We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Laura Criscione. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Laura below.

Laura, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to help people create more fulfillment and joy in their lives. This mission came to fruition from my own story as a fresh, new college graduate. I got my first full-time job, at 22 years old, and was so excited to start my new journey. Transitioning from college life to working life is quite a change, and after a few months of figuring out what the corporate world actually was, I began to feel that something was missing.

Those once-felt feelings of excitement turned to dread and a lack of fulfillment as I struggled to get out of bed each morning for work. The lack of passion and excitement lead to more days filled with anxiety, stress and despair.

There was something missing, but I didn’t know exactly what it was; I just felt like I was meant for so much more and that I was wasting my potential. I knew deep in my heart that I was meant to make an impact and help people and where I was just didn’t align with that deep-seated knowing.

I knew I didn’t want to live my entire life dreading my days, wishing my life away and only waiting for the weekends, but I didn’t know what I wanted or how to create it. This feeling ate away at me for months, as I was struggling to find out what that purpose was and how to cultivate it.

After months of fighting these uncomfortable feelings, I began to listen to them with compassion and keep my ears open for new opportunities. It was during this time that I found life coaching and it spoke to me in a way nothing else had before.

I enrolled in my first online coaching program and felt a passion and fire emerge from me that I hadn’t felt before. I felt like I was doing something truly important- I was taking care of myself, working on my physical and mental wellbeing while being surrounded by a community of like-minded people who were doing the same. I felt that sense of purpose I had been looking for and it changed my outlook on life, as I realized that I had more control of things than I previously thought.

I loved every second of being in that coaching program and was heart-broken when it ended. After it was over, I felt like I was back at square one- I was still unfulfilled in my job, felt purposeless and didn’t know what to do about it. I realized I couldn’t go back to where I was before I embarked on this self-development journey; the only way was to push forward and keep exploring.

So I hired my own coach to explore what I wanted to do in my life, career and future. After months of hard work, I learned I wanted to become a coach myself and help others the way that coaching helped me! I joined a life coaching certification program, Lumia, back in 2019 and haven’t looked back since! I started my own coaching business, LC Coaching, and have been helping people find fulfillment in their careers since 2020.

Now, my mission is to awaken people’s inner strength and confidence to carve their own paths and live fulfilling lives, because I truly believe everyone deserves to enjoy how they spend their time and feel fulfilled and excited about their work.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I’m Laura, and I’m a Career Fulfillment Coach! My journey into entrepreneurship and life coaching started from my own personal journey with coaching. I created my coaching business, because of how stuck and unfulfilled I felt in my career and I wanted to help other people, feeling the same way, find more fulfillment in their lives and work just as I had from coaching.

I support my clients in my 1:1 coaching program by helping them build up confidence and gain clarity on fulfilling careers they love so they no longer have to feel trapped and stuck in their 9-5 job. I help them get clear on what they want out of their career (and LIFE) and focus on mindset work to gain confidence and shed self-doubt to create their dream career.

I created my program, because it’s something I wish I had when I was going through my own journey. I remember feeling so stuck and alone, thinking nobody else was feeling the same way I was. I didn’t know who to reach out to have an honest conversation about how I was feeling. This is why a HUGE part of coaching is holding space for clients.

I hold space for my clients to express all of their feelings (especially the uncomfortable ones we don’t normally talk about) and help them understand why their current career path may not be working and explore what they can do instead. I help them uncover their personal and professional values, signature strengths, and personal mission to use as a blueprint to create more fulfillment in their career. This is work they can take with them for life (no matter what industry, job title or company) .

I see many Career Coaches only focusing on job hunting strategy, and not focusing on the intrinsic drive to find aligned work (this is where fulfillment lives!) . I don’t want to help people just land jobs; I want to help people find work they LOVE and feel fulfilled in (even if that means quitting a job, starting a business or anything in between).

Many of my clients actually learn that they want to start their own businesses during our time working together! The desire to take this step was just clouded by the fear of judgment, failure and unknown that plagues many of us.

I will say, I am most proud of myself for starting this business more than 3 years ago when I had NO idea how it would turn out or what would happen. I made one decision and promised myself to keep going and figuring it out as I went along.

And because of this, I have met so many incredible people across the country (and the world!) that I had the opportunity to coach and connect with. This work has brought friendships and people into my life that I never would have the chance to meet without it.

I want you to know, if you’re reading this, that if you’ve been feeling stuck, overwhelmed, and unfulfilled at work, you’re not alone. If you hear a voice telling you that you’re meant for more on this planet, dream of making an impact and feel like you’re not reaching your potential it’s time to listen to it! (no matter what that looks like or how crazy or out of reach it might sound).

Once we shed the judgment of our thoughts that seem too “out there”, we open up space to start exploring how to actually create what we want. The path to loving your work is less about finding a job and more about your courage as it’s a path of going against societal, cultural and familial expectations/norms. It’s about taking the path less traveled because it’s YOUR path, (not your parents’ or coworkers’).

I’m here to remind people that they can create whatever they want for themselves. They get to choose a career, life path and lifestyle that is aligned with THEM.

What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?

One of the biggest things I had to unlearn on this journey were the beliefs I made in childhood about career happiness and job safety/security.

I think many people have heard the notion that going to a good college led to a good job (with a steady paycheck) which led to a happy life.

That was the belief that I grew up hearing from society in general, and once I began questioning my career and exploring entrepreneurship, I had to examine this belief (along with many others) and see if that was 100% true for me.

I learned it is true for some people, but not for everyone (and that’s okay!)

It felt terrifying to think about moving away from the safety and security of a 9-5 job that I’ve always thought I would pursue, but I learned that that lifestyle (long term) was not for me. Where I found fulfillment was outside of that one path.

I had to unlearn what I thought happiness and fulfillment stemmed from and start creating my own definitions based on my life. It took a lot of patience and dedication (I’m still doing this work today) but it was imperative to start examining my beliefs and rewrite them one by one if I wanted to create a career on my own terms.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

All of my favorite resources stem from one person- Simon Sinek. He is an author, podcast host and inspirational speaker who shares his work about finding your WHY- the deep-seated purpose that drives each of us. I found his work while getting my life coaching certification and it became pivotal in my own coaching. I think everyone should read his book “Start with Why” as it ties together the drive and motivation we have as people and how to connect that to our work to create motivated employees, captivated customers and grow successful businesses.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itsme.laurac/