Alicia Ramsdell

What I attribute my success to most is motherhood. Motherhood forced me to become honest with myself in a way I never had before.

For years, I worked in corporate America in tax and accounting roles because I was good at them. From the outside, everything looked successful and stable. But internally, I knew something was missing. I didn’t feel connected to the work in a meaningful way, even though I was working hard and providing for my family.

When my children were young, reading together became a big part of our nightly routine. We would read stories before bed, and I would ask them what they wanted to be when they grew up. I always told them they could be anything they wanted. But eventually they started turning the question back on me: “What do you do?” And honestly, that question hit me harder than any performance review or career milestone ever had.

It made me realize I wasn’t fully living the message I was teaching them. I was encouraging them to pursue lives that felt meaningful and authentic, while I was staying in a career path that no longer felt aligned with who I was.

That realization changed everything.

Their curiosity, honesty, and perspective pushed me to build Mindful Career Path into something real because I genuinely believe in the message behind the work. I believe people deserve careers that support not only their success, but also their well-being, identity, and sense of purpose.

That belief also extended beyond my business. I wrote a children’s book, The One and Only Incredible Me, centered around the idea that you do not have to fit into someone else’s definition of who you should become. That experience later inspired my daughter and me to write Cluck Pup Cashew together, a story about embracing individuality and being comfortable standing out as yourself.

At the core of all of it - my business, my speaking, my writing, and my work with organizations - is the same belief: people perform at their best when they feel aligned with who they are, not when they feel pressured to become someone else.

One of the best pieces of career advice I ever received came from a manager early in my corporate career. I was in my twenties, focused on promotions, raises, and trying to figure out how quickly I could move upward financially.

He told me, “Don’t spend so much energy worrying about the money in your twenties. Focus on mastering your craft. The money will follow.”

At the time, that advice shifted my perspective completely.

Instead of obsessing over titles or immediate financial growth, I started paying closer attention to building real skills, learning how organizations operate, understanding people dynamics, becoming dependable, communicating effectively, and developing expertise that would compound over time.

Looking back now, I think that advice was incredibly valuable because strong careers are rarely built overnight. They are built through consistency, credibility, curiosity, and depth of experience.

Ironically, the people who become the most financially successful over time are often the ones who become genuinely excellent at what they do first.

I also think that advice applies beyond corporate careers. Even now as an entrepreneur, I still believe that if you stay focused on creating meaningful value, refining your work, and serving people well, opportunities tend to follow naturally from that foundation.

The lesson for me was that long-term career growth is less about chasing the next title immediately and more about becoming someone whose work, insight, and presence create lasting value over time.

My biggest advice to young women entering this space is simple: start before you feel fully ready.

So many people wait until everything looks perfect before they take the first step. I did that myself. I thought I needed the perfect business plan, the perfect website, every certification behind my name, and every detail figured out before people would take me seriously.

What I’ve learned is that clarity comes through action, not before it.

If you are self-motivated, willing to learn, and have done your homework, start putting your ideas into the real world. Have conversations. Test things. Pay attention to what resonates with people and what doesn’t. The market gives you feedback faster than overthinking ever will.

One of the advantages of being early in your business or career is that pivoting is easier. You can adjust your messaging, your services, your audience, or your approach without carrying years of infrastructure behind you. That flexibility is valuable.

I also think it’s important to separate feedback from validation. Listening to people matters, especially if you’re building a service or product people are expected to invest in. You need to understand what problems people actually want solved and what they are willing to pay for. But that does not mean every opinion should dictate your direction.

Sometimes the issue is not your idea. Sometimes it’s positioning, communication, marketing, or audience alignment. A small adjustment can completely change the response.

Most importantly, don’t underestimate the value of real conversations and relationship-building. Opportunities, partnerships, clients, and growth often come through people long before they come through strategy documents or polished branding.

You do not need to have everything figured out to begin. You just need enough belief in what you’re building to take the next step consistently.

One of the biggest challenges I see right now is not a lack of information - it’s a lack of internal readiness.

People have access to more career advice, online learning, mentorship, and professional development resources than ever before. You can find strategies for networking, interviewing, leadership development, entrepreneurship, personal branding, and career transitions almost instantly. But information alone does not create change.

The people who make meaningful career moves are usually the ones who reach a point where they are internally ready to take action. They are willing to have difficult conversations, take ownership of their decisions, tolerate uncertainty, and consistently put effort behind what they say they want.

I’ve worked with many professionals who know they are unhappy, burned out, or misaligned in their careers, but there is still a difference between recognizing that and being ready to act on it. Coaching, mentorship, and guidance can provide direction, strategy, and accountability, but the motivation to move forward ultimately has to come from the individual.

The professionals I see create the most meaningful change - whether that’s landing a promotion, changing industries, building a business, or deciding to stay and grow where they are - are typically the people who become active participants in the process instead of waiting for clarity or confidence to arrive first.

At the same time, I think one of the biggest opportunities right now is how much the traditional definition of career success has expanded.

When I graduated college in 2003, there was a much narrower view of what a successful career path looked like. Today, people have access to far more options. Entrepreneurship is more accessible. Personal brands can become businesses. Technology and AI tools have dramatically lowered the barrier to entry for creating content, building services, launching ideas, testing concepts, and generating momentum much faster than in previous generations.

AI, in particular, is accelerating how quickly people can learn, build, market, research, and execute ideas. It allows individuals and small businesses to operate with capabilities that once required much larger teams and budgets.

But I also think there is an important balance to that conversation. AI can create speed, efficiency, and acceleration, but it cannot replace self-awareness, discernment, relationship-building, or intentional decision-making. Technology can help people move faster, but people still have to decide where they actually want to go.

That’s why I believe the biggest opportunity right now is not simply access to tools - it’s helping people use those tools in a way that aligns with who they are, what they value, and the kind of life they actually want to build.

The two values that matter most to me, in both my work and personal life, are intentionality and purpose.

I try to make decisions from a place of awareness instead of simply doing things because they are expected, traditional, or familiar. That mindset influences how I run my business, how I work with clients, and how I parent my children.

I have two kids who are now in middle school, and as they start thinking about high school, future careers, and what life might look like after graduation, I’ve realized I care far less about them following a specific path and far more about them understanding why they are choosing it.

I’m not someone who believes there is only one “right” route, whether that’s college, entrepreneurship, trade work, corporate careers, or something entirely different. What matters to me is that there is thought and intention behind the decision.

I want them to understand that they are allowed to evolve. They are allowed to change their minds. They are allowed to outgrow things. But I also want them to learn how to pause long enough to ask themselves: “Does this align with who I am, what I value, and how I want to live?”

That same philosophy carries into my work with professionals and organizations. Many people spend years operating on autopilot, following paths they never intentionally chose. Over time, that disconnect can lead to burnout, disengagement, or the feeling that they are successful on paper but disconnected from their lives personally.

For me, intentionality is about paying attention instead of drifting. Purpose is about understanding that success is not only about achievement, titles, or income - it is also about building a life and career that feel aligned with who you are becoming.