Let’s call this: A little clarity I didn’t know I needed.

First, thank you, Charlotte Lee-Rau — for building www.inspireempowerachieve.com and for creating a space where people like me can find the support we didn’t even know we needed. Because through that space, I found Lori Cunningham — a coach who gets me, and who’s stepping in to help me get my professional life back into alignment.

We’ve only just started working together, but I already feel like I’ve recovered something I didn’t realize was missing: direction. And conversation. Not small talk — not the stuff I already do for the dojos I support — but real dialogue about my work life. About what I want to build next. About how to get from stuck to steady. I haven’t had that in years.

If you’ve followed me on here, you’ve seen me bounce around like a pinball. I’ve done a lot. But emotionally, I’ve felt pretty worthless more days than I care to admit. I knew I wasn’t lazy. I knew I had skills — but it wasn’t until I wrote them all down that I started to actually believe it again. Even then, getting traction has been hard. I just didn’t know what was missing.

Until now.

When I walked away from the dojo, I didn’t just leave a job. I left a tribe — a team of Chief Instructors who lived and breathed the same rhythm, the same mission. And even though I still help dojos from the sidelines, martial arts is absolutely no longer my path. That chapter is closed. But I didn’t fully connect to the grief of losing that identity, or the daily camaraderie of being part of something bigger than myself. That loss — that disconnection — hit me harder than I realized. I haven’t had a mentor. I haven’t had a Sensei. And I’ve missed it more than I can say.

So I’m not posting this to declare some huge “comeback” or pretend this fixes everything. This isn’t about putting pressure on this new beginning — it’s about recognizing how crucial guidance is when you’re rebuilding yourself. Coaching might sound obvious or even mundane to some people. But for me, this connection with Lori is the first piece of grounded mentorship I’ve had in a long, long time. And I’m grateful — not just for her time, but for how we fit. That matters.