Career Coaching with Fexingo: Professional Coaches, Career Counselors, and Guidance for Workers

Career coaching is a booming industry, but not every coach delivers value. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the specific questions to ask before hiring a coach, the red flags that signal a waste of money, and how to set up a coaching engagement that actually moves your career forward. They discuss the difference between coaching, mentoring, and therapy, and share a simple framework for e...

Lucas and Luna tackle a common career dilemma: do you need to post on LinkedIn constantly to get ahead? They unpack the data behind LinkedIn's algorithm — including the 1 percent posting rule and the 75 percent 'lurkers' — and argue that thoughtful engagement, not viral posts, is what actually moves your career forward. They walk through three concrete strategies: strategic commenting, private rel...

Episode 30 tackles the tough scenario where your manager says there's no money for a raise. Lucas and Luna break down a specific playbook: the 'no-budget' meeting script, how to trade salary for non-monetary compensation like equity vesting or professional development budgets, and the one number you need to track from Day One. They walk through a case study of a marketing director who turned a fir...

Career coach Lucas and co-host Luna challenge the traditional corporate ladder model, arguing that a career portfolio—multiple revenue streams, skill investments, and project-based work—offers more resilience and growth in 2026. They explore the case of a former marketing director who diversified into consulting, a newsletter, and a niche SaaS product after being laid off in early 2025. The episod...

Lucas and Luna dive into the overlooked practice of career journaling — not as a diary, but as a strategic tool for tracking decisions, patterns, and growth. Lucas shares a study showing that professionals who journal weekly are 42% more likely to achieve their career goals over a 12-month period. Luna pushes back on the time commitment, and Lucas explains a minimal 5-minute framework he's used fo...

In this episode of Career Coaching with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna explore the strategic career sabbatical — a planned break from work to recharge, learn, or pivot. They discuss how to frame a sabbatical on your resume, how to negotiate one with your current employer, and why taking one can actually accelerate your career rather than derail it. Using the example of a marketing director who took six m...

Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a career contract — a written agreement between you and your boss that defines deliverables, resources, and advancement milestones before you start a new project or role. Drawing on a real example from a mid-level marketing manager who negotiated a 15 percent raise and a senior title within six months, they break down the four components of an effective career...

Lucas and Luna tackle the classic career dilemma: negotiating a raise when you don't have another job offer in hand. They break down a specific, research-backed approach that flips the conversation from 'match this offer' to 'recognize my value.' The episode centers on a 2025 study from Payscale showing that 57% of employees who asked for a raise without an external offer still received one, and w...

Most people think you need a competing job offer to get a raise. That's wrong. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down the real strategy: building a performance dossier, timing your ask around company cycles, and using specific numbers from industry salary surveys. They walk through the case of a marketing manager at a mid-sized firm who secured a 14% raise using zero external leverage. Plus, w...

Lucas and Luna explore a practical tool for advancing your career without switching jobs: the career contract. They break down how to negotiate specific responsibilities, projects, and growth milestones with your current employer, using real examples like a marketing manager who secured a data analytics role within her company. Lucas explains the three-part structure of a career contract—scope, re...

Lucas and Luna dive into a specific skill that most professionals overlook: how to actually use career advice once you get it. They break down a study from Harvard Business Review showing that executives who took notes during mentoring conversations were 42% more likely to report a promotion within 18 months. Lucas shares the 'advice audit' framework he uses with coaching clients — a simple three-...

Lucas and Luna explore the art of building a side hustle that doesn't just earn extra cash but strategically accelerates your main career. Using the case of a former marketing manager who turned a newsletter about sustainable packaging into a consulting side gig that landed her a VP role, they break down the three criteria for a career-boosting side project: adjacent skill-building, visible output...

Episode 20 of Career Coaching with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore how the stories we tell ourselves about our careers can keep us stuck—and how rewriting them can unlock new paths. They break down the concept of 'narrative identity' from organizational psychology, using the real-world case of a mid-career marketer who reframed her story from 'I'm a failure who got laid off' to 'I'm a strategist w...

Lucas and Luna explore how side projects can build career resilience, using the example of a marketing manager who started a niche newsletter that later became her safety net during a layoff. They discuss the three types of side projects that offer the most career leverage—skill-building, network-expanding, and income-diversifying—and share practical tips for starting one without burning out. Luca...

Rejection is a fixture of any career journey, yet most of us react emotionally rather than strategically. In this episode of Career Coaching with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna break down how to turn a rejection into a data point rather than a blow to your confidence. They walk through a three-step framework: detach from the emotional sting, gather specific feedback (including one surprising data source...

Episode 17 of Career Coaching with Fexingo: Lucas and Luna explore the concept of a personal board of directors — a small, intentional group of advisors who give you candid career counsel. They walk through a real-world example: how a mid-career marketing manager assembled five people — a former boss, a peer from another industry, a recruiter, a financial planner, and a retired executive — to guid...

In this episode of Career Coaching with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna tackle one of the most uncomfortable career realities: how to handle a major setback like a layoff, a missed promotion, or a project failure. They dig into a specific case study — a mid-career marketing manager at a Fortune 500 retailer who was laid off in early 2026 and turned that into a consulting practice within 90 days. Lucas bre...

Most career advice tells you to climb the ladder or jump ship. This episode argues for a third path: building career optionality within your current role. Lucas and Luna unpack the concept through the story of a mid-career marketing manager at Procter & Gamble who, instead of leaving, spent 18 months developing three distinct skill tracks—data analytics, public speaking, and cross-functional proje...

Lucas and Luna tackle one of the trickiest career dilemmas: turning down an opportunity that looks good on paper but isn't right for you. Using the real example of a senior marketer who declined a VP role at a fast-growing SaaS company—only to see the company go public two years later—they break down the framework for making the call without second-guessing yourself. Lucas shares the 'decision jou...

Lucas and Luna explore a counterintuitive career skill: managing up when your boss is incompetent, toxic, or absent. Using the real-world example of a mid-career marketing manager who survived three different bad bosses at the same company, they break down specific tactics—documenting decisions without being adversarial, finding 'protective cover' in cross-functional allies, and reframing a bad bo...

Many professionals focus on mentors and sponsors, but a small peer advisory group—three to five trusted colleagues from different companies—can accelerate your career decisions with honest, impartial feedback. In this episode, Lucas and Luna break down how to recruit peers who challenge your thinking, establish ground rules that keep sessions productive, and structure meetings so you leave with co...

Lucas and Luna tackle the specific challenges of changing careers in your forties, using the real-world case of a 44-year-old marketing director who transitioned into product management at a SaaS company. They break down how to assess transferable skills, reframe your resume to de-emphasize age, and leverage your network strategically. Lucas shares data on the average time it takes for mid-career...

In this episode of Career Coaching with Fexingo, Lucas and Luna tackle a topic most professionals overlook until it's too late: building a career safety net before a layoff or downturn hits. Using the 2023 tech layoffs as a case study—where over 260,000 workers were cut—they explore concrete steps like maintaining a living document of your accomplishments, nurturing a professional network before y...

Lucas and Luna tackle one of the toughest career transitions: moving into a new industry when you don't have the 'right' degree or direct experience. Using the real story of a former retail manager who landed a product marketing role at a SaaS company, they break down a three-step rebranding framework: translating your existing skills into the language of the target industry, building proof throug...

Lucas and Luna break down the one move that makes informational interviews actually useful for your career: sending a follow-up email within two hours with a specific, actionable request. They share concrete scripts, explain why most people waste the opportunity, and walk through a real example from a marketing manager who turned a 20-minute coffee chat into a warm referral. If you ever ask someon...