Q&A

What is Professional Destiny about?

Professional Destiny is a book about discovering the career you were born for. It’s about finding your purpose and relating it to your profession. It’s about the process you go through to discover what it is you were meant to do and then the exciting, challenging, joyful and anxiety-ridden path you take to get there.

The book is written for those who want, or need, to venture into a new career. It speaks to those who are struggling with unfulfilling work and want to fully express their natural gifts and make a difference.  Professional Destiny helps people understand their journey thus far, understand that they are not alone and encourages them to take the next steps forward. Its message is particularly relevant given the professional uncertainty that millions of working Americans are feeling with the current economic situation.

The premise of Professional Destiny is that:

• Everyone has unique gifts
• We are happiest when our gifts are fully expressed and shared
• We are called to seek, find and reach our full potential
• All aspects of our existence are meant to be cohesive and intermingled–our professional careers, our personal lives and our spiritual awareness. 

Because adults typically spend over half of their waking hours at work, we experience a great deal of satisfaction when we apply our giftedness in that environment. Moreover, when we make a decision to use our time and talent for something meaningful, we make a genuine contribution that uniquely allows us to become fulfilled.

You had a high-profile career in marketing and advertising, why did you leave to write this book? 

I wrote a book about doing what you love and fully expressing your gifts and natural talents. It’s essential for me to live that way. I left my role as President of Tocquigny Advertising to write this book and I left my role as Managing Director of Enfatico to focus on getting it published. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to be on the ground floor of setting up the largest office of Enfatico and hiring a group of tremendous people in Austin. I think the people here are unbelievably talented and I’m proud of our accomplishments.  However, I reached a point where I felt it was time to move on. I had things to do and say that could not be fully expressed in that role and I knew it was time to pursue the next chapter. It was time to live my own Professional Destiny.

Why did you choose the topic of Professional Destiny?

Actually, I feel like it may be more accurate to say that the topic of Professional Destiny found me! The majority of people I talked to had reached a point in their career where they felt unfulfilled, or at least ambivalent about their work and the contribution they were making.  It struck me as an epidemic. And, I was one of those people.  

I wrote Professional Destiny because the story was everywhere. So many people, even those who had achieved great success in their careers as defined by position, salary and security, were asking similar questions: “Is this it? Is this all there is? Why, if I look like I have everything, do I feel as if something is missing inside? Why do I still feel empty? Why am I unfulfilled?” In a big part of their life they seemed resigned, unchallenged and asleep.

Then I met people, who had boldly taken the leap into new careers and who seemed vibrantly alive. I was inspired. I met with them, learned about their journey and wrote their stories to share with others.

How does Professional Destiny relate to the current economic environment?

The current economy is causing many people to take a fresh look at what they are doing. Losing a job might be a tough pill to swallow, but perhaps just the medicine someone needs to explore what it is they really want to do. This may be the perfect time to rethink our goals, as well as the gifts we were born with, so that we can leave behind something that is less than fulfilling to pursue a new career that energizes us and makes us feel alive. So many of us have been in unfulfilling jobs and by viewing a setback as a new potential opportunity, we can use this moment as a “course correction” to reintroduce joy and creativity into our profession. We can move from a “job” (something we do primarily to get a paycheck) to our life’s work (a mighty undertaking that challenges us, taps into our creative energy and awakens our spirit). In the long run, a “setback” can lead us to the career we were born for and make us far more engaged, productive and fulfilled. 

And, if we recognize the opportunity, chances are we will look back and realize that the thing we so feared, was actually one of the best things to ever happen. 

When did you become interested in writing?

I’ve wanted to write a book for about half my life. In high school I had a brilliant, but tough, high school English teacher who took me under her wing, drove me to develop my skills and encouraged me to enter three essay contests my senior year. Although I won each contest I entered, like many people I chose a different major at college (Economics) because I couldn’t see a way to make a living doing what I most loved to do.

Luckily, the position I took upon graduating from Stanford was as a pricing analyst in the marketing department of Motorola, which gave me an entree into a profession I came to really enjoy—marketing. A few years later, I became a marketing copywriter for a major product launch. It got me noticed and launched my career.

I’ve always wanted to write a book, so after leaving the advertising world, I decided it was time to follow my Professional Destiny and do what I had always dreamed of doing.

Why did you choose to self publish?

At the time I was the head of the Austin office of Enfatico. I had completed my manuscript over a year before, but had been sidetracked from publishing by the daunting task of hiring 200 people in six months. To spur me on, two friends got a hold of my manuscript and surprised me by designing and printing 20 copies of my book (through a print-on-demand publisher) as a Christmas present. Although I didn’t consider this early version of the book to be ready for prime time (it had yet to be professionally edited), the gift re-ignited my desire to publish—which was exactly what my friends had intended. Ultimately, I decided to self-publish when I left the agency in mid-March because:

1) I didn’t have the patience to wait another two years to go the traditional publishing route. Given the current economy, the subject of my book was too timely to wait until sometime in 2011.

2) I had a beautiful cover and a talented editor ready to go.

3) Self-publishing through the latest print-on-demand technology is more efficient, economical and eliminates waste from huge printing runs of unsold books. In short, it’s greener. And just like digital cameras replaced film and iTunes largely replaced CD’s, I believe the latest print-on-demand technology will soon replace traditional publishing through offset printing.

For more details on this subject, check out my blog post: http://professionaldestiny.com/2009/07/28/five-reasons-why-i-chose-to-self-publish-my-book/

What was a pivotal moment in writing Professional Destiny?

The most pivotal moment came at the very beginning. I was traveling in India with the Miracle Foundation at the end of 2005. I felt inspired about what I wanted to write and the idea had crystallized during my trip.

Caroline Boudreaux, the founder of the Miracle Foundation, gave me great advice. She told me “finish your outline for the book while you are here in India, when you get back home you’ll be swimming upstream.” I did – I finished my outline on the plane, on the flight between Bubaneshwar and Delhi. This gave me the foundation for the entire book, and I didn’t ever veer off of it. I considered the writing to be a breeze once I had laid this critical foundation and decided what I wanted to say.

Who is the primary audience for this book?

Finding purpose in your profession and identifying what you are uniquely suited to do is a universal question that applies to a wide audience of all ages.

The primary audience for this book is anyone who is deciding what to do with his or her career. This could be a professional in mid-career who is seeking more in life beyond a paycheck, someone who has recently lost his or her job and is looking for guidance and encouragement of what to do next, or a student in the midst of selecting a new career path to follow.

A strong secondary audience is career counselors, Human Resource specialists, life coaches, therapists and other professionals who advise others in how to be more effective in their lives.

Is Professional Destiny classified as a business book or a self-improvement book?

Professional Destiny is classified as a self-improvement book. It was written as an individual guide to help people find greater satisfaction and meaning in their work. Because it was specifically written to appeal to a broad audience, it contains powerful, useful, applicable lessons while maintaining an inviting, easy-to-read tone. Lessons and concepts are described in simple, straightforward ways. An example – I offer the concept of recognizing and embracing your “killer combo” (or the power of the word “and”) to combine rational thinking abilities with intuition, and “getting comfortable with uncertainty” because it is a time that offers your greatest opportunity.

The book offers wisdom and guidance through practical real-life examples based on experience, and is punctuated throughout with engaging stories, appropriate quotes and meaningful anecdotes.

Professional Destiny has a universal message that empowers people to make a contribution that honors their full potential.

Do you have plans to write any other books?

Yes. Two. One book will be about taking the concepts of Professional Destiny, which is more of a personal guide, and applying them to the workplace. In other words it will show how to create an environment in the workplace where people are empowered, engaged, motivated and fully utilizing their gifts. When this happens, breakthrough results occur… over and over again. When it doesn’t happen, people “do their job” and in the long-term, average, or less than average, results occur. Although many say they do, very few companies actually operate this way.

The other book I have in mind will feature more amazing stories of individuals that have overcome the obstacles and, like the inspiring individuals who are featured in my current book, have made the leap into a fully rewarding career.  It will provide a look at how they came to discover their gifts, and what they did that allowed them to reach their Professional Destiny.

What do you hope that readers “take away” from your book?

In Professional Destiny, I reveal ways for readers to identify their purpose, embrace it… and choose a path to reach a new level of fulfillment in their lives and careers.

After reading Professional Destiny I hope that people will understand how to:

• Reconnect with their purpose and unique gifts
• Create a vision and define professional commitments
• Embark on their journey toward greater purpose and contribution – what steps to take, what challenges will be thrown their way, what signs they will receive as they set out, and what to anticipate all along the way
• Overcome challenges such as fear, comfort and complacency
• Rediscover the amazing natural talents they have been given
• Navigate through challenges, and tap into the overlooked or unexpected help that is available.