We’ve all had moments in our careers when we’ve felt stuck, at a crossroads, or unsure of our next move.

Just like everything in life, our work can be unpredictable, and sometimes we need a helping hand to be able to see clearly through the fog and reach towards the goals that we know we’re capable of achieving. At these moments, it can really help to seek the advice of a career coach.

If you’re at a point in your career where you feel like you’d benefit from some tailored, expert advice, then good news - we have now launched a brand new career advice column, Ask Skyla, giving you unprecedented access to our resident career coach, who can help with all your career questions.

Taking the form of a bi-weekly column, published right here on EDIT, Ask Skyla will feature an anonymous reader question answered by career coach and work expert, Skyla Grayce. 

Ready to hear more about Skyla and our new career advice column? Read on to learn how you could receive expert advice…

MEET SKYLA

Skyla Grayce is our resident AllBright career coach, as well as the creator & host of Career Accelerator, the 6-week online course developed to help you supercharge your career.

Skyla has been working with women worldwide for over a decade to create books, brands and businesses. She has now helped hundreds of women to step forward in their career dreams through her coaching programmes, original online courses and writing.  Her advice is anchored by her own portfolio career, making plenty of mistakes and overcoming multiple setbacks along the way. A truly authentic voice, her wisdom is hard-earned, not parroted from reading one too many self-help books. Committed to figuring out what it will take to step fully into Skyla’s own potential she has found herself trained as; a transcendental meditation teacher spent 6 years studying embodiment & self-inquiry with an elder in the mountains of southern Spain and recently became certified as a Trauma-Informed Somatic practitioner.  

Q&A WITH SKYLA

First of all, let’s start with the basics… How does the column work?

If you would like to submit a question, simply write an email into careeradvice@allbright.co sharing your career question, struggle or situation. Every two weeks our team will select a letter or email and post my response here on Edit, sharing both your anonymous letter and my response.

Where did the idea for this column come from?

Running the coaching sessions for CA I was really taken back by the incredible questions that kept coming each week and how the main aspect of my coaching container was to facilitate and support the group in gaining the confidence they needed to take the action they already knew they needed to take. The feedback from the course was that this was one of the most powerful aspects of the course and I felt strongly that we should open this up to more women who needed this level of support. Especially as so many of our questions are shared questions, questions or experiences that we are not alone in. One women’s experience is so often relatable and the response I share is useful for everyone. 

What’s different about asking Skyla, rather than friends or family?

Often when friends and family go to give advice it will come from their own experience and the wisdom of how they navigated that time or incident. This can sometimes be inspiring or it can be jarring. Your way through a tricky time will be yours and ultimately up to you to make the choices you need to make. This is why I will always receive advice lightly and offer it in the same way. Empowering the person who stands in front of me, or behind the email, they write, to take what resonates and leave the rest. What’s different about ‘Ask Skyla’ is that I don’t know you. I am not emotionally attached to our relationship, there is no bias or expectation from me on how this turns out. I am here to listen to what is not said in the letters. The gaps between sentences are what guide me in finding the right questions to ask you. In short, I am not trying to save you, teach you or advise you on what is best for you. You know what’s best for you. 

I think Winnie the pooh ( A A Mile ) says this the best; “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you know, smarter than you think.” Trust me! 

Who do you go to for advice?

Great question. I am not such a big fan of getting advice (says the writer of an advice column). I am more about sound-boarding something I am stuck on and getting support to find the key questions I need to start asking myself. They present an opportunity for me to go deeper and be radically honest with myself. Sometimes I can do this on my own and other times I need support for this process and to be witnessed. This is when I will reach out to some of my wisest friends, chosen teachers or experts who, if needs be, I will book a session with to work on a specific area of my life that needs specialist attention. This level of support serves me to find ease and clarity. Both are vital when faced with the big decisions in our lives and careers.

What do you hope to happen as a result of this column?

When something is up at work we tend to take it so personally and at times we can feel ashamed by the situation we find ourselves within. Because of this so much of our struggle and suffering is done alone. This simply won’t do. ‘Ask Skyla’ is our way of offering a lighthouse to as many women as possible who are at a career crossroads, looking to pivot, start a side hustle or navigate a negotiation. Providing answers that can guide you to find a creative response, inspire new solutions and empower us all to find agency within the choices we make at work.

Struggling to work from home, love your job but hate your boss, want a promotion, feel like you are never validated for your contribution, negotiating a pay rise, unsure of your career path, want to pivot but not sure to what? Whatever it is you need help navigating in your career right now, Skyla can help! Send in your question to Ask Skyla: careeradvice@allbright.co