From Unfulfilling Work to Work That Matters

Do you feel stuck, drained, or unfulfilled in your work life? Perhaps you are:

• drowning in duties, tasks, and responsibilities… with sharks circling you and not a single lifeguard on duty , or
• hating your job that is sucking your soul (and all passion) out of you, like some capitalist vampire from hell, or
• still not doing the thing you have thought about doing for years and years… to the extent where you wonder if you will die with your music still inside you.

Deep down you probably know that you have skills, talents and life experiences that are unique in their combination. And this might frustrate you because you don’t know how to bring this into the world. You know you have potential, but where's the owner's manual on how to use it (and make money in the process)?

You've likely devoured books, searched for new jobs or business ideas, or explored spiritual practices like meditation and manifestation. You might have even worked with productivity or business coaches.

If these haven't brought lasting change, it's because they weren't based on your deep inner wisdom.

If you feel unfulfilled at work and crave more meaning and impact, you are probably what is often called an old soul (I sometimes call this a "deep soul"). Old souls tend to crave depth, care about ethics, and often feel subtly out of place in the world. They don't like superficiality, and are unwilling to comprise on their values.

For old souls, work dissatisfaction often boils down to a fundamental disconnect. It's like wearing a shoe that simply doesn't fit, no matter how hard you try to make it work.

This misalignment typically falls into one or more of three core areas:

• Your work situation isn't aligned with who you truly are. (Like trying to fit into a shoe that's a size too small for you.)
• Your work situation isn't aligned with what's most important to you. (Like wearing elegant dress shoes when your heart desires to hike through the woods: your shoe is the right size, but wrong for your deepest priorities.
• Your work situation isn't aligned with how you like to work or be treated. (A shoe that constantly causes blisters: a toxic environment, rude colleagues, or a mismatch in preferred work style.)

These disconnects often lead to toxic productivity: action taken on the wrong thing, for the wrong reason, or in the wrong way. It drains your energy and feels stifling to your soul.

But imagine stepping into the "right shoe", one that fits perfectly, feels comfortable, and lets you move with ease and joy. This is the essence of soulful productivity where you are doing the right thing, for the right reason, in the right way. It energizes and nourishes your well-being.

This is what I help people accomplish through our work together. I help them align their being with their doing, and create a work situation where they can show up (more and more) as who they truly are.

Hi, if we haven't met before, I'm Dr. Louise. Over a decade ago, I was a high-paid lawyer in Germany. One day, while sitting in a dentist chair, I realized I preferred getting a root canal to being in the office. Oof.

To add insult to injury, I was in my dream job. I had literally read about the important work this team was doing in the news, and somehow, my wish of working for them had gotten true through a wild string of coincidences.

It took me a long time to muster up the courage to leave but I eventually moved to the US to be with the love of my life, and start my own business. That was a decade ago. (If you are interested, you can read my full story here.)

I now help soul-seeking professionals who want to do work that matters to them — without having to leave their entire lives behind.

Since I took a huge risk when I changed my career, I know about the downsides of the "radical change" approach. While it eventually got me to where I wanted to go, it was extremely hard on my nervous system to change my career, my work identity, the continent I was living on, and my relationship status all at the same time.

Here's what my experience taught me: even if you can make a massive change very quickly, you don’t adjust to it immediately. You can fast-pace change but you cannot fast-pace integration.

That’s why I’m committed to helping soul-seeking professionals make changes that are as gentle, safe, and effective as possible. Often this means making small, immediate adjustments to your current work situation — so that things get better right away — while gradually moving towards your bigger goals.

Essentially, this is the type of support I wish I would have had back when I was feeling unfulfilled at work.

This offer is for people who want to move from a work situation that (kinda, sorta, or totally) sucks toward doing work they love — without blowing up their life and even if they struggle with overwhelm, feel unclear about what they want, or wonder if it's too late for them.

Over the last decade, I have supported people from various cultures and professional backgrounds, including: academics, accountants, actors, attorneys, business owners, CEOs of small companies, medical doctors, school teachers, scientists, tech professionals, therapists, and writers. I have also worked with people who are on parental leave, retired or semi-retired, or going through a career transition.

Even though this approach can work for people in quite different situations, it isn’t a fit for everyone. Most importantly, it’s not a fit for people whose main life goal is to gain power, follow tradition, or make the most amount of money possible. It's for people who want to do work that matters to them, and that’s a fundamentally different motivation and approach to life. If that's what drives you, we might get along great!

This process works best if you are:  

• Already aware that internal “stuff” can make it harder to act on what you want to do—and be willing to work through that stuff with help.
• Willing to deal with the uncomfortable feelings that often come up when things change for the better.
• Open to things like meditation or energy work. (No previous experience is required.)

You also need to understand that this coaching process is not mental health advice. Please contact a mental health professional if you are experiencing mental health issues.

I get along particularly well with people who can relate to these situations:

• You are at a social gathering where people talk about their drive for prestige or money and barely manage to suppress a yawn — seriously, don’t these people have anything better to do with their time?
• You want to order something online and your heart lights up when you realize you can order it from a B-Corp or another small, ethical business — instead of from Amazon.
• You watch a movie and can’t help but root for the underdog.

Usually, the main reason why people feel unfulfilled at work is due to a disconnect between their inner self — who they truly are — and the work they are doing externally.

This disconnect is incredibly common, and there's a reason for it: Throughout most of human history, random external factors usually decided what work you would end up doing. If you were the firstborn son of a king, you were expected to become a king yourself (even if, in your heart of hearts, you'd rather be a monk). If you were born as the daughter of a seamstress, chances are you'd become a seamstress (even if your inherent leadership skills rivalled Cleopatra's).

Nowadays, there's thankfully a lot more choice and social mobility in the workplace. Today, you can be anything you want to be... as long as you want to become a doctor, a lawyer, or an engineer. While I'm exaggerating, the underlying cultural assumption—that people should fit into a pre-existing work-mold, rather than that work should fit people—is still the same.

These days, you're still expected to fit into a mold, you just get a bit more say about what that mold is for you.

People who are unhappy with their work situation are the ones who notice that misalignment: their "mass-produced shoes" just doesn't fit their feet.

A lot of career change advice doesn't address the underlying root of the issue (finding the right fit for the "feet" you already have, rather than trying to fit them into an existing mold). These cookie-cutter processes often present you with a few, slightly more carefully chosen "shoes" (work scenarios) to pick from. While this can help people find work that's a somewhat less terrible fit for them, it doesn't solve the underlying issue of mis-alignment.

To address this issue, my approach is based on aligning 3 dimensions of your being:

• your inner experience (the part of you that's a human being),
• your outer actions (the part of you that's a human doing), and
• your interpersonal connections (the part of you that's a human belonging).

My work with clients is informed by a decade of coaching experience, a certification in habit coaching, extensive experience in productivity coaching, and different certifications and trainings in energy work.

When I support someone, we work on the inside and the outside at the same time. In our sessions, I help you get clear on what you actually want, identify what's getting in the way, and build a concrete path forward — at a pace that doesn't blow up your life.

This process has 3 aspects:

1. Clarity,
2. Inner work,
3. Outer work.

Creating a work situation that really works for you is entirely possible. It just takes time. That's why I prefer working together with people for at least 6 months. However, I understand that life happens, so there's no minimum commitment. Just know that the longer we work together, the greater the shifts you can expect.

To make it easier for you to remain in this supportive container even during busy times, unused sessions are carried forward. So, if you want to take 2 months off during summer and then do weekly sessions at other times, that's entirely possible.

Here's what's included:

We will meet 2–3 times per month to work on your inner and outer game. I'm bringing my full tool kit to these meetings to support you in moving forward. In between our meetings, I am available for you via owl (I mean, email…) and for short laser calls, when needed.

As your travel guide, I understand that the journey of life includes detours and rest stops. We'll ensure our schedule remains flexible to accommodate your vacations and significant life events, so you can embrace your journey of growth without added stress.

After your initial journey feels complete:

If you would like to receive support after you feel complete with this quest, flexible options are available for you (including monthly maintenance sessions or quarterly check-in calls). We can talk about this whenever you feel complete with this more intense phase of your process.

Wondering if this is a good fit for you? If so, I invite you to book a Work Clarity & Alignment Call with me.

This call is a chance to take a step back and look at your work situation with someone who:

• isn’t your friend or family member (so you’ll get a more objective perspective),
• specializes in work-related transitions and stuckness, and
• is committed to helping you make any transitions as safely as possible.

Essentially, I help people figure out what kind of work actually fits them, and then create a safe, realistic path to get there.

What you’ll leave the call with

By the end of our conversation, you’ll have:

1. Clarity on what’s actually wrong in your current work situation (and what isn't),
2. Clarity about what an aligned work situation would look like for you, and
3. New insights about how to safely create a more aligned, meaningful, and sustainable work situation over the course of the next year—including what to do first.

This call is also the first step for anyone interested in doing deeper coaching work with me.

Investment:

80 USD. (If you choose to go forward with longer-term coaching after our initial call, this amount will be applied to your first monthly rate.)

How to schedule this call: 

To schedule your call, please find a time in my calendar below. As soon as you make the payment, your session is confirmed. (If something comes up, you can easily reschedule this through my online scheduler.)

If none of the times in my calendar work for you or if you have a question that hasn't been answered, please fill out the form at the bottom of this page.