How I Became a Self-Employed Executive and Career Coach

People often ask me how I got into career coaching, so here’s my story.

My path into this work was not linear, and that is part of why I care so much about helping other people navigate career transitions with greater clarity and confidence. For purpose-driven professionals, meaningful work rarely comes from following a perfectly mapped plan. More often, it comes from paying attention to what keeps calling you forward, even when the full path is not visible yet.

That was certainly true for me.

Today, I work as an executive coach and career coach, and I also support people who want to become coaches, start their own businesses, build self-employed careers, and write books of their own. The roots of this work go back much earlier.

My Career Started in Service, Politics, and Public Impact

Before I built my coaching business, my career unfolded across several different kinds of work.

Right out of college, I worked in customer service for a Boston-based woman-owned business. I took a leave of absence to work as a field organizer on a presidential campaign. Soon after, I worked in state government in a couple of capacities, starting out as a legislative aide in a state senator’s office.

I also served twice as an executive director, once early in my career in government and later in the nonprofit sector. Both roles were with small organizations, and both gave me valuable experience and insight into leadership, responsibility, decision-making, and what it takes to guide people and organizations through complexity.

As an undergraduate, I studied psychology because I wanted to better understand people and what helps them grow. While working, I earned a Master of Public Administration because I wanted to expand my impact through public service. Later, I went to law school and built a career that included sustainability leadership, environmental advocacy, strategic communications, and executive leadership. I expanded on that experience through serving as a board member and board chair for nonprofit organizations as well.

Looking back now, the throughline feels clear. Across all of those roles, I was drawn not only to the work itself, but also to the people doing it. I noticed what happened when talented, thoughtful people felt stuck, overextended, uncertain, or disconnected from their strengths. I paid attention to what helped people make decisions, grow into leadership, and reconnect with what mattered to them.

Over Time, People Started Seeking Me Out for Career Guidance

Long before coaching became my business, people were already seeking me out for career guidance.

People wanted to hear my career story and learn from what I had observed along the way. They reached out for informational interviews. They asked how I had built my path and what they might learn from it. They referred other people to me. I mentored people and had many conversations with people trying to make sense of their own next steps.

Over time, I realized those conversations were pointing me toward the work I was being called to do.

Eventually, I decided to turn that support into a business so I could help more people in a deeper, more structured way.

I Built My Coaching Business Gradually

I did not make the transition into coaching or self-employment overnight.

I ran my coaching business as a side business for many years while continuing to establish myself as an environmental professional and later a communications professional. During that time, I kept investing in my development as a coach through trainings, certifications, professional development, working with coaches, and involvement with professional communities.

That season mattered. It gave me time to build my skills, deepen my confidence, refine my approach, and grow the business thoughtfully.

It also reinforced something I now tell many clients: not every meaningful transition has to happen all at once. Sometimes the next chapter begins while you are still in the current one.

Coaching Was Extremely Impactful for Me Personally

One of the reasons I believe so strongly in coaching is because coaching was extremely impactful for me.

At important points in my own career, I worked with coaches who helped me think more clearly, trust myself more deeply, and move forward with greater intention.

For instance, I worked with a business coach before I left my 9-to-5 job, and that experience had a major impact on me. I was not just thinking about logistics. I was thinking about identity, risk, timing, and whether I was ready to trust myself in a different way and take a bold step.

That support helped me move from possibility to action. It helped me see that I did not need to have everything figured out before taking a meaningful next step. It helped me recognize that becoming self-employed was not about becoming someone different. It was about more fully stepping into who I already was: someone driven, creative, and eager to serve.

Then I Felt the Call to Go All In

At a certain point, the call to do this work more fully became too strong to ignore.

I left my role as Director of Strategic Communications at Boston University Sustainability because I was feeling called to go all in with my business.

Even then, the transition was thoughtful. For several months while continuing to build my practice, I also worked part-time as a career coach at Boston University Questrom School of Business, where I supported current MBA students as well as undergraduate and graduate alumni.

I also taught career development courses at Boston University and at the Charles River Campus of UMass Amherst.

Publishing My First Book and Starting My Podcast Expanded the Work

Another important part of my path was publishing my first book, Clarifying What Matters: Creating Direction for Your Career.

Writing my first book asked me to clarify my story. It challenged me to keep moving forward without letting perfectionism keep me from finishing and sharing it. It also invited me to step forward more visibly in my work.

That is one reason I have empathy for people who want to write books of their own. Whether you want to write a book as part of your business, your thought leadership, or your next chapter, the process often brings up important questions about confidence, clarity, and what you most want to say.

My podcast, Conversations with Erica, became another meaningful part of this journey. Starting a podcast gave me a way to have thoughtful conversations, share ideas more directly, and create space for reflection around career development, leadership, and meaningful work.

Both of these endeavors showed me that building a business often involves creating multiple ways for your voice, perspective, and body of work to reach people.

Why I Now Support Leaders, Professionals, and People Building What Comes Next

Today, I support clients in a range of transitions.

Some are navigating a career transition. Some are stepping into greater leadership responsibility. Some are starting businesses or building self-employed careers. Some are writing books. Some are making important decisions about how they want to lead, contribute, and grow.

What many of them have in common is this: they want their work to reflect who they are more fully.

They do not want to follow someone else’s template without thinking. They want to make thoughtful decisions, understand their own strengths, and build work and organizations that feel aligned, sustainable, and grounded in what matters most.

That is work I care deeply about supporting through executive coaching, career clarity support, and coaching conversations that help people move forward with greater intention.

The Throughline Was Always There

When I look back now, my path makes sense in a way it could not have when I was living it.

The throughline was not just sustainability. It was not just advocacy. It was not just communications, teaching, or coaching. The throughline was helping people better understand themselves, clarify what matters, and move toward work that feels more aligned and sustainable.

That is how I built a self-employed coaching business.

And that is why I still care so deeply about this work.

I am grateful to the many clients I have had the opportunity to serve over the years. I have learned from every one of them, and I appreciate the care, thoughtfulness, and intention they bring to their careers, leadership, and work.

Ready for Your Own Next Step?

If you are navigating a career transition, stepping into greater leadership, building something of your own, or leading with more clarity and intention, support can make a meaningful difference.

Book a consultation to talk through where you are, what you are navigating, and what kind of support may help you move forward. ➔