Coaching session with Rae, a product manager laid off 6+ months ago who can't get excited about applying to jobs. We cover how to figure out what you want when nothing sounds appealing, career paths you might not have considered, using AI to explore your options, and how to stop feeling like a cog in the wheel.

Full recap and action steps on my Substack:

You've done the informational interviews. You've had the coffee chats. You've made the lists. And somehow, you're more confused than when you started.

This episode is for anyone drowning in career options and unable to choose.

I'm coaching Amelia, a legal ops professional who'd been exploring a pivot for years—and kept getting more stuck with every conversation. The problem wasn't that she needed more information. She needed a filter.

We cover:

• The 3-question filter to evaluate any opportunity
• An exercise to get out of your head and feel your way forward
• Why the opportunity you need might already be in front of you
• What progress actually looks like (spoiler: not certainty)

📝 READ THE FULL WRITE-UP Includes the Pain/Budget/Proximity filter breakdown and key frameworks from this session. Find it here: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/overwhelmed-by-information-which💬 BOOK A COACHING SESSION: Get personalized support for your career transition. Start with a 30-minute session: https://calendly.com/claire-wasserman/breakthrough-sessions

Meg thought she had a purpose problem. Turns out, she had a permission problem.

After losing a campaign and launching her own consulting firm, she spent a year doing work she was proud of—but couldn't make a website, update LinkedIn, or tell anyone what she'd built.

This session reveals the moment everything shifted, plus the 5 tools we used to move from "lemonade stand" to legitimate business.

Listen, then get the full breakdown with templates and a 7-day implementation plan at clairewasserman.substack.com

Stuck in your career? Feeling behind? Wondering if the thing you love could actually be your next step?

Today’s session is with Ali, a 28-year-old content writer who’s spent six years in the same lane and feels ready for a new adventure—but unsure how to find it. What we uncover together is powerful: her competitive edge has been hiding in her side hustle this whole time.

Ali runs a food Substack, wrote a cookbook with her dad, and is completely lit up by culinary storytelling—but she never saw it as part of her “real career.” Until now.

In this episode, we explore:
• How to pivot careers in 2025 without traditional experience
• Why applying to random jobs isn’t working—and what to do instead
• How to pitch yourself to the brands and industries you genuinely care about
• How to identify (and monetize) your competitive edge
• Why nervousness is often a sign you're on the right path
• How to combine content, storytelling, and community into a meaningful career

If you’re in your late 20s or early 30s wondering what’s “next,” this episode will help you see your path differently.

Want the full written breakdown + a 7-day Progress Plan?
I created an in-depth analysis of Ali’s session with daily exercises (5–20 minutes each) to help you apply these insights in your own life.
→ clairewasserman.substack.com

Getting interviews but not offers? This real coaching session reveals the strategic mindset shifts that separate candidates who get hired from those who get forgotten.

Career coach Claire Wasserman coaches someone who was laid off 4 months ago and is now navigating interviews in a tough job market. You'll learn:

✅ How to analyze the job description

✅ How to position transferable skills

✅ What to do when you're missing required experience

✅ How to leave a lasting impression.

Key takeaway 👉 "I'd rather you be memorable and not get the job because you weren't the right fit, than be forgettable and not get the job because they can't remember why they should hire you."

Stuck between a soul-sucking 9-to-5 and creative dreams you keep dropping? This coaching session reveals how to:

✅ Monetize what you're already doing✅ Build sustainable creative consistency✅ Manage your energy at draining jobs✅ Overcome impostor syndrome through self-pride✅ Separate success from external validation

Perfect for creatives in corporate jobs struggling with consistency and wondering how to bridge the gap between paying bills and feeding your soul.

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR SUBSTACK FOR KEY INSIGHTS + ACTION STEPS: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_source=subscribe_content_block&next=https%3A%2F%2Fclairewasserman.substack.com%2F

#CareerAdvice #CreativeCareer #ImpostorSyndrome #SideHustle

How do you walk into an interview and explain a 3-year employment gap without it becoming a therapy session?In this real coaching session, I work with someone navigating exactly that challenge—and we transform her story from something she's apologizing for into her greatest competitive advantage.

YOU'LL LEARN:

✅ The exact 30-second framework for explaining any career gap

✅ Why "I gained resilience" isn't enough—and what to say instead

✅ How to translate personal challenges into professional skills

✅ The confidence work you need to do BEFORE landing the job

✅ How to make a career transition when you don't check all the boxes

✅ Strategies for managing overthinking and self-judgment

Even if your gap is shorter or your circumstances are different, the strategies we cover apply to anyone who's ever felt like they're starting over, worried about resume complications, or wondered "who's going to want to hire me after all this?"

Content note: This episode includes discussion of health issues and loss.

FOR MORE RESOURCES:Claire Wasserman: www.coachmeclaire.comLadies Get Paid: https://pages.ladiesgetpaid.com/subscribe

#CareerAdvice #JobSearch #InterviewTips #CareerGap #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerCoaching #CareerChange #ReturningToWork #JobInterview #CareerTransition

Should you make a major career pivot after a life-changing experience? In this episode, I sit down with a marketing professional and new mother who nearly lost her life during childbirth. The experience left her questioning everything about her career path—should she stay in marketing, transition into nursing, or find something in between?We explore:✨ How trauma can be a catalyst for career reevaluation✨ The difference between what looks good on paper vs. day-to-day reality✨ Why "connection with others" became her non-negotiable value✨ Strategic ways to explore a new industry without starting over✨ How to bring more meaning into your current role while figuring out your next move✨ Why marketing in healthcare might be the perfect middle groundThis conversation is for anyone feeling stuck between staying safe and taking a leap—and how to start exploring new paths without blowing up your life.

For insights and action steps related to this session, check out https://clairewasserman.substack.com/#CareerChange #CareerTransition #Marketing #Healthcare #WorkingMom #Motherhood #CareerAdvice #ProfessionalDevelopment #CareerPivot #FindingPurpose

What if the diagnoses you've been hiding in job interviews are actually your greatest professional assets?

This coaching session features a 52-year-old woman diagnosed at 48 with autism, ADHD, dyscalculia, anxiety, depression, and PTSD—currently living in a women's shelter and navigating final-round job interviews. Instead of teaching her to mask better, we identify the concrete superpowers embedded in each diagnosis: pattern recognition, emotional intelligence, advanced systems thinking, and the ability to manage up because she's had to manage herself her entire life.

We discuss using AI tools like Claude and ChatGPT to translate neurodivergent traits into employer benefits without forced disclosure, why a "pride check-in" matters more than interview prep, how to mine current hardships (homelessness, job loss, health struggles) for creative purpose, and why detaching from desperate outcomes is the only way to show up powerfully in interviews.

Publishing professional "Amy" has spent 17 years being everyone's cheerleader while her own creative dreams died. Sound familiar?

In this raw coaching session, we tackle:

• Why success can still feel like failure
• The real reason you're exhausted (hint: it's not time)
• How to reclaim creative dreams you thought were "too late"
• Energy protection for professional empaths
• Breaking free from the "too valuable to promote" trap

Whether you're in publishing, tech, teaching, or any field where you pour yourself out—this conversation will shift everything.

Key moment: "I thought I'd be a writer." After 17 years in publishing, she forgot she could still become one.

📝 Full transcript & 7-Day Progress Plan available on Substack: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/

Perfect for: Career changers, creative professionals, anyone who feels behind, women over 40 questioning everything

#Career #Coaching #Burnout #CreativeRecovery #WomensCareer #MidlifeChange #PersonalDevelopment

From cancer survivor to career transformer: Shea shares her raw journey through 4 years of job searching, workplace trauma, and discovering how generational patterns sabotage our careers.

In this breakthrough session, career coach Claire Wasserman introduces revolutionary techniques combining somatic healing with practical job search strategies. Learn why traditional career advice fails when you're dealing with executive dysfunction, ADHD, or workplace PTSD.

Discover:

• The "mind trash to gold" transformation technique
• Why you keep attracting the same toxic bosses
• How to protect 3 hours daily for your job search
• Breaking the "I'm not good enough" pattern
• Somatic exercises for career confidence
• The Well Ancestor technique for generational healing

Perfect for job seekers dealing with overwhelm, career changers processing workplace trauma, or anyone whose mental health is blocking their career progress.

Are you struggling to be taken seriously at work? In this career coaching session, we tackle the common challenge of being perceived as "too young" in professional settings.

Learn powerful strategies to command respect regardless of your age, including:

• Reframing interactions as strategic opportunities rather than challenges
• Converting apparent disadvantages into unique advantages
• Balancing authenticity with adaptation in different professional contexts

This session features insights from a 25-year-old executive recruiter navigating relationships with senior professionals, but the lessons apply to anyone facing workplace bias or struggling to be seen as a respected colleague.

#CareerAdvice #WorkplaceStrategies #ProfessionalDevelopment #YoungProfessionals #CareerCoaching #WorkplaceTips #CommandRespect

Do you keep exploring a career change... only to take the safe job every time?

In this coaching session, I work with "Amelia"—a senior legal operations professional with 12+ years of experience who wants to pivot into helping creative entrepreneurs. The problem? Every time she gets close to making the leap, she defaults to the familiar. Three steps forward, one step back.

We cover why your to-do list feels exhausting when your North Star is fuzzy, how the language you use might be blocking you, the difference between a "safety net" and "North Star" job search, what it really means when you hit a threshold—and the superpower she almost dismissed entirely.

If you're stuck in a career you've outgrown or caught in the cycle of exploring but never committing, this one's for you.

Get Amelia's full Pivot Pathfinder (free) and the 7-day Progress Plan here: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/i-keep-taking-the-safe-job?r=1b87me

Book a private coaching session here: https://calendly.com/claire-wasserman/breakthrough-sessions

In this intimate conversation, Claire Wasserman, founder of Ladies Get Paid, sits down with holistic executive coach and author Amina Altai to discuss her new book "The Ambition Trap: How to Stop Chasing and Start Living."This powerful dialogue explores:✅ Amina's personal wake-up call that led to developing two autoimmune diseases from overworking✅ The five core wounds that drive painful ambition (rejection, abandonment, humiliation, betrayal, and injustice)✅ How to identify your "zone of genius" and create more flow in your work✅ The shift from discipline to devotion in our approach to ambition✅ Practical strategies for workplace contentment and living above the "resentment line"Whether you're feeling burnt out, questioning your career path, or wondering if success without self-sacrifice is possible, this conversation offers both wisdom and actionable insights to help you redefine ambition as natural unfolding rather than painful pushing.Join us as we explore a new vision of ambition that aligns with who you truly are.

In this episode, Claire Wasserman interviews Shriya, a tech community-builder who created a newsletter documenting her entire job search journey—rejections and all. Shriya shares her innovative approach to networking and demonstrates how vulnerability can be a strategic advantage in your career journey. Key takeaways include how to:✅ Craft compelling emails that activate your network✅ Make strategic career pivots, network authentically✅ Negotiate effectively when you're overqualified✅ Leverage AI tools to strengthen your job search materials.

Welcome to today's episode where we're diving into a challenge many professionals face: navigating workplace disorganization while trying to advance your career.My client Rachel finds herself in a familiar but difficult situation - she's up for promotion from senior manager to director, but she's already doing both roles without the support she needs. She's dealing with a chaotically structured organization, miscommunication across departments, and the feeling of constantly putting out fires that aren't of her making.In our coaching session, we explore practical strategies for protecting your energy, creating efficient systems, and maintaining boundaries in a disorganized workplace. We'll also discuss the importance of reconnecting with parts of yourself outside of work to prevent burnout, especially when leaving your current position isn't an option.Whether you're dealing with similar challenges or just want to be prepared for future workplace chaos, this episode offers actionable advice on thriving professionally while preserving your wellbeing.Key Takeaways include:1. Separate your identity from your work role. Remember "it's just a job" - creating emotional distance helps prevent burnout when dealing with workplace chaos.2. Create efficient systems for repetitive problems. When faced with recurring issues (like repeatedly justifying budgets), develop streamlined processes to reduce your workload and frustration.3. Protect your energy with visualization techniques. Mental exercises like imagining a protective golden shield or washing away negative experiences can create psychological boundaries.4. Reconnect with creative outlets outside of work. Consistently engage with non-work activities that energize you, even just for short periods daily. Frequency matters more than duration.5. Seek community with peers in similar positions. Connect with others facing similar challenges for support, validation, and practical strategies.6. Frame improvements as benefiting the company. When proposing solutions to inefficiencies, demonstrate how they save the organization time and money.7. Maintain visibility with leadership. Ensure your contributions are recognized by multiple stakeholders so when others' mistakes impact your work, your reputation is protected.8. Involve your team in problem-solving. You don't have to shoulder all challenges alone - collaborative solutions often work better and reduce your mental load.

In this episode, we break down exactly how to transform your expertise into a thriving business. Perfect for workplace coaches, consultants, and service providers who feel uncomfortable "selling" themselves. Learn practical frameworks for:✅ Finding your perfect niche (w/out limiting future growth)✅ Creating 52 weeks of compelling content✅ Building lead magnets that actually convert✅ Developing a relationship-based marketing pipeline✅ Overcoming the mindset blocks around self-promotion💡 RESOURCES MENTIONED:Melody Wilding: melodywilding.com/Level Up Creators: welevelupcreators.comCreator Science: creatorscience.com

In this eye-opening coaching session, we follow Shaye's journey to launch an outdoor adventure blog for families while navigating the challenges of ADHD and parenting young children. Discover practical strategies anyone can use to turn their passion project into reality, even with limited time and focus.

You'll learn:

• How to create content when you "hate writing" using simple voice-to-text methods
• Time management techniques that actually work for busy schedules
• A step-by-step approach to launching with minimal content (and why perfectionism kills progress)
• Ways to grow your audience without social media
• How to develop sustainable systems that accommodate your unique challenges

Whether you're struggling with procrastination, overthinking, or simply finding time for your side hustle, this episode delivers actionable advice to help you move from idea to implementation. Perfect for parents, aspiring content creators, and anyone who's ever said "I'll start tomorrow."

Subscribe for more breakthrough coaching sessions that provide real solutions to your career and creative challenges!

Today's client is facing a challenging decision between two job offers after a recent layoff - one with a major corporation requiring travel to Seattle, and another with a mission-driven organization that pays significantly less. With a new home in California and family responsibilities to consider, she opens up about the struggle between financial stability and personal fulfillment.

Join us as we explore the nuances of this decision, discussing strategies for preventing burnout, setting boundaries, and finding balance between professional growth and personal well-being in today's complex job market.

Life keeps throwing curveballs, but what if every crisis was actually an opportunity? 

From surviving a lawsuit to navigating my son's heart surgeries, I've developed a proven 6-phase process (plus 3 critical questions) to transform life's challenges into catalysts for growth. In this session, learn how to feel your emotions fully, quiet the negative self-talk, and strategically leverage setbacks for success. Whether you're dealing with career shifts, relationship changes, or personal struggles, discover how to make your obstacles work FOR you.

Join the 50k+ who receive my free weekly newsletter on how to improve your work-life: https://pages.ladiesgetpaid.com/subscribe

In this live recording of one of our Sunday Sessions, Claire Wasserman, the founder of Ladies Get Paid, delves into the critical topic of protecting your energy. Claire shares practical tips and advice on how to maintain and safeguard your energy throughout a typical day. She highlights the importance of addressing common energy leeches such as judgment, lack of presence, and overcommitment. With insights from her experience in professional development and personal stories, Claire offers actionable steps to cultivate and sustain good energy, making ambition easier and ensuring success without self-sacrifice.

00:00 Welcome and Introduction

00:12 The Importance of Protecting Our Energy

00:40 About Ladies Get Paid and My Background

02:38 Defining Success and Ambition

03:07 Overview of the Sunday Sessions

04:44 Understanding and Protecting Your Energy

08:37 Identifying Energy Leeches

14:21 Common Themes and Energy Red Flags

17:41 Strategies to Protect and Recover Energy

28:23 Self-Reflection and Cultural Influences

29:07 Safeguarding Against Energy Leeches

32:29 Setting Boundaries and Saying No

35:21 Handling Unexpected Challenges

35:54 Dealing with Guilt and External Pressures

38:59 Practical Tips for Energy Management

45:05 Final Thoughts and Personal Stories

48:54 Interactive Breakout Session

This recording is part of a four-part live series on making ambition easier and redefining success. Whether you're dealing with perfectionism, procrastination, or impostor syndrome, you'll learn actionable techniques to transform your relationship with yourself and achieve your goals with less struggle.

Led by Claire Wasserman, founder of Ladies Get Paid, guides you through five practical strategies - plus exercises to practice them - for getting out of your own way and building a healthier relationship with yourself.

🌟 Cultivate Compassion: Understand and work with rather than against challenging parts of yourself 🧘‍♀️ Practice Presence: Learn techniques to stay grounded when overwhelmed 💪 Carry it Lighter: Develop practical tools to handle difficult moments 🔥 Energize from Within: Balance self-improvement with self-appreciation 🤝 Strengthen Connection: Build meaningful relationships that support growth

This is a special episode of a live event Claire led on how to set yourself up for goal success. Key takeaways include:

• D.I.M.E. Goals > S.M.A.R.T. Goals
• Focus on desired feelings rather than just achievements
• Start with 90-day goals instead of annual
• Pick 1-2 areas maximum for initial focus
• Consider both one-time actions and habits
• Build a "sustainability muscle" by doing less but consistently
• Focus on what you can control/influence

Erin has been job searching for over a year. She's made it to final rounds, gotten painfully close, and walked away with rejection after rejection. The hardest part? She knows she's qualified. On paper, she has everything they're looking for. But the moment she gets on an interview call, something takes over—her chest tightens, her heart races, and a voice kicks in: You're not enough.

In this coaching session, we dig into what's really going on. We map the physical sensations that show up under stress and design somatic practices to counter them. We unpack the stories she tells herself and find real evidence to challenge them. And we uncover a core truth: the thing she values most—connection—is exactly what's making rejection feel so devastating.

This one's for anyone who's ever thought: I know I can do this, so why do I freeze up when it matters?

In this episode:

• How to identify your body's stress response and create personalized antidotes
• The difference between performing and connecting in interviews
• Why your inner critic needs evidence, not affirmations
• Using the "downward arrow" technique to find your core fear
• Building daily rituals that make confidence feel embodied, not forced

🔗 Get the full breakdown + 7-day action plan at clairewasserman.substack.com

In this powerful coaching session, watch how a recent masters graduate navigates the emotional and practical challenges of moving back home in her 30s while building career momentum. Perfect for anyone facing a life transition and wrestling with societal expectations versus personal values.

Key Moments:

🎯 Reframe moving home from "setback" to strategic choice

💪 Build career momentum while honoring a "slow season"

🌟 Transform a graduate thesis into valuable content

🤝 Create meaningful professional connections across time zones

 ⚖️ Set boundaries while living with family

Watch as career coach Claire guides her client through practical strategies for:

✅ Convert academic work into LinkedIn content that attracts opportunities

✅ Maintain professional relationships across distance

✅ Build momentum without burnout

✅ Create a structure that allows for both career growth and family time

✅ Move from "self-promotion" to "service promotion"

Whether you're considering moving home, navigating a career transition, or trying to balance personal values with professional growth, this session offers a refreshing perspective on creating success on your own terms.

#CareerTransition #WorkLifeBalance #GradLife #PersonalDevelopment #CareerCoaching #MoveHome #ProfessionalGrowth

E came to me with a lot on her plate. She has a full-time job plus a side business; she’s also living at home with her parents, where she is responsible for most of the household chores; due to some mental health issues that her sister is struggling with, she also has assumed care for her baby nephew. 

In short: the situation as is, is not tenable. E needed my guidance on how to approach her parents with a division of labor that would free her up to focus more on her side business so she can save up money to get her own place. 

This short but impactful coaching session is helpful for anyone who struggles to set boundaries, presenting them in a diplomatic way that establishes common ground, offers solutions to choose from, and accept that when you compromise, not everyone will be happy.

Mandy loves movies with a passion. For the last decade, she’s been a writer and editor in entertainment journalism and thrived. But the past few years have been rocky as the industry has downsized and..so has Mandy’s career. She came to me wondering if she should get creative and stick it out, or pivot entirely. With her heart and her bank account at odds, Mandy needed an outside perspective ASAP.

Janine came to me suffering from what’s called “baby bear syndrome.” It’s when you get hired in a junior position or supporting role, are really good at it, and then can never seem to break out of it.

As Janine describes it, she gets pigeonholed and not given new opportunities because she’s so good at the thing they hired her to do!

The other issue she’s running into is job descriptions that require team management. As an executive assistant, she’s constantly managing everyone and everything, just not in a formal capacity. So how can she convince people that she has the skills, if not the title?

Deidre came to me feeling unmotivated about her business. She’d been successful for the last five years, business just falling into her lap without any marketing.

But now things have dried up and Deidre is at a crossroads. She hates marketing and sales with a passion and given the lack of new clients, her self-esteem has taken a hit. She’s wondering if she should just give it up to become a W2 employee again. But in her heart, she knows that’s not what she wants. 

Well, what DOES Deidre want? And how can she get it? Take a listen as we work through it - together. 

Sarah was feeling defeated and for good reason. She’d been let go, rehired, and then let go AGAIN. Went through seven rounds of interviews over two months…and didn’t get it. In her last interview, they told her she didn’t have an executive presence. The first thing I told her was to look at this interview process like a bootcamp - albeit high stakes - where her job is to learn as much as possible. Every interview is practicing for the next one. (It’s also an opportunity to network!) But as you know, I’m not into toxic positivity or silver-lining BS. Sarah needed real tactics to make tangible progress in a frustrating job search. Since she was landing a fair number of interviews and getting pretty far in the process, we focused our coaching session on how to up her interview game and finally get a yes. We also talked about how to make each interview something she could be proud of, regardless of whether she gets the offer. Because there’s only so much we can control, in fact, I think the entire job search process is an exercise in pushing forward and letting go. Which is very very hard. So kudos to Sarah for putting in the work - I’m proud of her and I’m proud of you. You’re here, and that counts.

Feretesh came to me looking for job search strategies. But what she was really looking for, was herself. I could tell by the way she wrote in her podcast submission, there were clues that whatever I might tell her, she would have trouble following through. Why? She was disconnected from herself. 

Because here's the thing: to know what you want to do, you have to know who you want to be. 

Now of course lots of things get in our way: various wounds and traumas and toxic situations we’ve experienced but as you’ll see in my session with Feretesh, I have a theory on how you can actually find your superpowers amidst these traumas. Superpowers that when you tap into them, motivate you to take action, more than any kind of attempt at willpower or accountability.

I invite you, as I did Feretesh, to scour your past like a detective, searching for clues that will propel you into the future. Because everything is there for you to learn from and once you open your mind, you’ll see that it can open your world.

​Coaching thousands of women to negotiate millions of dollars, Ladies Get Paid founder & author Claire Wasserman has seen her fair share of misconceptions and mistakes.

​Here’s the truth: HR makes getting a raise purposefully hard. Here’s another truth: Don’t wait till you need to negotiate to learn how to do it.

This episode is a recording of an earlier presentation of 12 common misnomers people have about negotiating their salary and what to do instead.

In this episode, you’ll meet Summer who recently got feedback at work that she’s not speaking up enough in team meetings. She told me that she feels comfortable in smaller settings, in her words, it’s more "organic", but once there are more people, especially on Zoom, it feels awkward to interject.

We talk through what it means to have an executive presence grounded in authenticity because the worst thing is to pretzel yourself into someone else to be successful. 

In this episode, you’ll meet Jackie, who struggles to find balance and feel confident. Because she’s been told before by important men in her life that she’s “too much”, she frequently finds herself pretzeling so as not to take up as much space.

We talk through strategies to strengthen her self-trust and at minute 15:45, Jackie reveals something amazing about herself that blows me away. It turns out her confidence has been there all along, she needs to shift her attention towards it, and honestly - learn from herself.

Because here’s the thing: every one of us has innate wisdom. We just need to learn how to listen to and honor it.

Ever feel like you should be further along? Like you've been "stuck" for months or years and can't figure out why?

This coaching session might change how you see that.

Tracy is a corporate executive who spent 5 years in what she called "procrastination." I call it incubation. In this episode, we get into:

• Why procrastination isn't always resistance—sometimes it's wisdom
• The difference between discipline and rigidity
• What "consistency" actually looks like for fast-moving brains
• The practice of self-witnessing (catching yourself in a shame spiral and pausing)
• Micro-sprints: productivity for people who hate big blocks of time
• How to figure out what season you're really in and honor it

If you've been beating yourself up for not being more disciplined, this one's for you.

In the latest episode of the ​Ladies Get Paid podcast​, you’ll meet Elizabeth who came to me deep into unemployment and wondering if she should make a pivot. However, pretty quickly into our session, it became clear that there was something else that was blocking her.

Elizabeth went to school to become an artist, something that used to give her a lot of joy. But now, whenever she tries to make art, her inner critic is so loud, it’s become a source of anxiety.

As you’ll see in the session, this becomes the basis of my diagnosis: until Elizabeth learns how to create art again without self-judgment, everything else, including looking for work, will be a struggle.

Whether she makes art her career is not the point, it’s the process of learning, of being quote “bad” at something that will alleviate the burden of perfectionism so that she can embrace the process of becoming.

Elizabeth shares that she is in mourning for the artist she was, which in some ways may be true, but what is also true is that she is still that same artist, it is just her relationship with it - and herself - that must evolve.

I give her tips for how to shift the mourning to a celebration and so if you also find yourself in a sort of “no man’s land” - that uncomfortable and often painful season in which you’re transitioning from one understanding of your self to another - this episode is for you.

Just a note, this session has been recorded with her consent and edited for clarity. If you’re interested in being coached by me or simply have a question you want answered, go to coachmeclaire.com

In the latest episode of the Ladies Get Paid podcast, you’ll meet Jessica who is mid-career and feeling a lot of regrets.

From a very young age, she felt a calling to sing and so put in a lot of training - and student debt - to become a professional opera singer. But by the time she was 30, and struggling to land a manager, she gave it all up.

That was 12 years ago and Jessica hasn’t sung since.

She came to me, feeling a lot of anger and disappointment, because as she says, she keeps getting in her own way.

I know I’m not supposed to pick favorites, but I think Jessica might be one of the best coaching sessions I’ve done so far, mainly because of her eloquence in articulating her struggle and her openness in digging deep.

This is the third episode in a series with Brittany Tam, a coach who specializes in helping business owners rebuild their relationships with money so they can thrive.

I'm in the midst of revamping my entire business model and in doing so, a lot of money issues have come up. In this episode, we explore how experiences in the past continue to affect - and block - me today, including a chip on my shoulder growing up less wealthy than my peers.

This episode works as a standalone but check out the first two to get a better sense of where my business is at and the money journey I'm taking you (and myself!) on.

This is the second episode in a limited series where the tables have turned and I’m the one being coached by ​Brittany Tam (thefee.ca/about)​, who specializes in helping entrepreneurs improve their relationship with money. Our session centered on goals related to income generation. As you’ll hear in this session, I’m pretty overwhelmed with everything that needs to get done to overhaul my business model. The good news is I had a pretty awesome breakthrough around raising my prices, and no longer see charging more as mutually exclusive with my desire for inclusivity. It's a bit more rambly than usual - sorry, Brit! - but we got to some solid next steps on how to stay focused on my roadmap that I hope will inspire you, wherever you are in your journey. Brittany put together some notes and action steps for the Ladies Get Paid newsletter so if you’re interested in participating along with me, make sure to subscribe at ⁠ladiespaid.com⁠.

In this episode, you’ll meet Marie, who is seriously struggling with self-doubt. No matter how well an interaction at work might go, she frequently gets in her head, replaying over and over how it could’ve gone better. Marie is afraid that she takes up too much space and so often bends over backward to put others first, not only at work but with her family as well. Unsurprisingly she’s exhausted. Marie is aware that this way of thinking is preventing her from taking risks, let alone feeling a modicum of peace, and so came to me for some guidance on how to turn down the volume of her inner critic. We do deep in this session so I hope you’ll listen to the whole thing - there’s a great breakthrough at minute 23 - and a turning point around minute 47 where I admit to her that ironically, I was getting in my OWN head during our session and then walk her through how I shift things to a more compassionate place.

Just a note for all of you listeners, this session has been recorded with her consent and edited for clarity. If you’re interested in being coached by me or simply have a question you want answered, go to clairewasserman.com.

In this episode, you'll meet Q who was hired at her job around four months ago, but then pretty quickly after she started the role completely changed, it turns out the company culture was also pretty different than what she was expecting. And so she's feeling, as you can imagine, pretty frustrated.

Q says she started looking elsewhere, but is concerned that she'll look like a job hopper and doesn't know what to say. If she's asked why she wants to leave. In our conversation, we talk about strategies for, yes, what to say at these job interviews, plus how to make sure she sees all the red flags, but also how to improve her current situation and make the impact she wants without waiting.

In this episode, you’ll meet Rebecca, who is feeling blocked in her business and struggling to land clients. She went through something traumatic at her last job (resulting in a lawsuit) which has now led to feelings of unworthiness and in her words, she feels “rusty.”

I walk Rebecca through ways to chart and celebrate her progress regardless of whether she lands a client, or whatever is going on around her. Because the more we tie our identity and self-worth to things outside our command, the more fragile we are!

We can't control what happens to us, but we get to choose how we show up.

And as you’ll see towards the end of this session, Rebecca gets to a real ah-ha moment not only about herself but about the kinds of services she provides for her clients.

Welcome to the first part in a six-part series where I work with money coach Brittany Tam (https://thefee.ca/about) on what’s been holding me back from increasing my prices. Because here’s the truth. Even though I run a company called Ladies Get Paid, I’ve actually struggled to get paid myself.

As I’ll talk about in this episode, the pandemic decimated my business model and forced me to completely rethink how I was making money.

And boy, a lot has come up. It turns out money isn’t just numbers. It’s how we feel about those numbers that can be the catalyst or the obstacle to making more.

I’ve been working on a brand new product for Ladies Get Paid and as I gear up to launch it, Brittany is counseling me on how to make sure that my fears and insecurities aren’t getting in the way.

I believe transparency is transformative, and so am recording all my sessions in the hopes that if you, dear listener, are also struggling with asking for more or want to improve your relationship with money, you too will learn a lot.

In addition, all the homework or action steps Brittany gives me, I will give to you in the Ladies Get Paid newsletter. So if you’re not already a subscriber, make sure to go to ladiesgetpaid.com.

In this episode, you’ll meet Marissa, who is feeling burnt out from a career in social work and contemplating a career pivot. I walk her through a series of categories to consider, like her innate strengths and values, the kinds of environments where she thrives, the impact she wants to have, and the things she wants to learn.

As I tell her at the beginning of our session, I view getting a job like getting an MBA where we design our ideal curriculum, and then look for an opportunity (or create our own) with the most growth.

In this episode, you'll meet Kathleen, who has just returned from maternity leave and is feeling a lack of confidence, or she says, "She doesn't belong in a room of leaders." Because of that self-doubt, Kathleen is also questioning if this is the right company or career path for her.

As we get deeper into this session, what starts as a conversation about career strategy turns into an exploration of what is enough and how to define success according to our values.

Self-doubt isn't the enemy—it's misdirected energy. In this coaching session, we uncover why high-performers who are good at reading the room often struggle the most with confidence, and I teach a 10-second nervous system reset you can do under a conference table.

We cover:

✅ The trap of building confidence on what you think others are thinking

✅ Why people pleasers thrive in client-facing roles but burn out faster

✅ The Four S's: A somatic technique to regulate your nervous system in real-time

✅ How to transform self-criticism into purposeful momentum

✅ The difference between eliminating self-doubt and dialoguing with it differently

If you've ever left a meeting replaying everything you said, this one's for you.

🎯 For key insights and exercises, check out: https://clairewasserman.substack.com/p/why-eliminating-self-doubt-is-the

In this episode, you’ll meet Caitlin who has a great idea for a business but came to me for guidance on how to get started, ways to do market research, how to best prioritize her time and to-dos, plus how to know when she’s ready to officially launch.

In this audio version of her newsletter, Claire Wasserman shares her personal experience of decluttering her wardrobe, which she describes metaphorically as a funeral for her former selves. She talks about the emotional difficulty of parting with items that hold sentimental value, like the sweatpants she wore during significant life events.

Claire outlines her method for sorting clothes into piles based on their emotional and practical value, and how revisiting these piles over time helped her decide what to keep and what to let go. She reflects on the importance of moving on and creating space for new experiences by intentionally focusing on the present.

The process of giving away old clothes is likened to starting a new chapter in life, and Claire encourages her listeners to consider what they might be holding onto that holds them back, urging them to create a process to review, relish, and replace these items.

In the audio version of this week's newsletter, I talk about the following:

• Why becoming aligned in one area of your life has a domino effect
• The importance of tuning into your subconscious
• Learning to trust yourself

I'm so grateful my first business failed since it taught me a whole new way to approach my career...AND it helped me practice for my next (successful) business.