Hey Reader,

Welcome to issue #014 of The Next Chapter, a career planning newsletter for LGBTQ+ professionals.

This week, I'm covering:

• Asking for help (and why it matters)
• Networking with curiosity
• Evolving your relationship with work
• New Year, New Job: A 1-month coaching package

Let's dive in.

Asking for help (and why it matters)

Raise your hand if you struggle with asking for help when you need it.

Yeahhh, same. (I've been working on it)

When something feels a bit off in our careers, some of us tend to want to figure everything out on our own. Maybe you want to prove you’re capable or not feel like a burden on others.

But when you ask for help, you allow others to feel good about supporting you.

History has shown that queer communities are better-resourced and more resilient when we show up for each other. That means both offering help and being willing to receive it.

If you're navigating a career transition, trying to break into a new industry, or just feeling stuck, reach out to folks you haven’t talked to in a while. Ask someone for a coffee chat. Share what you're working through.

You might be surprised by how many people are willing to help.

Curiosity takes the grime out of networking

I recently attended an LGBTQ+ networking event and spent some time chatting with someone who just moved to San Francisco. They’re in the process of building their local network for their business, but they’re trying to figure out a networking approach that doesn’t feel disingenuous or transactional.

If this resonates with you, here’s the shift that can make all the difference: instead of strategizing about what you can get from someone, ask yourself what you can offer.

After every conversation, pause and think: what’s one tangible way I can support this person right now?

Maybe it’s sharing a resource you just read. Maybe it’s introducing them to someone you think they’d vibe with. Maybe it’s just listening to what they’re going through without trying to fix it or pivot the conversation back to yourself.

This mindset reframes the conversation. When you show up curious about someone’s work and genuinely looking for ways to be useful, the transactional feeling disappears. Instead of collecting contacts, you’re building relationships with people you actually want to stay connected with.

Focus on quality over quantity. If you’re attending a live event, set a goal of having three meaningful conversations instead of trying to meet everyone in the room. (Speaking from personal experience, those are the connections that actually stick.)

If you want to go deeper on this, I put together a guide that breaks down how to build and maintain relationships over time:

Evolving your relationship with work

There’s a misconception that career coaches only help you when you’re ready to leave your job. Career coaches also help you define your relationship with work and find clarity about what you want and need, even if you end up staying where you are.

Last year, one of my clients felt disengaged at work. They were mid-career and hadn’t historically invested a lot of time or energy into career planning, but they could just feel something was off.

After deeper reflection and exploration, they realized the issue wasn’t necessarily the company or the team. The scope of their role needed to evolve so they could work more collaboratively.

This month, I had consultations with two different people who have been in their current jobs for years. Both are trying to figure out what they really want and need in the next chapter, and both (wisely) acknowledged that the outcome of coaching might be staying put while making other changes to how they engage with their work.

Sometimes staying is the right move. Career coaching can help you figure out how your work can evolve.

New year, new job?

Now, if landing a new job is on your 2026 vision board, I’ve got a new service to help.

There’s a lot of noise online today about the job search, so I designed a 1-month coaching package focused on the fundamentals.

Goals: clarity, intentionality, and confidence.

This package is for you if:

• You’re ready to look but don’t know where to start
• You’ve been “casually browsing” for months without making real progress
• You know you need a change but can’t articulate what you actually want
• The idea of networking makes you want to hide under your desk

In one month, you’ll have:

• A career mission to shape how you talk about yourself
• Clear job search criteria aligned with what you need to succeed
• An updated resume and LinkedIn profile that reflect your impact
• Target job titles, industries, and companies to focus your search
• A networking strategy to build community and find opportunities

Tell me what’s on your mind

I want this newsletter to be community-driven. It’s meant for you, so it should be valuable to you.

If there's a topic you want me to cover, don’t be shy about hitting the ‘Reply’ button. It might just end up in the next issue.

See you next week.