About short version
I've led my life differently than most:
I took a gap year teaching English in Madrid, Spain after graduating college (2013)
“Catch-Up Phase" I started my career in tech, rose up the company ranks, and did what everyone else wanted me to.
When I burnt out, I bought a one-way ticket to Australia in 2017. I took on creative projects while traveling and living out of a backpack for three years.
Covid. The longest lull in my life. Lived with my parents. Moved twice. Laid off.
I started my own coaching business (2022)
My experiences have taught me that life is like a river. When we are young adults, we are swept away by our early decisions, such as a college major, our first job, or a relationship. And our environment, such as where we live and our upbringing.
Once we gain momentum, it's difficult to stop, reassess, and change course. I'm an expert at helping people find a way to shore, examine their current trajectory, and find a new path forward.
My top three values are curiosity, freedom, and authenticity.
Personality: INTJ and Enneagram 5w4.
About long version
I was born in Poland. My family moved to the US when I was five years old. I didn't know a word of English when I started Kindergarten.
I had a strong accent on the rare occasions I did speak. Other kids made fun of the words I couldn't pronounce, and called me, "Camel".
The bullying taught me to hide my voice and my name.
My neighborhood friends and our daily pickup games saved me. Also, video games.
The University of Connecticut
I'd like to thank Ultimate Frisbee for helping me come out of my shell. I was one of the better freshmen on the team. I felt recruited to play on the club team. I belonged to a group for the first time in my life.
As I improved, so did my standing on the team. So did my confidence on the field. So did my confidence in life.
At UConn, I learned three other things:
Pursuing Physical Therapy taught me that I love helping people improve.
Being a first-generation college student instilled a sense of independence.
Traditional school didn’t work for me.
Madrid, Spain
I graduated college in May 2013 with the gnawing thought that I never studied abroad. Teaching English emerged as a viable gap year to work and travel.
I enrolled in a 170-hour online TEFL (Teaching English as a foreign language) course over the summer while working full-time to save money. I planned on teaching English in Madrid, Spain, in the fall.
I questioned my decision for as long as I could. I had a budding relationship. My friends were finding their first jobs. What am I doing?
I bought my one-way flight one week before I left.
The two hardest weeks of my life were when I arrived in Madrid, Spain.
I didn’t know Spanish, I didn't have a job, I didn't have friends, and I didn't have an apartment. I had 4k in my bank account and a TEFL certificate to my name.
To provide a peek:
Desperate to create stability, I saw an apartment on my way from the airport. Before I dropped off my bags at a hostel.
I accepted my first teaching job. I quit two days after I started.
I paid a non-English-speaking landlord 10% of my savings for a security deposit. I checked out of my hostel. On my way to move in, he changed his mind. It took six months to get it back.
That year changed my life because I took a leap of faith. I came out the other side stronger.
Our leaps of faith, no matter how small, become our sources of strength and confidence.
Teaching confirmed that I love helping people improve.
Catching Up
When I returned to the US after a year, I felt a need to catch up and prove to myself I can be traditionally successful.
I interviewed for my first professional job as a Data Analyst for a tech startup in NYC. The four in-person interviews went well. I left.
The recruiter called an hour later and said they forgot to give me an Excel test. I had never used Excel before. I spent two days cramming. I passed the test. I got the job.
After 18 years of education with GPAs starting with the number 2, this experience helped me discover a natural curiosity, a love of learning, and an affinity for reading that traditional school did its best to suppress.
After three years of living in the US, I felt frighteningly comfortable. Is this all there is to life?
I thought about Spain. How I took a leap of faith, but clung to what I knew. I continued to play Ultimate Frisbee, consume sports content, and lived a typical city life. When I lived in Spain, I didn’t have the perspective to realize the opportunity I had.
What if I had a blank slate? Who would I become?
Intentional travel and finding my voice
I bought a one-way flight to Melbourne, Australia for October 2017.
Before I left, my Ultimate Frisbee club team threw a surprise going-away party. My friends kept asking, what are my plans? I tried my best to answer, but I had none.
I knew my hostel for the first three nights. I knew I wanted adventure. I knew I wanted to create something.
Like Spain, I asked myself, what am I doing? Why am I leaving all my wonderful friends who care about me?
Unlike Spain, I created space for something new to take its place.
The first month was awkward.
I applied for jobs I didn't need. I went to hostel happy hours I didn’t care for. The allure of structure, stability, and filling space were magnetic until I took the first steps.
I created a website. I recorded one podcast episode. I posted a picture every day for 30 days on Instagram. That led to a 30-day daily vlog, which led to vlogging for 100 days in a row.
The friends I met in Australia knew me as a creator, a stranger to anybody who knew me at home.
I bought my first camera. A year later, I bought my 2nd camera.
I used travel as a way to explore my creativity.
Am I a podcaster? Writer? Videographer? Photographer?
Two months after I arrived, I volunteered for a nine-day, 350-mile bike ride event. That decision led to every adventure afterward. Some favorites:
Impulsive two-week 400-mile bicycle tour in Tasmania
Hitchhiked 150 times covering 8,000 miles around Australia (It’s like hitchhiking from NYC to LA, then back to NYC, then down to Miami)
Thru-hiked New Zealand's 1,864-mile Te Araroa trail over five months
10-day silent meditation retreat in Thailand
18 days on the Annapurna circuit in Nepal
None of the above crossed my mind before I left NYC.
By leaning into the unknown, I found my voice, adventure, and my authentic self.
I'm fond of saying, I traveled for three years. I lived for ten.
Limbo Phase
I was repatriated to the US from Nepal in March 2020 at the start of Covid. After three years on the road, I was confined to my childhood room. On the bottom bunk bed. Under my parents' roof.
The longest lull of my life began. What's next?
I longed for stability, connection, friends, a home, familiarity, a partner, and a career path.
The self-discovery phase of my life had ended. I was ready for commitment.
It took me two years to put together the first piece.
Life and Leadership, and Career Exploration Coaching
In March 2022, I took Fundamentals. It's the first course from Co-Active Training Institute's coach training program. Everything clicked.
Coaching became the spine of my book that brought the chapters of my life together.
What started as a side hustle became much more when I was laid off on October 14th, 2022. Getting laid off sucks, but it was a gift that pushed me further into self-employment.
It’s given me the independence I needed. Coaching allows me to help people improve at a deeper level. Writing allows me to express my voice.
My job as a coach is twofold:
I help you find your long-term future vision
I help you start the next chapter
Together we'll create a roadmap of small steps between the two.
Let's do a free 30-minute chemistry call for you to understand better how coaching can help you and see if we're a good fit.
Based in Boulder, CO!