Deborah Brown-Volkman: Helping Professionals See Their Career Through a New Lens

A person’s career is a series of choices, some good and some bad. A lot of people second guess the steps that they take in their professional life and wish they had done certain things differently. To move forward in a career and achieve goals, clarity in thought is important.  It helps with focus, motivation, and inspiration. This is where a career coach comes in with their expertise which goes beyond just job hunting and helps one make informed decisions. Deborah Brown-Volkman, a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), motivational speaker, author, veteran coach, and the President of Surpass Your Dreams, Inc., helps professionals view their careers through a different lens and guides them to lead a life of personal and professional fulfillment. 

Why Coaching?

Deborah was part of corporate America for more than 12 years. Though she had a safe and comfortable marketing job, it felt like she was living someone else’s life. Her search to find a career that aligned with her soul led her to her purpose:  coaching. Being stuck in a rut herself made Deborah stronger in her mission – to help others land the job they were born to do and love it as much as she loved her transition to a career she adored. A member of the International Coach Federation (ICF) and a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Deborah is accredited by International Coach Federation (ICF). She is also a Certified Wellness Coach from Institute for Life Coach Training (ILCT) and is an Adjunct Professor for Coach Training Alliance, a leading global coaching organization. 

Look Beyond Your Dreams

Success and personal fulfillment in a job are not something that goes hand in hand for many who struggle to find their footing. There can be many reasons to stick to a career, but one ultimately feels burned out, which is when the question of “Why am I here?” crops up. To help people find answers to such questions, Deborah founded “Surpass Your Dreams” in 2002 to help clients view their careers through a different lens and go from feeling trapped to being an observer.  Her specialty is career stages; whether you have attained senior management status, are a manager trying to move a step up the ladder, or a newbie entering the workforce, she helps people find their way back after major career setbacks and losses. She helps in handling difficult or toxic bosses, co-workers, or staff members that make lives miserable, securing well-deserved raises and resources they otherwise thought were impossible to get, returning to the workforce after intentional or unintentional breaks, dealing with hiccups during COVID-19 as industries disappeared overnight and people had to pivot or start over, speaking up and unleashing the brilliance of their voice and become rising stars.  

As a Career Optician, Deborah has worked with clients in companies, including Facebook, Google, Citibank, J.P. Morgan, Ameritas, Nautica, Verizon, and many others. With her vast experience, she can tell how to navigate and succeed in a start-up, small/medium-sized business, or a Fortune 500 corporation. Deborah is a mix of data and intuition, both spiritual and practical, and brings a novel outlook to her work by creating a safe space where clients can talk, be understood, and most importantly, be themselves. “We adopt a five-step customized process to cater to specific needs of every client called DECIR – describing what you want, exploratory things, creating a game plan, implementing the plan, and then reaching your goal. We help them see what they fail to and identify their vision which needs to be brought to the fore to move forward. My aim is to help clients move past being stuck and overwhelmed to plan their next career move with courage, clarity, and confidence,” Deborah says.  

Persistence is Key

Author of several best-selling books and articles that help people find new careers, new jobs, new businesses, and new perspectives, Deborah has been featured as an expert coach across media, including ABC News, Fox Business News, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune, MSNBC, Forbes, and The New York Times.  With more than two decades of experience empowering clients to deal with workplace challenges, Deborah has created a niche for herself by being one of the pioneers in the coaching business.

To the women entrepreneurs out there and those who want to become one, Deborah just has one piece of advice: just keep going and do the work that you were born to do.