The PNW Reminded Me I'm a Unicorn

Friday Harbor Tranquility

I spent 12 days in the Pacific Northwest this month. Moving between cities and forests, ferry rides and breweries, with so much nature and so much joy. The pace of life felt radically different than my routine. At the same time, I'm taking an ADHD coaching certification class centered on personal transformation.

Apparently, the assignment wasn’t just to study transformation.

It was to live it.

While I was away, I had a billing issue with a client. Nothing catastrophic, but it landed harder than expected. It made me notice something I had been ignoring.

I had started trying to be helpful to everyone.

I said yes too often. I was over-giving. I was making things easier for everyone around me.

And I forgot something:

I’m not for everyone.

I’m a fucking unicorn.

The people I work best with are often in transition. After a layoff. At a threshold moment. In ADHD overwhelm. In a reinvention they can’t quite name yet but feel in their bones. Swimming in the messy waters of rising from management to leadership. They are (knowingly and unknowingly) ready for transformation.

I don’t have to be everything for everyone.

For the right people, something clicks.

And the adventure kept showing me.

Vibrant colors of sunset in Seattle

I was lucky enough to be sharing this PNW adventure with my own rare creature as we celebrated 14 years of being married. Somewhere between the quiet mornings over amazing coffee, the ferry rides, and the long conversations, we started talking about coaching. What it actually looks like when it works well, and what someone might need if they were looking for support.

I found myself describing the kind of coach I’d want for him. Someone who listens past the surface. Someone who can track what’s really being said. Someone who has lived and worked in Silicon Valley and New York, inside real companies, navigating leadership, difficult conversations, performance reviews, and the egos that inevitably show up in the room. Someone who helps you see your value and your barriers more clearly, and reflects and unlocks.

And then I heard myself say it out loud:

“You need someone like me. And honestly… do you know how hard it is to find someone like me out there?”

I stopped cold.

Because it landed differently than I expected.

That’s when it clicked.

I'm meant to be precisely activating when someone is standing at the edge of change.

And that realization didn’t feel theoretical. It felt embodied.

When I got home, it showed up immediately.

My first call back was with a client who had received a job offer while I was away. After a layoff had knocked his confidence sideways, our work together helped him reconnect with himself enough to step forward again.

My second call was with someone new.

The chemistry was instant.

I didn’t sell.

I didn’t pitch.

I didn’t perform.

I listened. I reflected, named what I was hearing and provided what he needed in that moment.

Will he hire me? Maybe. Maybe not.

I wasn’t attached to it.

I’m not here to convince anyone of anything. I’m there to help them hear themselves more clearly than they have in a while.

Looking at this ancient drifter. Is it looking at me?

If someone walks away feeling more seen, more grounded, more confident and more honest with themselves, that’s the magic.

Here’s my invitation to you:

If we’ve worked together before…If I’ve coached you, challenged you, or helped you see something in yourself you couldn’t quite access on your own…

I’d love to reconnect.

I believe you have an extraordinary capacity for transformation.

And it turns out, you don't find unicorns in petting zoos.