What do you do when you've climbed the ladder, earned the title, and finally "made it" — only to realize the seat you fought for isn't the one that fits?

In this episode, Kirsten sits down with Taylor Coleman — systems thinker, former CX leader, and the kind of guest who tells the truth even when it's uncomfortable. Taylor traces her unlikely path from a bored tier-one rep to senior manager of a seven-person, six-specialty product support team — and the quiet, gutting moment in a leadership book club when she realized she had the skill for management but not the passion for it.

We talk about:

• Why saying no to leadership can be the bravest career move you make
• How a pivot — sideways or even "backward" — is self-awareness, not resume damage
• What it looks like when leaders recognize a talented person is in the wrong seat and build a better role around them instead of pushing them out

If you've outgrown your role, second-guessed the next rung, or ever wondered whether "up" is really the only way forward, this conversation will sit with you long after it ends.

Borrowing a concept from EOS (the Entrepreneurial Operating System), we dig into the idea that you can be the right person and still be in the wrong seat — and why that's not a failure, it's a starting point. Taylor opens up about the performance review line that both validated and gutted her ("you're underutilized"), the several good cries that followed, and the courage it takes to say "this isn't where I do my best work" out loud.