My first job was babysitting the neighborhood kids. I was 10 years old—too young by today’s standards but completely normal in 1991. My older brother had a paper route to make extra money, and I wanted in on the action. Babysitting seemed like the best option.
I didn’t love it. I wasn’t passionate about it. But it was an opportunity to learn responsibility, the kids were fun, I earned money, and gained experience—so I kept doing it for a few years.
Fast forward to September 7, 1998—the start of my first real career. I was a high school junior hired as a teller at a regional bank. My official title? “High School Intern.” It felt like a big deal—most of my friends were working fast food jobs, but I was in a professional role, learning real-world skills.
At the time, I had no idea that saying yes to that opportunity would launch me into a 16-year career in leadership, finance, and relationship-based sales. I worked my way up, eventually earning the title of Vice President, running the #2 revenue-generating profit center in Oregon.
And yet, outwardly successful as I was—something was off.
I had everything society told me I should want: a thriving career, a beautiful family, a 4-bedroom house with a fenced yard and a dog, summer vacations, wonderful friends.
But inside, there was a disconnect I couldn’t name. Nothing was necessarily wrong, but everything seemed wrong.
It wasn’t burnout. It wasn’t dissatisfaction. It was something deeper—an incongruence between what I was doing and the gifts I was meant to share with the world.
In May 2014, I walked away. I gave two months’ notice and left behind the career I had built. I was terrified—and more confident than ever.
That was the beginning of The Amplified Life Company—and the beginning of truly aligning my life with my calling.
A Job, a Career, and then a Calling.
We’ve been fed this idea that you should chase your passion—but that’s a trap.
I didn’t “follow my passion.” I followed opportunities, mastered my craft, and built something meaningful.
Honestly? If you had asked me back then what my passion was, I might have given a half-hearted answer—something like “volunteering” or “giving back to the community.”
Don’t get me wrong, I love both—but at the time, I was overextended, overwhelmed, and unsure what I really wanted.
The Truth? Going After Your Passion Might Lead You Down the Wrong Path.
Go after experiences instead—and your calling will find you.
If that feels counterintuitive, let’s look at the science.
In their
1997 study published in the
Journal of Research in Personality, Amy Wrzesniewski and her colleagues found that people view work in three ways:
1️. A Job – Work as a means to an end, focused on financial reward.
2️. A Career – Work as a path to advancement, achievement, and success.
3️. A Calling – Work as a source of purpose, deeply meaningful and fulfilling.
Here’s the key insight: Two people in the same role can view their work entirely differently.
One may see it as a job, while another sees it as a calling—and the difference is in their level of skill development, engagement, and connection to purpose.
How Do You Turn a Job Into a Calling?
This is where Self-Determination Theory (SDT), developed by Edward Deci and Richard Ryan, comes in.
Their research shows that intrinsic motivation—the kind that makes people fully engaged in their work—comes from fulfilling three core psychological needs:
1️. Autonomy – Having control over your actions and decisions.
2️. Competence – Feeling effective, skilled, and capable.
3️. Relatedness – Feeling connected to others and contributing to something bigger.
When these three elements exist, people don’t just show up to work—they show up fully engaged and purpose-driven.
What This Means for Leaders
- A job can turn into a calling.
- A career can keep you from your calling.
- Passion isn’t the starting point—it’s the outcome of mastery and meaning.
As leaders, it’s our responsibility to create environments where people move beyond just “showing up for work.” Our teams need more than paychecks and promotions. They need growth, connection, and purpose.
If we want higher engagement, creativity, and long-term success, we need to be so deeply compelled by our own work that we inspire the same in others.
Are You Ready to Build a Purpose-Driven Culture?
At The Amplified Life Company, we help leaders and teams:
✔ Shift from transactional work to purpose-driven performance.
✔ Increase engagement and intrinsic motivation.
✔ Create leadership cultures where mastery and meaning thrive.
If you’re serious about building a high-performance, and a high-fulfillment team, let’s talk.
Join us—whether through executive coaching, leadership workshops, or immersive offsites and retreats, we’ll help you step into a more fulfilling, high-performing future.
Visit The Amplified Life Company to get started.
