What Is a Professional Identity Coach—and Do You Need One?
What Is a Professional Identity Coach?
When I first started grappling with my own career journey, I wasn’t searching for a coach. I was searching for clarity. I knew I was more than my job title, but I couldn’t articulate what made me unique or how all my professional experiences fit together. I was stuck in an identity crisis. That’s when I realized the missing piece wasn’t just about finding a new job—it was about redefining who I am professionally.
That’s where a professional identity coach comes in.
A professional identity coach is not your typical career coach. We don’t just help you polish your résumé or prep for interviews—we guide you in uncovering and articulating the essence of your authentic professional self. It’s identity work before it’s job search work.
Unlike coaches who focus solely on your skills or passions, a professional identity coach helps you:
Discover your core professional identities—not just what you’ve done, but who you are when you’re at your best.
Understand the intersections of your expertise, experiences, and interests—this is where your hybridity lives.
Develop a clear and compelling narrative about what you do that feels true to you and resonates with others.
Most of the professionals I work with are hybrid professionals—they wear multiple hats, have nonlinear paths, and defy traditional boxes. They’re the artists who became strategists, the educators who turned into designers, the scientists who became storytellers. And like me, they often feel unseen, or misunderstood.
One client once told me, “I’m tired of doing the tap dance. I have to hide parts of myself to fit in.” That’s identity fragmentation—and it’s exhausting. As a professional identity coach, I help people integrate all those parts so they can show up whole and confident.
Think of it like this: If a typical career coach helps you climb the ladder, a professional identity coach makes sure it’s leaning against the right wall.
So if you’re in a career transition, or you keep getting asked “What do you do?” and you freeze up because your answer is complicated, then this kind of coaching might be exactly what you need.
The future of work is hybrid. The workforce is full of multi-hyphenates, slashies, and experts who also generalize. If we don’t learn how to name and claim our full professional selves, we risk being misunderstood or undervalued.
The question I leave you with is: Are you ready to find a title that actually fits you—not the other way around?
Ready to explore your own hybridity and finally get clear on your unique professional identity?
Download my free resources to discover your hybrid professional identity, or book a clarity session with me and start owning your true value at work.