Client Case Study

FROM STUCK TO SERVING.

After 15 years in corporate innovation, Cedric Steele took a reorg package and faced an open question about what came next. He didn't just find a new job title. He rebuilt his mindset and launched his own practice.

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The Challenge

After 15 years in innovation at Coca-Cola and McDonald's, a reorg package left Cedric without the structure of a corporate team, and he spent months avoiding the outreach he needed to do next.

The Shift

He reframed his self-limiting beliefs from scarcity to abundance, moving from an either/or job search to an and/both approach that combined employment leads with client work.

The Outcome

Cedric launched his own innovation consulting practice serving Fortune 500 companies, converting early conversations into new contracts almost immediately.

Olivia Gamber

A Note From The Founder

Olivia Gamber, CEO

Cedric came to me after fifteen years inside two of the biggest brands in the world. He had the resume, the pedigree, the network. What he didn't have, after the reorg, was a reason to get out of bed with a plan.

He described it to me plainly: he'd gotten used to being part of a larger team, used to a predefined workload, used to the systems and colleagues that make corporate life feel solid. When that structure disappeared, so did his motion. For months he didn't reach out to anyone. Not because he lacked options, but because he was operating from a closed, self-protective place.

What changed wasn't his resume or his LinkedIn headline. It was the belief underneath both. Once Cedric did the work to name and reframe what was actually holding him back, the shift showed up almost immediately in how he talked to people, and in how quickly they said yes.

Quite A While Being Stuck

Olivia Gamber

I talked to a lot of C-suite executives that want to do what you're doing. And there's a lot of resistance around making that shift from being in the C-suite to now standing alone as your own brand... I'd love to hear, how did you overcome that so quickly and just dive in?

Cedric

Well, I'll say this. I didn't overcome it quickly. What I found was that there was quite a while that I felt very stuck. And stuck in the sense that I had been used to being a part of a larger team. I had been used to having a predefined workload in front of me. I got very used to the systems and the colleagues and the clients and everything that you get comfortable with in a corporate environment.

I went through a number of months just not engaging with people, in the spirit of trying to ask for help or think about building business. There was just a period of time that I'll consider being stuck.

“I think like a lot of people, been in the routine of what's normal.”

The Light Switch

Cedric

At a certain point, I got to the point where I said, well, this is not where I want to be. I really want something different for myself... The thing that really drew me to your program actually was hearing you speak out on things like YouTube and just looking at ways that people can shift their mind and shift their possibilities.

I love the term self-limiting beliefs, there was a number of things that I just was hung up on myself that was holding me back from taking those steps forward. And the unlock for me was reframing those to where they weren't things that were hindering.

“As soon as I did that, it was almost like a light switch went on that had taken me from a scarcity, hunker down type mentality to much more of an energized and abundance type of mindset.”

From Either/Or To And/Both

Cedric

So the path I chose for myself was really not thinking about that as my only venue, but rather to think about maybe that, or maybe it's doing some contract work in the meantime. So it was a matter of shifting gears from either or to and both.

As I was looking at ways and people that I might reach out to that I could really serve, I found that there's a big overlap between those same people that I might have reached out to to help ask for help with networking for a job versus those people that I might be able to service as a client. I was really pleasantly surprised to find that people were receptive to talk with me about my new business and ways that I could help them.

A number of those initial conversations I had with people either turned into follow up opportunities or in some cases, I was able to gain new contracts immediately. So I was just very excited about that.

“I'm not calling somebody to have them help me get a job at a place, and that is very liberating.”

Invest In Yourself

Cedric

I was ready to put in the work. So what I have done before is I've paid people to redo my resume. I've paid people to update my LinkedIn site. I wasn't really vested in it, besides the money. But I very much became vested in, I want to get myself to a new place, a new level of energy, a new way of thinking, basically a new outlook professionally.

“Invest in yourself, and you'll never go wrong investing in yourself, particularly if you've got clarity about what your destination is.”

Cedric

I am grateful to have been in the program, met the people who are in it... It's one of those things where you just kind of, you need to leave your ego at the door, so to speak, in order to learn and develop.

Ready to Stop Applying?

Cedric moved from months of stuck avoidance to his own consulting practice by rebuilding what he believed before he changed what he did. If you're facing the same open question, your next chapter can start the same way.

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Read the full transcript

Olivia: how did you overcome that so quickly and just dive in?

Cedric: there was quite a while that I felt very stuck. And stuck in the sense that I had been used to being a part of a larger team. I had been used to having a predefined workload in front of me. I got very used to the systems and the colleagues and the clients and everything that you get comfortable with in a corporate environment. Those were things that I had been used to and it just simply didn't exist anymore. And so for me, it was quite a while

[Question shown on screen]: How did you overcome that so quickly and just dive in?

Cedric: I think like a lot of people, been in the routine of what's normal,

Cedric: I went through a number of months just kind of not engaging with people, you know, in the spirit of trying to, you know, ask for help or think about, you know, building business. There was just a period of time that I'll consider being stuck.

Cedric: at a certain point, I got to the point where I said, well, this is not where I want to be. I really want something different for myself. And

Cedric: the thing that really drew me to your program actually was hearing you speak out on things like YouTube and just looking at ways that people can shift their mind and shift their possibilities. Those are the things that drew me to the

Olivia: what words of encouragement do you have for anyone listening that wants to make this transition?

Cedric: I was ready. And I, when I say I was ready, I was ready to put in the work. Uh, so what, what, what I, what I have done before is I've, I've paid people to redo my resume. I've paid people to update my LinkedIn site. I wasn't really vested in it. Besides the money. Um, but I very much became vested in, I want to get myself to a new place, a new level of energy, a new way of thinking, a, uh, basically a new outlook,

[Question shown on screen]: What words of encouragement do you have for anyone listening that wants to make this transition?

Cedric: investing in yourself, that's a whole different thing versus I'm trying to minimize how much money I'm going to spend on this thing, invest in yourselves. Uh, and you'll never go wrong investing in yourself, particularly if you've got clarity about what your destination is. So

Olivia: in service everywhere you go with just leading from the heart. It's just such a awesome inspiration to see you thrive. And I know the best is yet to come. So can't wait to see where you go in 2025.

Cedric: you need to leave your, uh, ego at the door, so to speak, in order to learn and develop. So,

Olivia: How did you get to the point where you were really ready to transition to launching your own consulting practice?

Cedric: I was able to gain new contracts immediately. So I was just very excited about that.

[Question shown on screen]: How did you get to the point where you were really ready to transition to launching your own consulting practice?

Cedric: the last 15 years working in innovation at the Coca-Cola company on McDonald's, which

Cedric: over a 30-year career, you kind of get to the point where you've done that a number of times,

Cedric: things that were, which I love the term self-limiting beliefs, there was a number of things that I just were, was hung up on myself that was holding me back from taking those steps forward. And the unlock for me was reframing those to where they weren't things that were hindering, you know, because the reality is that your reality is based on whatever you believe in a lot of senses. So the thing that was important for me was to

Cedric: And as soon as I did that, it was almost like a light switch went on that had taken me from a place of, you know, call it more of a scarcity, hunker down type, don't, don't go out because you, you know, you might get hurt type of mentality to much more of a energized and abundance type of mindset.