For background, I started my career in advertising, working at a media agency and in ad sales. In my time working at Salesforce, I’ve held numerous roles, focused on our marketing technology products. But since launching L&I, my career passions have naturally shifted, especially once I started offering career coaching and consulting services. I realized about a year or so ago that I wanted to make moves and morph my career away from digital marketing and customer success. I wanted to find a role where I was doing similar work to what I do with L&I – developing people and helping with career pathing. This time last year, I made it a goal of mine to find an internal role at Salesforce doing just that.

I became intentional about my career goal. I networked my heart out, using my internal Salesforce network to introduce me to new teams and leaders. I cold-reached out and asked for coffee chats (i.e. informational interviews) to learn about other teams within the company to find where my best fit would be. I volunteered and took on stretch projects with said teams. I found pockets of opportunity within the company to highlight my skill sets. But as you and I both know, last year was tough in the tech industry. I was navigating tumultuous times with hiring freezes and layoffs. Despite the limited opportunities, I persisted on, knowing this was a long game.

Then, one November day, I saw a Slack message about a growing team within my org that was hiring for a strategy operations role to help ideate, build, and scale our employee programs. (The programs are designed to boost employee engagement, create community, and provide job/company satisfaction.) It seemed to come out of nowhere and I heard my inner voice tell me to put myself out there and apply.

Long story short, I went through the interview process and then received a call that I had gotten the job. I had to make a decision fast but wasn’t ready to say yes in that moment. There were a lot of things to consider on my end – it was a big change and a risk. So, I made a pro/con list. I wrote down my fears and concerns. I talked to Adam, my family, and my mentors about it. I even asked my manager what his thoughts were.

Throughout all of that, I knew what to do and my inner voice gave me the gentle nudge I needed to accept the offer the next day. While change is scary, I’m confident I made the right choice because my inner voice was there each step of the way. I listened when it encouraged me to put myself out there and network, take on stretch projects, apply for the role, and interview. I let it guide me through all of my uncertainty and I trusted myself to make the choices that felt right to me in those moments.

There’s a lot of uncertainty right now in the job market. With talks of a looming recession and more anticipated layoffs, it’s hard to know what the future holds. And it’s in these times that you have to turn inward, ask yourself the hard questions, listen for your inner voice, and be brave to make moves. If something doesn’t feel right, dig into why. If you’re feeling a pull to make a change, take the risk. If you’re unsure of your direction, trust that the answer will come. Let your inner guidance lead the way.