Longer than normal email warning. I had something else planned for my newsletter this week, but instead I thought I would share something I'm working through while it's fresh. Quite frankly, it's messy. And this change likely doesn't just impact me, but also many women in your workplace, too.

Simply, my business has undergone a massive shift in 2025 due to the change in rhetoric around diversity programs, which includes most women's leadership programs. For those of you who like a spreadsheet and numbers like me, this means that:

• About 42% of my income year to date in 2024 year came from corporations hiring me to present leadership training to their women's groups. 

• This year to date, that number has fallen to 21%. 

• However, my 1-1 executive coaching is up 3x from last year to date and my small group coaching program is double the 2024 size.

The bottom line here is this: organizations are spending less money on their women's leadership programs, however, more women are seeking me out for 1-1 coaching (and submitting for employer reimbursement). 

This matters because it's likely that your organization may be scaling back on the development they provide certain groups of employees who may be over-relied upon but under-supported (this isn't just women…). 

(For business owners, the bottom line here is this is why it's so important to diversity your product suite so some can carry extra load when another experiences a demand shift.)

This change has thrown me into the messiness of liminal space. That place where you know the old ways aren't working but the new hasn't emerged yet…so you feel like you are betwixt and between, wandering around in the dark and unsure of how everything will play out. It's uncomfortable and unsettling, not knowing the right next step to take. Many of us worry about making the wrong move or making a choice we might regret. Even worse, I feel out of control (eeek!).

Just last week, I had several clients also feel like they are in liminal space in their career journeys: 

• One had spent years accepting promotions in her current organization only to realize that she said yes to one that doesn't align with her best talents. Burned out, she's not sure how to go back or if she should stick it out. 

• One finds herself struggling to lead a strong team while managing the unpredictability of her boss. She is torn between staying for a team she loves and continuing to try and “manage up” or determining if she has outgrown her role. 

• One is struggling with the liminal space of recognizing that her promotion to leader means that her relationship with one of her direct reports - a dear friend - must change. She's in all the feels about how the future will play out for them and how to do this transition well.

We don't talk about about the messiness of liminal space in our careers. LinkedIn posts can make it appear that everyone else's careers look nice and tidy while our own feels everything but that. 

For me personally, I'm wrestling with how I can stay on my mission of advancing women to the rooms where decisions are made when many organizations have demonstrated they will no longer budget for these experiences. This, while also balancing and communicating the fact that I do offer leadership workshops (Advance From Doer to Leader) to all genders at corporate organizations. 

The only two (terrible) things I know to be true about liminal space are these:

1. We are uncertain

2. We are not in control

I don't have this all figured out yet, but wanted to give you a peek into my journey of figuring out the way forward and how I approach this messy, ambiguous and uncertain space when it feels like I'm standing in the messy middle of serving my clients. Balancing overthinking and overanalyzing and taking intentional action is my focus of energy right now. After all, I am human and going through transition and change is very normal ;) 

PUT THIS IDEA INTO ACTION

When we face the messy middle and uncertainty, it can be tempting to try to “think” your way out of it. Or, to “think” your way into finding clarity on the right next steps. However, in my experience, clarity comes from ACTION (watch the tip video above). Here's what I'm doing now to work through the uncertainty and ambiguity of liminal space. 

1. Name It. It can be easy to obsess over everything that used to work or lament about what is no longer working. But that approach doesn't provide clarity. Instead, I just remind myself gently, “Ah yes. Liminal space. Old friend. You're back.” 

• Naming it as a normal, natural occurrence reduces shame and invites patience and compassion.

  
  

2. Relate It. This is a good opportunity to reference when you've been in transition in the past. What did you do about it? What worked? What didn't work? If you've read my book, Closing The Confidence Gap, then you know Chapter 1 is dedicated to a very messy career and personal transition of mine. 

• Reflecting on what worked in the past for you is a good way to fall back on familiar habits to help carry you through the initial ambiguity. After all clarity, comes from acting on a thing not thinking about the thing.

3. Embrace It. 

One thing I've learned is that resisting a change only makes it persist longer (UGH). So it can be helpful to consider what new opportunities this transition can have for you. 

• Consider what opportunities you've been overlooking because you were so focused on the life or career you had before?

4. Take Small Brave Steps (in alignment with your values). 

When I led change efforts in corporate, there was so much ambiguity that it often kept us stalling and waiting for clarity. However, one tactic we learned to implement was this, what steps forward can we take that are in alignment with our values (the things that DON'T change, even when everything else is changing). 

• Ask: What small choice could I make that will move me closer to the person or leader I've always been working to become? When everything is changing, what's NOT changing?

Try this next: If you feel like you've outgrown something or are in transition and are sitting in the ambiguous muck of an unknown future - just name it. Tell someone that you're in it. What does support look like for you right now and how can you ask for it?