I felt like the company pulled a fast one on me, was undervaluing me by placing me in the small business segment and wasn't setting me up for success.

Here's the big issue, I did nothing about it. I simply accepted the new role, outwardly telling them I was excited for the new opportunity, but inwardly fuming with frustration and resentment. At the time, I didn't realize how this type of energy at my core would impact my ability to truly grow in the role and more importantly, support my team. I believe so many of us are unknowingly operating our lives in this way.

At first things went smoothly. I tapped into the leadership skills I deeply valued and set out to create a psychologically safe and inclusive team culture. I spent time getting to know what motivated each individual and used data to measure performance and roll up weekly sales forecasts. It worked for a while, but then I had a miscarriage and that combined with the energy at my core tore me apart.

After months of healing (thank you therapy) I was able to see that my career was not aligned with my true definition of success. I allowed myself to get caught up in the negative energy without advocating for myself or stopping to ask myself, "what do you really want?"

And then I had an epiphany,  I was able to see, for as long as I've been on this earth, every time I've chosen to put myself first and live by my own definition of what success means to me, my life has been in complete alignment. I've felt empowered to make strategic, smart and valuable decisions that benefit me, my work and everyone I touch. It was time to do that.

I’d been stiffing the itch to create my own company and I knew it was time. I wanted to create a company that partnered with organizations to help them empower their employees to reach their full potential. I realized that by staying in my existing role and accepting something I wasn't thrilled with, I was not only hurting myself but the organization I was working for. I wasn't leading in the way I wanted to  and I certainly wasn't giving them my full potential.

It's so hard to go against the grain and to shift the definition of success to a freeing feeling of infinite opportunity and fulfillment defined by each individual rather than a concept loaded with judgment and expectations, but when we can do it the possibilities are endless.

After some serious soul searching and many conversations with my incredible husband, we built a plan that worked for both of us. Thankfully for the three years prior, I had been keeping a list of activities, tasks and feelings that inspired me. This list guided me in my next chapter. I set out on a journey to focus on work that made me feel alive. We decided after six months we'd check in and reassess. Thankfully, at the six-month mark I was more happy, driven and successful (according to my own definition) than ever before.

I'm thrilled to be taking my business to the next level. I've narrowed in on the offerings that feel most important to me including:

• Leadership Development & Energy Leadership

• 1:1 and Group Coaching

• Speaking Engagements

• Implementing a system at home (Fair Play Method) that makes unpaid labor and childcare more fair and equitable

To learn more about how you can partner with InfiniDEI, check out my brand new website and contact us! We're on a mission to help every organization empower their employees to reach their full potential. If we're all living life by the definition of success we define, the energy and opportunity is infinite!