Action Absorbs Anxiety: What My Career Pivot From Tech Executive to Career Coach in Phoenix Actually Looks Like
Last week, I gave a presentation to 60 members of a BNI networking group in Scottsdale about my coaching business. I walked them through my framework, my philosophy, and why I do what I do.
It was the most exposed I've felt since I made the decision to leave tech.
Because here's the thing about a career pivot — especially one from a 15-year tech leadership career into life and career coaching in Phoenix: nobody prepares you for the identity shift.
For over a decade, I was a tech executive. I worked at Apple, Target, LendingClub, and Upgrade. I helped scale startups to billion-dollar valuations. I led teams through IPOs. I hired over 1,000 people. I had a title, a company brand behind me, and a clear answer when someone asked what I did.
And I walked away from all of it.
The Gap Between "Successful" and "Fulfilled"
My career pivot didn't start with a grand plan. It started with getting fired — three weeks before my wedding. It continued with lost equity, checked boxes that didn't add up to anything meaningful, and the slow realization that I'd optimized my life for someone else's definition of success.
I'd done everything right on paper and still felt hollow inside.
That experience is exactly what led me to build A Path That Calls, a career and life coaching practice here in Phoenix. Because I know what it feels like to look successful from the outside while feeling stuck, confused, and unfulfilled on the inside. And I know I'm not the only one.
The professionals I work with — many of them here in Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, and across the Phoenix metro — are high achievers. They've built impressive careers. But somewhere along the way, they lost the thread. The work stopped feeling like theirs. And they don't know how to get it back.
That's where I come in.
What Year One of a Career Change Actually Looks Like
I won't sugarcoat it. Building a coaching business from scratch — after years of operating inside established companies — is a completely different game.
There's no title to hide behind. No brand doing the heavy lifting. It's just me, standing in front of a room full of strangers, hoping my story is enough. It's me writing blog posts at 11pm because I'm trying to balance building a business and being a great dad to a newborn. It's me showing up to 7am networking meetings hoping my story resonates enough for a referral.
I'm in the messy middle of it. Testing SEO strategies. Creating video content. Building referral partnerships with therapists and other professionals across the Valley. Giving networking talks. Learning how to market myself when I used to have a whole team for that.
Some of it's working. A lot of it is still in the "test and learn" phase. And that's okay — because 2025 has been my year of intentional discomfort.
Action Absorbs Anxiety
This is the mantra I share with every coaching client, and it's one I've been living myself.
Here's what I've found — both in my own career transition and in every client I work with: anxiety doesn't disappear when you finally feel ready. It disappears when you move. When you send the email. When you have the hard conversation. When you raise your hand for the thing you're not sure you're qualified for yet.
The night before that BNI presentation, I was nervous. Not the corporate kind of nervous, where you're presenting to a board and you've rehearsed your slides a dozen times. This was deeper. This-is-my-whole-identity-now nervous.
But I got up there anyway. And somewhere around slide three, the anxiety dissolved — because I was in it. Doing the thing. Not thinking about doing the thing.
That's the pattern I see in my coaching clients, too. The ones who make real progress aren't the ones who wait until they feel confident. They're the ones who take action before the confidence arrives — and the confidence follows.
You don't wait for the fear to pass. You act, and the fear loses its grip.
The Moment That Makes It Worth It
I recently watched a client realize that something they'd been dismissing about themselves since childhood was actually their greatest strength. They'd been sitting on it for years, afraid it wasn't "serious" enough to build a career around. One conversation. One shift. Everything opened up.
That's the moment I think about when the 11pm blog posts feel long and the 7am meetings feel early. That's what I traded the title and the equity and the corporate safety net for — the look on someone's face when they finally see what's been there all along.
Not everyone needs to burn their career down and start over. But a lot of people are carrying around a version of success that was handed to them, not chosen by them. And they deserve someone in their corner who's been through the fire and can help them find what actually fits.
That's the work. And I'm just getting started.
If You're Feeling the Pull
If you're sitting in a job that looks great from the outside but feels wrong on the inside — I know that weight. If you've been telling yourself you should be grateful for what you have, even though something feels off — I carried that story for years before I finally put it down.
Here's what I know now that I didn't know then: you don't need to have it all figured out before you make a move. You need one honest conversation. You need someone who won't just hand you a playbook but will help you understand why you feel stuck in the first place.
The discomfort you're feeling isn't a sign that something is wrong with you. It's a signal. It's the gap between where you are and where you're supposed to be — and it's trying to tell you something.
Action absorbs anxiety. The first step is the hardest one. But it's also the one that changes everything.
If you're a professional in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Chandler, Paradise Valley, Arcadia, Tempe, or anywhere in the Valley and you're ready to stop wondering "what if" —I'd love to talk.
Ready to Transform Your Life? Start With a Free Consultation
The most successful people don't wait for perfect conditions—they take action when they recognize an opportunity. If you've read this far, you're already considering whether coaching might be the catalyst you need to reach your next level of success and fulfillment.
Take the first step today by scheduling a free 60-minute consultation call with coach Jeff.
This is a no obligation call to see if coaching is right for you! Your future self will thank you for taking this crucial step today.
I’m Jeff Rothenberg, a personal growth and career coach helping people turn uncertainty into confidence and clarity. Whether you’re rebuilding after change, exploring your next career move, or simply ready to grow, I’ll help you create momentum that lasts.
