Victoria-Rose Tucker: Career & Business Launch Coach

Women are never the right age (or the right anything)

First you're too junior. Nobody trusts you with the big stuff yet, so you wait your turn because otherwise you might come across as pretentious.

Then you're mid career and suddenly you're too senior to be a beginner at anything, and you 'should' know what you're doing by now but the promotions keep eluding you.

(also, somewhere in there you're supposedly too "fertile" to be taken seriously, cue inappropriate questions about your family plans in interviews. Like there was a two week window where you were exactly the right amount of woman and nobody thought to tell you when it closed!?)

Fast forward, you're at a senior level and you're amazing at what you do. But it's been 20 years and you want to try something new, except you've niched down so far you're not sure you could get hired doing anything else.

All this to say, there's never a "right time." There's always a reason it's not quite the moment to put yourself out there or take a risk.

I used to think the window would eventually open on its own. Like one day, after collecting enough experience points, the right people would just notice me. Because I deserved it, ofc.

Sadly, that's not how it works. The window is actually a decision - you have to push it open yourself.

Looking back, one of the best jobs I ever had, I got because I strategically made myself the obvious choice for the role. Not because I genuinely thought I'd get it (I figured the person in the role wasn't going anywhere) but because I thought, this is what someone who truly wanted it would do.

So I acted like her. And then I became her.

If you're sitting there telling yourself you're too early or too late, I'd love to know, too early or too late for what exactly?

My client landed an interview. Then she "screwed up the interview"
Here's why I'm glad she didn't get it:

1. She didn't really want the job.

That's it.

When we caught up, she said she felt overwhelmed by the questions and second-guessed herself. It didn't help that it was over Zoom, or that someone senior was on the panel making it feel even higher stakes.

Knowing how smart and capable my client is, I knew pretty quickly this wasn't about her not being qualified. It was a cocktail of low confidence and self-limiting beliefs.

Did she prepare? Yes. Good ole STAR method, practiced answers, the usual.
Did she prepare her mind? Not so much.

She'd never been a Manager before. Stepping up would've meant real progress (good), but also real pressure she didn't actually want (not so good).

Knowing a company's selection criteria and their values is important.
Knowing your own, and whether they actually match, is just as important.

It's not just about convincing them to hire you. It's about knowing if you even want to be there.

Before your next interview, remind yourself that you're interviewing them too. What are you actually listening for?

A new opportunity has come up for my client. This time, we're getting all the ducks in a row before she walks in 🦆🦆🦆

When you're desperate for a role to work out, you either over-prepare into stiffness or under-prepare into vagueness. Here's what to do instead.

I see this constantly (i've even done this myself)
Someone's got an interview that actually matters.
Maybe it's the first interview after months of applications.
Maybe it's the dream job.

And the pressure does one of two things.

A. they over-prepare. Every answer gets longer, more detailed, more "let me cover every angle so nothing can catch me out." Which sounds thorough. It's not. It reads as nerves, and panels can feel it.

B. they under-prepare, because thinking about it too hard makes the stakes too real (or they've procrastinated until it's too late). So they wing it. And vague answers read as under-confident/ inexperienced even when the person isn't.

Neither one is an actual skills problem.

Here's the fix I give my clients: before the interview, write out one-liner answers to the obvious questions first (refer to the selection criteria in the position description). Then build the example underneath it.

Hint: "tell me about a time when" is code for "does she actually have the thing we're testing for." Answer that. Not the surface question.

You don't need more detail to sound competent. You need less noise around the right point.

For example. If someone asks you "tell me about a time when you made a mistake as a manager and what you did about it".

Your first line: "The first thing I will always do is own it and take personal responsibility" ( ✅ ) then move on to an example.

Make it easy for them to pick up on what you're putting down.

If you want more on how to navigate career transitions and business launches, follow my page: Victoria-Rose Tucker: Career & Business Launch Coach

What's that? You just had another $100k month WFH whilst I just rode my scooter to work in the rain because an Uber was too expensive? I'm so happy for you..

Comparison culture is a bit ironic when you think about it.
The more visible everyone's lives became online, the worse we got at seeing our own clearly.

It's easy to forget that every profile and story is a very intentional edit. Recognising that isn't a 'nice idea', it's basically a survival skill for your sanity and your self-worth.

When I got laid off during the pandemic, I was unemployed for over 4 months and applied for 100+ jobs. I never posted about the countless rejections or getting ghosted after spending an hour doing an unpaid 'trial' at a cafe. About how lonely I was and how lost I felt most days.

I only posted to announce I landed a job. Like none of the mess before it had happened.

That's the whole thing right there. We see the highlight, never what came before it or what's happening around it.

We've got to put more energy into our own path instead of measuring it against someone else's.

It pays to remember we're only ever seeing the lemonade, never the lemons that made it 🍋

Can I tell you about the hardest year of my life?

I was 17. I'd spent months coordinating car washes and bake sales, working two jobs after school and on weekends, and even convincing my legendary history teacher to shave his beard to help raise funds. No student had EVER seen Mr Paul Wulff without a beard.

Once I'd saved enough I packed my bags and moved from New Zealand to Spain (the farthest possible country). On my own. For a year.

All I had was year 12 Spanish. I was absolutely kidding myself that hola and dónde está el baño would get me through.

Within weeks I was going through a breakup with my high school sweetheart back home (we lasted 3 weeks of long distance. I was crushed). I couldn't keep up with conversations, felt like I had no personality, didn't really have any friends, and was frequently getting lost. My brain was constantly exhausted from translating Spanish to English and back again.

I remember sitting alone at thinking "what have I done."

I tried SO hard to fit in. I did not want to go home. I didn't want to be the loser who couldn't hack it.

But here's what I know now that I didn't know then.

I wasn't struggling because I was weak or unprepared or not trying hard enough.

I was lonely. Deeply, all-consumingly lonely. And loneliness makes everything harder than it actually is. Decisions feel impossible. Happiness feels out of reach. The version of yourself you actually like feels very far away.

It took me a long time to stop beating myself up for that.
But one day something clicked.

I am not what everyone else thinks of me. I am what I think of me.
I started accepting myself for my quirks.

I came up with a motto for the embarrassing moments, like when a teacher called me out in class and I had absolutely no idea what they were saying.
My motto: "this time next week, no one's going to remember this."

I learnt to be my own best friend that year. And honestly it changed everything.

Has anyone else been through a season where everything felt harder than it should? I'd love to hear your stories 💛

If your business idea starts with a logo… you’re doing it backwards.

And you're not alone. Most beginners in business start in the wrong place.

They jump to logos, websites, and brainstorming names (basically the visible parts)...before they’ve actually proven anything.

But good news - you’re in the RIGHT place (because we’re about to fix that) 😁

If you strip it back, building a business is actually pretty simple.
Get the foundations right, and everything else becomes a lot easier.

Swipe across for a deeper breakdown. But if you’re short on time, here it is in 3 steps:

1️⃣ Find a real problem
2️⃣ Talk to real people
3️⃣ Test a simple version

Everything else comes after.

Most people don’t fail because their idea is bad.
They fail because they:

👉 stay in their head too long
👉 avoid putting anything out into the real world
👉 or try to get it perfect before they start

If you can shift your focus to starting small, testing quickly, and learning as you go, you’ll already be ahead of most people 👏

If you’ve got a business idea, what stage are you at right now?

1. Thinking about it
2. Exploring it
3. Already testing it
4. I'm stuck and I need your help!

How to survive a job you've mentally quit, when quitting isn't an option yet
👇

1. Stop putting your life on hold until you escape.
Wear the outfit that makes you feel like a boss. Create little routines that remind you you're still in there. Take a weekend getaway. You're allowed a life while you figure the rest out.

2. Stop making the job your whole identity.
It's something you do right now. It's not the whole story of who you are.

3. Build something that's actually yours.
For me it was coaching. After doing it for a company for years, I finally started doing it for me, and getting paid for it. Your version of that could be selling on Etsy, freelancing on the side. Doesn't have to be big, it just has to be yours.

4. Stop giving all of yourself to a place that would replace like that 🫰
Do the work well, but please stop handing over your nervous system for free.

5. Start building your way out before you're desperate.
The plan is what changes how it feels to stay, long before you actually leave. Invest in yourself, in what you need to transition into that role you've been dreaming of. Prepare and take micro steps.

6. Stop treating quitting as the goal.
The goal is having enough clarity and options that staying becomes a choice, not a life sentence.

7. Give yourself more credit.
Some of you are showing up every single day in a place that no longer fits you. That takes more strength than anyone recognises, including you 💛

Sometimes the goal isn't loving your current life, it's simply not throwing up your hands and staying in it forever.

It helps to remind yourself that you really don't need the whole plan figured out, just the next move on your chess board .

If this is you right now, comment "STUCK" and I'll send you the 'Stay or Go' framework I use with my own clients to work out if it's actually time to go, or if there's something worth fixing first.

Have you ever realised you’ve been counting down to Friday… every single week?

That was me in my early 20s.

I’d wake up on a Monday morning with this sinking feeling of “Uhhhg, I really don’t want to go to work today.” And despite my love for coffee, my morning flat white couldn’t shake it. That feeling followed me all week until Friday became the only thing I was looking forward to.

Looking back, I think the spark for my work started fading around the same time I stopped letting myself want things. I’d been shut down a few too many times and eventually just went a bit emotionally offline. There were still good days, but I actually think that was part of the problem.

I kept showing up and got the work done. I just wasn’t fully in it.

I see versions of that pattern everywhere now.

People who are competent, reliable and high-functioning in all the ways that count on paper, but privately aware that something between their external world and internal world doesn’t quite line up anymore.

There’s a role they keep negotiating themselves out of. A business idea sitting in their notes app. An alternative version of life that feels exciting… until their brain steps in with all the reasons why now isn’t the time.

I know that cycle because I still catch myself doing it.

I’ll allow myself to dream, then immediately start listing all the reasons why that thing isn’t possible (right now).

Sometimes I’ll even make a plan. But when life gets busy, I lose momentum. Before I know it, I’m back at square one wondering what’s actually changed.

The thing I’ve learnt is that, most of the time, nothing is “wrong” with us.

Sometimes we’ve just been disconnected from ourselves for so long that we forget what it feels like to genuinely want something again.

These days, this smile isn’t because life is easy.
It’s because I’m building one that feels like mine.

And if you’re reading this thinking, “Sh*t… that’s exactly how I feel,” send me a message. Let’s figure out what’s been keeping you stuck, so you can start building work you’re genuinely excited to wake up for!❤️

I applied for over 𝟏𝟎𝟎 jobs.
In the end, I was offered a role I never applied for and didn't even want.

I took it anyway because I needed a job; I needed the income after 4 months of money going out and zero coming in.

They agreed they'd help me upskill, move me toward the role I actually wanted in that company.

Months later, it was clear. That wasn't happening.
I was disappointed; my ego had hoped for a different outcome

But looking back, that season wasn't about the dream job. It was about stability. I needed a yes, even if it wasn't the right yes.

And that bruised ego still gave me momentum.

That job became a lilypad. Not the destination, just somewhere to land that meant I didn't sink further into the unstructured chaos of unemployment. It's what got me to one of the best roles I've ever had, a job I couldn't have planned or applied for if I'd tried (because it wasn't ready for me yet).

So if you're in a season where the next step isn't perfect, that doesn't mean it's a backwards step or that it's wasted.
Sometimes you say yes to what you need, and keep your eyes and mind open to the opportunities that will follow.

I'd love to hear about other people's lilypad experiences. Drop yours below 👇