When I Finally Chose Myself
Some stories arrive gently. Mine didn’t. It showed up through self doubt, blunt honesty from a friend, years of therapy, and a moment on a sidewalk when someone asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I said I wanted to be a coach. Their response was immediate. How are you going to help other people if you can’t help yourself? It hit me hard enough that I knew I had work to do. Not because I wasn’t capable, but because I wanted to become the kind of person who lived what I hoped to teach.
When Wanting More Became Impossible to Ignore
Even in sales and management, I was already coaching without realizing it. I loved helping people hit goals, navigate conflict, understand clients, and grow. But wanting to be a coach meant learning how to move forward, not just look back. Therapy helped me untangle the past. Coaching offered a way to build the future. And somewhere along the line, I stopped wanting to analyze the old version of myself and started wanting to create the next one.
The Friend Who Told Me the Truth and Shifted Everything
One of my closest friends, the same person who once pushed me toward the therapist who changed my life, suggested I join the MindBodyGreen coaching program. She said it matched the work I was already doing. I resisted, as I do, then enrolled, and it completely shifted my world. Eighty percent felt familiar because of my management experience. But the remaining twenty percent was life altering. Sitting in silence longer than was comfortable. Listening for what wasn’t said. Helping people discover what they already knew but were afraid to admit.
Learning To Trust My Intuition Instead of Noise
In the program, I practiced with dozens of coaches. Each brought something different. Someone once asked my favorite color and I gave a long story instead of a real answer. When it was reflected back to me, I realized how often I filtered myself to give people the version I thought they wanted. Coaching taught me to speak honestly, to stop editing myself, and to actually say what I feel. That alone changed more than I expected.
The Tools That Rewired Me
Breath work. Silence. Presence. Not taking notes so I could trust myself to remember what mattered. These tools reshaped how I coach, but also how I live. I stopped jumping in to fix people. Instead, I learned to hold space so they could discover their own answers. It is more powerful and far more meaningful.
Rewriting My Purpose in Real Time
Building TURTZED became my commitment to helping people break limiting beliefs and pursue dreams they have been too afraid to say aloud. I know what it feels like to be successful but not fulfilled. I know what it feels like to rely on work for self worth. I know the fear of saying what you really want because once you say it, it becomes real. And now that I have recognized what I really want and given myself permission to reach for that goal, this is the happiest I’ve ever been.
The Reminder I Hope You Carry
You can build anything you choose. A brand, a business, a life that feels like yours. It will be uncomfortable. You will doubt yourself. People will say things that sting. But the moment you give yourself permission to try, things begin to shift.
You don’t need to have all the answers. You just need to be willing. To trust your intuition. To take the next step. To believe you are capable of more. Because once you believe it, everything you want becomes possible.
