Caylyn Wright
Political Director, Personal Insurance Federation of California
“When Sara and I began working together I felt stuck in my career, unsure what my next step looked like.
I was unnerved as I had come to the realization that I had learned everything I could at a job that had been challenging and fun for nine years - a job that I had a significant amount of my identity wrapped up in. I knew I should make a next career step, but I felt anything but clear about what that step would look like.
During this same time, I began to fully grasp that my natural aversion to conflict caused me to be unfairly relied upon by colleagues. My continually saying “Yes, I’ll cover” when I wanted to say “No” resulted in my taking on a greater share of work than what was equitable.
Sara’s guidance helped me see my skills and attributes in a new light. She challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and she helped me create a path to accomplish this. Working with Sara I gained new understanding of the importance of maintaining a professional persona and a personal persona.
Through coaching with Sara, for the first time in my professional or personal life I began pushing myself to have uncomfortable conversations, to advocate for myself, and to practice saying ‘no’ rather than ‘yes.’ Our coaching sessions were my first window into how to have these conversations. While such conversations can continue to make me uncomfortable, I now have the tools I need to start difficult conversations as well as to slow a conversation down when I need time to think through how to strategically approach something.
Sara’s coaching led me to set a path for myself to get out of my comfort zone and to work with colleagues in new ways. She challenged me to identify and meet colleagues I look up to. While I might go into these meetings second guessing myself, I am mindful of my work with Sara and use the tools I now have.
As a direct result of one of these meetings - just six months after working with Sara - I received a dream job offer. A year into my new job, I’m thankful for my work with Sara. Her leadership coaching helped me get to the next big step in my career. And I now have the tools and skills I learned through our coaching sessions to set myself up for great success in my new role.”
