This hit like an MRI for a very specific nervous system: the high performing, multi passionate woman who looks wildly successful on paper while slowly suffocating in a role that will never let her be as big as she actually is. The way you name career purgatory, where your brilliance is constantly in demand but too unruly to be trusted with the C suite, is exactly what so many of us have felt and gaslit ourselves out of naming.
Underneath it I hear the moment where high functioning freeze finally breaks and the body refuses to climb one more rung on a ladder that requires self abandonment at the top, and that is the precise edge where an embodied coup and a different kind of work life can actually begin.
This article slapped in all the best ways, Annie. 👏 The second I realized “wow, I’m making so many people above me look good at my own detriment,” i knew it was time to part ways!
Oh about 6,000 of them. Just launched Grimoire, a platform for creative writing with AI, trying to bridge the gap with AI consulting so I can have a solid group to transition, and building a system to run multiple autonomous online businesses. 😅😅😅
Really well done! This is 💯 my dilemma. Or it was until very recently. I entered my last role thinking I could make it into a career capstone, train the future, and step away feeling like I’d handed off the reins to a new group of talented folks. That’s how I made my peace with the stalled-but-in-demand trajectory story. I decided I wasn’t ambitious enough for the executive roles and the compromises involved. But that’s just a story we tell ourselves to smooth over the feelings of being left out after putting so much in and delivering results over and again. That career move turned into a nightmare for me because the “ambitious” ones didn’t just use me up, they actively scapegoated me and I just didn’t have the instincts to defend myself and my work.
Steve Jobs called these folks “pirates”. I’ve always been proud to feel like I was one of them. But pirates aren’t welcome in “civilized” corporate culture.
"When you build something of your own, you give yourself permission to stop being some inauthentic, frankenstein version of yourself, and you have the freedom to finally expand into all of who you are." Love this.
Yes! When the Frankenstein visual popped into my brain, and then I thought about what it’s like to de-frankenstein ourselves, I was hoping it would land!
Yea I don't fit in any of the boxes and I don't want to try to anymore. And I did try a long time ago but I am way too multifaceted with way too many interests along with being a walking encyclopedia of useless facts. I'm "trouble," and at the same time love helping people. So much more to share about this lol! Thanks for writing about this - right up my alley except for the ladder part. 😄
Gosh, I've never seen myself described so accurately. I'm out of it now, and I don't miss it at all but Ive yet to decide where or what to go to next after taking as good year off for multiple surgeries.
This hit like an MRI for a very specific nervous system: the high performing, multi passionate woman who looks wildly successful on paper while slowly suffocating in a role that will never let her be as big as she actually is. The way you name career purgatory, where your brilliance is constantly in demand but too unruly to be trusted with the C suite, is exactly what so many of us have felt and gaslit ourselves out of naming.
Underneath it I hear the moment where high functioning freeze finally breaks and the body refuses to climb one more rung on a ladder that requires self abandonment at the top, and that is the precise edge where an embodied coup and a different kind of work life can actually begin.
That’s exactly it. At some point, your body refuses to keep playing along.
Annie, you untangle the identity stuff so beautifully in this piece. I also coach high performing women and identity is where the work begins.
I ask: who did you have to become while you climbed the ladder? Is that who you wish to be ten years from now?
Yes!! The identity work is the most important. “Who did you have to become” is a tough, but extremely valuable question
This article slapped in all the best ways, Annie. 👏 The second I realized “wow, I’m making so many people above me look good at my own detriment,” i knew it was time to part ways!
That’s a realization that hits DEEP 😮💨
It’s me!! Hi, have we met? 😋
Oh we’ve met, alright! And you’re crushing it!!! 😄
This was incredibly timely and perfect
Oh love when an article lands at the perfect time! What moves are you making?
Oh about 6,000 of them. Just launched Grimoire, a platform for creative writing with AI, trying to bridge the gap with AI consulting so I can have a solid group to transition, and building a system to run multiple autonomous online businesses. 😅😅😅
Same!
Glad to hear this!
Really well done! This is 💯 my dilemma. Or it was until very recently. I entered my last role thinking I could make it into a career capstone, train the future, and step away feeling like I’d handed off the reins to a new group of talented folks. That’s how I made my peace with the stalled-but-in-demand trajectory story. I decided I wasn’t ambitious enough for the executive roles and the compromises involved. But that’s just a story we tell ourselves to smooth over the feelings of being left out after putting so much in and delivering results over and again. That career move turned into a nightmare for me because the “ambitious” ones didn’t just use me up, they actively scapegoated me and I just didn’t have the instincts to defend myself and my work.
Steve Jobs called these folks “pirates”. I’ve always been proud to feel like I was one of them. But pirates aren’t welcome in “civilized” corporate culture.
Oof, I feel this so deeply! Thank you for sharing your story. I’m dying to know… what’d you end up doing after that last role?!
I took three months off to drag my nervous system back into a normal range. Just started applying, slowly, about two weeks ago.
"When you build something of your own, you give yourself permission to stop being some inauthentic, frankenstein version of yourself, and you have the freedom to finally expand into all of who you are." Love this.
Yes! When the Frankenstein visual popped into my brain, and then I thought about what it’s like to de-frankenstein ourselves, I was hoping it would land!
You always speak to me so much when I read your words. I look forward to the day I can work with you!
Me too!! 🔥🕺
I have never related to a piece of writing so much. Thank you for describing me better than I can even describe myself!
Absolutely! I’m glad it landed so deeply for you. You’re not alone!
Thank you for this!
I’m glad it resonated! 💜
Yea I don't fit in any of the boxes and I don't want to try to anymore. And I did try a long time ago but I am way too multifaceted with way too many interests along with being a walking encyclopedia of useless facts. I'm "trouble," and at the same time love helping people. So much more to share about this lol! Thanks for writing about this - right up my alley except for the ladder part. 😄
We need more helpful troublemakers out there!!
Contorted, yes. Soul destroyed, yes. Playing small, yes. Care about titles, nope. Know what to do next, nope.
I felt every word of this. How did you know 😂
Takes one to know one! Plus all the incredible multi-passionates I’ve worked with 😄
Gosh, I've never seen myself described so accurately. I'm out of it now, and I don't miss it at all but Ive yet to decide where or what to go to next after taking as good year off for multiple surgeries.