SHIFTING CAREERS & TRUSTING INTUITION: MICHELLE’S STORY
This is a story + phase of my life that I honestly feel like I could write an entire book on. The process was incredibly emotional and filled with so many ups/downs, but looking back it’s exactly the way that things were supposed to unfold. I always call my life a beautiful disaster because it oftentimes is just that - messy, complicated, frustrating, & also perfect at the same time. Just know that the version of myself that all of you see, watch, & hear now is COMPLETELY different than the person I was before & during this transformational journey. I think oftentimes we see people for where they are in this moment and immediately want to skip the bridge and land at the same destination, but trust me when I say it’s taken YEARS (with many tears & mental breakdowns) to be in this position. As cliche as it may sound, it truly is the journey that has provided me with the tools, resources, and knowledge to help any of you who are currently going through a similar experience.
Let’s dive right in -
In 2014 I graduated college with a degree in PR & Communications feeling SO damn confident that this was the career/industry that I was meant to be in. I had incredible internships throughout college with some of the best PR agencies in NYC and knew I was prepared to thrive here. I was a college athlete & played competitive soccer my entire life, so health + wellness was always a huge focus for me, leading me to have this dream of becoming PR Manager of SoulCycle one day (I was a SoulCycle queen back in the day!). I ended up working in PR for about 2.5 years before I made the life changing decision to leave this career behind and pursue a path that felt so aligned & purposeful to me. So, what happened?
I worked for two different PR agencies in those 2.5 years and struggled in so many different ways. To be honest, I was great at PR and knew I had a skill here, but nothing about it felt remotely PURPOSEFUL to me. I was going through the motions of my day to day and my intuition was screaming at me to listen. I was experiencing signs like
crippling anxiety before/during/after work
extreme physical illnesses (this was the sickest I’ve ever been with my autoimmune diseases)
gut feeling that I was MEANT for more (but never being able to explain this fully)
never feeling excited about my work even when I was running amazing events + working with incredible brands
complaining to anyone & everyone about how much I didn’t enjoy my work
trying to “escape” any chance I could, especially on the weekends (leaning on going out + partying)
massive pits in my stomach with the thought of this being my life forever
When you know something isn’t aligned for you, you just KNOW. It shows up emotionally, physically, spiritually - to the point where it’s impossible to ignore until you decide to do something about it. The last 6ish months of my PR career, I was also the sickest I have ever been in my life with autoimmune diseases + chronic illnesses. I had scheduled work from home days (before they were a thing!) because I was unable to get out of bed, had weekly doctor appts for IVs/therapies, and even had multiple sudden visits to the ER. All from “unexplained” chronic illnesses and symptoms showing up in my body that were slowly taking over day by day. I saw every top name doctor, tried every medication, had every test done - you name it, I tried it. I lost all faith in the practitioners I was seeing and became OBSESSED with finding answers + solutions on my own. ANY free time that I had before/during/after work, I was researching + reading anything I could about holistic health and healing the body naturally. What started out as a hobby/curiosity/necessity for my own healing, quickly turned into a burning passion to become an expert and share this knowledge with others who were struggling with the same thing. I developed my first autoimmune disease at 17 years old (with many more to come) and it wasn’t until I was about 27 years old that I finally started to completely transform myself - physically, emotionally, spiritually. 10 years is a LONG time and I promised myself that it would always be my mission to collapse that timeline for anyone I ended up working with.
I quit my job in PR, took a leap of faith to follow my intuition, went back to school, got my MS in nutrition + dietetics, became a registered dietitian nutritionist, started my private practice, and have now evolved that practice into OUER OWN. Sounds fun, but in reality it was probably one of the toughest & most emotional times of my entire life. It took me MONTHS to pull the trigger on quitting my job in PR. Why? Because I was absolutely crippled with fear, anxiety, doubt, limiting beliefs, and stepping into the unknown. I was trying to convince myself for a while that PR would get better and I could make it work - essentially I was trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. PR was a beautiful stepping stone, but not the final destination for me. The sooner I realized that, the quicker I was able to put things in motion.
Every time I began to doubt myself & started to revert back to old ways + talk myself back into making my PR career work, I came back to a few questions -
If you got promoted tomorrow and got an increase in money, would that make you happy? The answer was no.
Does it light you up to think about having your manager/boss’s job? Is this something that excites you to work towards? The answer was no.
If you had an abundance of money in your bank account, would you still want to be working this PR job? The answer was no.
If you KNEW for certain that you were going to succeed in this next venture/path, would you do it? The answer was hell freaking yes.
In 5-10 years from now, if you took this leap of faith, would you look back and be proud of yourself? The answer was hell freaking yes.
I knew what I had to do - I just had to build up the courage to actually do it.
Talk about taking a leap of faith & trusting… I had no pre-requisites completed to apply for a master’s program. So, not only did I quit my job in PR (a comfortable known path), but I was quitting to take a full year of pre-requisite classes IN HOPES that I would eventually get accepted into a program (complete unknown). I wish I was kidding when I said it was one of the toughest years of my life with mental breakdowns ALL of the time. The FEAR of what if all of this was for nothing and I never get accepted into a program? WTF am I actually doing? How will I survive financially? Am I smart enough to complete all of these courses? Is this actually an achievable goal or am I reaching too high?
Some people in my life supported me and some people in my life had absolutely no clue why I was doing this. But when your intuition and gut feelings are so damn strong + powerful, there’s no other option than for you to listen to it. It’s guiding you somewhere and it’s our responsibility to take action.
The day that I walked into my boss’s office, told her I was leaving + gave my notice, and explained what my next journey was…. I felt immediate & immense FREEDOM. It was like a 100 lb weight was lifted off of my body and I could finally breathe again. I’ll never forget that feeling of walking out of her office, sitting back at my desk, and just smiling feeling like every angel/spirit guide/universal energy was applauding me from above. It was complete validation that not only was this exactly what I was supposed to be doing, but also that there was absolutely no going back now.
Listen to me when I say…
Trust yourself, trust your emotions, trust your intuition.
There’s no wrong path - you’ll always be re-directed.
Take the leap of faith & bet on yourself.
It won’t be easy, but nothing amazing ever is.
This feeling, pull, intuition was planted in you for a reason. Close your eyes and listen deeply. The answer is there.
There’s so much more I can expand on here, but this was phase 1 of it all! I’m so incredibly passionate about this journey and helping others take the jump that is calling them. If you have any questions, please reach out - always happy to help!
Xx
Michelle