Welcome and congratulations on taking your first step towards more career happiness and success! I'm Lisa Iarkowski and I'm on a mission to help each of us be happier and more successful at work. Authentically, and on our own terms, not by someone else's definition of happiness and success, but our own.

​

If you're feeling stuck and unfulfilled, or just know you are meant for more—more happiness, more success, more contribution—coaching can help you clear the path to get there. I know this because I've taken that journey myself.

​

I was happy and successful in my publishing career for a very long time. At some point, though, things changed and I started to feel very unhappy and unfulfilled. While I was doing better than ever in my career by most objective standards (title, money, influence, opportunity), I was no longer fired up about going to work each day. I didn't feel engaged, and kept asking myself "Why the heck am I doing this?" As a leader, I knew this was deadly. How could I lead and inspire others in this state? Bottom line—I was not happy and I had reached a tipping point. ​

​

I could say a changing company and industry were the causes of my unhappiness. But the honest truth was that I had changed. The external rewards were not enough to offset the fact that I was no longer aligned with who I was and who I wanted to become. I somehow got disconnected from my true self and the things that gave me meaning and purpose.

 

While I felt unhappy, I also felt stuck and sadly I stayed that way for a long time.  

I wasted a lot of time and energy being stuck and frustrated, trying to solve this "problem" on my own. Finally, I reached out to two trusted colleagues for guidance. I learned that they had both had positive results working with a career coach. I didn't know how a coach could help me, but I was open to a conversation at least.

​

After a discovery call, I decided we were a good fit and I hired her. That was one of the best decisions I've ever made. Just taking the first step of hiring my coach immediately empowered me. Even though I didn't have the answers yet, it felt amazing to be back in the driver's seat of my life.

​

Working with my coach, I identified where I wanted to go and what was holding me back. I had a lot of fear that if I changed something, I would end up a poor old lady (actually I said a bag lady). In retrospect, this fear seems silly, but at the time it was very real and immobilizing. My coach helped me work through my fear and other assumptions that were getting in my way. That cleared the path for me to envision the changes I wanted to make and take action to get there. 

​

What makes me happy at work may not be what makes you happy. Our ideas about success may differ too. Each of us has our own path to travel, in our own ways. But the truth is that success without happiness, accomplishment without fulfillment can feel very empty. The good news is that we don't have to settle for less than who we are, who we are meant to be, and what we are called to do.

 

Through coaching, we reawaken, remember, and resource our deep inner knowledge and the power already in us to create both success and happiness. For me, reconnecting to my true self and to what brings me the most meaning and purpose guided me to create more happiness and success in my next career move.

​

So where did I land? You probably guessed it...right here in my new happy place! I reignited my career with work that inspires, energizes, and fulfills me most—helping people grow and develop. Every day I experience immense fulfillment by empowering other women like me and like you to find and arrive at their successful, happy place.

​

If you are ready to create more success and happiness in your career and life, I'd love to join hands with you on your journey.

​