I talk about my story a lot—being stuck at the director level for 5 straight years, running the function and reporting to the CEO, but being unable to get promoted to the VP level.

I was at the company for a total of 8 1/2 years, and by the time I left it had taken quite a toll on my confidence.

Even in sharing my story, I don't always get into just how mentally hard that time in my life was because now that it's over, it's easy to forget.

But man, was it hard.

I'd gone from feeling confident to doubting whether I was any good at my job!

My enthusiasm had turned into frustration and despair.

My ambition was waning.

I'd always been someone who succeeded professionally, and suddenly, no amount of effort or work seemed to make a difference. When you're trying repeatedly to do something and you just keep failing, it creates a ton of self-doubt.

Part of the reason I'm painting this picture is that I know many of you have felt this way at one point or another. And many of you are feeling this way right now.

If so, you're not alone.

When I finally decided to look at other options, I was no longer sure being a VP was for me. I considered all kinds of things:

  • Becoming a coach
  • Creating a running app
  • Doing team facilitation for exec teams
  • Making my dog IG-famous (okay, that was more of a hobby)

It was two key conversations that convinced me I could become a VP:

The first was with my executive coach. This person knew me well because I'd worked with him for 6 months. Although we were no longer working together, I decided to email him out of the blue after getting some particularly harsh feedback from my CEO (about how I may never become a VP).

I leveled with him and told him I was thinking of completely changing careers. I asked for some frank, unfiltered feedback based on our work together about whether I should go in another direction.

Should I give up on trying to be a VP?

He asked me to call him, and I braced for the truth. But he ended up saying something I wasn't expecting. He told me he knew I could be a VP and crush it. He believed in me 100%.

The second conversation followed the first. I was having lunch with a former boss who'd been a mentor for years. I mentioned that I was considering other options, and he immediately suggested a new VP role at a company he was advising for.

This guy—a C-level exec at a big tech company—believed in me just as much.

I was convinced, and I decided to let go of the last 5 years of feedback that had shattered my confidence and meet with the CEO of this company. I was going to give it 110% and see what happened.

I got the role. And the rest is history.

There was a time that I thought, why the heck didn't I leave that company sooner?? Why didn't I take my talents elsewhere?

If I could go back, I wouldn't change it.

Believe it or not, when I look back on those five painful years, I can now see they were a blessing.

Sure, my CEO never ended up seeing my true potential, but:

  • The environment forced me to level up and learn new things
  • I discovered the importance of prepping for 1:1s and presentations
  • I learned how to operate in an environment with high ambiguity and minimal data
  • I developed new skills for working with challenging colleagues
  • I learned the power of effective framing

And the biggest of all: I solved the puzzle of what is really needed to become a successful VP.

If my career had been a rocket ship right to the top with minimal struggles along the way, I never would have learned this!

And my current business wouldn't exist. I'm sure of that.

Here's where it comes back to you

You get to benefit from the five years of torture I went through (okay, maybe I'm getting dramatic now). You get to learn the secrets and skills that I put to use when I finally stepped into that VP role—the key strategies that helped me crush it.

Not only that, I get to be the person who sees in you what you may not be able to see in yourself. The person who convinces you to take that shot and maybe just land the role of your dreams after years of frustration.

If you want to learn some of what I discovered during those five years, come to my ​free masterclass next week​.

You'll get to see what the key elements are that you may be missing today, and get some tangible next steps to develop them. AND you'll get to see what it's like to work with me and decide whether you want me as your career mentor.

If you come live, you can also ask me any questions you like and I'm happy to answer them. ​Sign up here!​

Until next time friends… ✌️💜

Katy