I had a plan.
After more than three decades in the corporate world – culminating as Chief Audit Executive and Chief Risk Officer of a Fortune 250 company – I knew how to prepare for what was next.
I built a business plan, earned a coaching certification and wrote a book. I was ready.
What I didn't plan for was losing myself in the process.
When I walked out of my office for the last time, I left behind more than a career. I left behind an identity I had spent decades building – one so deeply woven into who I was that without it, I barely recognized myself.
No one warned me about that part.
What followed was unexpected. Disorienting. And ultimately the most transformative experience of my life.