Ep. 382 How to turn a restructure at work into opportunity with Michelle Schafer

A restructure at work can feel like failure — until you use it to reset on your terms. Anna Lundberg talks with Michelle Schafer about turning restructures into opportunity by getting clear on non-negotiables, value, and what you want next.

Key moments

[00:03] Introducing Michelle Schafer – Career coach in Ottawa and the story behind her business.
[00:24] Restructured twice – How career disruption became the catalyst for entrepreneurship.
[01:53] Redefining success – Michelle’s three keys: energy, values alignment, non-negotiables.
[02:55] Non-negotiables in real life – Family time and flexibility as the foundation.
[06:32] The early misstep – Underpricing and learning to own decades of value.
[10:24] Finding her voice on LinkedIn – From staying silent to sharing perspectives (and writing a book).
[15:11] Clients from comments – Why thoughtful contribution builds trust faster than perfect posting.
[19:35] How she builds demand – Referrals, LinkedIn, podcast guesting, her book, and unexpected discovery.
[22:17] Picking a lane – How narrowing to career transition strengthened her reach and clarity.
[27:59] Designing a week that fits – Creative mornings, meeting boundaries, breaks, and proper time off.
[33:49] The book + what’s next – Cultivating Career Growth and new online courses in 2026.

Key resources

• Michelle Schafer’s website (get a free chapter of her book)
• Book a call: onestepoutside.com/call

Restructure at work

Anna Lundberg: Hello everyone and welcome to the latest interview. I’m here with Michelle Schafer, who is talking to us all the way from Ottawa in Canada — and at least while we’re recording, it’s very cold and snowy, which feels very on-brand for this time of year. Michelle, it’s such a pleasure to have you here. I’d love for you to introduce yourself to our audience.

Michelle Schafer: Thank you so much, Anna. I’m so happy to be here. I’m Michelle Schafer — I’m a career coach and I’m the founder of Michelle Schafer Coaching.

It’s interesting: I got into coaching through career transition. I was restructured twice over the course of my career. I reinvented myself twice. And what got me into entrepreneurship was a planted seed. A friend of mine years ago — who is a coach — said, “I never understood why you didn’t do this as a career and get into coaching.”

So when I was restructured the second time, it really led me to explore. I was networking with other coaches and I realised this was something I wanted to do. I went ahead and got two levels of coaching certification, started my own practice — and that was 10 years ago. I celebrated my anniversary in July 2025, and the rest is history.

Anna Lundberg: Congratulations — that’s such a big milestone. I’ve shared on the podcast before that I had a bit of an existential crisis when I hit 10 years a few years ago, so I’d be curious to hear how you’re experiencing that.

And I’d love to ask, given those restructurings — and there’s a lot of that going on at the moment — the standard “career path of success” is often climbing the ladder. Through that lens, being let go can feel like failure. But you’ve used it as an opportunity to build something that sounds like a much better fit, and somewhere you’re making a difference. So, 10 years in, how are you defining success for you?

Michelle Schafer: I really bring success down to what fulfils you in your career. This is something I talk to my career coaching clients about too, and it certainly applies to me.

I believe there are three keys to fulfilment.

First, you’re doing work that gives you energy — and you’re doing less of the work that drains you. You’re doing more of what really fires you up.

Second, you’re doing work for an organisation — or in my case, as an entrepreneur, the contracts I take on and the clients I work with — where values align. Their values align with mine.

And third — and this one is so key — knowing what your non-negotiables or deal breakers are. This really spurred me to own my own business. I wanted to make sure I had time for my family and the people in my life that I love and deem important.

Having my own business gives me flexibility. I can go watch one of my son’s rugby games. Or when the canal is frozen, we have kilometres of frozen ice — I can meet my university-aged son and go skating with him because his campus is close to the canal. Those things matter.

If we don’t know what fires us up, what our values are, and what our deal breakers are, we tend to align ourselves with work that isn’t a good fit.

That’s success for me. It’s not about making hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Money matters, of course — we need a standard of living — but it’s really about being deeply fulfilled in the work.

My friend who planted that seed saw that I love helping people. People came to me with their career challenges. It was a natural fit for me to move into this work.

Anna Lundberg: I love that you said “non-negotiables”. One of my first ever bosses told me that — in my early twenties — saying you can’t have it all for your next role, so you need to think about what matters most.

At the time, some colleagues wanted to move home to London — we were in Switzerland — because their boyfriend was there. And it’s like, okay, if that’s the most important criterion, then maybe you can’t choose the exact role, or you can’t get promoted immediately. Those non-negotiables shift and become much more important and foundational when you’re a parent, or when health becomes a factor — it’s such a useful concept.

Michelle Schafer: Absolutely. Priorities change as we age and enter different stages of life. For me, when I had kids — my boys are almost 19 and almost 17 now — my priorities changed hugely. In my early twenties I worked for a large national financial organisation, travelling all over Canada. I lived out of a suitcase.

With kids, I didn’t want that. I wanted to be present. So naturally, when priorities in life change, priorities in career change too. I love seeing that with my clients. Especially when there’s a restructure — it causes reflection and forces the question: what next?

I really credit my transitions for getting me into owning my own business. I’d always worked for large national organisations and never considered owning a business before. But flexibility became really important.

Anna Lundberg: When you first left 10 years ago, to what extent did you build an intentional business model for what you wanted… and to what extent was it more organic — “I’m going to coach and see what happens”?

Michelle Schafer: It was more organic, and I made mistakes.

Yes, I had a business plan. Yes, I knew how I would market myself. I had an idea of the coaching I wanted to do. But I didn’t really start as I intended to continue.

Early on, I thought I had to price myself really low because I was new. There were many other experienced coaches in Ottawa — who was I to charge what they charged?

But I realised it was about value. I didn’t appreciate my value. Yes, I was new to the business, but I was bringing decades of professional experience and transferable skills to the table — and even “small-c coaching” I’d been doing throughout my career, before formal training.

I also started out trained as a life coach, then channelled into career coaching because of my restructures and wanting to help people find a roadmap to new work. But I wasn’t recognising I could do more. I didn’t realise until about two years in that I was skilled at leadership coaching too — working with leaders on relationships, difficult conversations, delegation, and so on.

I started on one path and things evolved. Looking back, I recognise the power of working with someone — a business consultant — to clarify what I wanted to offer, what I wanted to be known for, and how to bring that into marketing.

Anna Lundberg: There’s so much there. Many coaching schools are brilliant — but they often don’t help coaches position themselves or run a business. My coaching training was very much “pure coaching”, and we all believe coaching can help anyone do anything — but that’s not helpful positioning when it comes to messaging and sales.

And we’re often lovely people who want to help, so we think we should do it for free. We forget we bring decades of professional experience. We make decisions from lack — “who am I to charge more?” — rather than recognising we’re senior professionals with value. And the more specific we are — career transition or leadership or anything — the more we can charge too.

Michelle Schafer: Exactly. I saw that play out on LinkedIn.

Today I post most days of the week. I talk about job search and career transition topics. But when I started out, I hid behind other people’s words. I followed people, liked posts — but I didn’t comment, and I didn’t post my own thoughts. It came back to, “Who am I? It’s a competitive marketplace. What do I have to say?”

The biggest shift for me was the pandemic. People were losing jobs. There was the great resignation. People had more reflection time and started thinking about meaning at work.

All of a sudden, I had a lot to talk about. I was seeing what was happening in the marketplace. I had perspectives. I had tips and strategies. I started writing, and then writing more. I realised I had convinced myself for years that I had nothing of value to say — and it wasn’t true.

That’s culminated in me writing a book, which I never expected I would do.

For your listeners: take stock of what you have to offer. Own it. Be proud of it. Share it. When you believe it, others believe it too. It becomes your brand. I’m always amazed when clients say, “I’ve been following you on LinkedIn,” or “I’ve read your book,” and “you’re exactly the same in real life.” That alignment is a definition of success.

You don’t build a brand overnight, but focusing on intentional steps gets you there.

Anna Lundberg: That’s such an important and reassuring message. With AI and content exploding, it’s easy to compare yourself. When I started 10 years ago, LinkedIn was quieter — you could post and get clients. It’s different now.

One shift that helped me was someone saying: don’t try to be the authority — contribute to the discussion. Observing trends, sharing what you see with clients, showing up as yourself… Social media can be so performative, with templates and “gurus” telling you exactly how to post — and it dilutes the message.

I love the permission to comment thoughtfully and share your point of view. That vulnerability and honesty is what people connect with.

Michelle Schafer: Exactly. I’ve received clients from comments on other people’s posts — thoughtful comments that contributed to the conversation, sometimes even offering a different perspective.

I ask clients how they found me, and people say, “I saw your comments on this person’s post, I follow them, and I really liked what you said.” It’s about showing up as who you are.

There’s a lot of noise. Authenticity matters — in leadership and in business. Whatever is important to you comes through consistently in your conversations and your writing.

People buy from people they trust. A post might spark interest, but it comes down to the person: what do you stand for? Are you aligned with what I stand for?

The clients I work with know I give homework. There’s work to do. If they want someone to tell them what they want to hear, that’s not coaching. I want clients who value reflection and effort.

When I started my business, nobody handed me anything. I started with zero clients — not one anchor client. I had a lot of coffees, lunches, breakfasts. It was reconnecting with people I already knew, talking about what I was doing. Organic conversations lead to sales.

Ten years later, I’m very proud of that — especially as a single parent with two kids, a business, and a home.

Anna Lundberg: You’re highlighting something I’m seeing too: relationships are more important than ever — both for first clients and ongoing work. Your warm network gets you immediate results, while personal brand is the long game.

So how do you build demand today? You mentioned LinkedIn, guesting on podcasts, relationships — how do you ensure you have the clients you want day to day?

Michelle Schafer: The biggest foundation is my network — past clients, referrals, even family members of past clients. Someone I worked with five years ago remembers the value and recommends me. You can’t put a price tag on referrals.

Other channels: podcast guesting, my book, LinkedIn. And it’s not always that one post makes someone work with me — it’s consistency. People say, “I’ve been following you,” and they notice stories, strategies, and how I show up.

Because of my book, LinkedIn, and podcasts, I’ve got a heightened online presence — and people find me in unexpected ways now. Someone found me through ChatGPT, which is incredible. Someone else said they saw my name in a Reddit thread — I’m not even on Reddit! It’s amazing what gets amplified.

I’ve also been scaling through online courses. I’ve offered one, taken it offline to tweak it, and in 2026 I’ll offer more: a mix of self-paced video, a free copy of my book, and time with me.

I’ve recognised over the years that what I love is helping people find new work — whether they’ve lost a job or they’re out of love with what they’re doing. Focusing on that lane has been a big shift for growth: I picked a lane.

I do less leadership coaching now and focus on career transition. Wearing two hats can confuse people. Narrowing can actually grow reach and help people find you because you concentrate in one area.

Anna Lundberg: That’s music to my ears — and it’s often so hard for multi-passionate people. But with search and AI, specificity matters. It doesn’t mean you have to stick with it forever, but it’s powerful to see a real example of going deeper and opening more opportunities rather than narrowing them.

Michelle Schafer: Exactly. For me, widening the gate allowed me to narrow.

I noticed what I gravitated towards on LinkedIn. Leadership posts felt harder to write. Career transition posts were easy. My book is purely my work — client stories, my systems — no AI-generated content. I feel proud of that.

I did widen first: career transition, then leadership, then group coaching, workshops on both topics. I was busy and making good money. But I was losing energy for certain things — especially group programmes. I love the transformational power of one-to-one conversations.

So I stepped away from group coaching, and I picked a lane. That also came from podcast guesting and being part of an accelerator — the leader said my message was diluted and I needed to focus on one area. It was easy for me to decide: career transition is what I love, and where my experience is.

The learnings are in the widening — but over time I came back to my roots: transition and one-to-one.

Anna Lundberg: It’s so common. You start organically, say yes to opportunities, and before you know it you’ve built a Frankenstein of offers — one-to-one, group, leadership, career, B2B, B2C. Years in, you can see where you add the most value — and it opens up the next level of results and fulfilment.

I’d love to bring this into the practical day-to-day. You mentioned an assistant — being a solopreneur doesn’t mean doing everything alone. What does your structure look like? How many days and hours do you work? What does life look like for you day to day?

Michelle Schafer: The beauty of being an entrepreneur is flexibility.

In my personal business model, I always start the day with two things: movement and meditation. Before we hopped on this podcast, Anna, I went for a run — it was minus 16 degrees Celsius. It was cold and icy, but I believe in starting the day that way. Even a 10-minute meditation grounds me.

I don’t take client meetings until 10:30. That doesn’t mean I’m doing nothing — I use the morning for creative time. I’m most creative then. Before client meetings, I’ll be on LinkedIn to comment and post, handle correspondence, do prep for clients (like CV input or interview questions), and do outreach.

Then I use Calendly: people book the time that works. I set aside time for five meetings: three one-hour client sessions and two half-hour consults (discovery calls). I don’t schedule them back to back. I build time in between for follow-up and homework, and I aim to finish meetings by 4:30 at the latest.

I also build walks into the day — around the block between meetings — so I’m not behind a screen all day. Most coaching is online; occasionally I’ll meet in person.

In the evening, I take a break between about 4:30 and 7:30 — dinner, a walk, checking in with my sons, driving where needed, exercise — and then I may do a bit more work later. I’m okay with that because I’ve fit in what matters during the day: family time, movement, being present. I also find I come up with LinkedIn posts when I’m out running.

If my son has a game, I block off time and I’m there. If it means a bit of work at night, I’m fitting in other important things during the day.

Over the year, I take a two-week block over the holidays, and two weeks in the summer — fully off, no emails, no LinkedIn. We do a cottage holiday and I turn off notifications.

Weekly, I take Fridays lighter: one client meeting in the morning and then the rest of the day is for me — hikes, and I do cold water dips. In 2026, I’m going to block Fridays off completely — no client meetings. That gives me time to catch up, do something for myself, and plan for the next week.

Anna Lundberg: I love how simple and reasonable that is — and it will sound radical to some people. Values-aligned work, in line with your natural rhythms, fitting movement, health and family — it’s really powerful.

I also don’t want to let you go without hearing about your book. What’s the book, and where can we find it?

Michelle Schafer: It’s called Cultivating Career Growth: Navigating Transitions with Purpose. It’s available on Amazon, and there’s an ebook version as well. It’s part workbook and part strategy — you can reflect and write along.

Even for someone thinking about launching a business and not sure if it’s for them, it can help with the groundwork reflection. You can also get a free chapter — I’ll share the information for the show notes — on my website: mshafercoaching.ca.

Anna Lundberg: Perfect. And is that the best place to connect with you — and LinkedIn too?

Michelle Schafer: Yes — LinkedIn is a great way to connect, especially because I write a lot there. Sometimes a post sparks thought or inspiration and gives you something new to consider.

Anna Lundberg: As you’re at this 10-year milestone and looking ahead, what are you thinking for the next phase — simplifying more, doing bigger things?

Michelle Schafer: It’s both simplifying and new offerings. I’ve been working with a VA specifically for podcast guesting, and I’ll be doing more with a virtual assistant to take load off. I also work with a website professional and a bookkeeper — automation and simplification helps.

New offerings will be a suite of online courses. One is a job search jumpstart — everything you need if you’ve lost your job or you’re thinking about something new. And I’ll do focused courses on networking and interviewing. Those are the two biggest areas I see people struggle with.

Networking isn’t just about job searching — it’s a life skill, especially as a business owner. You can’t survive without reaching out, attending events, and building relationships. I want to give people new language and challenge limiting beliefs. I’m looking forward to launching in 2026.

Anna Lundberg: So needed — and it’s interesting that relationship building feels like a “trend” even though it’s just human interaction. It’s a counter-movement to automation. And yes, the word “networking” gives people the shivers, but reframing it as building relationships with a fellow human being helps.

Michelle Schafer: Exactly. It’s about having conversations. We do it all the time — meeting a neighbour, meeting parents at school — we don’t give ourselves enough credit. Having a structure, especially for job search or client acquisition, can be very helpful.

Anna Lundberg: Michelle, thank you so much for sharing your story so openly. Congratulations on the 10-year milestone — I’m excited to see what comes next.

Michelle Schafer: Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.