Career coaching gets described in a lot of different ways, some of which make it sound like a turbo-charged performance review and others that make it sound like therapy with a CV attached. Neither of those is quite right.
If you are a Black professional woman thinking about career coaching, this is what it actually involves, what it can and cannot do, and how you will know whether it is having an effect.
What career coaching is actually for
Career coaching is most useful when you know that something in your working life needs to change, but you are not sure exactly what, or you know what needs to change but you cannot seem to move on it.
That might look like a career plateau where you are performing well but not progressing. It might be a leadership transition where the step up is bigger than you expected. It might be the slow recognition that you have stayed in a role or an organisation longer than you should have, and the paralysis of not knowing what comes next.
It can also be something more internal: the confidence erosion that happens over years in environments that do not fully support you, the imposter syndrome that persists regardless of your record, or the need to understand your own patterns before you make another big decision.
What it looks like in practice
In my practice, I work in a six-session package, fortnightly. Each session has a focus. We are not just talking about your week. We are working on something specific: a belief that is driving a pattern, a decision you have been avoiding, a way of responding to challenge that is costing you more than it gives.
The fortnightly rhythm is deliberate. You need time between sessions to try things, to notice what comes up, and to bring that back into the next conversation. The work happens between sessions as much as during them.
Why working with a Black coach matters for some people
Not everyone needs to work with a coach who shares their background. But for many Black women navigating corporate environments, there is a practical value in working with someone who does not require you to explain the context before you can get to the work.
The experience of being underrepresented in leadership, of managing visibility and scrutiny simultaneously, of code-switching across different professional contexts: these are not side notes to the coaching conversation. They are often central to it. A coach who understands them from the inside can move faster and go deeper than one who is encountering them for the first time in your sessions.
I spent nearly two decades in corporate environments as a Black woman. That is not a credential I list for decoration. It shapes how I listen and what I know to ask.
How to know if it’s working
Coaching does not always feel productive in the moment. Some of the most useful sessions involve sitting with something uncomfortable rather than arriving at a clean resolution. That is part of the process.
But over the course of a six-session package, you should start to notice: more clarity about what you actually want, as distinct from what you think you should want. A shift in how you respond to the situations that used to derail you. Decisions that feel more grounded and less reactive. A sense of your own priorities that is yours, not shaped by other people’s expectations.
If none of that is happening by session three or four, it is worth naming that in the session. Good coaching involves honest feedback in both directions.
Where to start
The first step is a free 15-minute clarity call. In that conversation, I will ask you what is going on, and we will work out together whether coaching is the right fit and whether I am the right person to support you. It is not a sales call. You will not be pressured into anything.
If you have been thinking about career coaching and wondering whether it would actually help, the call is the lowest-friction way to find out.
Book your free 15-minute clarity call at anniecampbell-lifecoach.com.
