Some of the most interesting people I know are the ones who've had a winding, twisting, irregular career path — starting out doing one thing, then dabbling in something else, and then taking a massive left turn into a whole new arena.

These people have unique perspectives and loads of fascinating stories that never seem to run out. They also tend to have very few regrets because they've played out many of their "what if" daydreams in real life.

And yet, most people are also terrified to take an unconventional career path that doesn't follow on the linear "perfect resume" format we've all been taught is correct.

So what gives? Why are we so attracted to people with the most interesting (read: nonlinear) paths in life, and yet we feel so resistant to becoming one of them?

It all comes down to fear: fear of failure, fear of what people will think, fear of rejection, fear of the unknown, fear of disappointment, and on and on.

That's why I'm excited to have Emily Florence on the podcast today. She felt all of those fears at every twist in her unconventional career path, but she followed her intuition and acted anyway.

Listen in as Kristen asks Emily about...

• Her experience taking a break from college and traveling alone overseas for 4 months.
• The story of when she dropped out of law school … after 4 days.
• What led her to ultimately run her own business.
• What advice she has for anyone who feels ready for a career change, but is paralyzed by their fear about taking the leap.

After you've listened, leave us a comment to share how Emily's story resonated with you!

MORE ABOUT EMILY FLORENCE

Emily Florence is the founder of Savvy Miss, which is honored to be named a Forbes Top 100 Website for Women. She's also the host of the EveryDay Happy Show podcast, a certified life, life purpose and business coach, a writer, and a former entertainment publicist and journalist. Emily's a puppy mama to a silly lab named Harper, a lover of green tea, a travel enthusiast and a grateful optimist. She has a Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College in Boston, a BA in Cultural Anthropology from the University of California at Santa Barbara and a Life Coaching Certificate from the Life Purpose Institute. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, she was an entertainment publicist representing award-winning clients including American Idol, Gilmore Girls, So You Think You Can Dance, Malcolm in the Middle, Bernie Mac and more. Emily loves inspiring and supporting people to create happier, more fulfilled, easygoing lives – and to be kinder to the amazing person staring back at them in the mirror. Find her on Instagram @savvymiss.

JOIN THE CLARITY ON FIRE COMMUNITY!

Big news: We're now on Patreon!

• Join the $3/month tier (The Spark) for access to occasional bonus episodes and other special content. Think of this like our virtual "tip jar." If you're not interested in the community aspect, but appreciate our work and want to send a little love our way every month, plus get access to bonus content, this is for you!
• Join the $6/month tier (The Flame) for occasional bonus content and access to monthly patron-only Zoom meetups (hosted by our Community Ambassador, Madison) and quarterly Zoom hangs with Krachel.

For those of you who join "The Flame" tier, mark your calendars! The first community Zoom is happening on Sunday, March 28 at 1pm EST. This inaugural hangout is going to be book-club style! Choose between reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle or The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

And when you sign up for either tier by the end of the day TODAY, March 12, we'll enter you into a drawing! Two lucky patrons will win a free single coaching session with one of us.

Become a patron, here. And then introduce yourself, so you can start making friends with other COF people!

LISTEN TO THESE EPISODES NEXT

The secret to mastering informational interviews with Elise Austen (July 2020)

Burn This: 8 career beliefs to leave in the 2010s (January 2020)

When life screws up your plans with MaryBeth Bailar-Heath (January 2020)

There's no such thing as a career soulmate (May 2019)

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Welcome to another episode of Dear Krachel, our monthly advice segment where we answer listener questions about life, career, relationships, existential angst, and anything that helps you become a more whole, fulfilled version of yourself.

This month we answered questions from:

• Unsure Entrepreneur, who started a business last year after dreaming of entrepreneurship for ages … but is now feeling a bit hollow and unfulfilled. They can't imagine going back to work for someone else, but now this doesn't feel quite right, either. How can they pinpoint what's off, and fix it?
• Sam, a dance teacher with a toxic boss. She desperately wants to quit her job before her contract is up in a few months (and has the panic attacks to prove it), but feels guilty about abandoning her students before the big performance. Should she stick it out, or is it OK to walk away?
• Ashley, who's in a happy, healthy, loving relationship … but can't stop thinking about a toxic ex. What's up when you know it was right to end a relationship, but your brain keeps coming back to the person anyway?

Leave a comment after you've listened to share how our advice for these listeners resonated with you!

Want to submit a question for our April episode of Dear Krachel? Fill out this form and you might hear us tackle your Q!

JOIN THE CLARITY ON FIRE COMMUNITY!

Big news–we're now on Patreon!

• Join the $3/month tier (The Spark) for access to occasional bonus episodes and other special content. Think of this like our virtual "tip jar." If you're not interested in the community aspect, but appreciate our work and want to send a little love our way every month, plus get access to bonus content, this is for you!
• Join the $6/month tier (The Flame) for occasional bonus content and access to monthly patron-only Zoom meetups (hosted by our Community Ambassador, Madison) and quarterly Zoom hangs with Krachel.

For those of you who join "The Flame" tier, mark your calendars! The first community Zoom is happening on Sunday, March 28 at 1pm EST. This inaugural hangout is going to be book-club style! Choose between reading Untamed by Glennon Doyle or The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

And when you sign up for either tier by next Friday, March 12, we'll enter you into a drawing! Two lucky patrons will win a free single coaching session with one of us.

Become a patron, here. And then introduce yourself, so you can start making friends with other COF people!

LISTEN TO THESE EPISODES NEXT

Side Chat: The 4 Passion Profiles (December 2018)

How to work less, live more, and make great money with Katie Mongelli (July 2018)

Side Chat: Does life purpose even exist? (January 2021)

Burn This: Sacrificing your health for a job (May 2020)

Navigating a toxic workplace with Stacy Campesi (February 2021)

Bonus Side Chat: How to create light at the end of the tunnel (February 2021)

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Since we became coaches almost nine years ago, we can't tell you how many times we've heard from clients, "I feel lonely. It's hard to make friends. I wish there was a way to connect with other people who are interested in personal development and deep conversations."

And so often, we wished we could play platonic matchmaker and gather all of these individuals together and let them make friends with each other. It's been a bucket list idea for ages!

Until now, that is. Drumroll please 🥁🥁🥁 …

We're finally starting a Clarity on Fire Community!

Big thanks and kudos to Madison, one of Kristen's former clients and our new Community Ambassador. Like the Firestarter she is, she took initiative and asked if she could lead the way, to which we said a fervent YES! Without her, this wouldn't be happening right now.

Read on for details about how to join, what you can expect, and how to win a single coaching session with us! Or, listen to the announcement episode on the podcast!

JOIN THE CLARITY ON FIRE COMMUNITY!

We've decided to create our community on Patreon! For those who don't know, Patreon is a platform for content creators that allows them to receive very small, monthly contributions from fans — people who love their work and want to support them, and who also get special access to fan-only content.

There are two tiers you can choose to join:

• Join the $3/month tier (The Spark) for access to occasional bonus episodes and other special content. Think of this like our virtual "tip jar." If you're not interested in the community aspect, but appreciate our work and want to send a little love our way every month, plus get access to bonus content, this is for you!
• Join the $6/month tier (The Flame) for occasional bonus content and access to monthly patron-only Zoom meetups (hosted by our Community Ambassador, Madison) and quarterly Zoom hangs with Krachel.

For those of you who join "The Flame" tier, mark your calendars! The first community Zoom is happening on Sunday, March 28, at 1pm EST. This inaugural hangout is going to be book-club style! Choose between joining a breakout discussion of either Untamed by Glennon Doyle or The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

And when you sign up for either tier by next Friday, March 12, we'll enter you into a drawing! Two lucky patrons will win a free single coaching session with one of us.

Become a patron, here. And then go introduce yourself on the first post, so you can start connecting with other COF people!

We're most excited to collaborate with our patrons on what this can become! (In-person meetups when COVID is over, we're looking at you.) As a patron, we'll be asking you to tell us what kind of bonus content you're craving, how the monthly meetups can be as fun and meaningful as possible, and what new things we can try together.

See you in there!

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We didn't need an excuse to interview our Internet-friend-we've-never-actually-met-in-real-life, Caroline Garnet McGraw.

BUT, she did sort of whisper the magic words that made it painstakingly obvious we HAD to talk to her: "I used to be in a cult. And I was good at it." Best elevator pitch ever.

Caroline's first book, You Don't Owe Anyone: Free Yourself From the Weight of Expectations is getting published in April, and we got to sit down with her to talk about her journey from INTENSE people-pleaser to free and self-expressed human.

This one goes out to all of you people-pleasers, perfectionists, high achievers and highly sensitives, as well as anyone who struggles to let go of guilt and prioritize your own needs.

We got into…

• How growing up in a religious cult trained Caroline to please everyone but herself.
• The physical and mental symptoms you can expect when you're suffering under the weight of other people's expectations.
• Why "not owing anyone" isn't selfish, and how to rid yourself of guilt for prioritizing your needs and wants.

This was such a deep, necessary conversation–the opposite of surface-level self-help! Share it far and wide, with anyone in your life who needs to hear it.

And leave a comment after you've listened to share what you've decided you don't owe anyone, anymore!

MORE ABOUT CAROLINE & PRE-ORDER THE BOOK

Caroline Garnet McGraw is an author, speaker, and coach for recovering perfectionists. She's the creator of A Wish Come Clear, a popular blog devoted to trading perfectionism for possibility, as well as several online interview series. She's a two-time TEDx speaker, and her essays have been featured on The Huffington Post, Momastery, and Women For One. Caroline lives in Florence, Alabama with her family.

Preorder the book today and claim $1294 worth of limited-time bonuses, including over 100 expert interviews and a coaching guidebook! Preorder and claim your exclusive bonuses here.

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A few weeks ago one of Rachel's clients shared a very interesting conundrum:

She's wading through the world of dating apps, which is a masterclass in practicing discernment and listening to your intuition, as many of you know!

She said, "I've gotten pretty good at identifying red flags right off the bat. And I'm also seeing some green flags—signs someone is respectful and shares the same values as me. But I'm struggling at identifying yellow flags. What do I do when I run into something that, in the moment, doesn't feel like a red flag, but in hindsight, maybe it was? Was I ignoring my intuition? Should I have known better?"

This deserves a whole episode, if you ask us! So, in this month's brand-new Side Chat we're diving into how to spot the differences between red, green, and yellow flags.

We got into…

• Why red and green flags have more in common than yellow flags, and why the approach when encountering a yellow flag is so different.
• How to define what counts as a red, green, or yellow flag—Some are universal, some might be very personal to you!
• Recognizing which pattern you default to: Are you someone who paints yellow flags green (aka Kristen)? Or do you default to painting yellow flags red (aka Rachel)?

Leave a comment after you've listened to share which kind of flags you've been struggling with, and how you tend to default when grappling with the tricky yellow ones!

LISTEN TO THESE EPISODES NEXT

Side Chat: Honing your intuition (& knowing when it's really fear) (June 2019)

Side Chat: Why dating & job searching are the same thing (March 2020)

Side Chat: What happens when your intuition is wrong? (July 2020)

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This is one of those conversations that's going to be applicable to 99.9% of you, because who hasn't experienced a toxic workplace at some point in their life??

Whether you're a college student folding clothes at the mall or a Senior VP at a large firm, toxicity ABOUNDS — in the form of cattiness, disengagement, resentment, and groupthink, to name a few culprits.

In this month's Magic 8-Ball episode we brought back this classic from two years ago, because if anything, the pandemic has made wading through the mire of a toxic workplace even more stressful and complicated than ever.

Listen in as Stacy Campesi, one of our very best friends, shares her well-earned wisdom about how to navigate a toxic work environment. We talked about:

• The relationship between toxic workplaces and "good-girl syndrome."
• Why "toxic" is a misused word, and why using it makes the problem worse.
• How we can identify an unhealthy environment ahead of time, before we ever make a commitment.
• When to stick it out, and when it's OK to bail.
• What steps YOU can take to improve your environment, based on what Stacy has seen work for herself and her clients.

After you've listened, leave a comment to let us know how Stacy's advice resonated with you!

MORE ABOUT STACY

Stacy Campesi is a certified professional coach and workshop facilitator. She is passionate about helping unfulfilled, overachieving professionals find career confidence and clarity. Stacy loves working with smart, ambitious women who lead with heart and are so used to giving to others that can't even recognize their own wants or needs without feeling selfish. By cutting through the uncertainty, self-doubt, and fear of disappointing others that holds them back, Stacy is able to help her clients make decisions that get them what they want, without compromising a thing! Stacy is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coach Federation. She is also certified as an MBTI & Emotional Intelligence practitioner. Find Stacy on her website, connect with her on LinkedIn, and listen to her nuggets of wisdom on Voxer @stacy_campesi.

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No matter how short the delayed gratification, there's always going to be time between realizing you want something and the moment you actually get it.

Sometimes, it's easy and nearly instantaneous. You realize you're hungry, and two minutes later you have a snack in hand.

Other times, you realize you want a specific career or a certain kind of relationship, and 2, 5, 8 years later … you're still waiting to get it.

We talk a lot about the nature of trust and timing and letting go of control around here. Usually in a way that, at least we hope, feels uplifting and optimistic. But to get to optimism and hope you sometimes have to do some dredging and detoxing—you have to confront your own less-than-flattering, shadowy tendencies.

So, in this month's brand-new interview with a normal person, Rachel and her client of many years, Catie Beth (aka, CB), dove into the muck! They got into…

• The things CB used to want, that she now has, as well as the things she wants that she hasn't gotten yet.
• The issues both Rachel & CB avoided dealing with, that may have made their journeys longer and harder than necessary.
• How to be honest with yourself about whether you're actually ready for the thing you want.

Leave a comment after you've listened to share how Rachel & CB's take on getting real with yourself landed with you!

MORE ABOUT CATIE BETH

Catie Beth (CB for short), 31, lives in Charlotte, NC with her two pups, Georgia and Charlotte. By day, she's a headhunter for a creative and marketing recruiting firm. By night she won't shut up about personal development, astrology, Harry Potter, books she's reading, her nieces and nephews, new recipes she's found and being witchy. She's a Side-Hustling, ENFJ, Slytherin, Enneagram 3w2 and a longtime fangirl of Clarity on Fire. She is stoked to be a part of the podcast as a normal person! Find her on Instagram @catiebeth19.

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Welcome to another episode of Dear Krachel, our monthly advice segment where we answer listener questions about life, career, relationships, existential angst, and anything that helps you become a more whole, fulfilled version of yourself.

This month we answered questions from:

• Ready to Move Forward, a highly sensitive person who's been deeply affected by the meanness and negativity of people around her. She's just now getting to the point where she's ready to share some of her creative work with the world, but she knows it will open her up to hurtful feedback. How can she stop absorbing negative energy so she can live her life in peace?
• Emily, a college senior whose parents have consistently told her she's "average" and "won't succeed." A lifetime of being torn down by the people meant to love and uplift her the most has left her fearful and lacking in confidence. How can she believe something different about herself, and stop allowing the toxic messages from her family into her life?

Leave a comment after you've listened to share how our advice for these listeners resonated with you!

Want to submit a question for our March episode of Dear Krachel? Fill out this form and you might hear us tackle your Q!

LAST DAY OF 1:1 COACHING ENROLLMENT!

Today, Friday, February 5, is the LAST day we're accepting sign-up forms for new clients! Keep in mind that:

• We'll be taking on about 10-15 people in this new wave (and many of those spots are already taken).
• This is for people interested in getting started ASAP (within the next month).
• You don't have to know for sure that you want to move ahead with coaching. You just have to be serious enough about it to want to have a conversation.
• You have the option of 2 or 6 months of coaching, though we'll prioritize people who want to do 6 months.
• We'll most likely open enrollment again in May/June. If you're not ready now, or you've found us in-between "official" enrollment periods, then you can add your name to the wait list and we'll contact you if and when we have an availability.

Check out the details and fill out the form on this page, and we'll talk to you soon!

LISTEN TO THESE EPISODES NEXT

Blog: Keep new ideas to yourself (December 2020)

Blog: When you're tired of waiting for what you want to show up (January 2021)

Side Chat: Fruit of the poisonous tree (August 2019)

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We heard an anecdote recently about Navy SEALs that hit us so hard, we had to do a special episode about it:

Apparently, of all the extreme things they subject SEALs to during training, the part they find the most unbearable is not knowing when it ends. It's not the torturous conditions themselves, but not knowing how long they'll have to endure them, that makes it so difficult.

Of course, we immediately thought: This is the pandemic. Or a job you hate and have no idea when you'll ever be able to quit. Or a bad marriage. Or being single when you don't want to be. Or a health crisis.

There are so many things in life that feel impossible to quit, and are made that much more difficult because we have no light at the end of the tunnel.

But who's to say you can't create a light at the end of the tunnel? We believe it's possible, even in circumstances you think you have zero control over. So, in a special bonus Side Chat, we got into…

• Why it feels so heavy to have no light at the end of the tunnel, and what it does to us psychologically when we're in that state.
• A strategy you can implement that takes you from feeling like a victim to circumstance to empowered and energetic and hopeful.
• How we, and some of our clients, have taken this strategy and quit things that seemed impossible to quit, and created light where there used to be none!

Leave a comment after you've listened to share how this resonated with you, and how you might apply this to your situation!

1:1 COACHING ENROLLMENT IS OPEN!

We're accepting sign-up forms for new clients starting now through Friday, February 5! A few pointers to keep in mind:

• We'll be taking on about 10-15 people in this new wave.
• This is for people interested in getting started ASAP (within the next month).
• You don't have to know for sure that you want to move ahead with coaching. You just have to be serious enough about it to want to have a conversation.
• You have the option of 2 or 6 months of coaching, though we'll prioritize people who want to do 6 months.
• We'll most likely open enrollment again in May/June. If you're not ready now, or you've found us in-between "official" enrollment periods, then you can add your name to the wait list and we'll contact you if and when we have an availability.

Check out the details and fill out the form on this page, and we'll talk to you soon!

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Calling all fellow bookworms, library nerds, and general lovers of literature — it's time for another book club episode of the podcast!

Whenever there are five Fridays in a month, we devote the extra Friday to a book that we can't get enough of. In this episode, we're diving into an age-old classic, The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron.

To be VERY honest, when we say "can't get enough," in this case we did get enough. Too much, even. Like, "throw this book across the room" levels of enough-ness.

And not because this book is awful. Quite the opposite! It's more like, too hot to handle. If you've got ~stuff~ … this book is going to bring it up. And you best be ready when it does! Listen in as we talk about:

• Why we were triggered by this book, and why Rachel in particular had a detox-level reaction to it!
• The two weekly activities you can do to unblock yourself, creatively or otherwise.
• Why this book is excellent for people stuck for any reason, not just in an artistic sense.
• Some next-level ideas that were new, even to us!

After you listen, come leave a comment to share how this conversation landed with you!

1:1 COACHING ENROLLMENT IS OPEN!

We're accepting sign-up forms for new clients starting now through Friday, February 5! A few pointers to keep in mind:

• We'll be taking on about 10-15 people in this new wave.
• This is for people interested in getting started ASAP (within the next month).
• You don't have to know for sure that you want to move ahead with coaching. You just have to be serious enough about it to want to have a conversation.
• You have the option of 2 or 6 months of coaching, though we'll prioritize people who want to do 6 months.
• We'll most likely open enrollment again in May/June. If you're not ready now, or you've found us in-between "official" enrollment periods, then you can add your name to the wait list and we'll contact you if and when we have an availability.

Check out the details and fill out the form on this page, and we'll talk to you soon!

LINKS

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Submit your question for a future episode of Dear Krachel

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