Social media loves a glossy highlight reel. Real life does not. In this conversation, coach and founder of Your Turn Life Coaching, Rikki Schwartz walks us through the parts most people crop out when talking all things Resilience in Business: leaving a degree three quarters finished, rising to vice president, getting laid off, grieving, and then rebuilding with purpose.

My promise to you is simple. You will leave with a clear way to make decisions, protect your energy, and move forward without burning yourself to ash.

If you want companion guides as you read, try:

• Calm Confidence for Women Entrepreneurs
• Entrepreneur Burnout Recovery: A Practical Re-Entry Plan

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How a VP Rebuilt Her Career After a Layoff

Genevieve: You are our inaugural guest, and I picked you because women need more examples of women working through all stages of their journey. Thank you for being here. Tell us where your career started and how the path bent.

Rikki: I chased security.

Raised by a single mom, I wanted a job I would never lose.

I went into physical therapy, got three quarters through, and realized I hated it. The faculty knew it too. One director had the courage to call it out and changed my life. He converted my PT credits into a Bachelor of Science in biology.

That was my first taste of how just one person can alter your trajectory.

I landed at Ford Motor Company as an environmental control engineer during the early EPA days, then moved to Waste Management. I climbed from leading one person to leading around a hundred, from a million in revenue to a hundred million.

It was remote. It was stable. I thought I would retire there. Then the RIF came. Seventeen years in, and suddenly, I was out.

Genevieve: What did day one look like after the call?

Rikki: Shock.

Then a severance-provided career coach named Zach gave me tasks and deadlines to get back on track. Doing that homework pulled me out of the fog. Action really is the antidote to fear.

It was then that I realized coaching itself lit me up. I launched My Turn Life Coaching on the side in addition to doing some contract work. Not very linear, but very human.

Here’s the key, I did not start with a perfect map. I started with a decision.

That was the turning point.

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From Shock and Denial to Decision: The Repeatable Turning Point

Genevieve: Oh, that’s the truth and so important. Many women get stuck in “maybe.” What breaks that stalemate?

Rikki: Two inner moments.

First you admit what is not working. Then you do more than name it. You take the next step on purpose. That is the shift from “I hope this works” to “I’m capable enough to figure it out, learn what I need, and keep showing up until it works.”

Genevieve: What does that look like on a calendar?

Rikki: Decide and then schedule the work. Guard the time you scheduled. Make one meaningful task a day. Study your numbers weekly.

Close the loop on yesterday’s promises.

Boring wins.

Consistency wins.

Note: If you like a short, science-backed tactic for follow-through, read about implementation intentions. It is the simple if-then planning method that sticks.

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Values Alignment vs Hustle for Sustainable Growth

Genevieve: One of your practices, that I love is that you have clients draft a brand statement that includes their transferable skills, the results those skills drive, and their core values as plain statements. Why that sequence?

Rikki: Because your best work happens where strengths, results, and values overlap.

If your next role does not match those three, performance and joy will leak. When the calendar honors your values, you do not need to white-knuckle motivation. You know what to say no to.

Genevieve: In sales, we call this Authentic Sales DNA. People try to copy tactics and wonder why they feel off. It is not a skill problem. It is a misalignment problem.

Rikki: Exactly.

When you align, you stop chasing every tactic that worked for someone with a different wiring and a different season.

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Money and Peace: The Trade Most Women Overlook

Genevieve: You had salary, safety, and the parachute. What did you learn about money and peace?

Rikki: Money buys peace to a point. Roofs and water heaters do not care about your vision board.

But past a point, more does not equal better.

I learned I needed less than I thought, and that allowed purpose filled the rest. Alignment does not erase hard days. It gives them meaning.

Note: If you are crawling back from depletion, the WHO has a clear summary of burnout as an occupational phenomenon: Pair that understanding with Entrepreneur Burnout Recovery for a gentle re-entry plan.

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Practical next steps you can use this week

Genevieve: Give us the simplest path forward.

Rikki:

1. Write one sentence of intention.
   I will [show up how] to build [specific thing] because [meaning], measured by [one weekly proof].
   
2. Pick one task aligning with that intention and do it before noon.
   Five genuine sales invitations.
   One long-form post.
   Two client kudos.
   One partnership pitch.
   
3. Block two power hours each weekday.
   Creation and Connection. Guard them like revenue.
   
4. Use the decision filter.
   Does this support my intention or distract from it.
   Park distractions on a Someday list.
   
5. Close the loop Friday.
   Keep, cut, or double down.
   Small course corrections prevent big detours.

Genevieve: Rikki, thank you for being here and helping us all understand the resilient path we’ve all been faced with at some point and how to work back to center and calm confidence.

For the full audio version of this interview, listen here or watch here.

Start Your Journey

If this interview hit home and you want coaching, structure, and a room full of grounded women who actually do the work, start inside Sales Confidence Studio. We will help you set your intention, protect your power hours, and turn these insights into steady wins you can feel.

About our guest

Rikki Schwartz, Coach and Founder, My Turn Life Coaching
Rikki is a career and life coach who moved from science and operations into leadership and coaching, guiding professionals through layoffs, pivots, and purpose work. She blends left-brain structure with right-brain empathy to help clients move from denial to decision.

Written by Genevieve Skory, Sales Confidence Coach & Business Growth Strategist for Female Entrepreneurs.

© 2026 Genevieve Skory