Finding My Path to Coaching

Why I’m Choosing Coaching

I built my career in federal service. And I thought I might stay in government and public service forever. It was a great fit—big-picture thinking, systems change, improving the lives of families and communities through policy. But like many others in recent months, I was forced to pivot.  And my pivot meant opening a few of my own doors. 

This pivot into consulting, training, and coaching wasn’t something I had planned. But months of networking and self-reflection brought me here. And I believe the coaching part has actually been growing in me for a while now. 

Let me back up a bit.

I started my career grounded in the belief that you can’t support a child without supporting the adults in their lives. One of the first places I saw this up close was during a summer at the Bronx Defenders while in law school. I worked alongside parents who were navigating impossible systems like child welfare, housing, and criminal justice. It became clear how often our public structures separate parents from children in ways that don’t actually help either one. That realization stuck with me. It still guides the way I think about support and change.

Over the next decade I worked across policy, social work, and public health. I learned from and worked with others to build more trauma-informed, person-centered systems that take the whole family into account. I spent the last almost 14 years in federal behavioral health policy doing work I was proud of and believed in deeply.

And while I was navigating those professional spaces, I also became a mom.

I had three children in four years. Two of them were under two when the COVID lockdowns hit. Suddenly, all my professional knowledge about systems, mental well-being, and support had to be applied in my own home, in real time, with no breaks and no blueprint. I knew what resilience theory said. I understood the behavioral health impact of chronic stress. I knew how to set goals and put in place actionable strategic plans. But knowing it and living it are two very different things.

Those years changed me. They made me even more aware of how thin the margin is for working parents, especially those without flexible jobs or outside help. I saw how often we’re expected to keep everything going without enough structure, support, or room to fall apart even a little. And I saw how much of the support that does exist focuses on the child, without considering the full context of the parent’s life.

Then came the most recent big shift. My role in federal leadership was eliminated as part of a broader restructuring. It was painful and sudden. I had built so much of my identity around that work. But once the initial shock wore off, I started to ask different questions. Not just what was next, but what actually mattered most. What kind of work do I want to be doing? Where can I make the most meaningful impact?

That’s when everything I’ve been carrying, from the Bronx to the Beltway to my own living room, started pointing me in one direction.

Supporting others through consulting, training and coaching.

Coaching - not in the trendy, hustle-culture sense of the word - but in the true sense of sitting with people, listening closely, helping them see clearly, and creating strategies that actually work for their real lives. This is especially important for working parents, who are often asked to perform at full capacity across every domain of life without being given the tools or space to do so sustainably.

My approach to coaching is shaped by all of this. It’s grounded in behavioral health, but also in lived experience. It’s practical and strategic. And it’s based on the idea that thriving isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what matters.

I’ve come to believe that supporting working parents, especially those navigating complexity at home and at work, is one of the most important ways we can strengthen families, communities, and systems. Because when parents are supported, kids are supported. And when families have the tools they need, everyone does better.

This path feels like a continuation of the work I’ve always done. Just closer to the ground and closer to the heart.

To follow along, please subscribe to my newsletter where I will be sharing more information on my services: https://www.rbzimpact.com/subscribe

And please share with others in your network who you think might be interested.