Like therapy for your career
Hi, I’m Meredith!
I coach early to mid-career individuals and recent PhDs who are stuck in uncertainty about their career path, unclear about their next steps, and who want to find the motivation to clarify their purpose, understand their skills, and bring their values and career into closer alignment.
“If Meredith has a superpower (and she does!), it’s listening to you with such care and compassion and then being able to put everything you’ve said into a cohesive narrative that she expertly presents back to you with such exquisite precision that you feel eminently seen and heard and therefore more hopeful about the world and your place in it.”
— Julia G., Ed.D, Academic & Writing Coach
If you are…
… in your mid-20’s/30’s and still trying to identify a career direction that feels aligned; a justice-oriented mid-career who has jumped between numerous freelance, community-based, and nonprofit roles and is ready for a more stable long-term trajectory; an early academic or recent PhD looking for a non-academic pathway forward that still honors your expertise ...
… you’ve come to the right place.
Welcome to your container of support
Certified life coach
Trauma-informed
Neurodivergent-affirming
Advisor to thousands of Yale students
Harvard Doctor of Education
Meredith Mira
Founder, Choice Points Coaching
Born and raised in a college town in Indiana, I maintain my core values of honesty, sincerity, genuine interest, warmth, curiosity, openness, and nonjudgmental engagement in every career and life coaching session. As a certified and trauma-informed life coach with a doctoral degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan in student and adult identity development, I bring expertise and awareness towards helping people get unstuck in their careers and in life.
More about me →
Wondering how to seek balance between your career, emotions, and values?
Who I support
I’ve helped thousands of students at Yale get career-ready. Now, I support clients across the career spectrum.
Individuals in their 20’s & 30’s
Unsure what’s next for you, or overwhelmed by all the possibilities? Feeling increasingly disconnected from your work and craving a path that feels more like you?
What you get:
• Practical guidance to uncover your values and clarify your career direction
• Resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn support
• Job search and networking resources
Justice-oriented mid-careers
Been on a justice-oriented path for years, cobbling together a patchwork of jobs, but not sure where you’re going next? Feel like you’re ready to gain stability and build a clear path ahead?
What you get:
• Narrate your career story to establish a baseline for next steps
• Clarify your core values and begin mapping different futures
• Resume & cover letter strategy
Neurodivergent or overwhelmed by transitions?
Do you think and feel deeply, but struggle to stay organized and focused? Do you crave clarity, structure, and steady support as you make big decisions?
What you get:
• Warm, trauma-informed sessions
• Clear, digestible next steps
• Consistent structure & goal-setting
Academics & recent Ph.D.’s
Overeducated but under-experienced? Not sure how to translate your academic skills beyond the university? Wondering what meaningful, non-academic paths actually exist?
What you get:
• Career mapping strategy sessions
• Values clarification to guide your next steps
• Tactical advice and resources for navigating beyond academia
Sound like you?
Book a free 30-minute exploratory call. We’ll talk about where you are, where you want to go, and what’s getting in the way.
Praise for Meredith
“I went from feeling overwhelmed, uncertain, and anxious about the job search, to eager and excited to begin the next chapter of my career. Meredith was incredibly insightful in asking me the right questions that got me thinking about what I valued and what value I added. She gave me the tools and confidence I needed to make my job search feel both structured and fulfilling. I would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a coach who goes above and beyond to get to know you and your strengths beyond just your job interests.”
— Holly Rudel, Ph.D; Consultant, California Environmental Quality Committee
“At the beginning of my work with Meredith, I felt foggy and stuck. I had an idea of what I wanted and where I wanted to go, though I couldn't see how to get there and I wasn't making the time to take the steps. Pieces like updating my resume were constantly becoming a "tomorrow" thing, which was driving my stress and causing me to feel even more stuck. In my work with Meredith, I got unstuck! And with that, I was able to shed some of the negative stories I was telling myself about my job and why I was still in it, even though it was a toxic environment that was negatively impacting not only my work but also my personal life. During our sessions, Meredith would take detailed notes, which helped me see what and how I was answering questions; and through those answers, I noticed that I wasn't as stuck or unsure on my goals as I thought I was and I found the confidence to build out bullets on my resume and reshape how I described my roles in a way that better spoke to my skills and my truth.”
— Becca M., Corporate Vice President
“When I started working with Meredith, I knew I wanted to explore new career paths and opportunities, but I was experiencing a lot of self-doubt, hesitation, and negative thought patterns. By the end of our work together, I made a truly transformative change and decided to take an opportunity toward a new career path. This was the greatest change I had ever made in my professional life, and I felt empowered, relieved, and reinvigorated by choosing to make that decision. Despite how tangible and concrete those results were, however, my biggest take-away was learning to listen to my inner voice guiding me. That voice had been prompting me to take action and find something new for a long time, but I often dismissed it because I felt like I needed to fulfill expectations that I imagined others had of me. Meredith helped me realize that I was neglecting to listen to my inner self and that I sometimes was operating in a fear-driven mind-set. She helped me see that I had taken risks before and beaten the odds over and over again. She helped me understand that there is no one path that I *have* to take, but a series of choices that touch on my personal, professional, and social selves. She helped me realize that I can accomplish the things that I want to accomplish in my own way and on my own terms, and that I don't need anyone's permission or approval to do it. Really, working with Meredith was empowering in the most profound and fundamental way.
— Annie deSaussure Ganay, Ph.D., Upper School French Teacher, National Cathedral School
FAQs
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As a career coach, I support clients who are facing pivotal career decisions and navigating job transitions by helping them enhance their job search skills, prepare for interviews, craft resumes and cover letters, and co-create strategies for professional growth and development.
As a certified life coach, I take a more holistic approach to my career coaching, addressing aspects of my client's emotional lives and how those intersect with and inform their careers. In particular, we work together to clarify their values, their vision for their lives, and the emotions they feel at work, using these to identify and modify behaviors that may be holding them back at work and fostering more productive habits and mindsets.
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The International Coaching Federation (ICF) defines coaching as “partnering with clients in a thought-provoking and creative process that inspires them to maximize their personal and professional potential. The process of coaching often unlocks previously untapped sources of imagination, productivity, and leadership.”
Importantly, coaching centers the client as the expert and decision-maker in their lives, versus consulting, where the consultant tells the client what to do to solve their problem. This article from Forbes describes the difference well: “The main difference between coaching and consulting is that coaching pulls out answers from the client while consulting tells the client what to do. With coaching, you walk away with strategies for uncovering your truth on your own. With consulting, you get tools that can support you in moving forward and executing. Both can be useful depending on the client's goal and intention.”
Part of my work with clients focuses on coaching – I want to center my clients as the decision-makers in their lives. Simultaneously, some of my client work focuses on the job search application process, including interview preparation and the production of application materials. In those instances, I take a more consultative approach.
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Coaching sessions are typically one hour in length and are comprised of five parts:
5 minute check-in
Review of previous commitments
Gather the coaching request, or the goal for the session, and coach towards that goal
Review action items for next time
Close with take-aways and realizations from the session
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An exploratory call is an initial 30-minute complimentary consultation between me and a potential client. My goals in these sessions are to:
Gather information about your current situation, goals, challenges, and pain points. This helps me determine if my coaching services are a good fit for you.
Establish a connection and assess if we can work well together, since building trust and a positive rapport is crucial for a successful coaching relationship.
Explain my coaching approach, the structure of the coaching sessions, and what you can expect from the coaching process.
Answer any questions you may have about how I coach and the investment (time, financial, and emotional) required for the coaching process.
Make a decision about whether my approach is aligned with your goals and needs and move forward accordingly.
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This varies based on the goals of each client. Some clients come to me when they are in an interview process and we meet together for 2-3 sessions over the course of a month.
Other clients work with me to clarify their broader career goals, which typically takes 6-12 sessions over the course of 3-6 months. I also offer alumni packages for those who have "graduated" from their initial coaching packages; those range anywhere from 6 months to a year.
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