I came in a glorious second.

It's a story I almost never tell.

Not because it's painful — honestly, it's not. But because for a long time, I didn't know how to tell it without it sounding like a loss (or a bit of a brag). So I chose a reframe.

Here it is.

Well into my time at The Richards Group, I was recruited for a president role at a well-known local agency. It was a big deal. The kind of opportunity that makes your ego sit up straight. I went through the process, round after round, and by most accounts — including my own ego — I was the front runner.

Except my gut was also telling me something else.

The whole time, something felt… off. Not wrong exactly. Just not quite right. But I wanted to win. And when your ego and your gut are competing with each other, ego is loud and gut is quiet, and it's really easy to talk yourself into ignoring the quiet one.

Someone else got the job at the very end. A late entry. And just like that, it was over.

Here's the thing though. In that same process, I met Julie Michael. She was the CEO of Team One — a Publicis agency, agency of record for Lexus for over 35 years. She interviewed me as part of the process, and I remember the exact moment I saw her on my screen for the first time.

I lit up.

After 13 years at The Richards Group — a wonderful, entrepreneurial, largely male-led organization — here was this woman. Sharp. Innovative. Visionary. Leading one of the most prestigious agency relationships in the country. And I remember saying to her, mid-interview: “I don't know where this is going, but I want to work for you. Or with you.”

She laughed. Sparks were flying — the good kind.

I didn't get the president role. But Julie was quick to offer me a position leading digital, CRM, and data transformation at Team One. And I have always believed — I will always believe — that she played chess to make that happen.

What came next surprised me in ways I didn't expect.

Team One was a revelation. Brilliant people. A culture built on creativity and trust. I had autonomy, a voice, and a direct relationship with Julie — the kind where you feel both challenged and championed at the same time.

And then the pandemic hit.

I was leading a team of 25-30 people — all suddenly at home, all suddenly scared, all suddenly navigating something none of us had a playbook for. Before diving into any agenda, I'd ask: how are you? Are you okay? What do you need right now? I celebrated small wins out loud. I made space for the messy and the hard. I showed up as a whole person and gave everyone else permission to do the same.

I had always been the "team mom" — the nurturer, the connector. At The Richards Group, that was sometimes seen as a nice-to-have. But at Team One, in the middle of a global pandemic, I realized it wasn't soft at all.

Empathy is a leadership strategy. And it took a pandemic — and Julie's culture — for me to fully own that.

So that's the story I tell. Not the one where I lost.
The one where I came in a glorious second.
The door that closed opened something better.

An interview is a two-way street. They have to want you AND you have to want them. If something doesn't feel right in your gut during the process — that's data. Not failure. Data.

And every no (from you or them), every detour, every thing you don't get — it's clearing space for something else: the hell YES!
Something you might not have even known to want yet.

The detour IS the destination.

I didn't know that when I was pacing around waiting for that phone call. But I know it now. And I'm so glad I didn't get that job.

Because if I had, I never would have found my way to Julie. Or to the next chapter. Or, eventually, to the work I was always meant to do.

Your path is unfolding exactly as it should. Even, AND especially, when it doesn't look like what you planned.

What's a "glorious second" moment in your own story? I'd love to hear it.

#AGlittering #CareerAdvice #Reframe #Leadership