300: Be the C.E.O. of Your Career: Work from the Inside Out Doesn’t Mean Working Alone with Connie Steele

Podcast
Written by Tammy Gooler Loeb

Play the episode

300: Be the C.E.O. of Your Career: Work from the Inside Out Doesn’t Mean Working Alone with Connie Steele

Agency Is More Than Making Decisions Alone

When Tammy Gooler Loeb launched Work from the Inside Out in 2018, she believed fulfilling work begins with listening to your inner voice. For episode 300, a milestone for the podcast and the first episode after the Summer Series, Tammy and Connie Steele returned to that belief through the lens of Tammy’s Be the C.E.O. of Your Career framework: Curiosity, Engagement, and Ownership.

Curiosity helped Connie find a direction that fit. Though she studied math and statistics, she wanted to apply those skills to work she cared about. A library visit led her to marketing and market research. Later, after beginning her career in consumer packaged goods, she explored technology and made a purposeful move into the field.

Engagement helped Connie learn about possibilities beyond what she already knew. She sought advice, built relationships, and talked with people who understood the industries and roles she wanted to explore. Those connections helped her make career moves and develop the skills to work across teams.

Ownership meant making choices that reflected Connie’s values and circumstances. When she became a parent, she reconsidered the shape of her career so she could be present for her children while continuing to grow professionally. Her path was not a straight line, but each choice helped her move forward with intention.

Connie’s experience with long COVID brought a different meaning to “agency.” When illness affected her intuition and ability to make decisions, agency did not mean pushing harder or controlling every outcome. It included recognizing when she needed support and allowing trusted people to help her take the next step.

Curiosity, Engagement, and Ownership can help people navigate both career decisions and larger life changes. For anyone facing a decision, Tammy and Connie offer a question to bring to someone trusted: “What do you hear in me? What do I keep coming back to that I might not be able to hear right now?” Listening without defending can help clarify what matters and point toward a next step.

In This Week's Podcast, Learn More About:

  • How Connie’s curiosity led her from math and statistics to marketing and market research

  • Why she made a purposeful move from consumer packaged goods into technology

  • How networking and conversations helped her learn about opportunities outside her family’s experience

  • Why career growth can include building skills laterally, not only moving up

  • How Connie reconsidered the shape of her career when her family priorities changed

  • How long COVID affected Connie’s sense of self, intuition, and ability to make decisions

  • Why accepting help can be an act of agency

  • How trusted relationships can support resilience, recovery, and growth

  • Why human connection and self-awareness matter alongside technology

Learn more:

Your CEO of Your Career Move:

Choose one decision you have been circling. Ask one person you trust: “What do you hear in me? What do I keep coming back to that I might not be able to hear right now?”

Listen without defending. That is curiosity, engagement, and ownership in a single conversation.

Interested in individual or group coaching with Tammy?  Learn more about her coaching service.

Stay Connected:

Affiliate Links: Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links above are “affiliate links”. This means that if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products and services I use personally and believe will add value to my listeners. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Follow the show:

About Tammy, host of
Work from the Inside Out

Before launching my coaching practice, I worked in mental health, higher education, public policy, and fundraising. Those experiences showed me how deeply our work shapes our sense of purpose—and now I help clients navigate change and growth so they can feel more fulfilled and aligned in what they do

More about Tammy
Tammy Gooler Loeb
Next

Be the C.E.O. of Your Career: Reflect and Refine with Scot Safon