Life after Lehman

Life was going well for Dr. Elizabeth Moran, PsyD.  She was Vice President of Talent Management at a major investment firm where she served as an internal executive life coach and talent development consultant. Elizabeth loved her role, the security she felt, and the difference she was able to make with the executives she helped there. Then, in June of 2008, her department began seeing a slowdown of work. Soon she lost her job, then lost her severance package as her former employer, Lehman Brothers, declared bankruptcy in September of 2008.

Over the next year, her journey in the face of this disappointment led her to clarify her passions and reinvent herself. Once her job was lost, Elizabeth had no choice. She flew into action and embarked on a job search during the worst period of layoffs and dwindling employment since the Great Depression. Despite the bad timing, she was offered a comparable position at another global financial company. She promptly turned it down, because she knew she needed to do something on her own. During that time, she also worked through a one-to-one coaching program with me, moved from New York City to rural Vermont to be with her boyfriend, and continued to seek out her calling.

In her soul searching process, she realized that although she loved her work in the corporate world, she also had a need to be entrepreneurial and help humanity in a bigger way. Her ongoing passion that links to her corporate life is to help people and organizations reach their greatest potential. Based on this year of discovery, she committed to do this by being more creative and to help humanity by doing service that relieves suffering.

Instead of picking one job, Elizabeth has chosen what is referred to as a “portfolio career”. She works with us as a freelance New World Coach who gets rave reviews from her clients; she is a consultant to organizations including a youth mentoring not-for-profit called icouldbe.org; and she is in the process of launching her own organization called Soldiers Listening, which provides tools and programs for veterans and their communities.