What do you do when you reach the top of your career and realize you don’t want to be there anymore?
When you finally get the title, the income, the international speaking slot, the baby you waited three years for, and you find yourself crying on the flight home for reasons you can’t explain?
In this episode of From a Woman to a Leader, I sit down with Rachel Spekman, founder of Made for More Coaching, to talk about what to do when the career you built stops fitting. Rachel spent 10 years in tech startups, then left a senior director role to go back to school full-time and become a therapist.
She now works with high-performing professionals who are 30% happy in their careers and don’t see a way out. We get into the moment on the plane that started her pivot, the 80% question she asks every client, the identity work that comes with leaving a career you used to Love, and the practical (non-impulsive) way to design a next chapter that actually fits.
If you’ve been searching for career change advice, what to do if you’re stuck in your job, how to pivot careers without going broke, or when it’s time to leave, this conversation is for you.
About Rachel Spekman
Rachel is the founder of Made for More Coaching, a career strategy firm for high-performing professionals who want to trade soul-sucking careers for soul-aligned work that still pays well. With ten years in startup tech and five years as a licensed therapist (LICSW), Rachel blends career strategy with Mental Health expertise. She’s based in Boston and works with clients globally.
Connect with Rachel:
Website: https://www.madeformorecoach.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelspekman/
Chapters
00:00 The flight, the Disney movie, and the moment that cracked it open
00:38 Welcome — what this conversation is about
02:06 Three years, one baby, and the career that stopped fitting
04:46 Senior director to therapist: the largest calculated risk
05:39 Asymmetrical: looking one way, feeling another
07:52 Would you drive a car that’s 80 percent broken?
10:04 The identity work nobody warns you about
11:32 Not impulsive: what problems do you actually like solving?
13:25 Going back to your childhood self
15:17 Nine Therapy sessions a day and learning your max
17:41 The body knows: energized or drained?
19:34 The oxygen of your workday — and why Rachel went cross-country skiing
22:15 If you’re miserable at work, start here: the three C’s
25:55 Find something to make you laugh
27:14 What dinner party conversations are you drawn to right now?
28:25 You don’t have to stay stuck
28:47 How a client named her company
29:28 Close
Connect with Limor
Podcast hub: https://limorbergman.com/podcast/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/limorbergman/
Substack: https://limorbergman.substack.com
Topics covered in this episode
career change for women, how to pivot your career, stuck in my career, successful but unhappy at work, leaving a senior role, career identity crisis, how to know when to leave your job, career change without going broke, therapist turned career coach, made for more, career strategy for high performers, women in tech leaving tech, what to do when your career stops fitting, career advice for working mothers
