When Life Redirects You: Women and Life Transitions

 The Turning Point That Taught Me to Get Out of My Own Way

Life has a way of shifting the ground beneath your feet long before you’re ready. When I look back over my journey, I can see a few defining moments, true turning points, that forced me to grow, evolve, and rethink everything I thought I wanted. My husband calls them “TSN Turning Points”: those moments where the plan changes without your permission, and suddenly you’re standing at the start of an entirely new direction.

One of the earliest turning points of my life happened long before I became a dealer principal, worked with DSMA, or founded Drive Her Forward. And like most meaningful women and life transitions, my shift didn’t arrive wrapped in clarity. It arrived as a hard, unexpected no.

When Your Identity No Longer Fits

I grew up as an elite gymnast. It wasn’t just a hobby, it was my identity. I started at three years old, and by my teenage years, my days were split between the gym and school. My dream was the Olympics, but gymnastics has a timeline. If you weren’t nationally recognized by sixteen, the window closed.

Once mine did, I threw myself completely into collegiate gymnastics. Camps. High-level training. Coaches from top programs. I was all in.

But as my senior year approached, something shifted, a quiet internal nudge I couldn’t ignore. My body was exhausted. My knees hated me. Ice packs were practically accessories. And for the first time, I asked myself a question I’d never considered:

Do I actually want four more years of this?

The answer was no.

And so, like many women experiencing life transitions, I stepped away from an identity that no longer fit, long before I knew who I’d be without it.

The Rejection That Redirected Everything

Once gymnastics was gone, I started visiting schools without athletic programs. One university in Southern California seemed perfect. My dad and I toured the campus, full of hope. Until the meeting with the dean.

Within minutes, that hope vanished.

He looked me in the eye and told me, without hesitation, that I would never be accepted.

No discussion.
No grace.
No curiosity.
Just a blunt, humiliating dismissal that left me speechless.

I walked out of that office breathless, embarrassed, confused. My dad took me to dinner by the water, and I couldn’t even eat. I had sacrificed so much. And still… I wasn’t “enough” for them.

It took time to understand that what felt like rejection was actually redirection.

The Door I Never Would Have Chosen But Absolutely Needed

After the sting settled, I kept searching. And thanks to a very perceptive high school guidance counselor, Kansas State landed on my radar. I’ll be honest, when she first suggested it, my nose was practically pointed at the ceiling.

Kansas? Really?

But K-State was exactly where everything clicked.

I thrived academically in ways I never had before.
I discovered independence outside of athletics.
I found a social life not tied to performance.
I expanded emotionally, socially, and personally.

For the first time, I didn’t just live, I loved who I was becoming.

That painful “no” in California wasn’t punishment.
It was protection.

And like many women navigating life transitions, I learned:
When one door slams shut, another one is quietly opening, usually the one you’re actually meant to walk through.

That lesson has followed me into adulthood, into business, and into leadership. The older I get, the more I realize how often life nudges us away from something that’s not meant for us. And those nudges, while uncomfortable, often reveal the next right step, if we’re willing to listen.

Redirection Doesn’t End in Adolescence

Twenty years later, in business, the same kind of turning point returned.

A hard no.
A gut punch.
That familiar moment of, “But why now?”

And once again, clarity arrived later.

Life wasn’t shutting me down, it was shifting me forward.

These turning points have shaped the way I lead, build, and make decisions. They taught me that intentional leadership isn’t about forcing a path to work, it’s about recognizing when the path has changed. They taught me that ambition doesn’t always mean pushing harder; sometimes it means having the courage to pivot.

Most importantly, they taught me this:

Every major evolution in my life happened when I finally stepped out of my own way.

And I see this constantly in the women I work with, women facing major life transitions, women clinging to old plans, women forcing what no longer fits.

We stay attached to the version of ourselves we were at sixteen, or twenty-six, or thirty-six… long after life has been trying to redirect us somewhere better.

The Truth Every Woman in Transition Eventually Learns

I was underestimated, and it fueled me.
I was redirected, and it transformed me.
I was humbled, and it grounded me.

Every turning point moved me exactly where I needed to be, even when I couldn’t see it at the time.

If You’re Standing at Your Own Turning Point, You Don’t Have to Face It Alone

If this story hits something in you, there’s a good chance you’re standing at your own crossroads, a moment where something isn’t fitting the way it used to.

Maybe the plan you made years ago no longer makes sense.
Maybe a door closed that you were sure should’ve stayed open.
Maybe life nudged you, and you’re unsure what to do next.

These moments feel heavy and isolating, but they’re also where your next chapter begins.

Why I Built the Drive Her Forward Community

It’s a space for women navigating real-life transitions:

• career pivots
• leadership changes
• identity shifts
• decisions that redefine everything
• the uncomfortable “in-between” stage where clarity hasn’t arrived yet

Inside, you’ll find women who understand ambition, who know the sting of being underestimated, and who are committed to building lives aligned with who they are now, not who they used to be.

If you’re ready for clarity, support, and community…

Join Drive Her Forward