Jessica Elom Ogbodo, a Certified Life Coach and the founder of The Kindness Catalog, shares her transformative journey from the demanding corporate world to empowering high-performing professionals. Jessica, who once navigated the pressures of managing multimillion-dollar portfolios, now dedicates her expertise to helping individuals redefine their relationship with stress and burnout, guiding them toward lives that are not just impressive, but deeply fulfilling.

Can you share a little bit about what it is that you do and what a typical day for you is like?
I’m a Certified Life Coach and the founder of The Kindness Catalog—a platform helping high-performing professionals rewrite their relationship with stress and burnout, so they can build lives that feel fulfilling, not just impressive. Through coaching, courses, and tools rooted in psychology and NLP, I guide people back to themselves.

I design my days around what keeps me grounded. Mornings start with movement, meditation, or journaling—because I lead best when I’m connected to myself first. Mid-mornings are for client sessions, working with professionals who are doing well on the outside but feel misaligned inside.

Afternoons are for building: workshops, content creation, community, and free tools that make emotional wellbeing practical. I always carve out two hours to rest mid-afternoon—it’s my reset, and the reason I can sustain high energy throughout the day. Evenings are for learning and expanding—because I believe great coaches never stop growing.

It’s a rhythm that works for me—and it’s the kind of alignment I now teach through the Life by Design course.

Did you always know that working in the industry you represent was what you wanted to do? How did you decide on it?
Not at all. For a long time, I thought success meant climbing the corporate ladder—and I did. I spent over a decade in corporate, most recently as a Commercial Director managing multimillion-dollar portfolios. I loved the challenge, the pace, the recognition. But underneath it all, I felt disconnected—from myself, from happiness, from any real sense of meaning.

It wasn’t until the last time I burned out in 2019 that I started asking different questions. Who am I when I’m not performing? What do I actually want from my life? That unraveling became the doorway into something deeper. I didn’t plan to become a coach—but I needed to heal. And in doing so, I realised I wasn’t alone. So many high-achievers were secretly struggling, too. That’s when I knew this work wasn’t just for me—it was something I had to share.

That’s how The Kindness Catalog began. And why I created the Life by Design course—because no one should have to hit rock bottom just to come back to themselves.

What first got you interested in the industry you work in?
I’ve always been passionate about personal growth, but the real shift began when I hit burnout. On the outside, I was thriving—leading teams and winning awards—but inside, I felt numb and disconnected. Two years before I left my corporate role, I quietly began building The Kindness Catalog. I immersed myself in psychology, emotional wellbeing, and nervous system regulation—not just to help others, but to heal myself.

So when I finally stepped away, it wasn’t a leap—it was a plan. I knew I wanted to support high achievers who looked fine on the outside but were silently struggling. That became the heartbeat of The Kindness Catalog, and the reason I created Life by Design—for high achievers who are done sacrificing their wellbeing for success.

What obstacles did you have to overcome?
Before leaving my corporate role, I did the inner work. I didn’t want to walk away from one version of burnout just to recreate it in a new form. So I spent years unlearning the beliefs that told me I had to earn my worth through performance, that rest was weakness, and that success had to come at a personal cost.

The hardest part was leaving the stability of a high-paying, high-status role. Would I lose credibility? Would people think I’d failed? I also had to face the inner critic that whispered, “Who are you to guide others?” Then came the external challenges—building a business from scratch, learning how to be visible, and staying grounded when things felt uncertain.

But because I did the inner work first, every decision was made from clarity. I didn’t leave to escape—I left to expand. And that’s what I now help others do: make aligned, intentional choices—not necessarily to quit, but to stop abandoning themselves in the process.

What advice would you give to a woman considering a career in the industry you represent? What do you wish you had known?
If you’re coming from the corporate world, know this: all those years of experience weren’t a detour—they’re your foundation. The strategy, leadership, empathy, and resilience you’ve built will serve you here, too. This work doesn’t require you to start over—it asks you to go deeper. Do the inner work before you rebrand yourself. Figure out what you stand for, what lights you up, and what you’re no longer willing to sacrifice. Then build from that place.

Also—don’t wait to feel “qualified enough” to take up space. If you care deeply, and you’re willing to grow in public, you already have what it takes. People don’t want perfect. They want someone real, someone who gets it. I wish I had known that impact isn’t born from proving yourself—it’s born from being yourself. And that’s what I help others create through The Kindness Catalog—whether they stay in their role, pivot slowly, or leap.

What do you do to unwind after work?
I don’t just unwind after work—I sprinkle moments of joy throughout the day. It’s one of the biggest shifts I made after burning out: I stopped saving rest and happiness for later. Ironically, I have a bit of a catalog of things that light me up—lunch with my husband, playing with my dogs, calling my family, watching Netflix, or simply sitting in stillness. Joy doesn’t have to be big or scheduled. It just has to be present. For me, unwinding isn’t a reward—it’s a rhythm. And living that way makes me better at everything I do.