[jameal]

I took a sabbatical that led me to pursue a coaching certification from a university across the country in Washington D.C. It was a wonderful experience and I connected with some great people, many of whom I still keep in close touch with today. I've met great people in tech too, but it was a breath of fresh air to work with people who are energized around helping individuals improve their lives.

I'm back in tech now, working for an AI services startup, but I leveraged my experience to create a role where I can bring coaching within the organization and to our clients through change management coaching.

I was inspired by my mindfulness practice and by Chade-Meng Tan's work at Google, where he used his 20% time to create mindfulness courses within the company. Especially as technological advancement continues to accelerate, there will be a huge need for personal growth initiatives to help people lean into the kinds of skills that AI can't replace: social/emotional intelligence, empathy, creativity, for example.