An origin story!

poseycorp turns 3 today! This is a big milestone for me, and it has been a wild ride. So, on this late Spring Monday as the Summer Superhero movie season begins, here’s poseycorp’s origin story!

I arrived at Sun Microsystems, a candy store of ideas in the heart of Silicon Valley, at the dawn of the Internet Boom. Every day, I helped engineers connect with reporters. When they had powerful conversations about Java creating the future of the Internet I felt an incandescent fire in my belly! That fire stoked my great love for public relations.

Fast forward 10 years, and I was at a giant PR agency managing their largest global account. A triumph, right? Maybe not! Eight years after landing this big job, I was drowning in spreadsheets and conference calls and carrying the weight of 200 peoples’ jobs on my back. Where was the fire? I hadn’t connected a smart reporter with a brilliant engineer in years!

And then one day, my client’s new Chief Marketing Officer decided to review all of his agencies. We spent four months preparing for the excruciating six hour examination. When it was all over I stumbled back to my hotel room and collapsed on the floor in tears. There I was, in my discreet suit, my laptop and portfolio on the floor next to me, clutching the garish velvet curtains at the Gramercy Park Hotel looking out at the treetops on an insultingly sunny afternoon, sobbing. I couldn’t do this job for even one more day. Two days later, the CMO called my CEO – they wanted a new team leader. For the first time in years I felt free.

My agency and I tried to create a new role for me, but I couldn’t summon energy for anything. I asked to be laid off – consulting would be a great next step for me, right? Nope! My first year consulting was a comical failure . . . I felt like ashes inside.

Finally, I asked a treasured friend, “Should I hire a coach to help get me out of this hole?” She said, “You should totally go to coaching school.” Um, not my question, but OK. I’ll think about it.

It turned out that one of the country’s best coaching schools was holding a two day intro class in three weeks. I signed up. On the second morning of the class, asked if I would like to enroll in the full year certification program, I said, “I don’t know. I’ve lost faith in my judgment. My last business was a failure. I’m scared.”

And then, as if it were someone else talking, I heard myself say, “But being afraid is never a reason not to do anything, so I guess I’m signing up for the course.” The second those words left my mouth, my whole body melted into calm and sublime certainty. And that was that. I leapt into the next chapter in my life and my career.

Becoming an executive coach rekindled me! When I’m helping a new CEO define his vision, guiding a talented manager to powerfully communicate to her team, or coaching an engineer to be a great evangelist, the fire in my belly is back. I’m overjoyed to help another generation of innovators become great communicators!