About Me
I’m Danielle :)
I’m here to help you break out of anxious overthinking and move into action through nervous system regulation and intentional career experiments.
Who even am I?
I’m a Gen Z young professional, hence the name, Gen Z Career Coach. While it doesn’t perfectly describe my coaching practice, it serves as a daily reminder to me that imperfect action - starting a business with a slightly off name - is better than waiting for the perfect idea!
Over the past 9 years, I’ve built a diverse career lattice across counseling, higher education, instructional design, and media. I’ve learned so much through experimentation, and trial and error, and I am grateful for every weird, unexpected step along the way.
As an anxious overthinker myself, I’ve had to work to unlearn my own overplanning and perfectionistic tendencies. I’ve learned how to take action so I can break out of decision paralysis and make actual progress in my career.
I’m here to help you do the same.
My Values
I don’t believe that life is just about work, or that hustle culture is the answer.
I do believe in putting your best foot forward and being strategic about your career, so you don’t sleepwalk into a life that isn’t aligned with your values.
I believe career support should be accessible to people beyond traditional college career centers, and it should go beyond basic job search strategy.
In my coaching business, I work hard to balance my own financial sustainability with affordability and accessibility. Everyone deserves kind, understanding, individualized support in these stressful times.
There is so much that is out of our control in this world. But now more than ever, it’s important to focus on what is in your control, and take your career — and by extension, your whole life — into your own hands.
My Experience
I’m not one of those career coaches who has only ever done career coaching. Instead, I’ve got a wide variety of work experience across multiple industries, types of roles, pay ranges, and skill levels.
Since 2017, I’ve had student jobs, casual jobs, freelance jobs, and even a prestigious white collar full time job with great pay and those much coveted ~ benefits ~ (amazing PTO, hefty retirement contributions, tuition waivers, fancy trips to conferences, all the things we’re taught to prize in a job).
And now I have two of my own businesses and a beautiful mix of recurring freelance roles.
I know how isolating the job market can feel, and how amazing real professional community can feel.
I know what it’s like to navigate stressful, overwhelming, and confusing career seasons.
I know what burnout feels like — and what helps, and what doesn’t.
I’ve also recently finished my master’s in clinical mental health counseling at Oakland University, where I spent the past five years training to be a therapist. So not only do I have formal education in career counseling, but I’m trained in providing ethical, compassionate support that acknowledges all aspects of your humanity. You can trust that I’m committed to providing quality career support services that genuinely improve your life.
(But please note, my services here are coaching and are not a replacement for mental health therapy!)
If you want to learn more about the specifics of my work experience, you can check out my LinkedIn or other business’s website — yes, it looks a lot like this one, work smarter not harder!
Beyond my coaching services, if you’re interested in any of the work I have experience in, feel free to reach out! It is very important to me to use my power and privilege to demystify work and open doors for others. I’m happy to do a short informational interview over Google Meet and answer any questions as best I can :)