Persistence, determination, and passion for what you do can push you across the finish line. In this episode of I HAVE SOMETHING TON SAY, my dear sister Xaulanda Simmonds-Emmanuel, Chief Passion Seeker and Co-Founder of XauSky Group shares the angst and rewards of pursuing audacious career goals – all at once within a span of a few years! As an Industrial/Organizational Psychology Ph.D. Candidate researching the prediction of work passion, and entrepreneur with over 25+ years in leadership, business administration, and consulting, Xaulanda has experienced it all – from assuming a C-level role to relocating to accept a new and exciting job opportunity.

Xaulanda has also navigated the rigors of raising a child, empty nesting, and committing to investing time, energy, and a lot of money into furthering her academic achievements while starting a new business. “I was at a point of my life where I didn’t know what I was going to do after my daughter left. I was a master prepared Black woman in Corporate America who had the educational background to take on more leadership roles, but for some reason, I felt like I was not getting the opportunities to be in leadership positions within the organizations I was trying to break into. And I think that a lot of Black women and women of color can understand that plight. You’ve done what you can do professionally, working your way up that ladder, investing in your education, and for some reason, there seems to be this invisible barrier for you to be able to move forward. So, I thought, ‘well, if I have a Ph.D., that should open more doors for me’,” Xaulanda shares.

Through purposeful planning, intentional implementation, living creatively, and working passionately, she has learned how to inject clarity, confidence, and calm into the chaos of life and work, becoming a valuable resource to individuals, groups, and organizations that need help gaining clarity of their current state and future direction.