Breaking Free From The Immigrant Mold She Grew Up With
Welcome to Episode 202 of the Mile 40 Podcast! We sit down with Michelle, a career strategist and founder of MTV Coaching, for a wide-ranging conversation about immigration, identity, and what it actually takes to rebuild a life and a career more than once.
Michelle traces her path from Ukraine to Brooklyn at age seven, growing up in a household shaped by traditional Eastern European values, and the early realization that her parents loved her deeply but couldn't fully equip her for the world she wanted to build. She reflects on seeking out mentors outside her family from the age of 14, walking away from a full scholarship in physical therapy, and building a career through the garment district, the dot-com boom, and eventually a staffing and recruiting business that was ultimately broken by Hurricane Sandy and the shift to electronic trading on Wall Street.
The conversation also covers the identity crisis that led her to leave a high-paying corporate career, the book she wrote as what she calls her divorce from the recruiting industry, and how she built her coaching business from a guest bedroom during the pandemic into an international practice featured in Forbes.
What We Cover:
Immigrating from Ukraine to Brooklyn at age seven
Growing up with traditional Eastern European family values
Seeking out mentors outside her family starting at age 14
Walking away from a full scholarship in physical therapy at NYU
Working full time in the garment center while carrying a full course load
Building a career through the dot-com era and the 2008 financial crisis
Starting a recruiting and staffing business, and the headwinds that eventually broke it
Writing a book as a turning point after leaving the recruiting industry
Building an international coaching business from home during the pandemic
Why she believes a coach needs their own coach, not just friends or AI
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