My name is Layla Sells and I’m an engineer, a manager, an artist, and a life coach. I’m passionate about people, learning what makes them tick, and what brings them each joy. It’s this desire to help others find their paths to successful, happy lives that has led me here.
I firmly believe that true success involves both your happiness and actually living the life that you want – not just working to add to an ever increasing list of achievements. Now to be clear, I don’t mean that your achievements should be sacrificed or that they don’t matter, but rather that a lifestyle so narrowly focused on only amassing more accolades can lead to missing out on the bigger picture.
How did I come to this conclusion? Over the last 15 years of working in the software and hardware industries (resume) as both an individual contributor and a people manager, I’ve seen and experienced a lot of frustration, sacrifice, and unhappiness by those around me. They are successful in the eyes of most of the world, but miserable and thinking they aren’t good enough because they work with others that appear just a bit more successful. Our industry is filled with easy to fall into traps like this one. But it is also is filled with possibility – for success and for a happy life.
For a long time I thought that my success and quality of environment were items completely outside of my control. When things weren’t going well I thought it was my clueless boss, the competitive team, or getting the wrong projects. The problem is that I left my life and career in the hands of others. Learning how to navigate these types of situations empowered me to take responsibility for the outcomes in my life. It also freed me from thinking I needed to please everyone to succeed.
In addition to taking control of my own life, I’ve mentored, managed, and coached over a hundred Program Managers, Developers, and Testers. This includes everything from working with people to get them to the next level and landing new jobs all the way to coaching those stuck at their wits’ end and completely overwhelmed from the sheer stress of their career.
You’ve already nailed the technical skills, it’s worth the extra effort to achieve the success or fulfillment you want out of your career.