We were lucky to catch up with Chloe Mackey recently and have shared our conversation below.

Chloe, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

Thank you so much for chatting with me today! I would say that deciding to quit my corporate job to work full-time as a coach was the biggest risk I’ve taken to date. Calculated risk-taking is an important skill; considering where I am today, I am happy to say this huge leap of faith paid off.

To back up a bit, I started coaching back in 2019. I had been working with an incredible coach as a client for several years and therefore had first-hand knowledge of just how thought-provoking and life-changing working with a coach could be. With career experience in both elementary education and corporate learning and development, getting certified to work in a field that was 100% focused on personal development made complete sense to me. I know it sounds cheesy, but it just felt right! Once certified, I began coaching part-time and slowly building my private practice while still working at my full-time corporate job.

Quitting my corporate job to become a full-time coach felt like a risk for several reasons. This would be my second career transition in less than 10 years, so I was worried about optics and judgment. Also, our society clings to the illusion of security and respect for those committed to climbing the corporate ladder, so shedding this belief took a lot of work (of course, the massive layoffs we’ve collectively witnessed throughout 2023 disprove this myth, but layoffs were less prevalent at the time). I also was worried about switching to a field most people don’t know about, understand, or respect due to the lack of regulation within coaching. In my mind, this transition to coaching full-time would take a lot of work, and nothing was guaranteed.

Luckily, my mentor helped me get certified by one of the most highly respected entities in coaching, the International Coaching Federation, so this boosted my confidence and sense of credibility. I quickly began expanding my network and learning the most ethical and reliable ways to build my practice.

As my practice grew, the fear of judgment and leaving my successful corporate career still loomed heavily around me. Despite this, the Universe began inching me closer and closer to the edge of the diving board. I noticed myself starting to feel how I felt when I left classroom teaching behind –  overworked, anxious, and burnt out. The burnout I experienced as a grade-school teacher took years to recover from, so I knew I needed to take action before my health was severely impacted. Additionally, whenever I tried to talk to my corporate manager about becoming a coach for the company, she instead pointed me toward other generic HR roles for career growth. I felt exhausted and unheard.

After having a heart-to-heart with my mentor, I received one of my favorite pieces of advice: Sometimes, the things most worth doing in life are worth “doing scared.” You will probably never officially feel “ready” when it comes to making a major life change. I put in my two weeks three days later. To this day, “Do it scared” is one of my favorite pieces of advice to offer others. If you’re passionate about something, taking a planful leap will usually pay off.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

Great question. For those who don’t know me, my name is Chloe Mackey. I’m currently a fully certified Life and Leadership Coach, but as I’ve alluded to, I did a bit of career hopping before settling on this path. Now that I’ve been in the industry for several years, I can confidently say that coaching is the perfect fit for me.

Pivoting to work in the corporate world led me to discover the coaching industry. After I left my first career of teaching first and fourth graders behind (a heartbreakingly difficult decision – I still miss my students every day), the company I began working for had a Professional Life Coach on staff full-time. While working with her as a client, I was promoted 5 times within 4 years and I became a key player on the company’s Learning and Development team. I was knocking all of my goals out of the park, but I was really impressed by my mindset shifts, how much I was changing as a person, and the new sense of control I had in life. It was all thanks to coaching. To make a long story short, I felt so inspired that my coach eventually became my teacher and mentor. My coach helped me get certified to coach others myself, and the rest is history.

Today I have a private coaching practice and contracts with several major companies. I am currently based in Palm Coast, Florida, but I coach clients all over the US. In 2022 alone, I coached over 100 unique individuals and hosted over 750 one-on-one coaching sessions. I work with clients from all walks of life, but often I specialize in helping high achievers overcome challenges with burnout, people-pleasing, perfectionism, self-compassion, communication, and boundary setting. Clients achieve goals by amplifying their self-awareness, practicing new skills, focusing on mindset shifts, and crafting personal commitments that feel achievable (not overwhelming). Nothing excites me more than watching clients evolve into more confident and empowered versions of themselves. I have different programs at varied price points to make coaching as approachable as possible.

If you can’t commit to coaching but you’re interested in hearing more from me, get ready to tune in to your new favorite podcast! A former colleague and I will soon be launching a fun podcast called “Just Ping Me Later,” focused on helping people take back control when work is stressing them out.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

To show up fully in this space, I had to unlearn the traditional definition of success and deeply reflect on what I thought a truly successful life would look like for me as an individual. Whether we realize it or not, most of us have a very specific idea of what it means to be successful. Our definitions of success are heavily influenced by our upbringing, our culture, and society at large. Most of these definitions are fairly rigid and therefore limiting.

We are all unique individuals, so subscribing to one generic definition of success doesn’t make much sense. The world is rapidly changing! We live in an era defined by unprecedented access to information, technology, and opportunity. While the world is far from perfect, many barriers that previously existed are no longer present; there are seemingly limitless options to explore. By pushing aside arbitrary definitions and leaning heavily into a growth mindset, I was able to grow and expand in new ways I never dreamed of!

Today, I often challenge my clients to create their own definition of success. I challenge them to create a vision of the future that inspires them and motivates them, even in the face of setbacks. They reflect deeply on their personal values, their skills, their talents, and on what life should look like beyond their career. Everyone can paint a different “life picture” for themselves; since beauty is in the eye of the beholder, why not paint a vision of the future that looks uniquely beautiful to you?

How’d you meet your business partner?

My private coaching practice is 100% owned and operated by myself. That being said, I’m in the midst of pursuing an exciting new business opportunity with a close former colleague of mine!

I met Alex Gonzalez while working in Corporate Learning & Development. We spent two years working together on the same team. Even though two years may not sound like a long time, we experienced so much change during our tenure that those two years felt more like ten! During that time, we hopped between five different managers due to constant restructuring. The inconsistency meant that two of us were often left to our own devices when it came to overseeing Learning & Development for over 2,000 corporate employees. We got our hands dirty, did a lot of problem-solving, and successfully worked on dozens of projects far beyond our scope. The pair of us made a small yet mighty working duo – this is a big reason why we now feel confident about starting a business venture together.

Our careers began evolving in different directions (Alex took on a director-level position at another company and I began coaching full-time), but we’ve remained very close. Our new roles provided each of us with unique insight into the inner workings of the corporate world. Through casual conversation, we discovered how passionate we both felt about helping others avoid the chaos we experienced and successfully navigate the corporate landscape.

We plan to launch our podcast “Just Ping Me Later” this fall with the intent to expand our business as time goes on. Our mission is to help working professionals in the corporate world regain a sense of control and empowerment. We care about helping leaders and individuals with confidence and communication so they can show up with authenticity and integrity. We want to help folks have impactful conversations that move them in the right direction and develop skills that make surviving the corporate world much easier. If you’re feeling burnt out, confused, or powerless at work, we want to help you take back control where you can.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.coachingbychloe.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chlothecoach
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chloe-b-mackey/

Image Credits
Chloe B. Mackey