Liz Barry Coach

02/09/2026

What are you becoming next?

It’s a question I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, particularly since turning 50.

For so many of us, the first half of life has been shaped by roles, responsibilities and expectations. And somewhere around midlife, different questions start getting louder:

Who am I now?
What do I want?
What do I want the next chapter of my life to look and feel like?

These are the conversations that inspired the four of us to create BECOMING: The Next Chapter Is Yours — a three-hour evening for women at midlife exploring identity, hormone health, career & purpose, and personal style.

📍 VYC, Auckland
📅 Thursday 22 October
🎟 Early bird tickets $109

I’ve written a new blog about the thinking behind BECOMING, midlife, possibility, and why I believe this can be such an extraordinary time to consciously choose what comes next.

✨ Find the blog post in the comments

26/08/2026

A lot of career changers fail because no one tells them this:⁠
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Clarity is the most important tool at your disposal when changing your career. Without it, you end up seeking new jobs to escape the old ones, instead of seeking a new career that feeds what matters most, your soul.⁠
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I’m hosting a free workshop tomorrow, ‘Soul Search for Career Clarity’, where you can build a plan for your next career steps in real time with me! ⁠
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Join me at 12pm NZDT tomorrow for a productive 90 minutes of career planning (that feels genuinely GOOD). There won’t be a replay, so make sure to come by so you don’t miss out! ⁠
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Workshop registration link in the comments

24/08/2026

“How do I figure out what I actually want?”

The #1 question I hear as a career coach.

So many people know they’re not in the right place… but they don’t know what would feel better. And it’s not for lack of trying.

Life is full, hectic, noisy. There’s no space to hear your own inner voice. That’s why I so often hear: “I feel like I’ve lost myself and I don’t know how to find my way back.”

The truth is: clarity needs space. Stillness. A chance to tune back in.
That’s exactly what we’ll create in my free 90-minute workshop:

Soul Search for Career Clarity
Thursday 27th August (12pm NZT)
5 guided exercises → your next career roadmap

If you’re stuck in the “in-between,” unsure what’s next, this workshop is for you.

See the link in the comments for information about what we'll be covering

Here’s to your next step, Liz ❤️

20/08/2026

You deserve to LOVE what you do for work, but it’s impossible to get there without the right plan. So, how do you build one?

It’s so easy to blame ourselves when we feel lost in our careers, or unsure of what to do next. But those feelings are just a natural by-product of the ways we’re taught to seek careers in the first place.

We’re taught to only look for the most lucrative or ‘acceptable’ careers. We’re taught to rush into the next role. We’re conditioned to believe that work is just a means to an end; something to endure rather than enjoy.

But this is a myth, and it might be holding you back right now from finding the career that will light you up inside.

Here’s what you can do instead:

Shift from prioritising what others want from your life to prioritising what YOU want. This takes work, but it’s worth the time and effort to free yourself.

Take a deep dive into your soul. There are so many incredible hints to what lights you up waiting just beneath the surface.

Take the change one piece at a time. Most lasting, fulfilling career changes don’t happen overnight. They’re a long string of small steps, and each one feels better than the last.

From one career changer to another: it’s entirely possible to love what you do. You’re not behind, you might just be a little lost. All you need is the right map.

If you’re interested, I’m running a FREE workshop next week on 27th August at 12pm NZDT to help career changers like you figure out what’s next. I call it the Soul Search for Career Clarity, and in it, we’ll build your career roadmap together using 5 exercises that have seriously unlocked this process for my clients.

See link in the comments for the details if you'd like to come along.

18/08/2026

I don’t know who needs to hear this, but it’s entirely possible to love what you do for work. ⁠
⁠
You DON’T have to accept a career that drains you, exhausts you, and leaves you feeling unfulfilled.⁠
⁠
I’m running a FREE workshop next week on 27th August to help career changers like you figure out what’s next. ⁠
⁠
I call it 'Soul Search for Career Clarity', and in it, we’ll build your career roadmap together using 5 exercises that have seriously unlocked this process for my clients. ⁠
⁠
See registration link in the comments

18/08/2026

I used to think that if I could help someone figure out WHAT they wanted to do next, I'd helped them get unstuck.

Turns out, that was only half the job.

I learned this the hard way after years of working as a career consultant, 16 years in fact.

Sometimes I'd follow up with clients six months or a year later and discover they were still in the job they'd paid me good money to help them leave.

They knew what they could do next. But something was stopping them from doing it.

And eventually I realised what I'd been missing.

We'd done all the logical, practical stuff - you know, classic career coaching 101.

- What are you good at? What are you skills?
- What do you enjoy?
- What kind of work would suit you?
- What opportunities are out there?
- Who do you need to talk to?
- What's the plan for making the move?

But we hadn't spent enough time on what was happening inside.
The fear and self-doubt. The limiting beliefs. The stories running around in their heads about what was and wasn't possible.

I'm too old.
I'll have to start all over again.
I'll earn less money.
I'm not qualified enough.
What if I make the wrong decision?
The job market is terrible. I should just stay where I am.

THAT was the piece I was missing.

And it's why I now think about career change as two parallel paths.

Path One is the obvious one: figuring out what you want and creating a strategy to get there.

Path Two is the invisible one: getting out of your own darn way.

And we need to work on BOTH.

Because you can have the world's best career plan, but if fear is quietly making your decisions for you, you're probably not going anywhere.

One of the things I now help my clients do is get really curious about those fears. Not push them down and not automatically believe them either.

Instead, we ask:

What assumption is hiding underneath this fear?
AND
Have I actually researched whether that assumption is true?

Because there's a big difference between:

“I'll have to take a massive pay cut.”
AND
“I THINK I'll have to take a massive pay cut, but I haven't actually spoken to anyone in the industry or researched salaries yet.”

One is being treated as a fact.
The other is an untested assumption.

And this is where the inner work of career change meets the practical work.

Get curious. Become an investigative journalist. Talk to people who are in that industry and doing that job. Ask really good questions. Gather information. Test your assumptions.

You may discover that the story that's been keeping you stuck for YEARS isn't actually true.

I wrote a piece about this recently (link in the comments) — about the two paths of career change, about author and life coach Martha Beck’s concept of the inner Lizard, and why getting curious about the fears and assumptions keeping us stuck can be such an important first step.

08/08/2026

04/08/2026

I have a phrase I use with every person who enters my practice:

“𝑰𝒕’𝒔 𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆.”

It’s true for everything. If you commit, make a plan, and find your way through, it’s entirely possible to do almost anything you put your mind to.

It’s so easy for us to believe that about almost anything else; so why not our careers?

Because we are never taught HOW to go and get the career we want. We’re just taught how to apply for the next job.

My signature 3-step framework (Soul Search, Research, Job Search) is built specifically for mid-career women who are ready to stop guessing and start designing a path that fits who they are now. Let’s map out a plan you’re genuinely excited to follow.

It’s entirely possible to make this change over the next six months, with me as your guide and a community of incredible Pathfinders supporting you at every step.

𝗗𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗮𝘁𝗵𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺 𝗰𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝗱𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 𝘁𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁 (𝗔𝘂𝗴𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝟱𝘁𝗵 𝗡𝗭𝗧). 𝗟𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝗼𝗶𝗻 𝘂𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

I’ll see you soon!

Xoxo
Liz

03/08/2026

This is the one practice that I am betting you would be totally sceptical about, because almost every single one of my clients is. Funnily enough, it’s also the practice that helps the most.

Writing down the things you appreciate each day.

We're all walking around with a negativity bias. We're looking for evidence that the world is against us, that the dream we have for our lives is not meant to be (even if we're not aware that we're doing this). Taking an active role in changing this mechanism is - and I'm not exaggerating here - life-changing.

The funny thing is that, on the face of things, appreciation is a tiny habit. Maybe 5 to 10 minutes per day of effort to write a few things down.

“𝐼 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑓𝑓𝑖𝑐 𝑔𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑚𝑒 𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑤𝑖𝑡ℎ 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓.”

“𝐼 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝐼 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑒 𝑟𝑒𝑑𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑛𝑡, 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑎𝑡ℎ 𝑡𝑜 𝑓𝑖𝑛𝑑𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎 𝑏𝑒𝑡𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑟𝑜𝑙𝑒 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑒.”

“𝐼 𝑎𝑝𝑝𝑟𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑡𝑒 ℎ𝑜𝑤 𝑚𝑢𝑐ℎ 𝐼 𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑔𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑎𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦𝑠𝑒𝑙𝑓 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑎𝑟𝑔𝑢𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡.”

Even though this habit is so small, I've seen it create radical change. You can completely adapt how you see your life and career for the better, and see the opportunities in front of you for what they are. Magical, right?

Would you try this? Be honest, because I love showing how well appreciation can work.

(P.S. We use a tool like this inside of the Pathfinder program. If you’re tired of feeling stuck in your career, want a safe community to grow, and structure to guide the change, doors close tomorrow. 👉 Join the Pathfinder program by August 5th - https://www.lizbarry.com/pathfinder-2026 )

29/07/2026

As a mid-career woman, you’ve been keeping the balls in the air for everyone else for YEARS. But I have a question for you:

When was the last time you thought about what YOU want?

Caring about your kids, aging parents, navigating your home life is its own full-time job, which you might even be doing on top of other full-time work.

And now, the shape of your responsibilities is shifting: your kids are getting a bus card or driver’s licenses, going off to university, your partner’s career might be ramping up or ramping down, you’ve got 10-15 years of runway left, and suddenly you can’t help but ask… “what do I actually want?”.

The question sneaks up on you. And…. you don’t have an answer.

That’s scary. It is. You’re not ungrateful, you’re not unmotivated; and you are also not alone.

I help mid-career women create careers that actually fit who they are now.
Using my Soul Search – Research – Job Search method, I help you get clear on what you want, explore what’s possible, and map out a plan you’re excited to follow.

You need a community. It’s the way through. Join me and the other Pathfinders this August for a lifelong community that will support you through every version of your career. Learn more at the link in the comments.