Welcome to E2E Coaching. E2E stands for Executive to Entrepreneur, which is a transition that increasing numbers of Baby Boomers (and others) are making — or at least thinking and dreaming about. I have been coaching business people for about five years after a 20-year executive career. In that career I had what most would describe as great success. I reached the top levels of corporate management and had many of the trophies of business accomplishment. But ultimately corporate life was unsatisfying to me because I never felt I was my true self when I suited up for my role. Indeed, I felt it was a role. Good thing I had been a theatre major at Northwestern way back when; I could act the part, most of the time.
After 9/11, along with millions of others, I reassessed what I wanted to do in life and realized that being a corporate executive no longer had any appeal to me despite the rewards of that life. I set off, tentatively at first, and unevenly for a long while, on a course of independence, self-employment and entrepreneurship. It is only now, after six years of living in this new skin, that I am truly comfortable with it–and excited at the potential I see in myself and in others who want to make this enormous transition.
One of my favorite blogs is Escape from Cubicle Nation by Pamela Slim. She’s terrific but I think her focus is different from mine. The people I coach haven’t been in a cubicle in many years. They’re more likely to be in the corner office. They fly business and first class, earn $250,000+ a year, manage multi-million-dollar businesses (for someone other than themselves), live in 5,000-square-foot houses, have assets (not including their home) of $1,000,000+, travel 50% of the time, have not much spare time, feel quite a bit of stress, might need to lose a few pounds, miss a lot of their children’s growing up, and know there is something else out there for them. Some of them have moved to independence from corporate jobs. For others, it’s still a vision taking shape. I stand for those people.
