Bring Career Pathing Conversations to your company

Sometimes I hear clients say - I love my company, the people feel like my people and I have the flexibility to be the parent I want to be, yet…

I’m still hungry for something new.

It’s often followed up with…am I crazy?

In a word, "No!"

For those of us who love learning and thrive with a diversity of projects and skills – this makes total sense and you may be able to have exactly what you want – at that organization that already respects you for the value you bring.

In the past couple of years I’ve been bringing this internal career pathing work to thoughtful, people-driven organizations with my signature workshop:

You Are The Driver Of Your Career

The workshop includes interactive exercises, group coaching and tools from my proven career pathing framework to help employees take command of their careers and drive them forward on their own terms.

It offers tactics they can leverage to speak confidently about their gifts, while meaningfully connecting with internal advocates and sponsors who can help open and widen doors.

Lastly, it empowers leaders with career pathing conversation guidance so they can compassionately support their direct reports with the psychological safety and resilience required for transitions.

I‘ve delivered this powerful work to a select group of my corporate clients who include:

• American Express

• Broadridge Financial Solutions

• Council for Urban Professionals (CUP)

• Expand the Room

• FactSet

• The United Nations

• Urban Land Institute (ULI)

One client shared:

Last month we were incredibly fortunate to have Rachel join us at FactSet as part of our speaker series and in conjunction with our Internal Recruiting organization to give an inspiring talk to all FactSetters, "You are the Driver of Your Career." The talk was focused on owning and growing your own career through inner clarity and intentional action. She provided some very useful tools to help unlock new ideas around what we want in our careers. Equally important, her tips for managers were practical and easily applicable. Many FactSetters I have spoken to have begun using these new tools to think differently about their careers at FactSet.

It was a great experience to work with Rachel. She is an effective speaker and she has deep knowledge and a wealth of experience to draw from. She took the time to understand our needs and goals for the session and she crafted and influential and meaningful session that I know provided a lot of take-aways and long-lasting impact. I look forward to the opportunity to partner with her again.

- FactSet, Marcy DeMassa - VP, Associate Director, Leader - Agile Coaches

I’d love to partner with you to bring this work to your company!

Learn more and get in touch at rachelbgarrett.com/speaking.


Looking forward to helping you turn the role you have into the one you want.

What if there isn’t a final career destination?

Last week I was in a session with a client who is in the middle of a career transition.  

While she continues to look for a full time role, to make some money and spend the time productively, she’s trying out a part-time gig in a helping field  that is radically different from the intense roles in the startup tech world she’s  spent most of her career. 

As often happens, the part-time role has been incredibly rewarding–energizing work with a supportive boss. If that’s not a winning combination, I don’t know what is. 

We talked about how she can deepen or broaden this work so it could meet more of her non-negotiables. Continue to experiment along this path to see if it (instead of her current job search on other paths) could check all the boxes. 

And she said something I hear from many clients. ”I feel like I’m always experimenting!”

In essence – when am I going to get to the final destination already?

My response: Yes, that’s life. 

Life is experimenting and constant tweaking and shifting and changing. 

As much as we want certainty, there is no final destination – I mean, not while you’re still breathing and still – truly who knows about that part either.  

Careers are fluid. 

We get into trouble when we put rigid rules and restrictions around them. 

Those are the career cages we build for ourselves. 

So, if you catch yourself thinking–I’ll finally be happy when I find the perfect job, the perfect partner or the perfect dog, remember those things () don’t exist. 

Life is learning from our experiments as often as we can and as many times as it takes. 

Big Birthday Reflection

Next week, I have a big birthday. Hey there, 50. I’m coming for you. Or you, me.

It’s caused me to be more reflective than usual. Some may wonder, how is this even possible? You can just ask the people who live with me.

But truly – I’ve been spending a lot of time thinking about how I want the second half (eternal optimist!) of my life to look. Who I want to show up to be. What I want to accomplish.

Yet, when I sat down to compile my thoughts on the matter today, I was drawn to the past instead of the future. It’s been a time of tremendous growth and I decided to switch gears to marvel at the multitudes contained within this one decade of my life.

The losses of too many humans I loved/love.

The creation of a business and commitment to an entirely new career path.

A steady and meaningful writing practice.

The work of self-acceptance and the countercultural belief that I am enough exactly as I am right now.

The addition of a new lens to re-envision my past with compassion for my ancestors, knowing they did their best and that I also want to do better for my kids.

The parenting of two of my favorite people and the chance to lovingly usher them into the confounding teenage years.

Continuing to find my homebase in a two plus decade partnership between two people who have changed and grown and have never stopped supporting each other through so much damn changing and growing.

I don’t think there’s a decade I’ve been prouder of the risks I took and the mistakes I made.

Even in the roughest of moments this past ten years, my actions came from a place of self knowledge and an honoring of the true me.

I’m grateful to have taken the time for this accounting to know – I’m entering my 50’s from this place and I’m dreaming up the next decade from a calm awareness that I like the artist in charge.

If you’re coming up on a big birthday, anniversary or a meaningful milestone for you, I invite you to look back before you forge ahead. Absorb the learning and the celebration and take a beat, so you can honor the gravity of the path you’ve taken to create this life.

When you think its too late...

Sometimes a career shift idea comes on fast and swallows you in a warm hug.

A calm. A knowing. A feel-good movie fullness.

And as big as it feels in that one moment, it can disappear the next.

Not only is it gone, but it leaves a shamey aftertaste.

So, what happened?

We’ve let our practiced and ready internal “Shut It Down Machine” take over.

It’s an efficient system designed to protect us from change, from failure, from what others might think.

And yes it does all that. But it also keeps us stuck. In the same job. On the same path. Tolerating the same shit cultures.

It sounds like…

You: Maybe I want to be a writer.

Shut It Down Machine: Who do you think you are wanting to be a writer? You’re X years old. You don’t have the skills. You don’t have the education. You won’t make the money you need. It’s too late.

There it is. It’s too late.

Now, I’m not saying becoming a writer is going to actually check all your boxes and be the right career path for you.

But, the clue that this desire gives you is an invitation to investigate further. To let this idea live and breathe. To get into action around it so you can learn the multitude of ways it can inform you about your right next path.

When you step into the land of “It’s too late.”, you shut down your intuition and close yourself off from understanding and honoring your own wants.

How comfortable or uncomfortable is it for you to want something?

And why is it so hard that we need to shame ourselves for even thinking about it?

I encourage you to begin to notice when your Shut It Down Machine jumps in to wash away your wanting. Stick up for your desires. You don’t have to go out and sign up for the MFA program in the first 5 minutes after the thought, but you can get curious and take your time to learn more.

A simple, “I can take my time to figure this out.” is a lovely antidote to “It’s too late.”

You and your desires are worthy of taking all the time you need.