Danielle had a tough time in school. Because of this, she refuses her CEO’s pleadings to get her degree. But, that doesn’t stop them from promoting her over all of the MBAs she competes with.

We talk about what her next steps are and what she is willing to accept or not (even though the offers keep coming). She is in a position to choose what she wants to do and what she doesn’t.

Nicole came from a small Midwest town where no one left to go to college. But she did. She had no training in how to navigate the corporate world. She didn’t have the connections. She didn’t have the experience and she didn’t have people who knew how to guide her.

We laid out her options and her path to getting to her goals. And Nicole took off. There is no stopping her now.

Mike dropped out of college, went through a failed marriage and ended up working as a bank teller. He figured that he had messed up and was stuck with his bad decisions. The thing was, he had dreams of working in entertainment.

We looked at what skills, connections, talents and interests Mike had and how he needed to prepare himself for the industry he wanted to be in. It was a long road to reaching his goals.

Rose always knew she wanted to be an educator and she figured that meant the “usual” career trajectory. It didn’t excite her. She didn’t want administration, yet she did want to make a difference in a bigger way than in just one classroom at a time.

We saw that stepping out of the box and thinking in a global and innovative way, she could take her experience and vision to the world.

Rick worked hard and did what he was supposed to do to take that next step. He was an associate, a partner and eventually became the owner of his firm. But he was stressed and unhappy.

When we questioned what is was that he really wanted to do, it was practicing law. By closing down his firm and moving into a larger one, he regained the ability to do the work he loved and have the authority he had become used to (he even made more money!)