The

A.C.T.I.O.N.™️    Pathway

6 Bold New Moves to Launch a New Career

By Ekaette Joseph-Isang

Table of Content

INTRODUCTION      1

CHAPTER ONE: The Realization      2

CHAPTER TWO: My Story      7

CHAPTER THREE: Analysis      12

CHAPTER FOUR: Clarity      22

CHAPTER FIVE: Transition  — Training and Tech Toolkits      28

CHAPTER SIX: Integration — Bring it Together      40

CHAPTER SEVEN: Ownership — Tell Your story      45

CHAPTER EIGHT: Niching — Embody Your Uniqueness      49

CHAPTER NINE: The 7 Lessons from the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️      53

CHAPTER TEN: The Life You Deserve      56

INTRODUCTION

“The time when a man wakes up is his morning.”

— African Proverb

You are here because you need a change in your life.

I was once in your shoes, I needed a change and this was the catalyst that led to the pathway outlined in this book. The pathway that allows you to build a career, a life that is designed for you by you — one that is meant to be lived, enjoyed, and loved by you.

That is the pathway that is outlined in this book. As we go through this book, you will encounter the six BOLD steps designed for those who are ready to make power moves in their careers. I have no intention of wasting your time. This book will drop all fluff and cut straight to the chase. The principles that you will find here apply not just to career changes but also to any kind of change that you need to make in your life.

The reason that we have started with careers and using this method to position you for more impactful careers is that career issues have historically been the reason that most people come to me. They are either dissatisfied with their current careers and want to change or feel stagnated in their current career and want to grow.. Their career growth however is not following the path that they envisaged. This in turn impacts their life. They mostly feel unfulfilled and sometimes downright unhappy. When their dissatisfaction manifests in ways that negatively impact their lives, they seek a life coach but soon realize that the root cause of their dissatisfaction with their current state is their career.

They look for answers and find none and then someone who has worked with me refers them to me or they find me online in the course of their search.

Then I share with them the methodology, The solution.  The A.C.T.I.O.N.Pathway™️

And this is the same solution that I will be sharing with you. It will provide you with a roadmap that empowers you to take charge of your life and to create the change that you desire. The exact roadmap that my students and I have used to launch new careers, new projects, new businesses, and enjoy the life that we desire.

This book in your hands outlines The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️, a tried and proven methodology that works for all the people who are committed to their own success.

People whose commitment to self is not just in words but in action. It is for people who want results. People just like you.

CHAPTER ONE: The Realization

"The moment you realize you are both the sculptor and the clay, the dreamer and the dream, you awaken to the silent revolution within, where every breath carves a new destiny."

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

I have always enjoyed work. I enjoy the excitement and thrill of it. I love seeing the outcome of my efforts. So when the work that I once looked forward to stopped giving me the satisfaction that I craved, I knew that something was wrong. I was not sure what, but I knew something was wrong. That Monday morning, I woke up. It was bright outside. I stared through my open window. The sunrays streamed in, hitting the wall across my bed. It lit a path, illuminating the dust particles in the air. They swirled in a dance, oblivious to the fact that a human was watching.

Did the particles all experience a gravitational pull towards another? Was their movement random? Were life events random? IS anything truly random?

A bird chirped. My mom would have known the bird’s name. She always knows. But I don’t. Just that it chirped. Was it a nightingale? I don’t know. It was certainly not my neighbor’s parrot, Inim. I knew Inim’s chirping. Inim, the chatterbox who got excited whenever I put slices of Pawpaw in her cage. I do not know if Inim was female but I assumed so. She always seemed so happy when she saw me, so I joked that she and I were kindred spirits. So she must be female, I concluded.

I wanted to lie in bed a moment longer and absorb the sounds of nature. I wanted to create theories about the dust particles. I wanted to daydream a little more. To dream of the type of life that I desired, where getting out of bed would be met with excitement and not with dread of what hospital drama awaited me.

It was not that I did not love my job, I loved it.

I loved the practice of medicine.

I loved seeing the smile on my patients’ faces as they got better.

I loved going to the surgery department in response to medical consults requiring my attention. I loved working my magic,

I loved the partnership between the surgeons and us physicians.

And it amused me that all that the surgeons wanted to do was cut off parts and turn over the patients to us.

It was time to get out of bed and head to work, but this morning, the angst that had built up over the last couple of months was at its highest.

Yes, I went to work, but the usual excitement was gone. I knew it was time to leave. I summoned up the courage to turn in my resignation that Monday. It was long overdue. My colleagues were aghast. The Chief Medical Director was upset but I was relieved and that was all that mattered. It was an empowering feeling. Shortly after, I started another job. It was from that job that I emigrated to the United States.

Corporate America and Me

The United States offered its own unique set of challenges but I overcame every hurdle and landed in what I thought was my happy place. I built a department from the ground up. Created an entire library of resource materials for my team. Met new people. Made new friends.

My team loved my energy. Productivity tripled. Everyone was excited. But then my old boss left, and in came a new boss.

The new boss was quite an interesting character. She pulled several stunts and made it abundantly clear that it would be her greatest pleasure if I left. She wanted to replace me with her own friends.

But I do not bow to pressure. So while she and her cronies got themselves all worked up trying to play their little high school girls’ games, I kept calm and put my plan in motion.

Having an action plan in your kitty simply makes life easy.

I loved this job. Innovating. Transforming. Mentoring, And oh, the flexibility.

I could simply go downstairs, log onto my computer, and be at work. Nobody was going to faze me. Nobody was going to push me out of a job that I enjoyed. I already had a plan. I stuck to my plan and kept working.

My Morning Routine

My coffee timer was always set to wake me up with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee. My neighborhood bakery, a small woman-owned business ready to deliver my favorite butter croissants on Mondays and Fridays. My little guilty self-indulgence.

My daily routine. Wake up. Meditate. Freshen up. Go downstairs. Pour myself a coffee. Grab whatever breakfast I have in mind. Walk across the kitchen to my home office. Log in and get to work.

Work alternated between meetings, training, strategizing,and executing. Sometimes I would be a part of the hiring process, including sitting in on interviews for people who would end up higher than me on the organizational chart. It helped to see why they were getting hired to work in the C-suite. Oftentimes, they were not nearly as educated as I was. That often made me smile. If you know the corporate world, you will know that it is not the most qualified who gets the job. It is the one who knows their way around the system.

The time had come

On this fateful morning, when my inner wiring was ready to make yet another move, I logged into my system. My inbox already had a few emails waiting. Maybe they were scheduled the day before by my teammates. Maybe my teammates came in early.

I stared blankly at the screen and my mind wandered. I was long overdue for a promotion. Of course, I knew I wasn’t going to get one, not with all the internal office politics. But I did not care. My action plan is an integral part of my daily existence, and it is tied to me and not to a job. My action plan is my personal road map for my career. My life. The results of reviewing my action plan let me know that it was time.

As an immigrant, I was no stranger to change. I moved to the United States at a time when I was already established in my physician career. I was almost 40 and had been a practicing physician for more than 12 years.

I was thriving. Loved. Respected. Living a life many could only wish for. Then I cut my roots and migrated. I started a new life.

I not only left my home and all that was familiar, I completely changed careers. Well ot completely as all that I now do rests on the fact that I was a doctor so I get hired for being a doctor who does what I do.

I moved from clinical medicine into the administrative aspect of medicine where new technology and innovation became my bread and butter.

As a doctor, I was doing what I loved. But you know the voice inside you that keeps telling you to embrace new possibilities and step up to your highest potential? It had been speaking for a while.

Lethargy held me back. Uncertainty held me down.

I had always wanted to move to the Western World, America to be precise. I felt that a multi-passionate person like me would do better in “The Land of the Free”.

I had no mentors, and the few people that I reached out to seeking counsel had nothing but dissuasion to offer.

Nigeria has always been plagued with economic uncertainty and many professionals leave. We leave for better lives. Lives that allow us to take our education and careers in any direction, without limits on resources or access to our preferred courses of study.

But as I conferred with people, I got a multitude of reasons why I should not move. Why I should stay put.

There are no jobs out there.

The job market is tough.

Are you sure?

These all contributed to my delay in stepping out.

And so I found myself doing that again. When it was time to leave my job, I stayed put.. Procrastinating. Overthinking. But I had spent long enough not doing the things that lit a fire in my soul. It was finally time to move.

So I made my decision and activated my personal A.C.T.I.O.N Plan, which is guided by The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️methodology, and that is exactly what I am sharing with you in this book.

It is time to start making your own plan. But first, let me tell you my story. The story of where I am today.

CHAPTER TWO: My Story

"Your story is a fire. It may burn to hold it in, but it will light the way once you let it out. Speak even if your voice trembles; the world needs your truth, not your silence."

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

My name is Dr. Ekaette Joseph-Isang, your Teacher and Elite Instructor.

I am not just teaching you theory; I live and breathe this work.

This work that gets me to help you find your ideal career.

This work of transformation.

This work of working with you as you take charge of your career by crafting a foolproof  action.

Whether you are employed by a person, organization, or you are self-employed, you are in a career.

The goal is therefore to ensure that you make bold moves so that you ensure that you end up in the right career.

I am a Healthcare Executive. I serve as a Transformation Consultant to professionals and organizations. With over twenty years of experience across clinical medicine, health informatics, and payer-provider strategy, I have sat in rooms where people have told me how unhappy they were yet could not make a decision to change. A decision to change what needed to change, mostly their careers.

I have been around people who led multimillion-dollar initiatives but hated their jobs. Some did it just for the paycheck and others just because they could not think of what else to do.

I have not always been a Transformation Consultant. I was a practicing physician for several years but the pursuit of purpose pushed me into the business side of medicine and I landed in health innovation and digital transformation.

The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™ methodology is built on everything I have learned while changing careers, moving into new roles, and changing cities until I found my mojo.

I have trained people who experienced transformation in a matter of weeks, when they applied the six steps, even though my program was originally designed to be completed in three months.

Here is what my former employee, Holly N, one of the first beneficiaries of the methodology, said on LinkedIn about my training,

“Dr. Ekaette Joseph-Isang is an amazing leader. She brings so much energy and willingness to share knowledge and bring out the best in everyone. I've learned more by working for her for one year than I would have by working for anyone else for three years.”

Many of my clients are high achievers and love the outcomes that they get from using our methods and this is because they take action.

The A.C.T.I.O.N Pathway™️ is structured for the bold. The driven. The ambitious. The action-takers.

It is structured for those who want to move fast.

It is structured for those who know that time is finite and want to accomplish timely and sustainable results to do just that.

It is not for those who just want to listen.

Yes, you are here, so I know that you are committed to stepping into your next level with clarity and purpose, and I am here to help you do that. To show you how… How to make bold moves and enjoy a fulfilling career upgrade.

The Comfort Zone

Years ago, I sat like many people do, behind a desk in a job that paid the bills but starved my soul. The job was meaningful. I set goals and aced them. I was successful, at least by conventional standards. I had the degrees. The titles. The meetings with like-minded people. But deep down, I knew I was undervalued, underpaid, and unfulfilled.

Worst of all? I was constantly undermined.

I remember one meeting where I presented a strategic idea that could have saved the company time and money. It was ignored until someone else said the same thing. They got the praise but my suggestions were met with silence. They got the recognition while I got more work dumped on my plate. Not to mention the number of times that other people were often given credit for my work.

It was not until I was told I could not speak at conferences, and teach  outside of work in my area of expertise, that I eventually acknowledged how the role that I was in was not designed to grow me but to stifle me.

As laughable as it may sound, the leaders went so far as to say that if I were ever to be invited to an alumni dinner and had to make a speech, I had to pass the speech through my compliance department for permission.

Know Your Worth

What is worse than a job where you do not grow at work? A job that does not want you to grow outside of work.

Anything I had to do in my private life was to be vetted by them. I look back and find it funny. But a bad experience makes you appreciate good experiences even better.

That company had special rules designed for me -  a combination of discrimination and their insecurity.

But that is not the focus of this book. This book is to teach you how to take strategic action that guarantees results one hundred percent of the time. So get ready to follow me as I guide you towards drafting your action plan and to stepping up to living the life that you deserve. To do this, YOU MUST NEVER SETTLE.

Be prepared to take the bold step and start something.

Note that I did not say for you to quit. I did not recommend that you quit your job.

The A.C.T.I.O.N Pathway™️ is not designed to encourage you to quit your job.. It is for you to harness all your experiences and use every thing in your path as a stepping stone.

So you do not need to quit what you currently do. You will step on it to start afresh.

Just like every new day is a fresh start that builds on the achievements of yesterday, every career move is a fresh start that builds on the experiences of yesterday.

Invest time in your growth and begin to do the things that you love.

I did just that. And that is why I can show you how to do the same.

Go For What You Want

I went after the things that I am passionate about. I love to teach so I became a n instructor. I love to speak and so I signed up to speak at conferences.

I built programs. I mentored others. I started speaking up, showing up, and leveling up.

I took years and years of experience and condensed it into digestible nuggets, JUST FOR YOU.

I became a consultant. Bringing together all the things that I know.

And not just any type of consultant. I became a TRANSFORMATION CONSULTANT.

I showed up in my area of expertise. I trained. I talked. I taught. The testimonials poured in and that is exactly what this book will accomplish for you.

It  will show you your own unique A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️

CHAPTER THREE: Analysis

"Growth begins the moment when we stop guessing and start analyzing, because strategic action is born from the clarity that only deep reflection can provide."

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

The Analysis stage is the time for your Career Path Mapping. Analysis is the beginning of strategic action. Analyzing where you are is the first thing that you must do as you begin to navigate the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️. Many of us view analysis as something that is only done by data experts. Well…..no. We all analyze vast amounts of information daily only that we do not realize it at the time.

We analyze what traffic route to take to save time. We analyze newspaper articles. We analyze movies. We analyse what restaurants serve the best foods.

At the core, we are all analysts, yet, we often fail to analyze the things that matter most. Our actions. The motivation for why we do what we do.

But analysis is the first step to every meaningful action. And to be successful in whatever career that we choose, we must first analyze where we are.

No two people have the same career analysis results. Your career analysis will give you personalized results. It will reflect where you are at that point in time. The personal career analysis framework requires you to carefully document your answers to the questions that we will ask you at the end of this chapter.

Deep down, we all know when it is time to change careers. That time when you start to feel restless. You want more. There is dissatisfaction. Sometimes, you silence that nudging to move on due to fear, and hope that the nudging goes away. Sometimes, you silence it because you know that it requires discipline and commitment, and you are reluctant to put in the work.

Never mind. I am not judging you. I have also been there.

Oftentimes, the thought of all the different steps that we need to take for things to change makes us procrastinate. We postpone taking the necessary action.

The Value of Analysis

Conducting an analysis is never a waste of time. Whether or not you take action afterward, the analysis by itself always brings greater clarity.

It lets you see what needs to happen. It exposes the emptiness in your current career. It shows you where you are plastering up the breaks. The wounds. It tells you that your career needs to change.

But what exact thing about your career needs to change?

Should you upskill for a vertical career change? Maybe take some training so that you get promoted from an individual contributor to a leader.

Should you cross-skill? Maybe learn the skills that help you work in another department within your current organization.

Or should you reskill? This requires you to learn something new and completely change career paths. Maybe you were a doctor and now the tech bug has bitten. You want to study computer science and move to Silicon Valley. Or maybe you are still attached to healthcare like I am and do not want to leave the industry. So you become a health informaticist. That's what I did.

Analysis Exposes Redundancy

Many industries have been made redundant by today’s technology and your career analysis may just as well expose redundancy. Analysis shows you  where change needs to happen. It shows you what no longer serves you. It shows you when it is time to move along. It allows you to gain the courage to leave a redundant industry before it crashes and you have nowhere to land.

When the internet came, many people in print media lost their jobs. Blogging took over. Electronic news became the rave. Newspaper houses saw their subscriptions drop and in some cases, totally disappear. Those who could not reposition themselves to land jobs in other roles within the industry left the journalism industry altogether. It was a dark time. An acquaintance of ours, working in Atlanta for over twenty years as a journalist, became a taxi driver. His position in the newsroom was eliminated.

Questions for you

Do you now see why a career analysis is necessary?

It gives you space to ask yourself key questions that only you can answer. Now pick up your pen and paper and actually start answering the following questions.

1. Where are you in your career?

2. What do you do daily?

3. What do you do weekly?

4. What do you do monthly?

5. What are your exact roles and responsibilities?

6. Are you happy in your job?

7. Will you grow in this role?

8. Is there a possibility that someone less educated than you can be trained to do this job?

Write your answers down. Write them all down. As you begin to think through these questions, more questions will arise in your mind. Document the answers….right down to the nitty gritty.

Now take a journey into your past.

Go back memory lane and write down every job that you have ever had since you were sixteen. The next thing you are going to write down is everything you know, regardless of whether this is related to your current job or not

Why this is important

This will help you aggregate all your knowledge, your skills, your experiences. Bring them all together in one place so that you can repackage yourself and transform yourself into that ideal role that only you will be qualified for. That role that will appear tailor-made for you.

Let me tell you about Amy. Amy was referred to me and we navigated this important step together. This step which may seem easy can prove quite difficult because many of us struggle when it is time to take an honest look at ourselves.

Sometimes, we downplay the work that we have done and think that it is not important simply because we were not exactly proud of what we did when we were trying to get by.

Sometimes, even when we want to acknowledge the things that we have done, we may feel dissatisfied or overly critical of ourselves, believing that we are not good at what we do. However, I want to emphasize that even if you are just at the beginning of your career, there are things that you know and have done before that can factor into the new career pathway that you are aiming for.

If you look back five years, you will see that you likely have many more skills than you realize. Thus, this process is not just about analyzing your current position; it is about examining your entire career pathway. Know that everything that you have ever been paid for has value. Even if you only got a commendation for a boss or a peer, write it down. That shows you that what you did has value.

Some of us have worked right from high school. Some got paid for babysitting in middle school. Those experiences count for something.

How The Skills Can Redirect You

Let’s take the example of a babysitter to illustrate how to frame your experiences. As mentioned earlier, this book is for action takers who are ready to take ownership of their lives.

So you were a babysitter as a young person. You took care of your siblings, your neighbors, or maybe relatives. But what were the skills you needed to be a good babysitter?

The first thing is that you had to be on time. If you were going to a neighbor's house to babysit for them while they went to the cinema for example, they would need you to arrive on time. So, time management is a skill that you already have. For you to be a successful babysitter, your time management skills already exist.

The second skill that you have even as a babysitter is organization. When you work with a baby or a toddler, you have to think of their diaper time, their eating time, their movie time and ensure that you coordinate everything that this little person in your care needs. You can include “task coordination” in your skill set.

Take a look at what you have done throughout your career up to this point.  Leadership roles that you held as a student also count.

Write down the positions and skills you exhibited in those positions. If you need to do an internet search to help you recollect what skills are used in specific roles, do not hesitate to do so. Find what skills are required for those positions, then pick out the ones you actually used throughout your work experience. Some skills listed might be new to you, and those are the ones that you can schedule to learn.

Now let's talk about Am, who was referred to our transformation program. The results of her analysis were profound. Amy was a nurse and the analysis revealed a vast reserve of skills she had never noticed before.

Here is the story she told when we asked her why she chose to come to us before we onboarded her.

According to Amy, people would compliment her LinkedIn profile and her alphabet soup, but she did not get a sense of purpose. Add to that the fact that she neither got promoted nor got assigned the projects that she really wanted. She often sat and stared at her LinkedIn profile wondering why recruiters contacted others for opportunities but not her.

Her profile listed titles, certifications, and long years of experience. On paper, she looked successful. Inside, she felt unfulfilled. The truth was that she had stayed on the same boring career path for years while watching others step into new, exciting roles with equally exciting job titles.

She had let her current position define her, rather than the other way around. She was not the driver, she was the passenger, being driven in a direction that she did not want. And now, she was burnt out, boxed in, and seriously lacking motivation.

The problem was that she had never intentionally analyzed her career path. How could she when she never had an analysis framework?

Analysis does not always mean quitting your job. It’s about becoming aware of whether your current career is where you want to be.

Analysis does not mean that you will move to another organization. It could simply mean upskilling for a promotion.

Or gaining cross over skills to get a more robust role working at the intersection of different departments.

But for the majority, it is often reskilling to move into a completely different career.

How we help our clients

During analysis, we help clients define the skills that they have, And then they identify the skills that they need. Lastly, they find ways to acquire those skills and leverage their existing careers. They do not need to start all over. They need to build on what exists to save time and resources.

Analysis means that you are ready to do something about where you are. It is not analysis without action. It precedes action. It is the first step that leads to the “aha” moment, that leads to you to say “Wow! Look at me and all that I have achieved. I can put all this together now and do even more”, Remember your past wins

Do you remember that tough course? That seemingly difficult skill that you eventually grasped? That exam? That test? That project? Remember those seemingly insurmountable hurdles?

Your first analysis helps you see in one place all the things that you know and have done. That is your first step. The first step in The A.C.T.I.O.N Pathway™️.

A for ACTION. A for Analysis. A for Audit.

Here are  the steps that you will take as you commence your personal career analysis and audit. This part of the Career Analysis Framework.

A strategic analysis will not paralyze you. It will energize you.

CHAPTER FOUR: Clarity

"Man, know thyself."

— Socrates

The Clarity stage is the time for you to get clear on who you are at the core.. This is not just a haphazard self analysis - It is a professional self-analysis. You have finished with the career analysis which is the outer reflection of your inner state. Now is the time to address the core of who you are.

Knowing yourself is a process. Many of us were raised being told what to do. We have never really known ourselves beyond who we were groomed to be.

An exercise that I take my clients coaching through is named,  “Who are you?”

The core question here is 'Who were you before the world told you who you should be?’

That question is pertinent especially in cultures where career choices are imposed on children. In Nigeria where I was born, you only had specific career options in my time. Becoming a doctor was number one. The other options were nurse, lawyer, and engineer. As I grew up and heard myself say that I would be a doctor, I often wondered if the decision to become a doctor was really mine or if it was something that I was groomed to say.

It doesn't matter anymore. I became a doctor and I am happy that I did.

I was good at almost everything and that was the problem. A straight A student, I excelled at everything and even after school, I continued to do several things.

I loved writing. I loved speaking. I loved organization. I loved taking things from chaos to clarity. I’m a physician. I am versed in medical billing and coding which is how doctors in the USA get paid. I understood strategy, so I could do several things, but I was not sure where to focus my energies, so like  many high achievers, I got stuck in the mode often referred to as a paralysis of analysis.

Why we all need to get clarity

I did so many things, felt drained, and could not point at what I had achieved. There are two reasons that people feel unfulfilled – they either do too much and see no clear results or do too little and know that they are underperforming. For most, it is the former rather than the latter.

But the key question was why I needed to do all that. What was it in me that made me feel that I had to do all that? It was the high achiever in me. Being a high achiever does not mean you should do several things and everything. It means that you should do whatever you need to do well.

Many of the people who think that they are achieving much are not lazy. They actually work hard but do not see results that are commensurate with their efforts. It is because they spread themselves thin. They allow themselves to be pulled in so many different directions that they get overwhelmed. So they get frustrated and freeze. They become anxious and paralyze. So getting clear on their inner motivations will overcome this step.

The turning point

I had struggled with clarity also. What was it that I really wanted to do? I was doing a lot yet doing nothing really. If what you are doing does not bring satisfaction, then you are doing nothing. That fateful night, I knew that something had to change. I was looking for clarity because the cloud of confusion in my mind had grown too heavy to bear and I was ready for a shift. I was no longer content with spinning my wheels. I grabbed a pen and drew a mind map. I always keep a notebook by my bedside. I picked up the notebook, opened a fresh page and drew a circle. In the center, I wrote my name. Then I drew the four cardinal points. North. South. East. West. In one direction I wrote my Skills. In the other I wrote my Passions. Then one I went to selected Experience, Lastly, I wrote Values. Under each one, I wrote whatever came to mind.

I went into full-blown mind-mapping mode and drew diagram upon diagram, watching them spill into other pages. They branched out in multiple directions.

I analyzed the common themes and before long, a pattern began to emerge. I loved new things. I loved innovation. And I loved intersections. I had never done one thing and one thing alone. I always did multiple things. Multiple related things.

Next, I went online and did multiple personality tests. Some free and others paid.

That night changed everything. Everything literally changed. My Myers-Briggs defined me to a T. My Clifton strengths profile added more clarity. My DISC profile made me laugh but I was clear in my head who I was. Why I processed life the way I did. Why I wanted what I wanted. And I knew at that moment that everything was okay.

“Clarity isn’t something you stumble into. It’s something you create”.

The Core Clarity Compass (CCC)

If Analysis is the wake-up call, then Clarity is the map. This examines who you are at the core, You cannot build a life that you love on a path that you have not defined.

Here’s how to create a mind map that reveals your unique path:

1. Start with YOU at the center.

Draw a big circle. Write your name, or simply write “Me.”

2. Branch out into 4 core zones - The four cardinal points if you will

●        Skills: What can you do well, even if you don’t enjoy every aspect of it?

●        Passions: What lights you up, even if you don’t get paid for it yet?

●        Experience: What have you done in work, volunteering, side gigs?

●        Values: What matters most to you? Flexibility? Impact? Freedom?

For me, my core values were flexibility, freedom, and family.

3. Look for intersections

The magic is in the overlap. For example, if you love writing (passion), have worked in marketing (experience), and want the flexibility of remote work (value), maybe a freelance content strategy role is your next chapter.

Or if you love teaching and speaking, then a college professor with a dash of speaking engagements might just be the way to go. Remember, we are all multi-faceted.

Like me, I am a doctor, I love the business world, and I am a teacher by nature. I remember having other children over and I would insist that we study before we went out to play. The clarity mapping that made me dig into my past brought that up for me. I stood at that intersection, clear on who I truly was - A Transformation Consultant, moving professionals into embarking on a journey of living at their highest potential.

4. Write 3 possible paths.

You don’t need “the one true path.” You need options. Review as many options as are available. Pivoting is rarely a straight line and the more the options, the more your confidence in your ability to succeed., for if one door were to close, others exist for you to choose from. Nothing is quite as empowering as knowing that you have options.

5. Lastly, ask your friends to tell you what you are good at. This is the part where most people get those huge “aha: moments. It will amaze you to see how the world views you. Oftentimes, people see you differently from how you see yourself, and may even recognize abilities that you are yet to acknowledge in yourself. This insight matters because it reveals the things you do people will gladly pay for.

I remember when I carried out exercise number five, and everyone said I’d make a great teacher. Their answer was unanimous. I already knew this, of course, but hearing it from other people confirmed to me that people would be willing to purchase my programs and invest their time in learning from me. Emboldened by this, I launched my first course.

Today, I'm proud to teach on multiple topics, with The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ as my most popular and in-demand training program.

"Clarity is not found in a shallow space, it’s built, layer by layer, by asking open-ended questions and welcoming the answers."

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

Samuel’s Breakthrough

That helped Samuel, a foreign-trained physician who had immigrated to the United States to gain clarity at the core. Torn between ditching medicine for a new path or sticking it out, even though he was no longer interested in clinical practice with all the hoops that foreign trained physicians have to pass through, he attempted a pivot into IT.  He had started taking classes to work with Amazon Web Services (AWS), He was still confused as to whether this was what he really wanted to do with his life. After a lot of soul searching, a friend referred him to me.

Using the Core Clarity Compass (CCC) framework,  mind mapping, and personality analysis exercises, he identified who he was at the core. He would forever be a doctor. He needed to be part of the patient’s healing journey. He wanted the best of two worlds, a world where he could use his clinical knowledge but a role that would afford him flexibility. To do this, he needed to stay in the healthcare administration space. That way, he could have the flexibility of remote work. As a doctor, he would need to be in the clinic to see his patient. Even with telemedicine, he would be bound by a schedule.

The analysis and clarity sessions revealed a best-fit career for him. Working as a Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) Expert, reviewing patient charts and using his medical knowledge to identify gaps in care. It put him at the intersection of all that mattered to him. Medicine. Administration Documentation.

In the course of his clarity sessions, severa; possibilities showed up. Remember that we recommend choosing a minimum of three paths and to give yourself options.

Samuel landed in CDI for a specific reason, and we helped him transition into a career as a Clinical Documentation Integrity Consultant, leveraging both his medical knowledge and the newly acquired IT skills to analyze the findings in the clinical record and to support proper information storage. He is thriving in this new field. The confusion ended and he has grown into a manager.

Quin - From Teacher to Career Coach

Our clients come from all walks of life and while many of our clients are doctors and nurses, we also have non-clinicians who have used the The

A.C.T.I.O.N.™️Pathway. Quin was always the go-to expert for CV reviews and interview prep among her friends. They came to her whenever they were job hunting, even though she was a high school computer appreciation teacher. She never charged for her services. She was just helping her friends.

When she took our Executive Assistant training course, her clarity session revealed that she loved coaching. We mapped out her strengths and both coaching and storytelling kept popping up as dominant themes.

Today, Quin successfully runs a career coaching brand that helps professionals articulate their unique value through their resumes, with clients spanning five countries.

Ready to get clear?

Draw your map. Take your time. No tech needed; just paper, a pen, and honesty.

Because clarity isn’t just power, it’s freedom. The freedom to chart the course of your life, without fear and uncertainty.

CHAPTER FIVE: Transition

We are in the 21st century, and innovation happens faster than the speed of light.

In today’s fast-paced job market, staying ahead requires the ability to transition into new spaces seamlessly. Success depends on your capacity for continuous learning, adaptability, and proficiency with emerging technologies.

Whether you are moving up the career ladder from an individual contributor role to a leader, moving across departments within the same company, or changing career paths entirely, strategic training that gives you the right skills and tools is the linchpin of a successful transition.

With the Analysis and Clarity sessions behind you, it is time to decide which training you need to take. Crossing over into whatever role that you desire requires training.

Training should focus on a core skill that positions you to be successful in the new career that your Analysis and Clarity sessions have identified as your best fit. Where you do not have a need for core skills training, learn a tech tool. Of course, relevant Artificial Intelligence (AI) software is a must.

Choose the right training like Dan

Identify the most valued skills and technologies in your target field through searches, as well as the job descriptions from the fields that appeal to you.

When Dan lost his job in early 2022, he did what most people do - he updated his CV and started applying like crazy.

Fifty applications later and still no hits.

It was not because he lacked experience; he had spent 12 years in retail as a customer service lead, but his company had downsized due to losing a call center to a competitor. The job market had shifted. Suddenly, roles demanded digital fluency. CRMs, automation tools, and data dashboards had become the norm. Those terms all sounded like code to him because the smaller company that he had been working for was still using Excel spreadsheets to track their customers.

Years of experience without knowledge of modem tech tools mean nothing in today’s digital world.

When he got no responses, he almost gave up. But one day, after months of trial and error, his cousin referred him to us.

Our analysis of his career map revealed the missing pieces. A clarity session confirmed his passion for customer service, but also highlighted that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) was a more comprehensive goal for his skills. We then introduced him to the power of automation, teaching him how to streamline reporting using Google Sheets and Zapier. It blew his mind.

“I didn’t know it was that simple,” Dan said.

While learning tech tools is not always that simple, our expert trainers at The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ Program make it accessible and easy to understand. Dan mastered two tech tools in weeks and was well on his way to a new job.

That’s when it clicked for him - “Nobody really needs another degree in this economy. Most people need targeted training.” And that is what our program does. It identifies targeted training for our clients, most of which can be completed in less than ten weeks.

Design an effective learning pathway

The effective pathway is not going back for a lengthy degree; it is learning the right skills. It is not going back to the university to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on tuition, pausing your earning and acquiring debt that takes ten years to pay off. It is taking a short course, a customized program, and understanding what subject areas you need.

Recall all the years of statistics 101, 102, and up to statistics 401. How many of those courses that you learned in university have any bearing on the work that you do today? Yes, education is always good but education must give you the return on investment that you seek. In the time that it takes you to get yet another master’s degree, Apple has released two generations of iPhones. The technology that you have learned in school becomes nearly obsolete six months after you learn it. What you spend years learning, AI can do in seconds.

The wise man bypasses all unnecessary steps.

Leverage both self-directed and structured training to bridge the gap between where you are now and where you want to be. Learn a skill. Master a tool. Get to work.

The Training Framework

Learn in sprints, not semesters.

Be focused and flexible, Ensure that the learning is functional Do not just learn something because it is trendy. You do not need traditional school or rigid learning. Avoid excessive theory. Utilize systematic learning that builds a portfolio and eliminates imposter syndrome.  Targeted learning allows you to build a portfolio of the work that you are doing which you can show to any potential employer as evidence that you can perform the job that you have been hired to do. There is no need to go back to school or to spend years retraining. What you need is tactics.

Accessible Learning Platforms

Learning is now more easily accomplished through flexible and non-traditional platforms. Unlike traditional school, you can now learn at your own pace and get results faster. Training may include diplomas or certifications, or simply involve gaining hands-on skills and building portfolios to demonstrate real-world experience.

Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, YouTube, and LinkedIn Learning are gold mines but are often not customized to people who seek a unique path. Pick one course. Commit to two hours of learning per week. Apply to jobs immediately. This allows you to understand what the job market is looking for. Rinse and repeat. Continue this until you feel confident.

And if you want your unique pathway, get a coach.

Train for the future, not the past.

The action step here is to train for your next move. Train for the role that you want and not for your last  job.

Choose a skill that would make you more valuable in the market. Additionally, think about gaining skills beyond the role that you are pursuing -  skills that will maximize your relevance in any given role.

There are two types of training to focus on:

● General training which is applicable across multiple career specialties

● Specialty training which is suited to specific careers.

General Training

Due to the changing nature of the workspace, professionals are now expected to come loaded with multiple skills. Be prepared.

The top five general skills that anybody who is looking to transition should be able to demonstrate both in their resume and during interviews are:

● Writing

Every professional must learn to write in ways that allow them to pass on relevant information. While creative writing is for the few who identify as creative writers or novelists, it is expected that every professional should be able to write technically. Understanding the art of writing is mastering clear verbal communication. We write like we speak, therefore our writing reflects our ability to speak.

● Data Interpretation

Data interpretation helps you make sense of collected data by analyzing patterns, trends, and relationships to draw meaningful inferences. It turns raw data into actionable insights, supports decision-making and validates research hypotheses. While data analysis is a distinct field, everyone should have the skill to draw conclusions from simple data presented as graphs, charts, and tables.

● Presentation

Presentation, while largely dependent on writing, is the ability to convert written content into clear, concise information, presented using slide decks and audio-visuals. Every professional must have the ability to present information to audiences no matter the size. The ability to tailor your message to the audience is a skill that positions you as an expert in your field. Join your local Toastmasters Club and practice.

● Project management

Day-to-day work operations, whether in an office or in the fields, require the adherence to project management principles of orderliness  and documentation.

Project management involves planning, overseeing, and managing all aspects of a project, from initiation to completion. It includes resource management and effective communication. We are all project managers, managing simple projects daily. From grocery shopping to family trips. From planning our big purchases to paying off credit cards. All these projects require that we initiate, execute and move on.

● AI prompt engineering

Prompt engineering is the process of creating effective prompts that enable AI models to generate responses based on given inputs. It is a critical skill in the age of Artificial Intelligence (AI). As AI continues to revolutionize various fields, prompt engineering empowers us to extract the most value from these powerful tools. Mastering the core principles and best practices allows AI users to enter instructions into AI tools so they can return the best possible results.

Specialty Training

Specialty training will depend on your niche. When Samuel was onboarded as a Clinical Documentation Integrity (CDI) Expert, we took him through our specialty program “Medical Coding for Physicians”. We recommend this course for all physicians who want to transition into medical administration and healthcare policy. While we do not go to the same depths that we do when we  teach coding professionals, we teach the physicians enough to position them as leaders in any part of the Healthcare Revenue Cycle.

Choose niche-based training tailored to your specific field of interest. Identify it by keeping track of educational developments within your field.

Learn tech tools within your target industry.

The tools you choose to learn should align with the skills that you are building. The new career currency is not your title but your toolkit, and in this case, your tech toolkit.

It is important to understand the application of technology and artificial intelligence to your specialty. With this, you are ready to step successfully in your new role.

Your best move

Pick one skill. Pick one course. Pick one tool.

And commit. Because training is no longer optional, it’s your launchpad.

All of this requires a mindset that is open to transformation. Many people seeking to change careers are stuck in thought patterns that hold them back. They self-sabotage and struggle to take decisive action. While change is hard, staying stuck is harder.

CHAPTER SIX: Integration

Integration requires that you bring it all together. As you go through the first three step of The A.C.T.I.O.N.™️Pathway, you will come to see all your different skills and gain a greater appreciation of who you are at the core. You have identified the training and the tech tools that you need to master, and it is time to settle into the career that combines all our findings.

This is the integration phase where you are no longer pulled in multiple directions. You have your compass in hand and are clear on all that you need to do.

My personal action pathway had shown me how my career up to that point had been one where I went into innovative fields When Nigeria launched their National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS), I joined a Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) and was deployed to launch  a new branch of an HMO in an emerging market. When ActionAid Nigeria started the Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria (ATM) Network in Nigeria, I was the State Coordinator for the Tuberculosis (TB)  arm of the network.  I always found myself at the forefront of innovation.

When I moved to the United States and passed my medical board exams but did not get into a residency training program, I transitioned into Health Information Technology (IT). I took a ten week training, similar to what I now provide. The only difference is that while my training is broad enough to provide trainees with multiple career options, the training that I took focused solely on Health IT. Added to the insights from my analysis and clarity sessions, I embarked on a whole new career.

Several well meaning individuals had advised that I either go back to a four-year Doctor of Osteopathy (DO) program or become a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP).

WIth the DO program, it would have taken me another seven (7) years to start a full-time career as a medical doctor and with the FNP program, it would have taken years, Both routes would cost sink me over one hundred thousand dollars into depth seeing as I would have had to focus on school full time. Thankfully, The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️had shelved years off my journey and provided me with the fast track needed to launch a new career.

In this A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️, seven years of training goes against everything that I teach. I do not say to rush life but once you have done a career mapping, you will agree with me that unless you have a compelling reason to take a seven-year training when making a mid-life pivot, it is highly unnecessary.

I pivoted and became a Health IT Subject Matter Expert (SME). I landed roles training other physicians to use Electronic Health Records (EHR) in their documentation and commenced my journey into digital innovation. Integration is the glue that builds you into a unique mosaic. No two mosaics are ever the same. You become a unique entity.

How does integration work?

Integration is how you bring it all together,  It is the meeting point of all that you are and can do. Integration is the career igniter that most professionals miss. It’s not about abandoning who you were.

It’s about upgrading who you are by fusing your existing strengths with new skills. You don’t need to discard who you were, because that has brought you to who you are. You simply need to reappear as the new you. Simply reinvent and reintroduce yourself the world,

“Reinvention isn’t reinvention if it ignores who you already are.”

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

Integration leverages your existing skills and fast-tracks you to your goals. It  embraces

1. Who you are career-wise based on the results of your career analysis.

2. Your personality inclinations that you uncovered during your clarity session.

3. The new knowledge that you acquired through customized training

4. The tech-savvy you that now has a tech toolkit to help you execute

Put together, these all create THE NEW YOU.

The new you is not just a mosaic or a Japanese Kintsugi pottery with visible repair lines. The new you is a masterpiece, a shining alloy, a new element, stronger and more beautiful. It brings with it all the amazing characteristics of your individual components, but this time only better and more valuable. As the alchemist, you have done your work.

In my own case, I put it all together and became a Transformation Consultant.

As a Transformation Consultant, I help organizations and individuals who are seeking to reinvent themselves and 10X their growth. I show them how to implement the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️in a way that is customized for them. The result? Leveraging their unique selling points to turn themselves into “new products” that can never be duplicated or replicated.

Here are the 3 Ways to Integrate Like a Pro

1. Find Your Edge Combo

Look at your past roles, natural gifts and new skills.

Then I combine these in a way that solves an important problem

Examples

Clinical Documentation Specialist + AI Tools = Documentation Automation Consultant.

Nurse + Data Analysis = Healthcare Data Specialist.

MD + MBA + MPH + Informatics = Digital Transformation Consultant

2. Bridge Your Expertise

Look for crossover roles between industries. You don’t need to become a tech expert overnight. But you can apply your industry knowledge in tech-forward spaces.

Example,

Laura went from working as a Coder and Clinical Documentation Specialist, after helping build a tech solution in her previous role, to project manager at a healthcare risk adjustment startup

3. Build a “Hybrid Identity”

Create a new label for yourself that reflects both worlds. Stop introducing yourself by just your job title. Say what you solve and who you help.

Instead of “I am a medical scribe using AI,” it is preferable to say: “I help providers reduce administrative burden through robotics process automation that predictively completes medical records in a timely fashion.”

Here is an outline for you and I would like you to fill in the blanks.

I am an expert at (insert two things that you do well) helping (insert industries and departments that you serve) to (insert the outcomes of what you do).

Practice that with different words until it feels natural to you.

I want you to know this

You are not “starting over”. You are starting smarter by connecting the dots between who you’ve been and who you want to become?

Because you’re not a beginner. You’re a builder. You are building upon what already exists. All the different aspects of who you are matter, and someone somewhere needs your expertise.

It is now time to own that story and tell it, so that the people who need you can recognize you when they see you. You are the only one who can.

Let's take ownership of our stories and share it with the world. Nobody can do this for us but us.

CHAPTER SEVEN: Ownership

It is time to own your journey and tell your story. You have done the work to get here. You are not just going to wait for people to find you. You are going to position yourself strategically so that those who need what you offer will see you.

That’s exactly what I did after taking the first four steps outlined above.

If you are like most people, this will not come easy. Presenting yourself in a way that reflects all your capabilities can sometimes make you feel like you are bragging.

The struggle often stems from most people’s upbringing, where assertiveness can be mistaken for aggression, and talking about oneself can be called self-praise and frowned upon.

For years, I struggled to tell my story. My immigration experience and the challenge of navigating cultural nuances made me feel stuck.

I struggled to define myself in a way that people would understand what I did until I found my voice.

What It Really Means to Take Ownership

Ownership is the difference between waiting and creating. It is the difference between hoping and acting

It is realizing that your career is your responsibility. It is knowing that no one is coming to find you. You have to step into the playing field. Like a soccer superstar, don your jersey. Take your place in the midfield. Cut through the defenders and strike towards the goal.

The only difference here is that the field is green and that there are not just twenty-two people on the pitch, there are thousands.

Unless you step out and tell this story, you will feel stuck.

"You do not feel stuck because you lack potential. You feel stuck because you have not owned the process of change. Come unstuck by starting to tell your story"

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

Telling your story emboldens you. It empowers you. It energizes you.

It is normal to feel nervous but with the right guidance, you will surmount that obstacle. We all started from somewhere. And sometimes we get into rooms where we wonder if anyone would appreciate our story… tell it anyway. Someone out there needs to hear it. To tell your story clearly, you need digital assets.

Your  Digital Assets

In the career space, you tell your story with your digital assets. Much like a business, you need to brand yourself and to brand yourself, you need your digital assets.

Create your digital assets. These digital assets are:

1. Your resume - the first impression that a hiring manager gets about you.

2. Your bio - which doubles as your elevator pitch

3. Your one-pager… the abridged version of your resume

4. Your social media - specifically your LinkedIn profile.

Resume

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Your resume is the first thing that a recruiter receives from you, and it determines whether or not you qualify for an interview.

A resume is a job search document that captures your skills, experiences, and education in a succinct yet catchy manner that makes employers want to learn more about you. That next step comes as an interview invitation.

Dozens, if not hundreds, of resumes are submitted for any advertised position.

It is important that you write your resume in a way that makes the reader curious about you and see you as an obvious fit.

While many say that getting a well-paying job today depends largely on who you know (and that argument has its merits), there are definitely jobs you want where you don’t know anyone. Without an inside connection to push your resume, your resume has to do the selling for you.

How to write a resume that sells you

I will turn this into a checklist so you can always benchmark your resume. We will focus on the content and not the formatting. You can always use templates from Canva or Microsoft word and be fine

1. Avoid unnecessary information in your personal details. In these days of remote work, your home address is unnecessary. Besides, you never know who will see this document, so you want to limit the sharing of unnecessary information

2. Create a catchy bio highlighting what you have done and what you bring to the role. Many applicants focus on their accomplishments but this boxes you in a role without giving you room for growth. Tactically discuss what you can do in the target role.

3. Make sure your resume targets the job you’re applying for. Very few people have had a linear career path. Avoid including information that is unrelated to the role that you are applying for. I advise my coaching clients to have a minimum of three resumes so that they can be more targeted.

4. Show career progression. The current career landscape sees the average person changing jobs every two and a half years. Some of these jobs may seem unrelated. Phrase your job roles and responsibilities in ways that demonstrate a natural progression, and you can discuss more of this during the interview.

5. Avoid using months and stick to years. When detailing your experience, keep it as a year-to-year and not a month-to-month. For example, rather than writing “April 2021 to January 2022” for a job role, you are better off writing “2021 to 2022”. This helps avoid the appearance of short stints. This is particularly important for those who may be seen as job hopping.

6. Avoid buzzwords and stick to keywords. These are words that are lifted directly from the job description. Make sure you can speak to any responsibilities you outline in your resume, since the goal is to land an interview.

7. Templates handle formatting, but spell check and setting the document language for the country you’re applying to are important, especially for people who are sending out applications to both the US and the UK. Pay attention to the differences in spelling between American and British English.

8. In summary, your resume opens the door, so make it count

I used resume writers before I became a Career Transformation Consultant. Now we include resume writing training in our A.C.T.I.O.N Pathway™️ Training. Learning to write what I call a high-converting resume is the best gift that you can give yourself.

To ensure that you stand out per job application, you will need to have multiple resumes. Tweak your resume for every new role that you apply for.

Many people say that this is not logical and recommend using a standard resume for all job applications.

Even when many do not enjoy writing their own resumes, learning how to write a good resume beats paying a resume writer every time you want to apply for work.

Bio

Your bio is your written elevator pitch. Use this when introducing yourself to someone who wants to know you but does not need to read your entire career history in your resume.

Let’s first talk about what an elevator pitch is, and crafting your bio will become much easier.

An elevator pitch is a sales pitch - the description of what you do in a nutshell. It is a short description, short enough to be shared during a short elevator ride and memorable enough to be remembered.

That is how the elevator pitch works. It is designed to sell oneself  quickly and succinctly to potential employers, contacts, or recommenders. Craft it to hit bullseye.

Practice this until it is perfect and it has three main parts

1. What you do to serve an organization

2. How you do what you do to get results

3. The outcomes of doing what you do

As simple as this is, it can get complicated for people who are changing careers. If you focus too much on what you did, you may not always fit into the roles that you are aiming for.

The key is to move away from job titles and focus on functions, showing how your role helps organizations or individuals in achieving their desired results.

You need to hit strong with clear points. Position yourself as a strong contender for your desired role.

Below is an example to show you how you can go from past to future while showing your capability

Imagine that you are an internal medicine physician who wants to move into population health. You do not have a master’s degree in public health yet, but you have treated tons of patients with specific diagnoses and have developed group care plans.

You can create a bio that speaks to your ability without being dishonest.

“Internal medicine physician managing aging populations with chronic diseases, I excel in designing interventions that ensure that patients understand their conditions and participate in their care. Proven expertise in slowing the progression of chronic disease to ensure better quality of life while working collaboratively with other members of the care team.”

If you are a professor who wants to transition to the corporate world, here is what you would say.

“Expert researcher adept at guiding complex ideas into actionable outcomes. I use strategic communication methodologies to gain stakeholder engagement and ensure timely project completion. Highly sought after for analytical, leadership, and project management skills in the corporate space and dynamic business environments."

Recognizing what it takes to become a professor and the ability to guide students to graduation and success, you will understand that as a professor, you are capable of working in any environment and achieving high-stakes goals, but only you can tell your story.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the social media platform for job seekers and employers. Treat this like an online resume that people can view without your permission.

Copy and paste most of your written resume into your LinkedIn profile.

Get a professional picture - either a full-face shot or a slight side angle with your face towards the camera. A soft smile helps. I know. This is hard for most, I think my smile is overly self-conscious and awkward, but I try. You should too. A friendly look goes a long way.

A good cover image is a must. Use Canva templates. Browse the free templates and see what resonates with you. For the cover banner, less is more.

Should you put the open to work banner?

There are lots of arguments on that. I do know that it helps with your friends looking out for you. But I have never heard of any hiring organizations reaching out simply because someone was open to work.

Headhunters do not need to see that you are open to work. They simply need you to have a profile that speaks to the skills that they want to hire for.

In all of this, the most important thing is to take action. Aim for action over perfection. There will always be something to improve. Your LinkedIn profile is a living document, so update it often. You can never go wrong by doing things that improve your brand.

Be Visible

1. Update your digital footprint.

2. Post about your wins.

3. Share lessons.

4. Apply for that panel.

5. Send the pitch.

Visibility isn’t vanity, it’s strategy.

Client Snapshot: ChiChi - From Invisible to Head-Hunted

ChiChi had worked for 17 years as a confidential secretary and personal assistant to various company executives.

When she came to me, she felt that her career had stalled and needed a reboot. She believed she had done everything there was to do and still felt stuck.

During the Integration phase of her A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️, she learned how to effectively position herself on LinkedIn.

With just a few changes, some wordsmithing, and a little tweaking, a recruiter from LinkedIn reached out to her the day after she updated her profile.

At first, she thought it was too good to be true, but it was real, and she successfully clinched the role.

Positioning yourself for visibility is crucial. When you do that, along with a strong resume, a well-crafted cover letter, and a professional summary that makes you stand out, you will land a job.

So what should you be doing?

Stop waiting to be seen in the crowd. There are hundreds of professionals who want what you want and are just as qualified, perhaps even more. But the roles you seek don’t always go to the most qualified candidates; they often go to those who take ACTION and tell their stories through their digital assets.

1. Start presenting yourself in ways that speak to what you can do.

2. Tighten the professional summary on your resume.

3. Craft your elevator pitch for those networking meetings.

4. Set up your LinkedIn to serve as your online resume.

As a tech savvy professional, use a digital business card. Blinq is the one I use. HiHello is another.

If you’re still using a plain traditional business card, be sure to include a QR code that directs people straight to your LinkedIn page or website, if you have one.

You are no longer just waiting to be acknowledged. You are a leader positioning yourself for visibility and ready to tell your story.

The career and the life you desire start when you say, “I own this.”

CHAPTER EIGHT: Niching

The art of niching is the art of embodying your uniqueness.

Candace had always considered herself just a family physician She had worked in various roles, onboarding new physicians, developing the curriculum for training the medical assistants who supported the providers, and interfacing with the community where the Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that she worked in was located.

She wanted to transition away from a clinical role into a more operations-focused role to provide her with the work-life balance that she needed to raise her young family,

She tried for multiple roles but was told that she lacked the necessary expertise to step into those roles. Feedback was that she had patient-facing experience but not enough strategy and operations experience.

After we took her through The A.C.T.I.O.N.™️ Pathway, She captured aspects of her work that she had often overlooked.

We then trained her on value-based care, risk adjustment, strategy and ops and gave her the language to frame her work. She rewrote her resume by herself and the magic happened, Candace realized her magic wasn’t merely in training new hires. It was in streamlining processes for operational efficiency. It was in how her unique blend of skills helped ensure that all the staff members worked collaboratively as a team. She soon landed a Director of Operations role that gave her back her time.

That’s when she decided to niche down.

Today, she no longer just identifies as a family physician, She is Physician Executive, directing organizational operations and engaging providers to drive positive patient outcomes.

What Is a Niche?

A niche is not just about a job title. It’s a strategic positioning. It means being recognized as the go-to expert who can deliver specific outcomes in a unique way. It’s how you combine what you’re good at with who you serve and the results that you deliver.

"The riches are in the niches and not just financially, but in clarity, confidence, and career control."

— Ekaette Joseph-Isang

I saw the value of niching firsthand in 2022 when an executive reached out to me. He was looking for a unique combination of skill sets - a medical doctor who understood clinical documentation and coding. I fit the bill perfectly, not just because of my credentials, but due to my consistent personal branding. I had all my alphabets, the acronyms of my credentials displayed on my LinkedIn profile

By integrating my skills, taking ownership of my story, and showcasing my expertise through my resume and LinkedIn profile, I established myself as “The Multilingual Doctor”.

When it comes to healthcare, I am multilingual. I am a physician. I am also a medical coding expert, fluent in the language of the health insurance and managed care companies. I speak the language of utilization management. And most importantly, I play with technology.

Everyone needs technology. The customer service person. The project manager. The writer. The content creator.

You do too.

Technology is THE GOLD STANDARD.

Here’s How to Carve Out Your Career Niche

1. Identify the Skill Blend Only You Have

Look at your experience, passions, and personality. What have you done across roles that people always praise you for? That’s a clue.

●        Maybe it’s storytelling + strategy.

●        Or empathy + efficiency.

●        Or coaching + tech.

●        Or medicine + medical coding

Your superpower lies in your intersections.

2. Define the People You Help

Your niche becomes stronger when you know your audience.

Ask yourself:

● Who sought me out to work with me?

● Who needs what I offer?

● Who is already paying for this solution?

● Who is complaining about something that I can solve?

Hint: People pay faster when they feel that you “get” their problem.

3. Craft a Signature Offer or Brand

Don’t be a “Jack of all trades.” Be the go-to person for a specific result.

Examples,

● “I help mid-level professionals land remote jobs by repositioning their expertise

●  “I teach African creatives how to package their skills into profitable coaching offers.”

● “I help NGO teams use storytelling and case studies to win grants.”

● “I help physicians pivot into flexible, unique, non-clinical careers.”

● “I help technology experts transition into the healthcare space.”

Now, that’s a niche.

You Are the Niche

The biggest myth is thinking that you have to fit into a job box.

No, you get to create your category.

You are not meant to blend in. You are here to stand out.

Your journey, your voice, your experience - they make you non-replicable.

So don’t chase crowded titles. Build a niche where you’re the only one who fits.

CHAPTER NINE:

The 7 Lessons from the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️

Before we close, let’s review what you’ve learned.

1. A is for Analysis.

This is where we all started when learning to read. The first step when deciding it is time to change. Analysis helps you plan.

You must analyze your career and map it out. Conduct a career audit. Ask yourself pertinent questions and answer them as truthfully as you can. You will need to see where you came from in order to see where you are going.

2. Clarity is the next step.

You must define who you are and what you enjoy. Take multiple personality tests and combine the results. In the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️, We provide you with our unique combination of personality tests.

Examine the things that you enjoy and those that light a fire in you. Start with the end in mind. Define what outcomes you want, and when unsure, ask friends to describe you. It will blow your mind just how much the people around you believe in you. Now you can leverage that and believe in yourself.

3. Transitioning requires transformation

Gain new skills and transform your career.Train and improve on your existing skills by learning what is new and in-demand. No lengthy schooling, no extra degrees. Just market-ready knowledge.

Technology is today's oxygen. Inhale it. Learn a couple of easy-to-master tools. Just like you use your phone, make technology a second nature. Open those apps and click away. Practice makes perfect.

4. Integration makes you whole

Bring it all together and embrace your unique role. When in doubt, think of yourself as a subject matter expert, a consultant, or a leader in what you know best and move forward with confidence. Own your new identity with panache and style. Understand that the future belongs to those who innovate. Do not be afraid to give yourself a name.

I am a scientist who loves the arts and creativity. I call myself “The Artistic Scientist.”

5. Ownership showcases you

Embrace your new identity and share it in a way that only you can, whether through words on paper or digitally. Share it in print. Share it on social media.

Create your digital assets: your resume, bio, professional summary, elevator pitch, and LinkedIn summary. Your story is your superpower. Learn how to tell it, sell it, and position it for the life that you desire.

6. Niching makes you unique

In Niching, it doesn't matter who else has the same credentials as you. The unique factor is YOU. Your journey has been different and will continue to be different. There are aspects of you that nobody else can replicate.

You might be the empathetic doctor who listens more than others, attracting patients who seek that quality or the doctor who is open to alternative treatments.

Perhaps you’re an executive assistant who speaks three languages and can work for multinational organizations, or the project manager who can adapt across various sectors.

The niche is yours to define after you own your story and tell it.

7. ACTION

Lastly, the seventh step is the most crucial: ACTION.

This final step embodies everything we’ve discussed.

Many will read books like this, enjoy them, identify with the characters but do nothing. If you have read this book to this point, you will not be one of them.

You now understand that profitable career pivots are possible, and necessary.

You’ve seen stories, strategies, and scripts. It’s time to take ACTION and embark on the life that you want.

What you do with this knowledge will define your next chapter.

CHAPTER TEN:

Stay With Me and Step into the Life You Deserve

The journey doesn’t end here. This is just the beginning. But now, you know what to do in seven easy steps.

This book was an invitation. But your real transformation begins with ACTION.

If you’re serious about stepping into a career that pays more, feels better, and fits who you’re becoming, then it’s time to go deeper.

🎯 Here’s What I’m Offering:

A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ Career Coaching Program

A 10-week personalized experience designed for professionals ready to:

●        Gain clarity on their next career path

●        Reposition their skills for higher-income roles

●        Develop a personal brand that gets noticed

●        Create a pivot plan that balances boldness and stability

●        Start earning more with less burnout

💬 Hear from Real Clients:

“Before Ekaette’s program, I was stuck in a job I hated. Now I’m earning 50% more doing what I love.” — Chioma A., Nigeria

“I thought a career change at 45 was too late. Now I’m leading a global team remotely. Best investment ever.” — David M., UK

“This wasn’t just career coaching, it was life re-alignment. Ekaette helped me believe again.” — Henrietta, Canada

NOW IS YOUR TIME

If you’ve read this far, your future self is already clapping for you. Let’s make the pivot together so you become your version 2.0.

Message me on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejisang to join the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ Program and give yourself the opportunity for a successful pivot.

Just like Winnie did. She's a physician who went from working night shifts in hospitals to successfully becoming a flexible clinical quality reviewer. Since then, she has continued to refer new clients to me. Like she says whenever her referrals report their own success, “I trust your government.”

With this training, you will transition into in-demand, high-impact, high-value careers.

The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ is a ten-week coaching program guaranteed to help you transition to a career that is uniquely you - satisfying and financially rewarding.

Just like I transformed from an everyday physician to a Transformation Consultant serving high-performing teams and individuals, you can follow The A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ and do the same.

Work in the roles that you deserve. Earn the compensation that you merit. Use skills that you already have to create the life that you need.

There are three elements in the success equation - your coach, your resources, and you.

And you are the most important variable in that equation, determining whether you go forward or stay the same.

As your coach, I have started you on your journey to your dream life and will continue to give you the resources that I have created from years of experience. And it is your responsibility as a high achiever to take the next steps.

The next chapter of your career starts now.

Message me at https://www.linkedin.com/in/ejisang to join the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️ Program.

See you on the inside.

Ekaette Joseph-Isang,

Your Teacher, Guide, and Transformation Consultant

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION      1

CHAPTER ONE: The Realization      2

CHAPTER TWO: My Story      7

CHAPTER THREE: Analysis      12

CHAPTER FOUR: Clarity      22

CHAPTER FIVE: Transition — Training and Tech Toolkits      28

CHAPTER SIX: Integration — Bring it Together      40

CHAPTER SEVEN: Ownership —

CHAPTER EIGHT: Niching —

CHAPTER NINE:

The 7 Lessons from the A.C.T.I.O.N. Pathway™️      53

CHAPTER TEN:

The

Life You Deserve      56