[00:00:00] Hi, I'm Dani Tan, and if you're here, you're in the right place. This is the Pivoted Promotion Podcast, and today we're doing a client interview with one of my amazing clients, Gabby. I cannot wait to talk about her experience. She is a complete badass. This woman knows no end. she will just do all of the things at all the same time and don't achieve. Dani: She's amazing. So it's truly a pleasure to get to talk to her today. and before we get into it, I'll give a little intro on myself in case we haven't met yet. I'm Danny tan. I'm a leadership coach, career coach, and speaker. And I'm here for you. If you're looking to pivot careers, get a promotion, grow within leadership. Dani: Start your business, whatever it may be when it comes to your career and leadership.

And the reason why I do this is because I myself have pivoted careers five times. I've worked in merchandising, e commerce sales, PR, and I'm sure I'm missing something there, but you name it. And all while [00:01:00] achieving 11 promotions in 11 years, I was a former VP at a billion dollar company. Dani: Turned executive leadership coach. And I do this because I absolutely love it. It's just so much fun. I started working at a nonprofit called America needs you helping first gen college students get internships. And it just imploded where I've always helped grow and develop teams within my corporate experience. Dani: And here I am. So we're going to get into it today and talk about Gabby's experience in coaching.

So with that being said, Gabby, there's no better person to intro yourself than you because you're the ultimate hype person. So if you could go ahead and just say hello. Gabby: Yeah, absolutely. Danny, you hyped me up enough for myself, I think, to give myself a good intro, but I appreciate all of your really kind words. I'm Gabby Wiltzy. I have been in sales for the last six months. starting in SAS and since then, I've pivoted careers twice since then. and landed now [00:02:00] in, a big four consulting firm where I'm still on the sales side. Gabby: which I love. and I work within strategy activation, and strategic alignment for leadership. Gabby: I love it. I love it. Okay. and just so everyone knows, when Gabby and I started working together, she was in SF living at NSF and now she is living her New York dream.

when we first had our first call. I know she was very clear about, making a jump at some point and here she is. Dani: So with that being said, Gabby, if you can just help folks get an idea of where you're at when you were coming into coaching, what kind of was coming up for you? why did you even want to get into coaching? Gabby: Yeah. I can remember the first conversation we had, I was like sitting on my parents couch. and at that time, I was at a previous consulting firm and I knew that it just, it felt for me, it felt like time. Gabby: I think, at least for me, when I'm pivoting [00:03:00] jobs, it feels as if I've gotten the maximum capacity of either learning, Compensation or mentorship, within my company and that's how I felt at the time.

Equally, I was wanting to move. I was considering, I was in San Francisco, I was considering moving to New York. Nothing was really firmed up. I also knew I had a laundry list of things I wanted in a new job, but I also wasn't sure if I wanted to sit day in sales or if I wanted to pivot industries out of consulting. I just had a lot more questions than answers. Hence why I went to Danny and I was like, Hey, here's my laundry list of things that I need help with. but I'm really clear on the things that I think I want. But also really clear on the things I don't want. so that, that's where we started. There was a lot more questions than answers, but also was anchored in a few areas where I really, I knew I did not want, Dani: Yeah.

and the other thing is too, is your list was like, I'm not, like you said, pie in the sky, [00:04:00] like I was not that I'm settling for list or I think is achievable list. You were like, this is my ideal scenario. this is really what I want to do. This is where I want to be living. This is the kind of work that I want to be doing and who I want to be with. Dani: And I was like, okay, great. So it was like, You had master plan laid out of this is the dream. And so I feel like for me, when you came in, the vision that I had for us working together was, okay, now we're just going to break these down into steps so you can start working towards it. but I'm curious when you were kind of like figuring out and navigating who you wanted to work with and why you wanted to work with them, what made you decide, okay, I'm the right coach for you, And then, since you did have all the pie in the sky, ideas of what did you want answered the most?

Gabby: yeah, that's a really good question. Yes. Okay. Gabby: So there's a number of coaches I was looking at. as Danny has alluded to, I do a ton of research before I pick something. I am the person that like looks up on Yelp, all [00:05:00] of the reviews and the menu before going somewhere. cause I think a lot of millennials do,but I I come into that same, I have that same point of view for a lot of things. Gabby: And there were a number of different coaches I was looking at, but what really stood out to me when we were working together was yes, you have a really impressive resume as far as industry experience and you yourself have pivoted careers many times. You've also gone into leadership positions for me.

Gabby: That's somewhere I want to go one day. And That was part of it, but also it was just talking to you, and I know for me, I come Gabby: from a sports background, and so I really like the No BS. Um, like keep me in my place if I'm not going to do something. Not that that's how you are. You are very, very kind with that. Gabby: But I know that I like to have a partner there with me to make sure that I am taking either the small or big steps needed to reach my goal. And I think you, like within the first conversation, I'm like, cool, that's her. Like [00:06:00] that's her. She's not going to have this air of everything's okay. Gabby: You're Gabby: doing great. you'll make sure that I'm taking the proper steps to be realistic, but also achieving the goals that I set for myself.

Totally. Dani: I would say that I'm a mixture of facts and feelings Gabby: Yes, in the best way possible. It's not too much of one, I think. like we would spend the, uh, Amount of time needed to get through the feelings because I am a true feeling person And I don't think you can do fact and feeling without one another and so for me no matter what I do I know I got to conquer the feelings first to then move into action And so I think working with you we'd be like, okay, let's spend the amount of time That is necessary to conquer these feelings that we have. Gabby: Okay, great. And not conquer, but get really clear on what are we feeling and why, and then move into action around. Okay. Now that we felt that way, now that we're clear on what reality is, how can we do a B and C to either [00:07:00] move into a new reality that we want to be in or get to the next step?

Dani: So perfectly said, because that's a big thing that folks come in and they're like, strategy, strategy, strategy. And I'm like, if it was a strategy thing, then you could go read all the articles, listen to all the pods, and get the strategy. Yeah, Gabby: true. That's what I work in now, where it's I work in strategy, but it's not just about strategy. It's about it's about the people too. And if we break that down to a personal level, it's about the feelings and it's about how do we get there? And 99 percent of the time, if you don't conquer either realities you have about yourself or the feelings you have about yourself or the internal stuff first, the external stuff is not going to do very well because you haven't Figured out either yourself or your feelings around your current reality or your current situation to move into the next Dani: Gabby's giving, gold coaching here right now.

Even when you were telling me [00:08:00] what you were doing for your current job right now, I was like, Oh, she's coaching. Gabby: Yeah It will yes, but it's also just like but that's just life in general there's a lot of these recurring themes and I've done outside of career coaching I've done life coaching before and a lot of the same things around getting really clear on what you want in life and what you Don't want in life like that's seen In your career, that scene in your job, that scene in relationships, like it's throughout. Gabby: And so hence why I really like lists because it makes things a lot more real. Dani: Yes. And that's, the thing is that if it's life, personal relationships, work, it's all comes back to the same thing of being able to identify, what is the emotion?

What is the feeling? what is maybe the path to that? Experience for conditioning that potentially is holding you back from taking the action, people are like, no, I just need a strategy. Dani: I just need a plan. But if you've been given a strategy or a plan and you haven't moved on it or executed on it repeatedly, that's usually an indicator or a sign that there is [00:09:00] something of a feeling, emotion, and experience that you're not acknowledging and maybe processing or sitting with or supporting to help you go into an action and plan, Gabby: A hundred percent. Dani: which is why I've had, I actually had two calls this week with clients and they were like, it's just so different. I come into coaching and when I walk away, there's actionable steps versus I can go to a mentor at my company, but I don't feel like there's like movement happening because also that's the difference.

Dani: Like you were saying is that, When you're working with someone whose job is literally to help you achieve your goals, we're going to have the facts and feelings of like, yeah, okay, here's the emotions that are coming up that are maybe stopping you from putting in the strategy. And then now let's create actionable steps to help you actually move forward. Dani: And I think it's a big difference. Gabby: hundred percent. And I think you said it like there is a difference in role. Like both things are necessary in my opinion. Gabby: Having a career coach, very necessary. Having a mentor, very necessary. Gabby: I have both. I've had both. I have multiple mentors. And so the purpose, and I think it's all around purpose, [00:10:00] the purpose of a mentor is to, Bounce ideas off of them.

Gabby: Get their perspective. their purpose is to bring a different perspective than what you have. And they might be a little bit older and have gone through the same certain roads you have. So to give you a little bit of insight of what's coming down the road. A career coach is to help you step into action and help be your co pilot in navigating transformations and changes within your career. Dani: Yeah, completely I agree. And I think every we should have a mentor, you should mentor you should have a sponsor you should have a coach, all those things at the right time, because they all serve different purposes. think that's really important, but I always think of the patterns that I see and see the difference for folks who are like, okay, when I'm with this person, this is what's, helping me move forward versus when I'm with this person, this is what's helping me move forward.

Dani: And I think that part is important. So question for you while you were going through coaching Gabby, because you're right. we did start for those of you who are curious, we started in November of last year, like you said, and then we closed out, like in June, right [00:11:00] before the summer kicked off. Dani: And so when we were going through the experience of the things that you were going through, what were the challenges that kind of came up? That you were navigating while we were in coaching it because it's not all rainbows and butterflies like yes, you are super jazzed and love your job and love where you live now, but there's a messy middle. Dani: Let's just say Gabby: There is a nasty middle, or messy.

We can say messy middle. a hundred percent. yes. Point. And there's like so many visuals on this, right? nothing is linear. yes. We can say now hindsight is 2020. I got from point A to point B and it's perfect and great. But like between there, it was not a straight line. Gabby: was a bunch of dips and curves and turns. And it looked like a roller coaster at Disneyland. and that's how it felt. so I, in my previous job, just to get into the details of why it was messy, My previous job wanted me to move to, They wanted me to move to LA. Gabby: I was not interested in moving to LA. And so they're back created a bit of a timeline on, okay, we got to [00:12:00] kick this into high gear. And I know one of the biggest realities I think that I was met with was when Danny, you and I kind of broke down, okay, let's do a reverse engineering of, if you need to move on a certain date.

What needs to happen between now and then? And it got really clear that I was like, Oh, need to be in an interview process within the next, I don't know, I think it was like within the next two weeks to really get this. And so it was, again, getting clear on what your reality is, getting clear on, oh, doing a couple applications a week just isn't going to cut it to actually make this. Gabby: timeline work. Gabby: So getting clear on what your reality is and then also getting clear on like, I might need to move somewhere I don't want to. And so making sure I had a backup plan around what does that look like while I continue to work? and then again, obviously there's been a bunch of big feelings around that, no matter who you are.

Gabby: And so making sure that you're giving the time to feel those big feelings and not just pushing them away. and giving yourself a little bit of a break [00:13:00] that, you know, life is life Gabby: and not everything is perfect. And so, you know, making sure that I was able to deal with in some way, like all the mess that was coming at me. Gabby: So again, that was a long way of saying like, I was dealing with, kind of stepping into a new role as well in my job at the time. As well as being asked to move to LA while also trying to job search. Also personally, I was trying to do a triathlon. So just adding more and more to the mess, but yeah, so what I had noted before around getting clear on my reality and getting clear on what a plan B would need to be a plan A doesn't work out and getting clear on what can I control?

Gabby: what does, Gabby: having to apply to just more places look like, what does it mean needing to use my network look like, and what does the velocity need to be with that? Dani: Yeah, no, that was definitely everything you encapsulated all of it. And It was six. We had six sessions and it was, around that time and you had told me, you're like, listen, I might need to move [00:14:00] to LA. Dani: we need to look at this timeline. And I have been told this many times that I'm like, The person you go to reverse engineer your goals like this is where I want to go reverse engineer it. So the fact that you said you took the words out of everyone's mouths. and so I was like, okay, let's sit down and look at what it looks like to, hit these deadlines and to work it backwards.

Dani: But you're right when we did that. That we created an action plan. The action plan was like, it was going to have to increase your applications. I always call them cold applications. For those of you who don't know, that's like just applying to a job board. so we were like, we have to increase that. Dani: You have more initial interviews so we can get you, interviews to land a job because. For everyone, who's out there, it takes time to get an initial HR screening and it takes time to apply to jobs. So that was one piece. And then the other piece was being able to relook at your network and to see who you could reach out to for potential connections, because that's always important. Dani: I'm like a parallel multi path person.

I'm not like all eggs in one basket. So I'm like [00:15:00] referrals. Who do you got to work, work, talk to,cold applications. What can we do? Cool. Bye. You went ham like you went all in on the plan so much so that I was almost like maybe we should take a break and you're like, we're not taking a Gabby: you know, once we get there, and if it doesn't happen, then I'll know it didn't happen, but we're going to get there. and just to your point, whenever people ask me, they're like, oh, yeah. Gabby: Wow, you did that in less than a year. how did you find a job? And the job market wasn't great at the time. And but I'm, I'm always at the mindset of people still get jobs when it's not a good job market.

so just remember that. And a lot of, uh, what happened was just like apply to more, do more to your point. Gabby: Do multi channel, if you're in sales, do multi channel outreach is always what I think of. and that is the case, apply to jobs multiple times. There was a certain job that I was like, no, I had gotten rejected. And I was like, no, I am perfect for this [00:16:00] job. And I reached out to 20 people that were in a similar job. Gabby: Like I went on LinkedIn filter and I was like, And I reached out to each of the people that I thought might have been the hiring manager and wrote them a value prop email around why am I actually good for this job. and so it was just like, it's a little bit of like working hard, having tenacity, not having no be the answer that you're okay with.

Obviously when they no, you're literally not right. Respect that at a certain point, but just like, Not taking the initial first no as the answer and also not being afraid to reach out to your network was a Huge thing for me I made sure I reached out to as many people as I could at companies that I was applying to It just so happens that the job that I got was actually from a cold application into a huge huge huge company and it just worked out that way and i'm very happy it worked out that way. Gabby: But that definitely is not muchusing your network and reaching out to multiple people [00:17:00] via LinkedIn for a referral is the best way to break through the noise. Dani: Yeah, it was about six months, I think six months from when we started working together to when you landed your job and you were like, I'm literally flying to New York to look at apartments.

And I was like, you go, six months, all, you know, for Gabby, Gabby did this in the sense of. She said what she wanted her goal to be and she was relentless with her goal so much so that when You know, when you figured out the timeline, when I was like, Hey, this is what the timeline looks like for it to actually happen. Dani: And the amount of effort and work that's going to have to go in, you had said to me, you're like, we're meeting bi weekly right now. I want to meet weekly for the month of Feb. And I was like, okay. And you're like, I just know that I want to be able to meet on a regular basis and, have that consistency and accountability to keep the momentum going and to not slow down.

Dani: And I'm not gonna lie y'all, there was times I was like, are you sure? And you're like, yes. but I think that's a testament to you, even with the example that you shared, or they were like, hey, this isn't the right, maybe we're going to say [00:18:00] no in this application. You're like, no, I am the right fit for this. Dani: And I'm going to show you how, it's just, Shows how much Gabby was really putting in effort and energy in there. but I'm curious for you. was there like a moment that you were like, okay, this is the breakthrough moment in the course of coaching that's helping me get to the end, or were there any special like tools or strategies that helped you the most? Gabby: Yeah.

100%. first and foremost, just, I'm going to go back on a point before answering your Dani: Yeah, of course. Gabby: Or your last question, when I increased, and I think this is just universal advice for anything, I, when I went to increase my coaching from bi weekly to weekly, I am a huge advocate of use your resources around you and don't be afraid to ask for help. And if you think you're asking for too much help, That's okay. You rather have too much help than not enough help. And so that's why i'm just like I will do everything Possible to achieve this goal and i'm not going to be afraid to double down on coaching Even if it might be quote [00:19:00] unquote too much. Gabby: It's never enough in my opinion But that's okay like double down on it because if you want to reach your goals Ask for the help from the people, anyways, so that's just my little asterisk of like, always ask for more help.

It's always necessary. but to go back to what you were asking around specific tools and specific strategies, a hundred percent. So getting really organized and creating an action plan, like creating a timeline. That's what we did. Again, as you said, everyone comes to you for reverse engineering your goals. That exactly what we did. We said, all right, if I want my end goal to be, I want to have three offers on the table, let's say let's reverse engineer of that, of like how many, closing, like how many, Gabby: interview processes do I need to go through? Gabby: Great. Let's take a step back from there. How many, first initial calls do I have to have then? Great. Let's take a step back from there.

How many applications do I need to fill out? Great. Let's take a step back from there. How many referrals do I need to have? again, let's take a step back from there. Gabby: How many jobs do I [00:20:00] need to look at per day? And so it's getting really tactical on the specific small steps that you need to achieve. So that it feels a lot more like small bite sized goals than this one really big goal of having three jobs at the end. Gabby: and so I got lucky where I got, I got a job offer that I really loved. Gabby: I got through, I want to say three interview processes. and then on top of that, another work stream I'll call for lack of a better term that I was wanting to tackle was, do I want to stay in sales?

Do I want to stay in consulting? And so a way that we were able to kind of tackle that was, okay, well, let's. Gabby: Let's find kind of three different lanes that you want to look at the lanes or the different jobs that I was looking at was sales, enablement or sales strategy, partner and partner development, or just staying in the sales [00:21:00] rule that I am familiar with. And so it was. Looking at what exactly those job descriptions are. Gabby: Are those things I like? Are those, akin to certain skill sets I currently have? And if so, what are they? And being able to articulate those. And then putting that into a resume. And so I have three different resumes for the three different jobs I wanted to apply to.

It also let me get really clear on, Oh, I actually really like the role I'm in. I'm going to actually stay in this role and just go to a larger company. and so it worked out for me, but it also was a really great exercise in understanding and getting clear on, do I want to stay here or do I want to do something else? And also just understanding what else is out there. I think a lot of the times when people are wanting to pivot careers into something else, they just don't know what they don't know. Gabby: And so it's a really great way to understand. What else is out there and why would I like something else? Dani: Silence. Yeah, the exploration piece for the career pivoters of, okay, either they're in the, in the camp of I [00:22:00] have no idea what I want to do.

I have no clue. So then it's okay, what exercises can we bring in to help you start to create three clear paths? That's one thing. Or the other is I'll ask the question, do you have an idea of what you want to do? Dani: And in your case, you're like, okay, I have actually some ideas of what I'm interested in exploring, but I'm just not sure which one I want to pursue and like working towards. Okay. Let's explore the three, and have a better understanding of them, whether that's looking at the job descriptors, whether it's working on your resume for each one, whether it's talking to people in those spaces. Dani: So you can start to see, wait a minute. No, actually I'm totally fine where I am or no, maybe I want to move somewhere else, but it helps solidify.

And I think That for me, for anyone that I work with, I, that's more of like a confidence builder or like just being able to have that foundational belief of no, I'm going in the path that I want to go in. Gabby: Yeah, 100%. Dani: So,I feel like you have shared so many good tidbits, but is there anything else that you want to throw in here or share when it comes to either your leadership for yourself throughout this job search or your confidence or anything with self awareness? [00:23:00] Gabby: Yeah, So number one, always advocate for yourself and a little bit of fake it till you make it. Like, even if you're not feeling that confident on that day, like at least exude that. I think a big thing for me was I wanted to make a large jump in my overall compensation and a big piece upfront was.

Being able to Internally feel as if I deserve that I know that's a huge thing for women in general, right? It's just like feeling as if you deserve to have a larger compensation than you have so that's number one. I got really clear. I was like, oh wow looking at the job market I actually do deserve this amount and being able to Gabby: recognize that what you're asking for you do deserve Um, typically our counterparts are Only, if they're 30% or 50% qualified, they're going to, apply for it anyways and talk about it as if they deserve it anyways. Gabby: So making sure that you're showing up with that same confidence, because that's who you are applying against. so that, that's one thing is just like Gabby: you do deserve to be here.

You do deserve that job that you are applying for [00:24:00] and ensuring that you're showing up in that way in interviews because. Gabby: I think another thing would be, like, be kind to yourself too in the process. That's a big thing. it's really easy to sit here and say, Yeah, work hard. And if you work hard enough and you apply to enough, you'll get it. Like, sometimes you don't because that's just how life works out. making sure that you are kind to yourself and you find ways to be kind to yourself. Those are the two I would say are the biggest things. Yes. Dani: yes. So when it comes to our number, I'm always like, I want you to live, breathe, eat your number. When you go into any negotiation or any offer, you have instilled it in you that you know that you deserve this number.

Whether it's the exercise of doing the market research and seeing what is the median average out there and getting idea of what the median low and the high is to knowing what is a number that is right for you and being able to really practice and,visualize and sit with that number. Dani: So when it comes up, it's not The first time that you're living with [00:25:00] it, you're like, no, it's this number. And this is the range. and that way you really believe in it. So I think that's all great. And we're always advocating for ourselves every single day, all the time, no matter what it is. Gabby: Also on that note, tactically, always negotiate your salary. Do not have the first number be the number that you choose.

That is just, right, like that, that just, negotiation number one. Do not let that be your number. Even if you somehow settle on that number,always ask for more. Dani: Yes. I love it. All right. then to wrap this up, is there anything you would share for folks who are considering coaching or thinking about coaching that you'd want to share with them? Gabby: Yeah, I would say what was, The best course of action for me before starting coaching was getting really clear on what my problem statement was. I think that's the best way that Dani or any other career coach can help is getting really clear on what are you actually wanting to do? And even if the answer is I don't [00:26:00] know what I don't know, and I don't know what I want to do, but I need help to go there.

That is your problem statement. That is good. But just like having some sort of identification around what exactly that is, I think is really helpful for a starting base. again, you don't have to come with receipts proof timeline, but just like to have a little bit of something to start with is a really helpful way, to get there. also for coaching, be really open to feedback and be open to, if your career coach is saying something, they're saying it from like the love of their heart and only to help you. And so make sure that you are coachable as well. I think that's the best thing. Gabby: They're there for a reason. And so making sure that you are taking their feedback with consideration is a really, really big part of the relationship.

Dani: Yeah. I never say that enough. And I think that he said that about being coachable in the sense of, If you're asking for help, we're here to only help of course, and I'm sure everyone can get the tone from Gabby and the vibe from Gabby right now, but Gabby's not someone who just takes advice to take advice. Dani: Like she uses discernment. [00:27:00] She has her own opinions. And so she does not agree. She does not agree, but it's about being able to have those conversations of Okay. Am I going to try it and see what's out there? Cause it's, I'm, trying to be coached and have support, then I'll try it. But if I don't agree, can I have a conversation about it and see what makes sense, I think is also really important.

Dani: But I wrote down what you had said, you can never have enough support. Like you can never have a, never have too much support or too much help when you're trying to do whatever it is that you're trying to do. And I think that is really good for all of us, for all of us, myself included to take into account. Gabby: Yeah. a hundred percent, like as I continue to progress in my career, and you hear this and, When either Michelle Obama or other leaders, Arianna Huffington, like they always say, I do not go out this alone. There is an army of people surrounding me to help me. again, being an outside view of that, you don't exactly see that. Gabby: You're like, what are you talking about? You're this great, amazing person, but it's really true.

And so treating yourself like that when you were earlier on in your career or wanting [00:28:00] to build up your career. do that now, set the foundation out. Do not be afraid to ask for help early on because as you progress in your career, you're going to have to ask for help even more. Gabby: if you are a CEO you can't have the right background for all of the different things that roll up to you, right? You're not going to be a, finance expert, an operations expert, a sales expert, or a marketing expert, you have people that you need to leverage to do that. So think of yourself as your own CEO of your book of business, because you are. Gabby: And so make sure that you're asking for the right people's help accordingly.

Dani: Amazing. Gabby, thank you so much. I'm so appreciative of you joining and I'm so glad we got to catch up Dani: So I'm really appreciative that you were here and could join. So thanks to Gabby and thank everyone for listening. And if you're like, I am so curious and want to learn more about coaching. You know where to find me. I'm here. com D a N I T a N. Dani: com to learn more about coaching and just for additional resources. Cause I'm always given out resources. I think it's important to [00:29:00] continue to educate. So thanks everyone. Gabby: Thanks.