Curt Sassak

Teaching Mid-Career Leaders how to navigate life & career transitions using my Proven Recipe / Improve the quality of your life / Create your next chapter by design, not default / Former Chef

Live workshop on July 28th:  Land your next 6-figure role faster. Stop getting ghosted. Start getting noticed. See my featured section for details

𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙨 𝘼 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧

Imagine eating your favorite dish every day for 20+ years, until one day it doesn’t taste good anymore.

Worse, is you don’t know why, and have no idea of what you want. 

That was me at 39.

Award-winning chef. Five-star kitchens. I had everything I wanted on paper. But inside? Empty. 

I had climbed every mountain only to find myself thinking,  “Is this it? What’s next”

I couldn't figure out why I felt like this, and it frustrated the f*ck out of me. 
I pushed through thinking it would pass. Wrong.

Eventually, it all caught up.
I was 60 lbs overweight, drinking to cope, lost $250K in potential earnings, and in a miserable career that no longer fit. 

So, at 40, I took a bold step: I reinvented myself in every way.

I left the only career I knew with no idea and not job; just the gut instinct that I had more to offer.

So I used what I knew:
Recipes.

A recipe is a process. It’s clarity + execution.
That’s how I reinvented myself. 

The result?
I’m in the best physical and mental shape of my life. And, I'm helping change lives for the better. 

I help high-functioning, high-achieving professionals (35+) who want freedom from a toxic job. Freedom to build something with meaning, and leave a legacy. 

You don’t need another “mindset guru” with motivational memes.
As one client put it: “Curt cuts through the noise fast. No fluff. Just results.”

That’s me.

A few wins:

→ Reena beat 457 applicants to land her dream hospital job.

→ Jordan pivoted to a new career he loves, with better pay and family time.

→ Matt said: “Curt didn’t just help my career. He helped me take back my life.”

Enter: The Career Recipe Boot Camp

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients
 ✓ Get clear on your values, skills & goals
 ✓ Ditch the limiting beliefs holding you back

Step 2: Start Cooking
 ✓ Build a roadmap tailored to your life
 → So you move with purpose—not by default

This isn’t a pep talk. It’s a tactical reinvention plan.

You don’t need to burn it all down.
We build upon what you've already built.

You just need a better recipe.

Ready to cook something that feeds your soul?

Curt

DM me the word "Recipe," and let's write your next chapter. 

Common keywords:
Career coach. Personal development coach. Executive coach. Midlife career change. Career clarity. Personal reinvention. Transition coach.

Founder

So, you’re career driven, have had success, and now you feel like there are no more mountains to climb.

You got to the top of the “mountain,” and achieving your goals only to find you don’t feel fulfilled or happy. It’s like, WTF?

Your life/career no longer serves you. All you know is that you feel stuck and see no way out. You need to make a change. But doing what?

Then fear creeps in. You have questions.  “What do I do now?”  “I don’t know what else to do” 

“If I change careers how will I make enough to pay my bills?” and so on

These are the same questions (and more) I asked myself when I did a career change after 27 years as a chef and started over at 41 from zero.

Did you know a New York Times study found that 75% of Americans don’t have a clear sense of purpose?

And, there are serious health risks associated with a lack of purpose

A lack of purpose affects your self-worth, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
Which, in turn, can lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other health issues.
I experienced all of those.

The good news is this: You’re only 5 steps away from finding the purpose, fulfillment, and new career you so desperately want.

They are the same 5 steps I used to go from feeling lost/stuck and finding a purpose and fulfillment

All it requires from you is self-honesty and a commitment to change

I coach people through one-to-one sessions

You think asking for help is equivalent to failure? Yep, I used to think the same, but that’s your ego talking

Consider: If you’ve been stuck, and the steps you’ve taken have not yielded results, what makes you think anything will change by repeating what you’ve done?

What got you here will not get you THERE.

Just like a car needs realignment from time to time, our personal and professional vision needs realignment from time to time

So, you can remain stuck and lost, or you can send me a DM

Romana Prochazkova

What’s NEXT? || Connecting work with PURPOSE for lasting IMPACT || Executive Coach & Leadership Consultant

Pretending is expensive.
Especially when you’re the one everyone relies on.

I work with leaders who are great at what they do and tired of carrying everything alone. 

Things move because you’re there. 
Decisions sit with you. People wait for you. 

From the outside, it works. 
Inside, it’s heavy. 

My job is to help you see where you’re holding things that don’t actually need you anymore. 
To tell you the truth about what’s going on, calmly, without drama. 

When that load lifts, even a little, things change. 
You slow down. You think more clearly. 
You stop jumping in so fast. 

You say less. 
And your team does more. 

And there’s finally space to think again. 
For better decisions or for what’s next. 

Without burning everything down.

That’s the work. 
Be sharp as a knife, but don’t cut. 

This is how I work. 
And it’s what you’ll learn to do, too.

Executive Coach & Consultant

Changing career over 40 is hard. 

What's even more difficult is to admit you NEED change. 

Because there are only few things you really WANT. 
And I will challenge you on that one ... helping you face your fears and take action.

Most decision fog at the top isn’t a data problem. And more analysis will not fix it. 

Saying the full truth will.

I was reminded of that recently at a doctor’s office.
 
I was describing my symptoms, when the doctor looked at me and asked: “Did you search online what this might be?”
 
I paused.
 
Of course I had.
 
Before the meeting I had gone through every scenario. Every tiny detail. 11 p.m., phone in hand, worst-case scenarios.
 
But sitting there in front of him, I hadn’t mentioned any of it.
 
And he noticed.
 
“People often tell ChatGPT more than they tell me,” he said.  “I want to know what you might be leaving out.”
 
That landed. I was leaving things out. Mostly the fears.
 
Not because I don’t trust doctors. But because I didn’t want to sound dramatic. Or irrational. I hate drama.
 
He told me it’s common. People filter.
 
And I realized we don’t only do this with doctors.
 
I see the same pattern in the private sessions I hold with executives.
 
They walk in clear. Structured. Composed. Strategy. Options. Risks. It all makes sense.
 
And then we stay with it a little longer.
Past the polished version. Past the first explanation.
 
There’s a pause.
 
And then they say the part that didn’t make it into the first round. The doubt. The instinct. The uncomfortable truth.
 
Almost every time, it’s followed by: “When I’m saying it out loud now… it suddenly makes sense.”
 
The full picture is finally on the table.
 
The leaders I work with are capable. Experienced. High-performing. 

They understand something simple: clarity often begins the moment you stop editing.
 
Sometimes it’s not about more analysis. It’s about saying the whole thing.

P.S. do you search symptoms online?😇

International Executive Coach & Leadership Consultant / People pay me for the truth | Clarity for leaders who carry too much

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“He’s such an as***. That behavior is ridiculous.”

Pfffff.

I could almost hear the air leaving the balloon.

You know the one, when it slips through your fingers and flies wildly across the room before collapsing somewhere in the corner.

That’s what it sounded like.

A client of mine was going through a rough period at work. Politics. Internal fights. Shaming. Blaming.

From the outside, he handled it well.
Calm. Professional. Controlled.

Exactly how a senior leader is expected to show up.

Inside?

Steam. Hot steam, ready to burn anyone who came too close.

And she didn’t want her team to pay the price for that. Or her family.

So at the beginning of our session we made a deal.

For five minutes, she could vent. No filters. No leadership mask. Just let the steam out.

And she did.

At some point we both started laughing at the words she was using.

That’s usually the moment you know something important just happened.

The tension left the room.

Her anger wasn’t blocking her thinking anymore.
And then we could actually get to work.

Not therapy.

Just removing what stands in the way of seeing clearly.

Because sometimes you are not struggling with the real problem.
You are struggling with the emotional pressure building around it.

When the steam stays trapped inside, it clouds everything. Your judgment. Your conversations. Your decisions.

Often the answer is not changing the people around you. Or your emotions.

It’s changing your own direction and attitude toward the situation. Including taming your own emotions first.

That’s leadership too.

And sometimes the most strategic thing you can do… is let the balloon fly across the room.

P.S. What helps you release the pressure when things build up?

P.P.S. Photo credit Tomáš Nosil (you'll see more of his pictures soon)

Leadership is not endless availability.
Support does not mean self-sacrifice.

The most difficult part of leadership is not the pressure, the responsibility.  Not even the visibility.
 
The hardest part?
 
Holding emotions.Yours. And everyone else’s. At the same time.
 
You’re ambitious. You care.
 
So when your team is anxious, frustrated or disappointed, you feel it.  

When a colleague walks into your office on Friday at 4:37 PM ready to unload, you absorb it.
 
And just like when your child is struggling and scared…
 
You don’t get to fall apart.  Even if you’re scared or tired too.
 
You stay composed.  You regulate yourself.  
You help regulate others.
 
Over and over and over again.
 
That is the invisible emotional labor of leadership.
 
This is not another “go recharge” post. 
Rest matters. But that’s not the point today.
 
Today, I want to give you something far more uncomfortable: Permission.
 
Permission to draw the line.
 
To say:  “I want to give this the attention it deserves. I don’t have the capacity right now. Let’s continue tomorrow.”
 
A leadership with boundaries.
 
Because when you never pause the emotional intake,  when you never close the door, your energy drops and clarity as well.


You can hold it all, but should you?
 
Boundaries are not walls.  They are structure. Safety net. 

For you, your business and your team.

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The Battle

Curt Sassak

Romana Prochazkova

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The Battle

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