A real, unscripted coaching session with a client I'm calling Chloe — a Talent Acquisition professional with 15+ years of experience who was laid off twice in one year and slowly stopped believing she was still an expert at anything. In Part 1, we don't start with strategy. We start with what's actually in the way: a nervous system in chronic threat mode, an unprocessed wound, and the quiet story that rejection had been telling her about herself. If you've been doing everything right in your job search and still feel stuck, this episode will reframe why — and what actually helps. Part 2 drops next: we build the business.

Companion post + 7-day practice plan: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/when-confidence-collapses-how-to

What do you actually want? If that question makes you go blank — this episode is for you.

In this real, unscripted coaching session, I work with a woman who has spent her entire career in service to others and yet can't answer the most basic question: what do I want? What we uncover together is that she doesn't need more clarity. She needs permission.

We cover how to identify your superpower and what's really underneath it, how your core wound connects to your greatest gift, how to build your Thrive List so you stop taking the wrong opportunities, how to stop believing your needs and others' needs are in competition, how to grieve old identities, and how to build a stable base inside yourself that goes wherever you go.

The full key takeaways and 7-day progress plan are available in the accompanying Substack post : https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/what-do-you-actually-want-a-real

When the rug keeps getting pulled out — your job, your relationship, your health — it's not a strategy problem. It's a trust problem.

In this real coaching session, I work with Rachael, a client who came to me after being made redundant, going through a divorce, managing a chronic illness, and raising two kids alone. She'd spent over two decades being the most capable person in the room and rarely getting credit for it. When she filled out her intake form, she described herself as someone who felt lucky to have been employed.

We didn't touch her resume. We built her foundation first.

In this episode you'll learn:

→ Why you can't think your way out of feeling stuck — and what to do instead→ A simple body-based exercise to find safety and calm any time, anywhere→ How to be with difficult feelings without being overwhelmed by them→ Why pride in your capacity matters more than pride in your performance→ How to stop punishing yourself for past decisions made with incomplete information→ The "add the and" reframe that makes hard stories feel less like a life sentence

This episode is for anyone who has felt overlooked, burned out, or like they're rebuilding with less runway than they'd like.

Full show notes, session breakdown, and the 7-day practice plan here:https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/when-the-rug-keeps-getting-pulled

Rachael came to me after being made redundant, going through a divorce, managing a chronic illness, and raising two kids alone. When she filled out her intake form, she described herself as someone who felt lucky to have been employed.

That sentence stopped me.

Because Rachael isn't someone who got lucky. She's someone who spent over two decades being the most capable person in the room, rarely getting the credit, and slowly — without realizing it — started to agree with the environments that had failed her.

In this episode I skip her resume entirely and start where the real work begins: her foundation. We move through a somatic framework for rebuilding self-trust from the inside out — finding safety in the body, being with hard feelings without being consumed by them, summoning pride in capacity rather than performance, and learning to become your own biggest champion.

This episode is for you if you've ever felt overlooked, burned out, or like you're starting over with less runway than you'd like. If you've been waiting to feel ready before you make a move. If the rug has been pulled out enough times that you've stopped trusting the ground.

What you'll take away:→ Why clarity about your next move is often a trust problem, not a strategy problem→ How to find a felt sense of safety in your body that you can return to anytime→ How to be with difficult feelings without being swept away by them→ Why pride in your capacity matters more than pride in your performance→ How to stop judging past decisions with information you didn't have yet→ The "add the and" reframe for any story that feels too heavy to be the whole truth

The full Substack post, session breakdown, and 7-day practice plan can be found here: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/when-the-rug-keeps-getting-pulled

You've gotten the advice. You understood it. You agreed with it. And then you didn't do anything.

This isn't a motivation problem. It's a resistance problem — and resistance is never random. It's always pointing at something.

In this episode, I'm sharing something I've been sitting with. I coached a woman I'm calling Sara — a six-year entrepreneur who built her CPG brand into Nordstrom, Barnes & Noble, and the Ulta Beauty MUSE Accelerator. Her business had stopped generating enough income and she needed a job. She came to me because she couldn't find the words to make people see what she'd built.

We recorded the session. The plan was to publish it. And then she reached out and said she wasn't ready.

Sitting with her decision got me thinking about the session itself — and I have to be honest: I wasn't satisfied with how I coached her. Not because of the resistance I met. But because I didn't do enough to help her see things differently. And if you can't see things differently, you won't do things differently.

So this episode is what I wish I'd given her more of in the room.

I break down the 5 patterns of resistance I see most often — in clients, in the women who write to me, and honestly in myself — and what each one is actually trying to tell you.

We cover:→ The Deflection: why you name your values instead of what you actually want→ The Blur: why you can't see your own experience clearly even when it's extraordinary→ The Grief Resistance: why you keep returning to the feeling instead of moving toward the solution→ The Identity Resistance: why reframing your story feels like erasing it→ The Core Wound: the question underneath all the other questions

The companion Substack post goes even deeper — and paid subscribers get a 7-day exercise plan that turns every insight into a daily practice: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/what-your-resistance-is-trying-to

Feeling burnt out, undervalued, and too exhausted to do anything about it? This one's for you.

In this live coaching session, I work with Éire, a creative in advertising who's six months into a new job and already running on empty. She's navigating office politics she never got a playbook for, people-pleasing her way through every interaction, and watching the creative part of herself go completely quiet.

We cover:— How to stop leaking energy at work (patching the boat)— Navigating office politics without losing your values— The difference between reacting and responding— Why overworking gets you taken for granted, not recognized— How to build a creative life outside of work when you have nothing left— The real reason you can't let yourself rest

If any of this sounds like your life right now, this episode is for you.

Want to go deeper? The full breakdown — key takeaways and a 7-day Progress Plan — is waiting for you over on Substack: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/when-the-boat-is-leaking-how-to-stop

My client Anna spent four years inside the UN ecosystem managing a U.S. Ambassador's portfolio across 180 countries. Now she's pivoting to the nonprofit sector — and she's struggling to make the case for herself in a way that feels both true and compelling. Sound familiar?

In this live coaching session, I give her a full materials makeover and walk through the hardest interview questions she's likely to face.

The full resume, cover letter, and interview prep guide are in the companion Substack post: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/complete-makeover-resume-cover-letter

Coaching session with Rae, a product manager laid off 6+ months ago who can't get excited about applying to jobs. We cover how to figure out what you want when nothing sounds appealing, career paths you might not have considered, using AI to explore your options, and how to stop feeling like a cog in the wheel.

Full recap and action steps on my Substack:

You've done the informational interviews. You've had the coffee chats. You've made the lists. And somehow, you're more confused than when you started.

This episode is for anyone drowning in career options and unable to choose.

I'm coaching Amelia, a legal ops professional who'd been exploring a pivot for years—and kept getting more stuck with every conversation. The problem wasn't that she needed more information. She needed a filter.

We cover:

• The 3-question filter to evaluate any opportunity
• An exercise to get out of your head and feel your way forward
• Why the opportunity you need might already be in front of you
• What progress actually looks like (spoiler: not certainty)

📝 READ THE FULL WRITE-UP Includes the Pain/Budget/Proximity filter breakdown and key frameworks from this session. Find it here: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/overwhelmed-by-information-which💬 BOOK A COACHING SESSION: Get personalized support for your career transition. Start with a 30-minute session: https://calendly.com/claire-wasserman/breakthrough-sessions

Do you keep exploring a career change... only to take the safe job every time?

In this coaching session, I work with "Amelia"—a senior legal operations professional with 12+ years of experience who wants to pivot into helping creative entrepreneurs. The problem? Every time she gets close to making the leap, she defaults to the familiar. Three steps forward, one step back.

We cover why your to-do list feels exhausting when your North Star is fuzzy, how the language you use might be blocking you, the difference between a "safety net" and "North Star" job search, what it really means when you hit a threshold—and the superpower she almost dismissed entirely.

If you're stuck in a career you've outgrown or caught in the cycle of exploring but never committing, this one's for you.

Get Amelia's full Pivot Pathfinder (free) and the 7-day Progress Plan here: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/i-keep-taking-the-safe-job?r=1b87me

Book a private coaching session here: https://calendly.com/claire-wasserman/breakthrough-sessions