Two years ago, I realized my career as I knew it was ending.
I'd been a career coach for a decade. A good one. I'd helped over 400 clients discover their talents, clarify their ideal work, and design careers that actually fit who they were.
I could design a process to accomplish this because careers were predictable. When you chose a career, you knew what the work would look like 5 years from now.
Then AI arrived.
Choosing a career doesn’t work anymore. If you become a computer programmer today, is that role going to even exist 5 years from now? Is it going to look the same 1 year from now!
How about medical imaging specialist, web designer, copywriter, accountant. Are these going to be viable careers in 3 years?
How was I going to help clients navigate this new reality?
I needed a whole new type of knowledge and expertise I didn’t have.
I wasn’t sure career coaching itself was going to survive but I knew AI was going to be essential no matter what so I went all in.
I spent months studying full-time. Experimenting, taking courses, and following the top thought leaders I could find. I listened to podcasts while driving, took certification courses during the day, and talked with ChatGPT Advanced Voice Mode while walking my dog.
Once I had a solid foundation, I began building. I built an online community to share what I was learning and help others get started. I hosted webinars, I designed courses, and I created an AI coaching program.
I reached out to dozens of business leaders and knowledge workers to find out how they were thinking about AI and the challenges they were facing.
Once I had enough experience coaching individuals I started AI consulting for businesses, helping them adopt AI and build their first agentic workflows.
And through all of it, I was using AI constantly, discovering what it could and couldn't do.
The puzzle was this:
I got very clear on what I wasn’t good at, no matter how much AI tried to help me (machine learning, working with data, coding). But when I focused on what I'm actually exceptional at (listening to people, seeing their unique strengths, reflecting back what makes them valuable), that's where the answer emerged.
AI can't do that kind of deep human perception well. But AI could handle research, organize information, draft frameworks, and analyze patterns in ways that amplified my work.
The breakthrough came when I could visualize all the pieces clearly:
Once I could see it all laid out, the path forward became clear. I wasn't competing with AI. I was positioning myself to do the irreplaceable human work while leveraging AI to multiply my effectiveness.
Two years later, I’ve relaunched as Positive Futures AI-Forward Career Coaching. I help people discover their zone of genius, clarify their unique human value, and position themselves strategically in an AI-augmented world.
Because the process I went through? Everyone's going to have to go through it.
Some knowledge workers have already started. For others, it's coming soon. The timing varies by industry and role, but the fundamental challenge is the same: you need to reinvent how you create value.
This isn't about learning to use ChatGPT. It's about reimagining your entire relationship to work.
You'll need to sort through all the puzzle pieces of your career (your talents, strengths, skills, experience, knowledge, values, and current job responsibilities) and figure out how they fit into this new landscape. You'll need to identify:
You'll also need to understand how your field is changing. Where is demand moving? What skills are becoming essential? What roles are expanding while others contract?
This is complex work. It's not a simple skills assessment or a personality test. It's about getting everything visible so you can see the patterns, sort the pieces, and make strategic decisions about where to position yourself.
Here's what I learned that I’m grateful I learned early: timing matters.
I spent two years figuring this out. Two years where I wasn't earning at my previous level. Two years of uncertainty. It worked out because I started early enough.
But we're past early. Knowledge workers who wait too long won't just be behind. They'll be competing with people who've already figured out how to collaborate with AI effectively. They'll be outperformed by colleagues who moved faster.
The good news? You don't have to figure this out alone. You don't need two years. The path I spent two years discovering, I can help you find yours in about three months.
If you're reading this and recognizing yourself (you're competent, you've built real expertise, but you're feeling the pressure to adapt), then let’s talk.
I’ll help you get all the puzzle pieces on the table so you visualize how they fit into the AI-augmented workplace and create a concrete plan for positioning yourself strategically. We’ll uncover your zone of genius, clarify what's uniquely human about your value, and map out how you'll work with AI rather than compete against it.
The world changed. My career had to change with it. Yours will too.
The question isn't whether you'll need to reinvent yourself. The question is whether you'll do it strategically and on your terms or whether you'll figure it out under pressure when the stakes are high. I hope you’ll choose the former.
