Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
Bringing together local businesses and neighbors of Cobb County. Good Neighbor Podcast hosted by Milli M. helps residents discover and connect with your local business owners in and around Cobb County, Georgia.
Is your business serving the residents of Cobb County? Then, we need to talk! Visit gnpCobbCounty.com to schedule your free interview.
Good Neighbor Podcast: Cobb County
E43: We Ask Inesse Semeah "What Happens When You Love Yourself Enough to Change?"
What happens when you choose radical self-acceptance and pursue your true purpose? Inesse Semeah knows firsthand the power of pivoting toward authenticity, even when the path seems unclear.
After spending 15 years in corporate DEI work, Inesse found herself increasingly frustrated with how companies prioritized compliance over genuine transformation. She witnessed discrimination investigations that went nowhere and diversity initiatives that functioned more as marketing than meaningful change. The pandemic created a moment of collective reckoning, with countless professionals questioning whether their careers reflected their deepest values. This cultural shift inspired Inesse to launch Pivoting to Purpose, a coaching practice designed specifically for professional women feeling trapped between responsibility and unfulfilled potential.
Unlike many coaches, Inesse doesn't demand clients make dramatic overnight changes. She understands that pivoting happens gradually, with small adjustments accumulating into significant transformation. Drawing from her own experience failing the New York Bar Exam multiple times - what initially felt like devastation ultimately freed her to discover skills and passions that would have remained dormant in a traditional legal career. Now she helps others recognize how apparent roadblocks might actually be redirecting them toward more authentic paths.
The core of Inesse's philosophy centers on three principles: bravery, radical acceptance, and radical self-love. She challenges clients to question limiting narratives while finding joy through activities that quiet the mind - whether through physical movement, creative expression, or mindful presence. Ready to discover what might be waiting on the other side of your pivot? Connect with Inesse at pivoting2purpose.com and take the first step toward aligning your work with your true gifts.
This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Millie.
Speaker 2:M. Hello everybody, Welcome to the Good Neighbor Podcast. I'm your host, Millie M. Are you in need of a pivot in life? Well, one might be closer than you think. I have the pleasure of introducing your good neighbor, Ines Simea, of Pivoting to Purpose. How are you doing? I'm great.
Speaker 3:Millie, thank you so much for inviting me.
Speaker 2:I appreciate that we are so excited to learn all about you and your business. Tell us more about Pivoting to Purpose.
Speaker 3:Well, actually Pivoting to Purpose is a life coaching service that I started after the pandemic. I think the pandemic kind of ushered in an era where people were saying I can't do this nine to five in the office or I can't be committed to work more than I am to my mental health or the things that are important to me, like my family and so, and it was a time where people were just falling out of the traditional, of course, workforce and thinking, if I could do this during a pandemic and work from home, what else can I do? And my service began at that point. It was how do we get to the core of the things that bring you joy and how do we get to the core of who you are? And do that unapologetically and do it, you know, as a means of not just bringing in a new source of income but also just following your life's purpose.
Speaker 2:That's a beautiful thing. I think COVID did open our eyes to a lot of things about you know, you're spending so much time just commuting or spending so much money, just the cost of working, you know, and people having to face themselves during that time, and that's a beautiful discovery of combining making money and what brings you joy. So did you want to delve into more of the specifics of was there one thing that sparked you to do this during COVID, like, how did you get into that?
Speaker 3:specifically, I was in the DEI space for over 15 years.
Speaker 3:And we all know what's happened to DEI at this junction, right, but I also, at that point, was realizing I don't know how to say this without stepping on toes, but you know, dei served more the company than the actual people applying for work, right, and you know it was how do you, how do you move companies past, um, a good, diverse marketing plan for your, for a job description, into, I mean, for a position, into actually bringing in a diverse applicant pool? You know, like, how do we move? How do we move that and move the needle, versus just checking off something that we do because we're we're receiving federal funding, right, or whatever it was, and so, or, how do we get people to actually dismiss people who are discriminating inside within the workforce? Because that was a lot of, you know, I would do investigations and then people were not being dismissed.
Speaker 3:So it was a point of frustration for me, for me and realizing that these are real people's lives that you know corporate America has in their hands. These are real people with real concerns about life, with families and people who just want to be able to provide and be their best selves, and so that was a huge pivot for me as well, again, in the DEI space, in the HR world and realizing that people weren't feeling fulfilled, they bought into a dream that wasn't materializing. So how do we make that pivot in real life? Absolutely.
Speaker 2:So what are some of the myths or misconceptions about your industry or what you do?
Speaker 3:I think one big myth is we're not therapists. Right, we are not therapists. And however a good coach and however a good coach, I think, work alongside your therapist and help you to rediscover what is at the core of sometimes your limiting beliefs or the narrative that you're beginning, that you have believed or are telling yourself. I think that's one of the myths. I think I think life coaching I think people are not understanding that is it takes some deep excavating right, it takes being radically brave and it takes radical self-acceptance and self-love to make the pivot.
Speaker 2:Some people aren't ready for that. Did you find yourself being that person in your friend group already before you decided to do this work?
Speaker 3:So I'm a firm believer, now, that you are born with certain skills, that you are born with certain gifts and you don't just kind of haphazardly fall into something. It's probably something that you've been doing your entire life Right and just never had a, just never had words for it. And so I think for me, I was one of many in my, in my friend group who was doing the work but just didn't, didn't have language for it. Yes, Awesome.
Speaker 2:So who are your target customers and how do you attract them?
Speaker 3:If I am telling the truth, I am looking, I. My target audience is the professional woman who is who has said I, I have all of this responsibility and I, I'm too afraid to make the change. I have too much happening right now to say I'm going to drop everything. And the quest is not to drop everything or to change what you're doing. But how do you radically go? How do you do the deep dive and still be honest and authentic and do little things to move towards what you were gifted to do in the beginning? Yes, so the professional woman who's looking for the change and just doesn't know where to begin.
Speaker 2:It's hard to make that jump, especially if you feel like you're giving up your old lifestyle for something new, especially if it's a more creative space that may not pay the way corporate world pays.
Speaker 3:I understand those fears for sure, right, but it doesn't have to be a radical leap immediately, right? I think there are certain things that we have to work through before, and the change can be little by little, right, and that's the thing. I think we have been caught up in a microwave society that things get immediate popcorn. Things are going to change, my life is going to blow up, but you didn't immediately get to where you are in the corporate space either. That's true, right.
Speaker 3:And so you know it's just as you begin to pursue something new, then it's then the amount of time that you commit to the corporate space or working for someone else begins to shift. The dynamics begin to change. It's just like when you become a mom you become so much more efficient in the workplace. Really, you're not stopping at people's desks to talk about too much. You just become so much more efficient because, at the end of the day, all of this needs to get done. You're not taking it home. You're not taking it home. Work-life balance is important, even more so now than before, and so you know it doesn't require that motherhood, but I'm just giving the example that you know, when you're making that pivot, and if it's important enough to you, you begin to become much more efficient in one area as you begin to explore another, giving yourself permission to do that.
Speaker 2:Absolutely, and so, outside of work, what do you do for fun?
Speaker 3:One thing that I've been doing recently is my son and I. I have a 13-year-old son and he and I race everywhere, really yes, and it's interesting because whenever he's had a rough day, he'll come in and be like Mommy, I'm having a hard time, let's go for a run, and I'm not a runner, so I'm a sprinter. Yeah, and he'll go. Mommy, I just need to run, let's go, he just wants a little bit.
Speaker 3:We go on walks. I am now beginning to give myself permission to do more things now that my son is older, and so dancing is really important to me.
Speaker 2:And so in the body is what I call that.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 3:Yes, and painting and doing all the things and that's also part of what is also part of my practice as a coach is to help people find those things that bring them joy. You know it's not always in the things that are advertised, right? You know it's not always in the things that are advertised right?
Speaker 2:Like it's sometimes it's in the journaling and sometimes it's in a quiet conversation or a quiet lunch, a silent lunch with a friend. So I love that your fun things are physical. You're like I run and I dance and I paint, Like they're all super physical things.
Speaker 3:It's a way to recalibrate my nervous system as well, right? So I am always in continuous conversation, and I'm also in a new graduate school program, so reading is not something I do for fun anymore. So where that was a great space for me previously, it is now more of a work thing, and so that physical activity, however jumping, double dutch, all of it.
Speaker 2:And that can be meditative as well. I tell people we think of meditation as sitting quietly in a room saying ohm. But I'm like, if dancing clears your mind, if painting clears your mind, if double Dutch, you don't have those thoughts running through, it serves the same purpose is to quiet your mind and control your thoughts. So that's great. So let's switch gears a little bit. Can you describe a hardship or a life challenge that you had to overcome and how it made you stronger?
Speaker 3:I have several, I'll tell you. I'll tell you one. I graduated from law school in 2007.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Speaker 3:And I just thought that I was going to be an international lawyer, an international relations attorney who did all types of stuff, and I just couldn't pass the New York bar. And that's okay. It took several tries without any success. But I also realized almost 18 years later, right, that had I passed, I don't think I would have explored everything else that I was gifted with, right. I think that that would have been the end all be all of my exploration of who I am. And now I've discovered so many more things about me, right, I would not have been in this space. I think my entire life has been a pivot. So this is nothing new, right. But that was getting to a point where I had to accept that this may not be the road for me right now, and doing all the things along the way has made me discover parts of me that I would have that would have remained dormant, perhaps even silent, like me needed you, people like me needed you and had you been in New York, that may not have happened.
Speaker 2:We may not have crossed paths. So I'm thankful and I'm glad that you got to take another route and take the scenic route.
Speaker 3:I'd say All the routes, all the routes all the routes you know, and lived outside of the country and have just been been able to identify success and love in so many different ways that perhaps I would not have explored before so please tell our listeners one thing you would like for them to always remember about pivoting to purpose.
Speaker 3:Pivoting to purpose requires gravity. It requires looking at yourself in the mirror and saying I'm going to love you no matter what, no matter what the outcomes are, whatever, we're going to move things out of the way. So pivoting to purpose requires being brave, radical acceptance and radical self-love, in spite of so beautiful.
Speaker 2:Please tell our listeners how they can reach out to you if they're ready to make that change at pivoting to the number two pivoting to purposecom, or you can call our office at 917-242-5235. Perfect. Thank you so much for being here. Your spirit just glows and it's so. We wish you all the best moving forward. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to gnpcobbcountycom. That's gnpcobbcountycom, or call 470-470-4506.