Hi! I'm Stephanie! I'm passionate about building impactful partnerships, enabling businesses to grow, and making sure the social impact community thrives. With over a decade of consistently generating seven and eight figure annual revenue for companies, I understand what it takes to drive success.

Over the last 15 years working with non-profit, government and for profit businesses, I've developed a unique process for building community and generating revenue through a partnership growth mindset. I've been fortunate to develop programs and partnerships that have touched lives across the globe, from India to the United States and beyond. I've created thousands of ecosystems and opportunities that unite governments, educators, employers, and donors to make tangible change.

I believe that together we can achieve great things and am committed to paving the way for a more inclusive, impactful future.

Stephanie Wilson

This weekend I’m spending time at the ISET National Gathering, and I want to name how meaningful it is to be here.

Being in this space is a reminder that workforce development is not just about programs, funding, or outcomes on paper. It’s about people, place, and self-determination. Indigenous communities have been doing this work for generations, building pathways rooted in culture, community knowledge, and lived experience.

What stands out most is the care and intentionality behind the conversations. 

Listening comes first. 
Relationships come before solutions. 
Progress is measured not just by numbers, but by trust, relevance, and long-term impact.

I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn, to listen, and to be present in a space led by Indigenous voices and priorities. 

Moments like this quietly reshape how you think about the work and how you show up when you return home.

#ISETNationalGathering #ISETGathering2026 #Indigenous #WorkforceDevelopment #Community

Thanks to Jelly Academy for organizing such a collaborative space and to Digital Moment | Moment numérique for the opportunity.

Cross-Sector Growth Strategist | $100M+ in Government & Partner Funding Secured | Nonprofit • Tech • Education • SaaS | Founder – The Uplift Collective

The last five days have been full.

Full in the sense of listening carefully, asking questions, and sitting in rooms where people are genuinely trying to figure out how we do this work better.

Across different events, sectors, and conversations, the thread has been consistent.

How do we build systems that actually serve people, not just programs?

How do we prepare for the future of work without losing sight of the humans navigating it right now?

How do we move past performative solutions and into ones that are grounded, inclusive, and durable?

There’s also a reality I’m hearing more clearly now than ever.

Funding is tight. Budgets have been cut. Teams that once sent three or four people to conferences are now sending one. Many are attending virtually, not by choice, but by necessity.

I’m genuinely grateful to conferences and organizers who make that possible. Access matters. So does recognizing that for many organizations, showing up at all right now takes intention and sacrifice.

What that’s changed is the weight of being in the room.

More people are carrying insights back to their teams. 

More responsibility to listen well, synthesize, and translate what matters into action. Fewer spectators. More stewards.

The conversations I’ve been part of haven’t been about trends for the sake of trends. They’ve been about tradeoffs. Priorities. What we protect when resources are constrained.

Spending this time with practitioners, funders, educators, Indigenous leaders, and workforce builders has been a reminder of why this work matters to me.

Not because the answers are easy.

But because when conditions are tight, clarity matters even more.

It was so great to reconnect, meet new people and learn from so many amazing individuals! Until next time friends!
Wendy Baker Darian Kovacs ♾️ Allain Lauzon Mary Stack, BA, CPHR Jasmeen Sidhu, Ph.D. Allan Govender Virginia Gluska Ulrike Bahr-Gedalia Eleanor Hawkins Nausheen Ali Fatima Saadeddine, MBA,PMP,CHRP,ESPT  Jade (Jadelyn) Psutka Allison Bear BComm Barbara Wilson,🍁CCDP® Lisa Stephenson-MBA, CRSP Kelly Johnson

It was unfortunate that so many people had travel cancelled so they couldn't attend after all - I see you!

#Cannexus2026 #ISETGathering2026 #Community #NonProfit #EmploymentServices #Indigenous #Learning

We have a beautiful owl that lives in the trees near our driveway. Usually across the way. Easy to admire from a distance.

Last night, I went out to grab wood for the stove before bed and nearly jumped out of my skin. 

He was sitting right on the front porch railing. Completely still. Just watching. Probably hunting. Definitely unbothered by me.

I froze. Slowly backed into the house. Turned off the lights.

Then I stood in the dining room, in the dark, and watched him for a while.
No noise. 

Just this quiet, unexpected moment of sharing space with something wild and calm and entirely unconcerned with my plans for the evening.

It was incredible.

Sometimes the best moments are the ones that do not mean anything more than exactly what they are.

#Wildlife #NotAPhotographer #CountryLife 

Alyx Parks and Stephanie Martin - I thought of both of you immediately after it happened.

undefined undefined

The Uplift Collective

https://www.upliftcollective.ca/the-partnership-blueprint-five-proven-steps-for-forging-successful-partnerships

the-uplift-collective

I grew up in a small town in rural eastern Ontario.

When I finished high school, I had no idea what I wanted to be. I just knew one thing very clearly. I did not like school the way it was structured. Sitting still. Being talked at. Memorizing instead of doing.

So I took a year off after high school to try to find my way.

It felt uncomfortable. Most of my friends knew exactly what they wanted to do. Everyone was heading off to university. I felt behind. A little lost. Like I had missed some memo everyone else received.

After that year, I still did not know what I wanted to be “when I grew up.” But I did know I needed some form of post secondary education. I needed skills. I needed momentum.

I chose college and enrolled in executive administration.

It was hands on. Practical. I learned a lot. I worked three jobs to cover rent and school. I learned how to manage money because I had to. Those years shaped my work ethic and my sense of responsibility in ways I still carry with me.

After graduating, I got a job working for a municipal councillor. What started as a role turned into six formative years. It exposed me to government, policy, community, and how decisions actually get made. That path eventually led me into the nonprofit world, where I found my purpose. That part of the story is for another day.

For a long time, I was embarrassed to say I did not have a university degree.

I was screened out of jobs automatically because it was mandatory. I questioned myself more times than I can count.

Do I regret not going to university?

Yes and no.

No, because I do not think I would have thrived there at that point in my life.

Yes, because there were real opportunities I never got access to because I did not have that piece of paper.

Both things can be true.

I am sharing this because I see so many people feeling pressure to follow a single definition of success. A single path. A single timeline.

Education matters. Credentials matter. But lived experience matters too.

Learning by doing counts. Working your way through school counts. Taking a longer or different route counts.

There is no one right way to build a career.

Chart your own path. Pay attention to what energizes you, not just what looks good on paper. 

Choose the pathway that works for how you learn, how you move, and who you are becoming.

#CareerPath #Employment #FindYourOwnPath #NonProfit #Education

Photo is me from 2008, still trying to figure things out.

Some of the most valuable parts of my work live in the things I no longer consciously think about.

After years of building, reviewing, defending, and negotiating government budgets, so much of what I do has become instinctive. 

You stop noticing the hundreds of small decisions you make because you have internalized how funders think, where flexibility actually lives, and which details quietly matter most.

Recently, I had the chance to sit with that experience and write it all down. 

Not the big frameworks or the obvious rules, but the small things you only learn by doing the work. 

The wording choices that reduce scrutiny. 

The assumptions that do not need to be over engineered. 

The places where people think they are locked in, but are not.

There was something unexpectedly grounding about translating years of lived experience into something clear and usable for a client. 

Not to impress. 
Not to overcomplicate. 
Just to make the work easier and less stressful for the people doing it.

This kind of work reminds me why I enjoy what I do. 

Helping smart teams feel more confident, more capable, and less constrained by rules that often feel heavier than they actually are.

If you have ever felt weighed down by process or rules that seemed immovable, I promise there is often more room to breathe than it appears.

#BudgetDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment #NonProfit #GovernmentFunding

One thing I think everyone should try at least once is learning someone else’s job.

Not the polished version. The real, day to day work. The setup. The decisions no one talks about. The small things that keep everything moving quietly in the background.

When you work in teams, so much of that effort becomes invisible. Systems run. Tools connect. Processes exist. You rarely stop to think about how much experience and judgment it takes to make things feel that seamless.

Until those people are not there.

And you have to do one small piece yourself.

You realize how many choices live inside what once looked simple.

Lately, I am spending an absurd amount of time learning tools.
Not the exciting kind. The tiny, fiddly ones. Payment systems. Tool connections. Settings I did not even know existed.

Learning to do something you have never done before, or something that was always someone else’s role, builds more than skills.

It builds appreciation.

It changes how you show up the next time.

#ProfessionalDevelopment #GrowthMindset #Entrepreneurship

I really hate getting a no.

Not because I expect everything to work out, but because I put a lot into the work. Time. Thought. Energy. And more than that, belief. I care deeply about what I do and about the teams and ideas behind every proposal. That makes the no’s land harder than people realize.

Early on, I took them personally. Every declined submission felt like a judgment, not just of the work, but of the care behind it. And honestly, I still feel that sometimes. Loving the work makes you more exposed, not less.

What changed over time was not the feeling. It was what I did with it.

I started sitting with the no’s longer. Looking for patterns. Paying attention to what funders questioned, what they ignored, and what clarity actually meant in practice. Every no taught me something I could not have learned any other way.

That learning adds up. Today, more than 40 percent of what I work on gets approved. Not because the no’s stopped hurting, but because I stayed curious instead of shutting down.

Lately, there have been a lot of yes’s for clients. And I feel genuinely excited for them every single time. 

I also know the no’s will come again. They always do.

When they do, I will feel them. And then I will learn from them.

Because caring about the work is not a weakness. It is the reason the yes’s mean so much when they arrive.

#GovernmentFunding #BusinessDevelopment #ProposalDevelopment

I’ve learned that authenticity isn’t about having a fixed identity. It’s about staying honest as things shift.

I have spent years being the reliable one. 

The person who could hold a lot, absorb uncertainty, and keep moving anyway.

That works. Until it does not.

Because eventually you realize how much energy it takes to live up to a version of yourself that was built for other people’s expectations.

Letting go of who you think you are supposed to be does not mean losing drive or ambition. It means releasing the pressure to look a certain way while you are building something real.

Authenticity is not a reveal or a brand decision.

It is a daily choice to show up aligned, even when that alignment keeps evolving.

And that choice changes everything.

#BeTrueToYourself #Authenticity #Leadership #NonProfit #StartUp

One of the best parts of a panel on AI and the next generation at the AI Policy Conference yesterday was that it did not try to wrap anything up neatly.
Instead, it named the complexity.

AI is already embedded in education, work, and daily life. Young people are forming relationships with systems that shape how they think, learn, and see themselves. Institutions are trying to respond in real time, often without data, shared frameworks, or room to pause.

At the same time, many of the loudest predictions about jobs and disruption have not fully materialized. Change is happening, but unevenly. Slowly in some places. Abruptly in others.

What emerged was a quieter but more useful set of questions.

How do we equip young people to be creators, not just users?

How do we protect without pretending we can stop what is already here?

How do we build literacy, judgment, and human skills that remain valuable no matter how tools evolve?

There was no single answer, and that felt right.

This is long-term work. It requires humility, collaboration across disciplines, and a willingness to sit with uncertainty without defaulting to fear or hype.

If there was a through-line, it was this: the future will be shaped less by the tools themselves and more by how thoughtfully we choose to integrate them.

Panel participants:
Justin Hendrix, Tech Policy Press
Shingai Manjengwa, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
Namir Anani, P.Eng., ICTC-CTIC
Laurent Charlin, Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute
André Côté, The Dais at Toronto Metropolitan University 

Thankful to Mila - Quebec Artificial Intelligence Institute for access to the AI Policy Conference and for putting together such a great event!

#AIPolicy #YouthAndAI #Talent #GovernmentofCanada

Creativity is my word for 2026.

Creativity in how I approach work, rest, and everything in between.

Creative problem solving.
Creative contracting.
Creative time off.
Creative experiences.

Creativity is what lets you ask better questions instead of accepting the default answer. It is how you find options where others see constraints. It is how you design work and life in ways that actually fit.

In 2026, the only box is that there is no box.

More room to experiment.

More permission to rethink how things are done.

More trust in the idea that there is almost always another way.

Here is to a year of curiosity, flexibility, and building something that feels as good as it works.

#Focus #GrowthMindset #HeresTo2026

I never thought I would be an entrepreneur.

In fact, quite the opposite. I was convinced I did not have the “it” that founders and leaders are supposed to have. 

I wanted stability. The person who imagined working for others my whole life and being perfectly content doing that.

And for a long time, that made sense.

What I did not realize then is that entrepreneurship does not always look like taking big risks. Sometimes it looks like taking responsibility. For your values. For your time. For the kind of work you want to put into the world.

I did not wake up one day wanting to start something of my own. I arrived here slowly, through experience, through necessity, and through a growing understanding of what I needed in order to feel grounded and aligned.

Entrepreneurship was not a goal. It was a response.

And maybe that is the part we do not talk about enough. Not everyone sets out to build something. 

Some of us end up here because staying the same stopped being an option.

Did you ever picture yourself doing what you are doing now?

#Entrepreneuship #CareerFocus

Woke up to a weirdly satisfying thing this morning.

I’ve had a watch since July that tracks something called body battery. 

I’ve seen it end the day at five more times than I’d like to admit.

Today I woke up at one hundred. First time ever.

That’s it. That’s the post.

#WeekendVibes #QuietWins #SlowDown

READ THE QUOTE IN THE IMAGE!

Now read it again!

Who. You. TRULY. Are

NOT the version that feels easiest to explain.

NOT the version that keeps everyone comfortable.

NOT the version that fits neatly into a role you learned to play well.

Being yourself is not about being loud or visible all the time.
It is about being honest. With your values. With your limits. With what actually matters to you now, not who you were five years ago.

I have learned that the more energy you spend trying to meet expectations that are not yours, the dimmer everything feels. The work. The relationships. Even the wins.

The moments where things start to open up again usually come from a small shift. 

Saying no when you would normally say yes. Choosing alignment over approval. 

Letting yourself evolve without needing to justify it.

Your light is not something you manufacture.
It is something that shows up naturally when you stop hiding parts of yourself to fit the room.

And the right rooms do not require you to dim it in the first place.

#BeYourself #BeAuthentic #ISeeYou #Leadership #Teamwork #BetterTogether

One thing I keep coming back to in conversations lately is timing.

A lot of organizations are doing the right work. Strong ideas. Capable teams. Real demand. And still, things are not moving the way they expected.

Not because they are doing something wrong.

Because the system itself is in motion.

Calls are delayed or quietly reworked.
Programs get folded into other initiatives.
Priorities shift before anything ever reaches a public intake.

From the outside, it can feel confusing. Like you misread the landscape or missed a signal. In reality, the rules are still being rewritten.

This is where patience becomes strategic.

Not passive patience. Active patience. The kind where you keep preparing, strengthening, and paying attention while resisting the urge to force momentum.

A lot of the work right now is helping teams sit with that uncertainty without spiraling. Adjusting plans without abandoning them. Staying ready without trying to rush a system that is not ready yet.

Sometimes the smartest move is not to push harder, but to hold steady until the timing catches up to the work.

#FundingStrategy #GovernmentFunding #NonprofitLeadership
 #StrategicPlanning #SystemsThinking

Join an upcoming FREE workshops to better prepare for what's coming!  https://lnkd.in/e_KQt4jg

Stop beating yourself up!!!

Don’t think you do that?
Here’s what it actually looks like in real life:
- Replaying a conversation on the drive home.
- Second-guessing a decision you already made with the information you had.
 - Assuming a mistake says something about who you are, not just what happened.
 - Feeling like you should have known better, been faster, clearer, stronger.

Sound familiar?

We’ve been taught that self-criticism equals accountability.
That if we’re hard on ourselves, we’ll improve faster.
That pressure produces excellence.

But more often, it just produces exhaustion.

Beating yourself up usually shows up when expectations are high, outcomes are uncertain, and you’re carrying more responsibility than anyone sees.

It’s a signal.
The problem is that self-criticism rarely makes us better.
It just makes us smaller.

So how do you stop when you catch yourself doing it?

1️⃣  Name what’s actually happening.
 Instead of “I screwed this up,” try “This didn’t go the way I hoped.”
 Facts calm the nervous system. Stories inflame it.

2️⃣ Separate intent from outcome.
You can have good intentions and imperfect results at the same time.
Both can be true. Only one needs fixing.

3️⃣  Ask one forward-looking question.
Not “What’s wrong with me?”
But “What’s the next small adjustment I’d make if this came up again?”
That’s it. No spiral required.

If you’re trying to be a good person and you try to do the right thing, that's all that matters.

Growth doesn’t require punishment.

It requires honesty, rest, and the willingness to keep going.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “This sounds like me” then it probably is.
You’re not alone, and you’re not doing it wrong.
Be a little kinder to yourself today.

#BeKind #PersonalGrowth #FallingNotFailing #SelfImprovement #Leadership #Teamwork

You may not control the events that happen to you
 but you can decide not to be reduced by them.

That choice is one I see leaders, founders, and builders struggle with more than almost anything else.

Because a setback can quietly turn into a story about who you are.
A hard moment can shrink your confidence if you let it.
One decision, one missed opportunity, one tough season can start to feel permanent.

But it isn’t.

You’re allowed to be impacted without being defined.

You can acknowledge what hurt without letting it harden you.

You can learn from something without carrying it as proof that you’re not enough.

Resilience isn’t pretending things didn’t affect you.

It’s choosing not to let them take more than they already have.

If you’re in the middle of something heavy right now, this is your reminder

You’re still standing.
You’re still growing.

And YOU get to decide what this chapter means next.

#NonProfit #Leadership #StartUp #GrowthMindset #Resilience #NonProfitLeadership

I watched a video and could not stop thinking about how early we learn to edit ourselves.

Kids start out loud, curious, unapologetic. They ask strange questions. They take up space. They are fully themselves without checking the room first. And then, slowly, they learn when to quiet down. When to blend in. When to stop standing out.

What stayed with me is how familiar that feels in the professional world.

At some point, many of us learn the same lesson.

Tone it down.

Stick to the playbook.

Do not be the odd one out.

Over time, that sparkle does not disappear. It just gets managed. Contained. Brought out only when it feels safe or appropriate.

And yet, the work that actually moves things forward is almost always shaped by people who think differently. 

The ones who question defaults. 

The ones who see patterns others miss. 

The ones willing to sound a little strange before they sound right.

If you have ever felt yourself shrinking to fit a role, a title, or an industry norm, consider this a reminder. 

That part of you is still there. It has just been waiting for space.

BRING BACK THE SPARKLE!!

Step off the well worn path.

Nothing meaningful has ever been built by people who only followed the herd.

https://lnkd.in/emWvkws2 
His Youtube Channel to give him a follow: https://lnkd.in/ehb-AESd [I couldn't find the above video on the channel]

#BringBackTheSparkle #BeYourself #BeAuthentic

If you have ever hit a word limit halfway through answering a funder’s question, this is for you.

One of the hardest parts of writing proposals is answering every part of a funder’s question while staying inside a tight word or character limit.

Especially when appendices or extra attachments are not allowed.

You cannot skip components. You also cannot explain everything.

So when space is tight, here is a rule that helps.

Every sentence must do more than one job. Ideally three.

A strong sentence should:

 1 describe what you are actually going to do

 2 signal eligibility and alignment to the funder’s priorities

 3 imply milestones, outcomes, or credibility

If a sentence only does one of those things, it is a candidate for removal or compression.

This is how you stay compliant and persuasive without running out of room.

It is not about writing less.

It is about making every sentence work harder.

If you have ever hit a word limit and wondered what to cut, start here.

#ProposalDevelopment #GovernmentFunding #NonProfit #Charity

Growth is what you do with what happens.

That is how better decisions get made over time.

#WednesdayWisdom #GrowthMindset

One thing I wish more people understood about funded projects is how messy they usually are behind the scenes.

From the outside, a successful contribution agreement looks clean.

A defined plan. 
A neat timeline. 

It gives the impression that everything is stable and predictable.

That is almost NEVER the case.

Most funded projects are delivered while markets are shifting. 
Project timelines wobble. 
Plans get pulled forward or pushed back. 
Teams make trade offs in real time, often without the luxury of perfect information.

What funders are really assessing in those moments is not whether risk exists. It is how it is understood and managed.

Strong applications and delivery organizations are not the ones pretending everything is fine. 

They are the ones that show judgment.
An ability to adapt without overreacting. 
A plan that can flex while still holding together.

There is a skill in knowing what to surface and what to hold steady. 
In demonstrating resilience without amplifying uncertainty. 
In showing that the work will continue even when conditions are not ideal.

Funding success is rarely about having a flawless story.
It is about proving you can keep moving when the story changes.

#Resilience #NonProfit #GrowthMindset #StartUp #GovernmentFunding

Entrepreneur / Finance Lawyer / Ex Professional Tennis Player / Author

Winning isn’t just about trophies or deals. It’s about leading with clarity - and living on your own terms. That’s where I come in.

I know what it takes to perform when everything is on the line - first as a professional tennis player, then as a BigLaw partner advising on billion-euro finance deals, and now as a coach to ambitious leaders navigating high-stakes transitions.

👉 I work with founders, executives, and consultants facing: 

- Identity shifts during career transitions

- Pressure to perform at the highest level

- Redefining success beyond titles and trophies

- Reinvention after plateau or burnout

My approach blends the discipline of elite sport with two decades of legal and financial leadership. It’s performance coaching reimagined - designed for leaders who want bold results without losing themselves in the process.

I’m also the author of Winning Inside, which explores how high-performance principles help leaders thrive in business and in life. It’s the foundation of my keynotes and workshops for organizations preparing their leaders for the future.

📩 Let’s connect if you’re ready for coaching, workshops, or speaking engagements.

************

📩 Contact

Workshops, speaking, coaching, advisory: ak@angelakerek.com

Legal advisory in banking & finance: akerek@drkerek.com

Brand collaborations: https://app.limelighthq.com/p/angela-kerek

Website: www.angelakerek.com

🎓 Education & Credentials
- Executive MBA - Kellogg/WHU
- Executive Training - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
- Health Tech & Innovation - MIT
- Certified Nutrition Coach - Precision Nutrition
- PhD in Constitutional Law - Humboldt University of Berlin

🏆 Recognitions
- AZUR Award - Most Innovative Project (2020)
- WirtschaftsWoche - Best of Legal (2021)

🌍 Languages
German, English, Hungarian, Romanian (fluent at the highest level)

Dr. Angela Kerek MBA

Your top performer might be your biggest liability.

Simon Sinek explains why.

Top performers don't miss targets, but
 they quietly redefine what’s acceptable.

They hit numbers.
They deliver results.
So their behavior gets explained away.

“They’re just intense.” (yep)
 “They don’t mean it.” (they actually do)
 “That’s the price of excellence.” (not necessarily)

While leadership rationalizes,
the rest of the team is watching.

They learn that output matters more than respect.
 No matter the cost.
That values are negotiable.

That some people are untouchable.
This is how trust erodes without a single announcement.

The acceptance of these high-performers does influence results.
But they set the standard.

And when that standard rewards ego, blame, or fear,
the cost doesn’t show up immediately.
It shows up later:
in disengagement, silence, and the quiet exit of people you actually wanted to keep.

Great leaders don’t choose between performance and culture.
They understand that behavior IS performance.

What you tolerate today
becomes your culture going forward.

👇 Any thoughts?

✅ like and ♻️ re-share if this resonates
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA for more

Money talks.

But reputation echoes.

A young founder asked me: "What's the one thing you'd protect at all costs in business?"

Without hesitation: Reputation.

Warren Buffett said it very clearly in 1991:
"Lose money for the firm, and I will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation, and I will be ruthless."

He wasn't just talking. During the Salomon Brothers crisis, he put his own reputation on the line to save the company. Why?

Because he knew:
• Money is replaceable
• Trust is not
• Markets forgive losses
• Markets never forget betrayal

Think about the companies that lost our trust in the last decade.
How many recovered?
How many disappeared?

The math is simple:
20 years to build trust.
20 seconds to break it.
20x harder to rebuild it.

✅ Like
♻️ Repost for Integrity in Business.
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA for more.

Mindset & Transformation for Founders & Leadership | 18+ years experienced Finance Lawyer to CFOs | Author | Ex-Tennis Pro 🎾 & Ex-BigLaw Partner💲 | Defining Success on Your Own Terms

Feeling “fine” is the biggest career red flag.

Not because something is wrong.

But because nothing excites you anymore.
Most people ignore that feeling.

Until burnout decides for them.

This is your life.
Your job.
Your career.
You decide.
You transform it.

👉 Before changing anything, start here:
Awareness.
Not judgment.
Not panic.
Just honesty.

1️⃣ Spotting the Signs

9 signs you may be ready for a career change
- Your energy is constantly drained
- Motivation feels forced
- You’re bored more often than not
- Bad moods spill into most days
- Your mental health is taking a hit
- You see no real perspective ahead
- “What if” thoughts about other roles keep showing up
- You keep telling yourself you’re “fine”
- There’s no joy. No fresh ideas.

2️⃣ Evaluate before you leap

- List what regularly zaps your energy and motivation
- Note what you avoid
- Go deeper and question the narratives behind it
- Identify aspects of your job you still or would enjoy
- Create your space to think and be freely

3️⃣ Prepare with intention

• Build skills deliberately
• Update your CV with real impact
• Optimize your LinkedIn presence
• Explore new networks and environments

4️⃣ Networking Strategically

• Build skills deliberately
• Update your CV with real impact
• Optimize your LinkedIn presence
• Explore new networks and environments
• Trust your intuition about fit and opportunity

5️⃣  Then move

• Have a transition plan
• Choose your timing
• Communicate clearly
• Keep promises you made to yourself
• Act — even when it feels uncomfortable

✨ Remember:
Don’t wait until you crash.
Changing jobs is common.

Changing careers is often a sign you want to live fully.
Be who you want to be.

‼️ The purpose of your life is the one you give it.

Do you agree?
Let me know ⬇️

♻️ Repost this to inspire your network.
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA Kerek for more like this.


🫵 Take the first step and join my 21 Day Challenge to find out your next step: 
https://lnkd.in/e6Rz4Uvf

🆓 Grab my Workbook to Make it Happen 2026! https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

Most stress comes from trying to control the wrong things.

For years, I burned through energy like it was unlimited:

- Refreshing my inbox after sending proposals.
- Waiting for investors to call back with the "right" tone.
- Doing favors for people, then feeling resentful when they didn't return them.

I was living in a constant state of "what if."

- What if they don't like my idea?
- What if they think I'm pushing too hard?
- What if they never respond at all?

My mind was running scenarios on repeat.
Rehearsing conversations that might never happen.
Preparing for reactions I couldn't predict or control.

‼️ Anxiety isn't random. It's misplaced control.

The turning point came when I realized:
🕯️ I was spending 80% of my mental energy on things that were 0% in my control.

Other people's opinions? Not mine.
Their timeline for decisions? Not mine.
Whether they'd reciprocate my effort? Definitely not mine.

So I made a rule:
💪 Focus only on what's actually yours.

My attention. My words. My response. My boundaries.
My next action. My standards. My follow-through.

I gave myself permission to move forward WITHOUT their approval.

When someone didn't respond to my proposal?
Data point. Not a personal rejection.

When an investor passed on the deal?
Information. Not a verdict on my worth.

When someone didn't return a favor?
Good to know. Adjust expectations accordingly.

This wasn't about becoming cold or detached.
It was about channeling my energy where it could actually make a difference.

💡 Here's what shifted:

- I stopped creating stories about what people might be thinking.
- Stopped waiting for the "perfect" response before taking my next step.
- Started treating reactions as feedback, not validation.

The irony?
My results improved dramatically.

Not because I cared less.
But because I cared more intentionally.

💡 Remember: 
When you stop trying to control their reactions,
you free up all that energy for what you can actually influence.

Keep focusing on your next steps.
Let go of trying to control their reactions.

That's where your real power lives.

❓ What's one thing you're trying to control that you need to let go of?
Drop it in the comments. 👇 

🫵  Focus on what you can control - pick this as your 21 Day Challenge to LEVEL UP YOUR GAME: https://lnkd.in/e6Rz4Uvf

Teams don’t hide ideas by accident.

They learn to.

They learn when their feedback is ignored.
When their honesty is punished.

When silence feels safer than speaking up.
When they feel that nothing they say or do matters.

Over time, people stop sharing what they see.
Even if they care, they don't do it because they’ve learned the cost of caring.

And that’s how cultures quietly break.
Not through bad intentions.
But through repeated signals that say:
 “Keep your head down.”

If you want better ideas,
don’t ask for louder voices.
Build safer rooms.

💡 Remember: 
Culture is defined as "the way we do things around here every day"!
It is not what you say it is on paper.

👇 Let me know - what means to have a good culture to you?

✅ Like and ♻️ re-share if this resonated.
Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA for more on leadership and culture.

This isn't a practice run.

But most of us live like it is.

We wait for the "right moment" to launch that business idea.
We postpone the difficult conversation with our team.
We delay reaching out to that potential client.

I see this pattern everywhere.

The proposal has been sitting in drafts for weeks.
The partnership conversation that keeps getting pushed to "next quarter."
The business pivot everyone knows needs to happen.
The will to lose weight is there; only needs a kickstart.

They're all waiting for someday.

But someday = never ‼️ 

Someday is a place that doesn't exist ‼️ 

The timing will never feel perfect.
You'll never have all the answers.
The fear won't magically disappear.

Think about it.

That client you've been meaning to reach out to?
They're probably looking for exactly what you offer right now.

That team member who needs feedback?
They already sense something's off, and they're wondering why no one's talking about it.

That new direction your business needs to take?
Your competitors aren't waiting for perfect market conditions.

The difference between leaders who thrive and those who survive isn't about having more information.

It's about acting with what they have.
Starting before they feel completely ready.

Because readiness isn't something that happens to you.
It's a CHOICE.

Your next breakthrough isn't waiting for the stars to align.
It's waiting for you to decide that the stars are aligned enough.

❓ The question is: what are you not doing while you're waiting to be ready?

👇 What's the one thing you keep pushing to "someday" that could change everything if you started today?

✅ Like and ♻️ re-share if this resonates
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA for more on taking action

🫵 Grab my Make It Happen Workbook as a first step: https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

Messy Career? 

This👇 is for you  

When you look at others, everything seems flawless. 
Top-notch firms, great cars, smiling faces, 
speaking on big stages, leading roles,
articles published, and events with perfect photos.

Everything is shiny.

Everything looks perfect and premeditated.

What we don't see is:
- The dreams given up
- The doubts all along
- The random turns
- The "what the hell am I doing here" moments
- The struggle with everyday life
- The anxiety moving along with every step
- The "how long will I be able to hold up" question
- The "I am bored but don't know what else to do."

In fact, most of us are figuring it out as we go.

Most things we have done only make sense in hindsight,
when dots someday connect.

The faster-paced this year becomes,
embracing the unknown will become your advantage.

Why? 
1. The best opportunities come unannounced
if we are brave enough to embrace them, they become magic.

2. Any hurdles that come up, do so for a reason.
Listen to the subtle voice to know when to let go.

3. The unknown is where we thrive.
We grow when we dare to move despite fear.

But still, we are still doing this: 
- Hide our failures 
- Polish experiences
- Pretend we moved strategically

Drop the inner fight 
and stop.

Let be what is.

Because we each have a unique path: 
- Every pivot adds to who you are. 
- Every mistake makes you human. 
- Every flaw makes you become who you are.
- Every hardship teaches you resilience.

Winning means aligning your outer goals with your inner integrity while pursuing them.

Winning means learning, practicing, and allowing yourself to create your life and your success based on your own terms.

- Learning from everything you encounter. 

- Building your "universe", and let others doubt. 

- Connecting your own dots.

- Doing what aligns with your dreams.

What looks messy today will become your superpower tomorrow.

Every turn you take is an experience as you "hike" through your life.

Simply own it.

My craziest career decisions? 
- Fleeing Romania in the communist era.
- Leaving professional tennis to start studying at 24.
- Studying law without speaking proper German.
- Becoming a partner despite not having "required" grades.
- Giving up my partnership to become independent (again).

♻️ Repost if you're proud of your non-linear path

P.S. What did your messiest career moment teach you? 
Let me know 👇

Use my free Make it Happen 2026 Workbook to embrace what is: https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

The word NO changed my life. 

Here's why it might change yours too.

Learning to say no means protecting YOUR time, energy, and personal boundaries. 

And you don't owe anyone an explanation.

The more you say no, the more space you create to say yes to what truly matters to YOU.

For decades, I struggled with this. I thought the more yeses I said, the more people would like me. 

I was giving power to everyone else's priorities, not my own.

Here are 5 simple questions to ask yourself regularly. Write down your answers to track patterns and progress: 

✅ What am I not saying no to?

✅ How does my inability to say no impact my life?

✅ What signals of my body am I overlooking?

✅ What is the narrative behind my inability to say no?

✅ Where did I learn this narrative?

Whenever you say yes to something that doesn't align with your values or priorities, you're inadvertently saying no to opportunities that truly matter to you. 

The initial discomfort of declining requests stings. 

But it's nothing compared to the resentment of overcommitting or the regret of neglecting your own needs. 

What helps you decide when to say NO? 

👇 Share your strategy below.

♻️ Repost this to help someone set better boundaries.
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA Kerek for more insights on growth and leadership.

Wanna make 2026 your best year? Grab my FREE Workbook and get started! https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

Questions based on Gábor Maté's: The Myth of Normal

It started in the 1980s.

It never really stopped.

Tennis has been THE quiet constant in my life.
Not in a straight line.
And certainly not always lovingly.
 
Sometimes intensely, resentfully.
Other times, obsessed. Many times distant.
Often, it just grounds me.

In the center of the focus or distantly. But it is always there.

Over the decades, my relationship with the game kept changing.
At first, it was about learning the rules.
Then, about winning or losing everything.

Then, about proving something. During my studies, it kept me afloat, and I financed my studies just through playing and teaching the game.

Then I pushed it away, and I kept a distance. I refused to see it.

Then, about staying fit. Then, about staying sane.

And then it brought me back to life when I was in my deepest lows.

Now it is teaching me about winning without holding a trophy in your hands. About winning at life!

Same sport.
Different decades, different relationships.
Different perspectives and filters.

What kept me grounded over and over wasn’t motivation or discipline in the abstract. It was repetition. 

The same movements. The same kind of attempt to hear that sound and feel that resonance in my body when hitting the ball.

That feeling when timing clicks. When effort disappears.
It is addictive.

Over and over. 

Forehands. Backhands. Footwork. Serves, volleys.
Hundreds of thousands of repetitions.

When life felt chaotic, the body remembered.
When my head was loud, the game kept being simple.
 
Sport becomes a constant like that.
A lens you keep returning to.

The game changed, and my relationship with it evolved over the decades.
But it always was and is a standpoint that centers me.
It can be so calming when everything around me is reduced to the next ball.

A lot of my fellow players quit.

And I just kept going back to it.
Because it always reflected something that was deep down in me.

Forty years of showing up doesn’t look dramatic. It looks ordinary.
Quiet. Maybe unremarkable from the outside.
But that’s the point.
Some things just need room to evolve with you.
Same court. Lots of new chapters.
And somehow, decades later, still playing.

💡 Much about life is about falling in love with the ordinary - the repetitions.

👇 What game do you love?
♻️ Reshare if this resonated

🔔 Want to practice repetitions - on your own terms for your own game?
Join me in a 21 Day Challenge starting TOMORROW, 10 January: https://lnkd.in/e6Rz4Uvf

Life through the lens of tennis

On January 1st, new partners were announced.

It exposed my real failure.

I never made someone up as a partner.
I mean in the real sense. 

Yes, I stepped aside.
Yes, I handed over my position.

But that’s not the same thing.

Leadership isn’t leaving a seat.
Leadership is helping someone grow into it.

While I was a partner, I didn’t have the opportunity to develop others to that level. I had to focus on performance, delivery, and survival.
There was no room for multiplication.

That realisation changed how I see careers in professional services.

Today, I work with:
- Lawyers/consultants who want to become partners
- Mid-career professionals who feel stuck and need to reshuffle
- Senior partners who are “sitting it out” because they don’t know what’s next

Too many brilliant people wait.
They prolong the inevitable and focus on preservation.
Not because they lack talent - but because they can’t see alternatives.

👉 There is more to life than just self-protection.
More impact. More relevance.
More leadership - even without a title.

Preservation makes you feel small.
Opening up expands the self and the options in life.

And this time, I’m committed to doing the part I once missed.
I help those who want to raise and those who help others raise to the next level!

Congratulations to all newly made-up partners!

Tag someone whom you admire for developing leaders!
 👇 

♻️ Repost this to inspire your network.
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA Kerek for more like this.

Self-asses to see opportunities!
🆓 Grab my Workbook to Make it Happen 2026! https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

DM me if you want to chat about how to become a partner, how to level up, and how to exit without losing!

Image credit Leonardo Freixas - follow him for more on leadership

My runs and workouts now defend entire communities.

Not metaphorically. Literally.

I've planted over 1,500 mangrove trees.

Just by running and going to the gym.

The Active Giving app tracks every mile and workout I log and converts it into real trees. 
Their partners handle the actual planting while I handle the running.

It sounds too simple to matter.
Until you see what these trees actually do.

This video shows a model from a Dutch research institute.
Watch what happens when waves hit mangroves.

The trees don't just stand there.
They absorb the wave energy.

They weaken storm surges.
They prevent coastal erosion.

During hurricanes and extreme weather, mangroves act like natural seawalls.
Communities survive because these trees exist.

Every run I take and every workout I do builds that protection.
1,500 trees growing into barriers that will defend coastlines for decades.

I was already running and working out anyway.
Now my movement creates something that lasts - impact!

No guilt.
No complex offset calculations.
Just movement converted into real impact.

The connection is direct:
Your activity becomes their protection.

❓ How do you create impact - inspire me and the network - I am looking for ideas, always! 👇 

Want to join my Active Giving team?
Do you want to level up your game anyway?

🫵 Anyone who grabs my 21-day Challenge gets access to our group where we're turning workouts into forests: https://lnkd.in/e6Rz4Uvf

Your next run could save someone's home.


✅ like and ♻️ reshare
➕ follow me for more Dr. Angela Kerek MBA

Video from Mehrtash Soltani, Ph.D who's account I absolutely love - follow him for extraordinary engineering stories

47 pages. Five scenarios. Zero progress.

Six words to close the deal.

47 pages. Five scenarios.
A backup plan for the backup plan.

It felt thorough.
It felt smart.
It felt safe.

Then my senior partner closed the deal with six words:
“This works. Let’s do it.”

No justification.
No defensive framing.

Just clarity.
This is something uncomfortable.
Because I wasn’t being rigorous.
I was hiding behind complexity.

Here’s what was really happening:
• I confused activity with progress
 More analysis felt productive. It wasn’t.

• I used complexity to hedge myself
 If it failed, the system was at fault. Not my judgment.

• I was addicted to looking smart
 Simple felt obvious. So I added layers.

The cost?
👉 Complexity is expensive.
It drains time, energy, and the one thing that actually moves decisions forward: clarity.

What helped me change this:

I no longer ask,
 “What else should I consider?”
I am now asking,
 “What actually matters?”

If I can’t explain the decision in one sentence,
I’m not done thinking.

Simple isn’t easy.
Simple is essential.

💡 Remember:
The best leaders aren’t the smartest in the room.
They’re the clearest.

👇 Now your turn:
What was the six-word version of your last big decision?
Drop it in the comments.
(If it took more than six words, that’s the point.)


♻️ Repost this to inspire your network.
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA Kerek for more like this.

🆓 Grab my FREE Workbook to Make it Happen 2026! https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

Silence in meetings is not alignment.

It’s fear.

Fear of looking stupid.
Fear of challenging the boss.
Fear of being labeled “difficult.”

So people nod.
They agree.
They stay quiet.
And leaders mistake that silence for buy-in.

I have observed this in numerous partner meetings.
You go in full of ideas. Fresh perspective. 
Challenging assumptions.

But every time you speak up, responses you fear are:
"We've tried that before."
"That won't work here."
"Let's take that offline."

It takes just a couple of months until people stop contributing.
The start just sitting there, taking notes, and nodding along.

Because they learn, the room didn't actually want them.

The team thought they had alignment.
What they really had was someone who had given up.

Real alignment sounds noisy.
It sounds like disagreement.
It sounds like uncomfortable questions.
It sounds like “I see this differently.”

The best teams I’ve seen weren’t polite.
They were honest.

Psychological safety isn’t about everyone agreeing.
It’s everyone feeling safe enough to disagree.
If your meetings are quiet, ask yourself this:

👉 Your move as a leader: 
In your next meeting, don't just ask "Any questions?" 
Ask "What concerns do you have?" or "What am I missing?" 
Then wait. 
Actually, wait for the answer.

Do people feel heard… or watched?
Because the absence of conflict isn’t leadership success.
It’s often a warning sign.

✅ Like and ♻️ re-share if this resonates
➕ Follow Dr. Angela Kerek MBA for more on leadership

---
Access the Make It Happen Workbook: https://lnkd.in/d6vYf2qd

taplio

The Battle

Stephanie Wilson

Dr. Angela Kerek MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreStephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDr. Angela Kerek MBA's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Stephanie Wilson

Dr. Angela Kerek MBA

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Stephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDr. Angela Kerek MBA's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreStephanie Wilson's LinkedIn Performance