She Lift Project

New episode is live! 🎙️

This week, Cynthia sits down with Betsy Cohen, philanthropic futurist at Future Good and founding executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, to talk about perseverance, mentorship, and reinventing your career.

Listen now wherever you get your podcasts. Link in bio.

A successful career can always have another chapter.

Betsy Cohen built a long corporate career, became the founding executive director of the St. Louis Mosaic Project, and now helps organizations look ahead as a philanthropic futurist at FutureGood.

From the outside, that evolution might look smooth. Betsy tells a different story: six months of uncertainty, journaling, reading, and learning while she worked out what came next.

In episode 84 of the She Lift Project, Betsy joins Cynthia Kirkpatrick, CPA, CFP® Kirkpatrick to talk about preparing for a career change, asking for meaningful mentorship, working through setbacks, and using the experience you've earned to create a better future.

Watch or listen wherever you get your podcasts:

YouTube Podcast
https://youtu.be/YusNddGwqWo

Apple Podcast Home
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/84-how-to-reinvent-your-career-and-find-your-next/id1697334709?i=1000793373573

Spotify Podcast Page
https://open.spotify.com/episode/6BnS7BuWSfi6ZoKsiPDiqW?si=DnXZZrOoS5CdDddww12gyA

Podcast Page
https://sheliftproject.com/podcast/betsy-cohen-84

What is one thing you're doing now to prepare for your next chapter?

#84 - How to Reinvent Your Career and Find Your Next Chapter | Betsy Cohen How do you build a new career chapter after years of success? Betsy Cohen joins Cynthia Kirkpatrick to discuss the skills, relationships, and uncomfortable transitions that helped her evolve from corporate leadership to nonprofit leadership and philanthropic futurism. Betsy shares the childhood expe...

We believe growth happens when support and accountability work together. One without the other rarely creates lasting change.

That's why this recent reflection on feedback resonated so strongly.

A business owner shared that she stopped viewing feedback as correcting mistakes and started viewing it as a responsibility to her clients.

What a powerful shift.

When feedback comes from a genuine desire to help someone grow, it stops being about criticism and starts being about care. It's how we help others recognize blind spots, challenge assumptions, and become stronger versions of themselves.

The best leaders, mentors, and advocates aren't afraid of difficult conversations. They know that growth often lives on the other side of honest feedback.

✨ The best feedback isn't criticism. It's care expressed through accountability.

Cynthia Kirkpatrick, Advisor, Cynthia Marie Siess Kirkpatrick

Do you view feedback as criticism or responsibility?

Two recent experiences got me thinking about that question.

An email asking for my help needed a little more attention to detail. Around the same time, a business owner shared how she had reframed feedback with her team.

She stopped viewing it as correcting mistakes and started viewing it as a duty to her clients.

That shift changes everything.

As a wealth advisor, some of the most important conversations I have involve feedback. Pointing out blind spots. Asking hard questions. Challenging assumptions.

Not because I'm critical.
Because I care about helping clients achieve better outcomes.

The best feedback isn't criticism. It's care expressed through accountability.

Cynthia Marie Siess Kirkpatrick, She Lift Project

As a wealth advisor, I spend a lot of time helping people make important financial decisions in the face of uncertainty.

As the founder of The She Lift Project, I have conversations every day about confidence, growth, leadership, and taking the next step.

What I've learned is that the same principle applies to both:
We often think confidence comes first.

In reality, confidence is built through action, experience, and doing things that feel uncomfortable.

Whether it's investing, leadership, career growth, starting a business, asking for what you're worth, or pursuing a personal goal, the biggest breakthroughs often happen before we feel completely ready.

That's the inspiration behind the post below.

I'd love to hear from you: What's one thing you've done that felt uncomfortable at the time, but ultimately helped you grow?



One of the biggest mistakes I see in both investing and life? Waiting until you feel ready.

Whether it's in leadership, financial planning, or pursuing a personal goal, people often want certainty before taking the next step.

The problem?

Growth rarely provides certainty first. And by the time we have complete certainty, the opportunity may have already passed us by.

The most successful investors don't wait for the perfect moment. They make thoughtful decisions, get started, and stay disciplined through the inevitable uncertainty that follows.

The same is true for leadership and life.

The best leaders learn to navigate discomfort. The people who make meaningful progress take action before they feel completely ready. They understand that confidence doesn't come before action. It comes from action.

Discomfort isn't always a warning sign.

Sometimes it's the clearest indication that you're stretching, learning, and growing.

The question isn't whether you're uncomfortable.

The question is whether that discomfort is coming from fear... or from progress.

She Lift Project, Cynthia Marie Siess Kirkpatrick