Whenever I meet someone who’s got a really cool job, who runs a thriving business, or who has completed an amazing project, I always want to know: “How did you do that?”
I’m always curious to hear the “behind-the-scenes story” — who they emailed, what they said, how they got their first client, how they got their foot in the door — the exact steps that they took to achieve their goal.
HOW DID YOU DO THAT? is an interview series where we get to hear the REAL story behind someone’s success—not the polished, neat and tidy version.
To see a complete list of all the interviews that have been completed to date, head over here.
Name: Katrina Mcghee
Location: On the road
Profession: Life Coach
Katrina McGhee is a life coach who recently sold all of her worldly goods, stuffed her car with the bare essentials, and is now on a journey to find her next home. This is not the first time that Katrina has taken major time off for a BIG adventure. I recently talked to her about what it is like to take these big jumps and to live on the road. We could all use a little of Katrina’s adventurous spirit!
Your life has been quite a journey. You have had 3 big careers, taken major time off for some BIG adventures and are now on the road, trying to find your next home. Tell us a bit about your career path.
My career path has taken several big twists and turns. I was grateful and excited to start my first career as a healthcare actuary right out of undergrad. I have to admit – I had no idea what an actuary was, but I knew that it paid quite well. Within my first year, though, I realized it wasn’t where I wanted to end up.
After 8 years of bouncing around at 3 different companies, I finally had the courage to leave the profession completely. I headed to UNC to get my MBA and hoped to switch to a new career. That opportunity came with an offer to work as a market researcher for General Mills post-graduation. It was a good opportunity but less than 8 months in, it became very clear to me that the corporate culture was not where I wanted to be.
This led to a chain of events that culminated in taking a 20-month career break and eventually choosing to start my third career as a life coach, helping others who have struggled, like I had, with deviating from a traditional career path.
Does taking risks come naturally to you or have you had to build the muscle?
Taking risks comes more naturally to me these days, but courage was definitely a muscle I had to build. I remember my first big risk. I had a “good” job offer coming out of undergrad. It was going to pay $38,000 which was a huge amount of money to me at that time. But the job was in Hartford, Connecticut and I desperately wanted to get out of New England. In fact, I was obsessed with moving to Atlanta to start my next chapter.
So after delaying the decision for over a month, I turned the job down. My mom freaked out a little and I worried that I would disappoint my parents (and myself) by ending up jobless when I graduated. But a few weeks later, something magical happened – a recruiter found me online (an anomaly back then) and gave me a chance to interview for a position in Atlanta. A few weeks later, I landed the job with a signing bonus, a relocation package AND a starting salary of $45,000. Sometimes we can’t see the way ahead, but I’ve learned to listen when my inner voice makes demands. Things will unfold that you could never have seen coming.
Once you make up your mind, do you second guess yourself?
When I make important decisions, they are very thoughtful so I tend not to doubt my decision once it’s made. I do, however, sometimes struggle with doubt about my own abilities and/or worry about the outcome. Like when I decided to turn the Hartford job down, I knew it was the right decision.
I knew I didn’t want to stay in New England and that I really wanted to move to Atlanta. But once the decision was made, I definitely had moments of doubt and panic about not being able to find another job. I think when you’re facing the unknown, it can be hard to have unshakable faith. I just have an agreement with myself to not let the fear and self-doubt stop me from doing the things I need to do.
One of the goals of this present journey you are on is to find a new city to call home. What are some of the top places on your list? Will you know it when you see it?
That’s a great question – I’m not sure if I’ll know it when I see it or not, but I definitely hope so! Finding a sense of alignment, like a “Yes – I must live here!” feeling is definitely part of my criteria, but I’m not sure if that will happen immediately.
I’m staying open to the possibilities and would consider trying a few places out for several months if there’s not a clear winner after this experience is over. There are quite a few cities on my list but some of the highlights include: Santa Fe, Boise, Kansas City, Bend, Pittsburgh, Greenville and Salt Lake City.
How do you incorporate your work into your life style?
I’m currently learning a lot about that as I go. While I was able to work two jobs almost seamlessly over the past 2 years, I’m finding that constantly being on the road has made it tough to really focus on building my business. I’ve recently come to realize that while I believe it should be “easy” – it’s just not. And that’s okay. So right now, I’m experimenting to find a better balance.
I’m committing to having fun without doing any work AND also spending one day each week focused on my business. It’s a learning curve for sure and I’m learning so much about myself and my work style in the process. Right now, I have 5 clients enrolled in my Massive Momentum program, so I generally work out my travel schedule around those appointments. This group is my highest priority right now, so I’m flexible to accommodate this them.
Has traveling changed you and if yes, how?
YES. One thousand times yes. In so many ways. I didn’t have the opportunity to travel abroad growing up so my first international trip wasn’t until I was 29 years old. But once I got started, I couldn’t stop.
I think one of the things I love most about travel is that I’m always learning. I think one of the biggest benefits travel has given me is the ability to truly be present. When you’re on the road, a lot of the small things we get too wrapped up in during our day to day (e.g. laundry, cleaning, doing dishes, managing paperwork, etc.) just kind of disappears. There are many moments were you can just be still and observe. My mind is really active and always jumping around, so the ability to just be present and not sweating the small stuff is such a gift.
A lot of people don’t always talk about the challenges, but travel can also be really difficult. Especially if you choose to travel on a budget where you will be more immersed in the local culture (e.g. taking public transit, eating at local restaurants where the staff might not speak English, etc.). These moments have really stretched me and allowed me to see how capable I truly am. To be sure, they have been hard, scary and uncomfortable. But I always come out okay. And that has been a really meaningful lesson to learn. I can do hard things and I will be okay at the end of the day.
Do your clients dream of selling everything and leaving it all behind or are most people somewhere in between that?
I think a lot of people dream of selling everything and leaving it behind. My clients are no exception. That said, when it comes to reality, it’s not a genuine aspiration for most. It’s more the fantasy of stripping life down to just the essentials and finding more simplicity and less expectation in life. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you have to purge your way down to nothing.
That said, I do think the idea of bringing it back to the basics and uncomplicating your life is motivating concept for many and one worth pursuing. I think somewhere along the way, we’re taught that consuming more stuff / having more stuff is what will ultimately bring happiness and satisfaction in life. But that’s simply not true. In fact, it keeps us distracted from the things that really matter most, like living a life with purpose and passion.
Pretend you’re sitting down for coffee with a woman who wants to make a radical change in her life but feels for emotional or financial reasons that she just can’t. What are three pieces of advice that you’d give her?
1. Seek inspiration.
It’s important to surround yourself with stories of what is really possible. Many times our big goals feel impossible, but someone somewhere has already done the thing we really want to do. Listening to their stories and advice allows us to begin believing in the possibility for ourselves. Books, blogs and podcasts are great places to start. Inspiration goes a long way to make big dreams come true.
2. Get your finances in order.
This doesn’t mean you have to become debt-free, build a 6-month nest and start investing before you make a big change. I actually took my 20-month career break with more than $40,000 in student loan debt. But the fear of not having enough money is a universal fear that keeps people stuck. By becoming intimately aware of your true financial situation, you can reclaim your power and reduce the fear. Start tracking exactly what you spend each month and see where you might want to make some changes.
3. Get support.
This can take many forms but is a crucial step to getting unstuck. I actually hired a life coach back when I felt trapped in my corporate job with General Mills. Her perspective and leadership really helped me see new possibilities for myself. I love providing this support to my own clients and I often use my past experiences to help inform and guide them. If hiring a coach is not your thing, then consider finding a peer group of like-minded people (virtually or in real life), take a course in a subject of interest or simply find an accountability partner you can check in with to keep yourself on track.
ONE MORE THING…
Do you have “one more quick question” that you’d like to ask Katrina? Email me and tell me what you want to know! I might choose your question for my ONE MORE THING… Podcast (Coming soon!!!)
YOUR #1 CAREER GOAL: ACHIEVED
Do you need some encouragement to help you achieve a big, daunting career goal? Would you like to have a career coach/strategist in your corner—feeding you ideas that you’d never considered before, helping you figure out who to contact, and what to say, and checking in to make sure you don’t procrastinate? If so… click here to find out how we can work together. I’d love to coach you!
