We were lucky to catch up with Kelly Poquiz Burke recently and have shared our conversation below.

Kelly, appreciate you joining us today. Risk taking is something we’re really interested in and we’d love to hear the story of a risk you’ve taken.

I never expected to become an entrepreneur. Being raised by immigrant Filipino parents, having a stable job and prestigious title was the quintessential ‘American Dream’. By those standards, I had “made it”. I had an MBA from a top 20 business school. I was a Director of Brand Marketing. I was the primary provider, and my husband, Michael, and I had just built a brand new home for our growing family. However, there was one problem. I was chasing the wrong dream.

No matter how much success I achieved at work, I was constantly torn between the stress of climbing the corporate ladder and juggling the responsibilities of my arguably more important role–being a present parent and partner in my family. When I asked my 3-year-old daughter how I could be a better mommy, she replied: “Don’t leave us.” It became clear that something had to change.

So at the end of December 2023, I found the courage to leave my full-time job to take a career break. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever done, even scarier than beating cancer. That sabbatical gave me the clarity I needed to take my next step: launching Career Slay.

Career Slay was born out of the desire to motivate people to gain the agency, confidence, and leadership skills needed to pursue a happier and more meaningful career.

It’s a mission that’s near-and-dear to my heart because I experienced firsthand how interwoven our personal and professional lives can be. In February 2020, I was diagnosed with breast cancer while eight weeks pregnant with my first-born child, just before the world shut down due to the global pandemic. It taught me that life is too short to spend most of your time stuck in a job that isn’t bringing you joy. Thankfully, I am now cancer-free, but this second lease on life motivated me to become an executive coach and help people find more fulfillment in their professional lives through my company, Career Slay.

Today I feel like I’m truly living out my purpose and contributing to the world in way that’s more aligned with my values. If my story can inspire others to live their lives authentically and slay the fear in career, then taking the risk was all worth it.

Kelly, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I am an Executive Coach, Podcast Host, Speaker, and the Founder & CEO of Career Slay®.

Through personalized coaching, consulting, and leadership training, we unlock untapped potential by asking the right questions and motivating our clients to answer with action. We work with ambitious and driven individuals who are either navigating a career transition, overcoming a leadership challenge, or wanting to accelerate their current path, but need guidance on how to remove any barriers standing in their way. Our vision at Career Slay is to make the world a more joyful place by encouraging people to love what they do for a living.

On the Career Slay podcast, I interview successful individuals who love what they do, like Paula Schneider the CEO of Susan G. Komen and Michelle Wong the CMO of Sprinkles, and ask them to share their candid career advice.

Prior to Career Slay, I was an award-winning marketer with 12+ years in building world-class brands and leading Super Bowl campaigns for Avocados From Mexico, Frito-Lay, and Doritos. My MBA is from the University of Texas at Austin (Hook ‘Em Horns!) and I did my undergrad in Business Administration from the University of Notre Dame (Go Irish!). I’m now pursuing an ICF Associate Certified Coach credential.

Through my work as a coach, I’ve learned that a successful career is not defined by salary or titles, but rather, using one’s talents and abilities to deliver purposeful value in society. I take pride in helping people find joy in their careers.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

When I was in my early twenties I had two hip surgeries to correct hip dysplasia and had to relearn how to walk twice. For months, I worked on rebuilding the strength in muscles that had atrophied from the surgeries. I had to rely on other people for everything mobility-related from driving myself around to fetching a glass of water from across the room. Through this experience, I learned how to communicate my needs more clearly while also gaining much empathy for those in need. It taught me that resilience is a muscle you can train, and the challenges you face can only make you stronger.

This muscle of resilience became one that I had to flex again in 2020. After receiving a breast cancer diagnosis while only eight weeks pregnant during the early days of the pandemic, I found myself facing the biggest hardship of my life. Instead of fixating on how unfortunate this situation was, I turned it into an opportunity to tap into my resilience and grit once more. While I was terrified and uncertain of the outcome, I battled cancer one step at time. Inundated with doctors’ appointments and unable to bring my husband along due to social distancing measures, the only person who was with me the entire time was my daughter in my womb. I told myself that I needed to be strong for her and focused on simply taking the next best step until I reached the finish line of being cancer-free.

The more obstacles you face in life, the easier it becomes to summon the inner strength needed to get to the other side of a hard time. We only have one shot at this life, and I’m determined to live it with purpose and generosity.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

The lesson I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that our job titles are our identities and that your worth is tied to work achievements. This simply isn’t true.

For years I chased what I thought was “success”: higher salaries, better titles, and more responsibility. The truth is when I got there, I wasn’t fulfilled. I needed to define what true “success” meant to me.

Today, success means freedom, a freedom over my time and flexibility in my schedule. It’s the freedom to prioritize my family and my health.

Leaving my 9-to-5 job and starting my own company has been the most freeing, and at times daunting, experience of my career. My identity is no longer attached to my title or my achievements, but rather the role I play in transforming my clients’ lives, and that’s a win for me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.careerslay.com
• Instagram: @careerslay
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/careerslay/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kelly-burke/
• Twitter: @careerslay
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@careerslay
• Other: https://www.careerslay.com/podcast

Image Credits

Photos by:

Aissa Tendorf Photography https://aissatendorf.com/

Wild Reply https://wildreply.com/

Ritchie White https://www.ritchiewhite.com/