In this episode of Career Clarity Unlocked, Theresa White, career clarity expert and five-time certified coach, guides listeners through the challenges of finding a fulfilling career. She is joined by Katy Culver, a founder, coach, and mindset mentor, who shares her inspiring journey from burnout in management consulting to thriving in a career that aligns with her true purpose.

Together, they discuss the power of mindset, energy, and strategy in navigating career transitions. They also explore the Sparketype® Assessment and tackle common limiting beliefs that often hold professionals back from making impactful career changes. Katy's story emphasizes the importance of intentionality, building support networks, and shifting perspectives to overcome career stagnation.

🎧 Tune in to learn how to take intentional steps, embrace your strengths, and build a career that truly fulfills you.

- (00:00) Introduction to Career Clarity Unlocked

- (00:55) The Power of Mindset, Energy, and Strategy

- (01:23) Meet Katy Culver: Founder, Coach, and Mindset Mentor

- (02:44) Discovering Your Sparketype®

- (03:54) Embracing the Advisor and Sage Roles

- (05:20) Navigating Career Transitions and Finding Fulfillment

- (07:27) The Importance of Clarity and Intentionality

- (10:24) Taking Action and Overcoming Fear

- (17:25) Building Conviction and Personal Branding

- (20:33) Setting Long-Term Career Goals

- (21:29) Finding Your Energizers

- (22:17) The Importance of Aha Moments

- (23:40) Navigating Burnout

- (30:16) Overcoming Limiting Beliefs

- (35:34) The Power of Coaching

- (36:46) Conclusion and Contact Information

👉 Ready for career clarity in record time? Request a free consultation with me at www.careerclaritycoaching.com/consultation

Connect with Me:

- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/theresa-a-white

- Facebook: www.facebook.com/careerbloomcoaching/

- Instagram: www.instagram.com/theresa_careerbloom/

- YouTube: www.youtube.com/@careerbloom

- TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@career.bloom

- Website: www.CareerBloomCoaching.com

Connect with Katy Culver:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/katyculverr/

- LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/katyculver

- Website: https://katyculver.co/newsletter

Don’t miss out on future episodes! Follow Career Clarity Unlocked now to stay updated on new insights and strategies for finding a career that truly lights you up.

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On Career Clarity Unlocked, We're all about those light bulb moments. I'm talking to people who are still trying to figure out what they're meant to do, coaching them life to reach that magical, yes, this is it moment. And we'll also hear from those who've already found their dream careers and figure out exactly how they did it.

We'll explore how to get clear on your purpose and craft an energizing career with the help of our incredible guest. Katie Colbert became not just a friend and an incredible inspiration for me after we spent one week together at Diana YK Chan's Business Mastermind in Mexico earlier this year.

But Katie is also a founder, coach, and mindset mentor, and she's on a mission to help growth minded professionals get clarity on their purpose and create more energizing careers. Katie teaches both the strategy and energetics required to navigate intentional change and build your career by design.

Katie now combines personal development with her professional experience, pivoting careers and advising 100 plus hiring teams to help ambitious professionals navigate career transitions with confidence. Let's get started. Welcome Katie. I'm so excited to be here. Thanks for the lovely introduction. Thank you for hosting me, Teresa.

I am so excited to chat with you and on so many things we're so aligned in what we're helping people to do and helping them find clarity. So I'm so excited for this conversation. Then we, started actually our business mastermind in Mexico. We started with the Sparketype assessment, which I also started , my podcast and lives with.

And you can take that assessment for free on sparketype. com. And Katie, for you, um, So there's a primary sparkotype, a shadow sparkotype, and an anti sparkotype. And your primary, which is the strongest impulse for work that makes you feel excited, inspired, and on purpose, is the advisor. And just a quick reminder, the advisors are all about guiding critical role.

The work of coaching, mentoring, and advising fills you up like nothing else. The satisfaction you feel comes from walking besides others and being with them and guiding them along the way as they move toward their desired outcomes. You're a coach now, so I wonder, does this still resonate with you? Yeah, definitely.

Yeah, it's really fulfilling. Yeah. And your shadow sparkotype, which is often the work you do in, in order to be able to do the work of your primer at a higher level, is the sage. So your sage impulse is to illuminate, teach, and elevate. You live to share insights, ideas, knowledge, and experiences with others in a way that leaves them in some way better, wiser, and more equipped to experience life differently.

And then now I feel like I like to create insight and maybe combining that with the advisor is kind of like creating that insight for clients and teaching them, showing them how to like have those aha moments and create breakthroughs. That is so incredible. And I wonder when you think back to earlier in your career, because you started like really very successful in your career, but then burned out early on, do you feel like you've always had the opportunity in your career to tap into this advisor and sage?

Or were there also times where you felt that you weren't fulfilled because that wasn't what you were able to do? Or maybe there were other reasons why this wasn't the right place for you to be at that time? Yeah. It's interesting. I feel like, um, like when I started my career, I was in consulting. So it was kind of in an advisory role in a way.

And that's a big part of being an entrepreneur and a coach as well is like, yes, I'm coaching people and advising them, but I'm also like building out the business side of things and building like funnels and tech automations and things like that, writing content. So I feel like I've kind of combined it.

Um, in different ways, like I would say that's a part of my career, but it's not the only thing that I enjoy doing. That is amazing. I agree with you that being an entrepreneur is. I love it so much because there's so many components to it. It's not just doing one thing. So you literally wear every hat.

They're kind of like generalists who can choose whatever and whatever they're going to put their energy into, they're going to crush it. But they just don't know where to put that energy. And so that's why clarity becomes so important to figuring out where do I want to channel my energy? , where do I want to put all of this attention that I typically give to work?

Um, so that it feels good for me and you're energized by the end of the workday rather than drained. 100%. I'm so with you on, it's all starts with clarity, right? If you don't know where we want to go, how are we going to ever get there? I wonder. When I, shared your introduction, you had mentioned that You got clarity before pivoting your career.

And I picked up this book called the quarter life breakthrough, and it's shaped a lot of how I think about work. It's by this guy, Adam, I'm looking at it now, Adam Smiley. Paul Zwalski, and he essentially guides you into defining what is meaningful work to you and what is the case for doing meaningful work.

And he introduced to me this idea of jumping lily pads instead of climbing ladders. And that has always really resonated with me. I actually shared that on another podcast I was on too. And they were like, Oh my God, we've never heard this before. But the idea that you can jump to a new lily pad. For work, not just climbing up the rung of a ladder.

Um, and so for me, I like went to a coffee shop every weekend and I really took the time to do the self reflection on what is meaningful work to me. What does that look like? What would I do if I was unafraid to fail? And it was really clear to me at that time that I wanted to be an entrepreneur. I wanted to have a personal brand base.

And I had no idea that would be a career coaching until I actually went through the pivot myself after I got that clarity and was like, Oh, I can now help other people who are struggling with the same problem. And that's why I do the work I do today. Oh my God. I love that so much, Katie. And I love the idea of jumping lily pads because our, our society is so linear, right?

Like we grow up thinking like, Oh yeah, you just get into one job and climb the corporate ladder, but that's not the right thing for everyone. Like that's, that's not everyone. And it's okay to jump. It's, it's actually like. The, the career paths we have now so many people creating content on any topic you want and creating a business around that even is just like unheard of, you know, 15, 20 years ago.

And that just brings me when I. Looked for a title for our episode and I thought about you Forget playing it safe jump to my mind. I was like that resonates so for me when I think about you And you've done that throughout your career and as you said so many people are afraid of making the wrong move or making a sideway move when that wasn't what they intended to do or maybe they have like the Dream that you had inside of you of being a motivational speaker speaker, but then our rational brain says like, no, like that is just a dream.

Like the, the version of Katie who sat there and was like, oh my God, I, I don't want to get promoted. What do I do with my life? I was the most perfectionist, like type a person who was really scared to let anyone else down around me. Um, I was really scared of, you know, Um, you know, failure, honestly, I avoided it at all costs.

And, you know, people would always like that worst, the worst interview question to me was tell me about a time you failed because I did everything in my power to never fail. And it was actually really important that I joined a startup before I started a business because it taught me that. You need to fail.

And, um, you know, it's something that I actually have to fight every day is as an entrepreneur, but I'm so much more risk willing. My old founder, the founder of my Past company talked about being risk willing versus risk averse and founders and entrepreneurs are risk willing people. And so I've really kind of had to reframe risk for myself and frame the greater risk as being stagnant, not going after the thing I want and having regret around that.

, and so I think I've just become a much more like, let me figure it out kind of person, you know, forget playing it safe. , let me take action. In a way that's like for the plot. And so sometimes it's like, how do I want to tell the story of my life back one day? Do I want to say that I was scared to go after what I really wanted?

I stuck to this one role that I went to school for. school in or that I just somehow randomly ended up in through some circumstances. And I got promoted there. I was never happy. I dreaded work every day, but it felt like what I had to do. Or do you want to look back at your life and be like, I took a risk and I did what I truly wanted to do.

I'm ready to put it into gear and make a change now. Um, so I think it's interesting how it's, it's not that. It's any less risky. It's just you change the view of it. And it's a perception thing. I agree. And I just read a really powerful quote and I don't remember it exactly. But the essence is that if you stay in limbo, you make a decision to stay in limbo.

You make the decision to not take action. So not taking action is also a decision you're making. And that can be a really big aha for people if you're, because you're stuck, a lot of people are stuck in limbo and they're like, I don't like where I am, but it just feels like my comfort zone is a safe space.

And we talk , a lot about intentionality. Um, what is your view on making that decision intentional? Oh, I think it's really important to make decisions intentionally because what people do is they try to wait to make the quote unquote perfect decision, but they actually have no criteria for what that would be.

They're just like, it doesn't feel like it's enough. To make, so I can't make the choice because it's not clear enough. And, um, they kind of look for this like perfect amount of data rather than saying, how am I actually evaluating this decision? And if you make an intentional decision based on the information you have at the time, you can't really regret it because you made the best decision you could at the time.

And I think oftentimes people get caught up in like, well, you know, a career change is going to take a while, or, you know, I don't want to go through the process, but even just getting started. To say, Hey, let me sit down for an hour this weekend and really reflect on like my career. What I want out of my career looking forward, that's progress.

And that's like, Oh, okay. I feel a little less stuck now. Cause I did one small thing and you just keep adding on those steps. And that's so important, because when you look at making a career change, maybe you're in a, someone is in a role, right? They're not happy. They feel like there should be more, um, it pays okay.

And they moved up, but it's not what they want to do. But then you think about like, okay, if I want to make a career change, it just feels like these huge, enormous mountain that you're like, I don't even know where to start and how to climb this mountain. But if you just start with, okay, let me take one step and one step and one step.

And that suddenly becomes manageable. And you suddenly be like, Oh yeah, I can do this. And yes, there are opportunities that are exciting. Yeah, exactly. I think one of the other main benefits of working with a coach. Um, at least how I work with my clients is, you know, I encourage people to get clear on that career vision as step one.

And I have a process specifically to do that, but where people often go wrong. And I talked to a lot of prospective clients who are in this place of, I kind of know what I want, but I'm scared to commit to it. So I'm going to apply to things and pursue and entertain all of these things that I don't really want.

So they can stop questioning that path and then move forward to step two of like, okay, let's build your personal brand, build your story that connects your now and your next, so that you can make that path actually possible. But when you stay in the waffling stage of questioning it. You can't move forward and tell that story with, with confidence.

they don't know how to get clarity because no one teaches you. And then it's the conviction too. So yes, , I'm totally aligned with you on that. I'm also, my step one is career clarity and my guarantee to all my clients is you get clear on your career in 30 days and then we're moving forward. And a lot of times clients go and be like, Oh, but maybe it's like, okay.

You're not stuck in this for the rest of your life, right? We're just looking for the next step. So we identified this as the right next step for you and you feel good about it. So let's move forward on that. And if two years from now you want to change by all means, do it. Um, but that conviction and you're like, yes, this is the direction I want to go in and I'm giving it my all is so important, right?

But the bigger picture of getting clarity is really understanding yourself, understanding where you get your energy from how you want to design your workday and the job titles of like that core JD of like your day to day life and work might look different, but you're going after the same type of work.

And I also talk to people about like, there's different phases of clarity. There's kind of like, what do you want long term? Like, maybe you don't have that tomorrow, but like, you're kind of clear on like, this longer term direction of like, generally what you want 5 years away to look like. And then the second step is like, okay, well, what do you want to do next?

What's the clarity on my process and, you know, standing out to the companies that I'm going after, et cetera, and like getting into the nuts and bolts of the job search, but if you just pick the next job title, I often find that people end up very lost in two years again, because they're like, Oh, this isn't it either.

I thought it would be this thing, but it's not. Yeah, I agree. It comes down to what energizes and what drains you. For me, if you are able to identify, okay, what are the things that really energize me and fill me, that's when our lives becomes meaningful and we can really step into our full purpose. And then, as you said, the job titles, they can't change, but as long as you can stay true to that.

If, as long as you stay true to that, um, Maybe things around that can shift. Yeah, I think for me, so I, I recently read The Big Leap. And it's funny, I do this a lot with books. I didn't finish it. Like I hit the, I had the aha moment. And then I like went and did something with it. And I need to go finish the book.

But it's kind of about identifying for yourself. Like, what is that? I'm not going to explain it very well because I didn't finish the whole book. But like, you can. Be in your zone of genius. Um, but it's like really jumping into that next phase of like, what is that thing that for you is like really , lighting you up?

Um, so, you know, I don't know, I think a hundred percent. When I'm a speaker and a writer in the future, like I'll be creating aha moments. That's yeah. It's kind of creating aha moments. And that's, that's the essence of the advisor in the stage. So that so aligns with, and you're really carrying that through your career, creating aha moment, and then the environment can shift, right?

You've done that in different capacities and maybe it will shift in the future. Who knows, but finding that core of what lights us up is so important. Yeah, totally. I was wondering, going back to a little bit earlier in your career when you hit the burnout, and that's something I see with clients that come to me , who are suffering from severe burnout, is that we lose that.

Um, and a definition of burnout that, um, there's a guy named Paul Millard. He's a writer and he has a book called The Pathless Path, which I highly recommend to people who want to carve their own paths. But, , he talks about the definition of burnout as being in misalignment. Where you might not be working a million hours.

Like there's that kind of burnout where you're like the lifestyle alignment's not there. Like I'm physically can't work another hour. Um, I have some friends in that, in that position, but there's also the kind of burnout where you're just like, I'm so, my goals are so misaligned with where I'm headed right now that I just feel like it's almost like losing hope in a way.

And I felt horrible. I had gotten an offer for a company that I was like, it seems like a good company, but I just wasn't excited about it. And, but I, at the same time, I desperately was like, I need out of this role. And I made a really hard decision to say no to the offer and commit. To going all in on like pivoting into startups.

I was like one of the most active people. I met tons of people who are in the startup tech world. Completely built a network from basically zero through that started writing on Twitter. That was the first time I was like writing in public, building my personal brand and came alive again through that experience.

It was during the pandemic and you weren't, there wasn't a lot of social activities. I was doing all of this from my apartment in New York and built some really strong friendships from that, but also learned how to navigate the job search process. And that was a transformational experience in my life because if I had, I not gone through it, I wouldn't have joined the recruiting tech startup that I did.

And I wouldn't. now be doing this work because I experienced it for myself. So I don't think that was quite your question, but, um, it took taking a step back and step away to reconnect with myself and like, just follow my curiosity. I love that story, Katie. Thank you so much for sharing that with us.

One is we work too much. We may, might even enjoy the work we do, but we do too much of it. And there's, and we hit this wall where we just can't go any further. Or. We do the work that drains us and maybe objectively isn't that hard. Maybe we don't work crazy hours, but because the work we do is so, so draining, it takes everything out of us.

Because it drains me and I was in customer service and recruiting, but just very heavy service driven work. And it was so misaligned for me. That , my battery was at zero. I started my day at zero and I ended it at a minus 50. It wasn't that the work itself was so hard, but it was so misaligned and I never knew what was wrong.

Like I couldn't point my finger to it. Like, okay, what else am I supposed to do? Like, I'm good at this, but it just drains the hell out of me. And how do I get out of it? And just like you, it was really that taking a step back. Pandemic and then getting clarity of what is it that changed everything. Yeah, it's, it's so important to take that first step back.

I think for me too, like thinking back, it wasn't that I, Really hated , my job. It was that I felt like I had gotten exactly where I wanted to get to, and it didn't feel how I thought it would feel. And I was, I was just, you know, pursuing things for external validation and success. And I was pursuing things I thought were interesting, but, , it just made me realize that like that deeper purpose needs to come from within.

And. It's not something that you necessarily have to go and find. It's something that you create. I think a lot of people can resonate with what you just said is you go after what you thought you wanted and then you get there and it doesn't feel like the way you thought it would feel. It still has that.

And I know that is something you also, , talk about. What are some of those common limiting beliefs that you hear from professionals you work with and how do you help overcome them? Yeah, that's a great question. So, you know, I've talked to A lot of people on some sales calls in the past week that are kind of in this exact situation of just like, I've had all this success.

But for most people, you can optimize and understand, like, what are your income goals, and you can find work that is aligned and energizing for you. Sometimes that also means creating better boundaries. Which you're going to have to do regardless of what company you go to. And a lot of people who are used to just putting in the work don't have the boundaries.

And, , you know, I learned this the hard way because I went to that startup and burned out again. Cause I didn't know how to set boundaries. , I actually worked with a coach who I still work with who helped me do that. But that's one of the beliefs I think is that can I really make this money elsewhere?

But they don't explore. They just assume like you can't, um, another fear that people have is You know, I'm such a high performer. I don't want to let my team down. I, I want to be like, I'm such a team player and I don't want to let my team down. What if I hurt relationships that I have here? And rather than seeing it as like everyone else wins when you are thriving at work.

And now I just have this perspective of like, Same as you said earlier, like if you're moving forward towards something you're excited about, you're making an intentional change. You can't mess it up because you're being intentional about it and you're trying things on and making a shift. And when you approach career change from thinking, where do I want to be in five years?

What do I want my life to feel like and look like? And then you back up into what's next. It's really hard to get off course. , so those are just some of the big ones I would say. Yeah, no, I agree with all three of them. And that can't in our head is so big. I can't switch into that industry because I don't have experience in it.

Other people did it and I can talk to them and find out how they did it. And I can do that too. Yeah. Yeah. One of the things I always say to my clients, , I really push them to. Stop putting fake barriers. Like most of your constraints don't exist. Like if you need an H1B visa, yeah, that's a real constraint.

I'm like, who says, have you really tried to go for this other one that you actually want? And, , I really try to hold people to this idea of like, When you commit to something, you will find a way. So when you stop in the, how, how is this like, can I do this? The waffling stage of like, I'm not committed when you commit and you say, I'm going to figure it out.

Everything is figureoutable. I will be resourceful. Then you can start having those creative ideas because your brain can move on from, am I doing this to I'm freaking doing this, how am I going to get there? Who am I going to talk to? How am I going to position myself? And that is just to me, like such a more exciting conversation to have.

And I think it's. We get older, that pressure becomes even higher, bigger. Like I felt like I was 30. I was like, Oh my God, it's too late. , I need to make the right move now because otherwise it's too late. Now I'm almost 40 and I'm like, okay, I was very young back then. I could have made five wrong moves and I would have still been fine.

Um, but I think it is also, there's also a problem that society. We're never taught to really do that self reflection or how to figure this out for us and then know what is the right thing to do. And I think that is so powerful to work with a coach because they can guide you on these things that we are never taught.

And I was like, I'm like, you're incredible. Like, these are all the things that you're telling me about how amazing you are. Like, let's craft this into your story. And it's really hard to objectively see ourselves that way. That's why, like, we have coaches to tell us, like, to guide us, but also to remind you of your power.

And I think that's where it's really hard to do this by yourself. Like, that's why I talk about energetics. I could go and give you the strategy, but unless you believe that you can do it and you see yourself in this empowered way. It's not going to be as effective because how you show up to every conversation, the energy you bring to the process makes a huge difference on your results.

Yeah. So, I mean, I'm always here on LinkedIn. I would say the best thing to do is just check out my profile. Shoot me a DM and my DMS are open. I'm always down to, down to chat. I also have a newsletter and you can read all of of the past versions on my website. So it's a great way to kind of get more Intel and do a deeper dive.

Perfect. So I'll include that in the show notes and you can see it here on the screen. Website is katie culver.co. We can also find you on Instagram at Katie dot Culver and on like a LinkedIn. You are at Catherine Culver, correct? Yes, that's right. I just have always had that as my URL. I don't post on Instagram yet, but if you wanna follow me, feel free, eventually I'll start posting there too.

So you can truly make that happen. And if you are ready to take the next step in your career journey, please DM me the word clarity and learn how I can help you. And thank you so much for tuning in everyone. Make sure that you follow me on LinkedIn. I'm at Teresa A. White and make sure that you follow me so that you don't miss next week's episode of Career Clarity Unlocked.