By: Rayana T Starre
When DJ first came to me for coaching, he had been out of work for a year. A shy, introverted professional with a strong background in operations, he was eager to find his next corporate role and dreamed of stepping into a Director of Operations or Operations Manager position. More than just securing employment, DJ wanted to level up, reclaim his confidence, and align with work that felt meaningful.
From the beginning, it was clear that DJ’s design as a Builder shaped both his challenge and his potential. With his defined Energy Resource Function, DJ carries consistent access to stamina and endurance. His interaction style requires waiting to respond rather than initiating. This meant that his year of unemployment was not a reflection of incompetence, but of needing the right opportunities to respond to. Recognizing this was a turning point in restoring his confidence.
Laying the Groundwork: Clarity and Confidence
Our first phase of coaching focused on assessment and clarity. Using the BG5 Career Analysis framework, we identified DJ’s core strengths and traits. His Public Role of Messenger/Authority highlighted his ability to translate experience into structured, practical insights that others could trust. His natural curiosity and innovative spark reinforced his drive to explore, question, and bring fresh energy into systems that had grown stagnant. These themes mirrored his operational specialty in recognizing inefficiencies, designing better processes, and guiding organizations toward sustainable improvement.
“Seeing my strengths on paper gave me the confidence to believe I was built for this work.” – DJ
As DJ worked through my skills assessment worksheet, he began to see his value laid out in concrete terms. His business skill of Administration, supported by Leadership and Determination attributes, showed how he could transform vision into structured systems without resorting to heavy-handed authority. His Reliability skill, paired with Potential and Marketing attributes, demonstrated his capacity to create stable, trustworthy environments that others naturally gravitated toward. These insights helped DJ reconnect with his professional identity. For someone who had been sidelined for a year, it was empowering to recognize that he not only had skills but had the right skills for the kind of work he aspired to do.
DJ’s Defined Strengths
• Strength of Curiosity: A natural seeker who explores ideas and possibilities, inspiring fresh thinking
• Strength of Innovation: Brings new energy into systems that have grown stagnant, sparking change at the right time
These consistent strengths show why DJ excels in operations. He is both a seeker who questions and reframes and an innovator who recognizes what needs to shift to make systems more effective. Together, they position him as someone who not only maintains structure but also brings new life into organizations.
DJ’s Top Business Skills
• Administration: Turning vision into structured action with trusted leadership
• Reliability: Building safe and cohesive team environments through consistency
• Capacity: Generating and moving resources to create momentum and success
• Coordination: Bringing people together, mastering details, and building lasting relationships
Building a Professional Brand
Once DJ gained clarity about who he was and what he brought to the table, we moved into branding and positioning. His resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letters, and interview preparation were all crafted to reflect his design. His defined Communication and Action Function gave him the ability to articulate ideas clearly, while his defined Conceptualization Function helped him frame problems and solutions in a way that made sense to others. These became assets in shaping his professional story.
The branding process also gave DJ tangible proof of his competence. Seeing his unique combination of Administration, Reliability, Capacity, and Coordination skills translated into a professional narrative bolstered his self-belief. He could finally see in clear terms that he was well-suited for senior-level operations roles and had a compelling case to make to employers.
Mindset Shifts: From Doubt to Possibility
Even with his new branding materials, DJ’s greatest challenge was mindset. As a rare Quad Right, his assimilation style is deeply receptive and non-linear. He thrives when given space to absorb, sense timing, and allow insights to emerge naturally, then to bounce his ideas off of others to collaborate and gain more clarity. In a world that often rewards fast action and self-promotion, DJ’s orientation had left him doubting his ability to compete.
Our coaching conversations reframed this trait as a gift rather than a flaw. His receptivity meant he could pick up on patterns others missed, sense the right timing for decisions, and create solutions that were aligned rather than forced.
During one session, I suggested he consider a side hustle as a fractional COO. At first, he dismissed the idea, unsure if he could ever be his own boss. Over time, the seed took root. The more he reflected, the more the concept appealed to him. The idea of supporting multiple businesses on his own terms felt more energizing than a traditional corporate path. His Capacity skill, with its ability to generate resources and jumpstart projects, directly supported the possibility of building such a practice. His Coordination skill, with its blend of networking and attention to detail, provided the foundation for building strong client relationships.
Defined Functions That Support DJ’s Career
• Energy Resource: Fuels meaningful, sustained work in operations
• Drive and Stamina: Provides persistence to complete long-term projects
• Communication and Action: Allows him to articulate and influence with clarity
• Conceptualization: Organizes complexity into structured systems and solutions
Shadows of Undefined Functions
While his defined functions give him a strong foundation, DJ’s undefined functions also shape his journey. These open areas can become distractions when he tries to prove himself in ways that are not authentic. He can lose focus when comparing himself to others who appear more confident in identity or when he absorbs emotional energy from people around him. At times this has led him to second-guess decisions or hesitate in promoting himself.
Yet these undefined functions are also a source of wisdom. By observing where he is most open, DJ has learned to recognize the difference between outside influence and his own truth. This sensitivity allows him to read environments more accurately, support teams with empathy, and bring balance where others might overreach. Instead of seeing these undefined areas as weaknesses, DJ is beginning to embrace them as valuable sources of perspective.
Shadows and Wisdom Potential
• Undefined Identity & Direction: Can lead to self-doubt when comparing himself to others but also gives him the wisdom to adapt and see many perspectives and give himself permission to try on new roles and identities.
• Undefined Emotional Intelligence: Can absorb the moods of others but also grants empathy and insight into group dynamics has made him very wise in being able to read other’s emotions, but he admitted that he hates confrontation. In fact, one of the reasons he said hired me compared to other career and business coaches he knew was:
“You aren’t like me, and I knew you would make me uncomfortable and force me to grow.”
• Undefined Ideas & Inspiration: Can become scattered with ideas, or relax and enjoy the ride of ideas coming and going and not getting fixated on having to figure everything out
A Work in Progress
By the end of our four-month contract, DJ had transformed from a discouraged job seeker into a more confident, empowered professional. He left with updated branding materials, a clearer sense of his strengths, and the conviction that he was meant for senior operations work. He also carried with him a new vision of entrepreneurship, launching a fractional COO business alongside his job search. He realized that he didn’t have to choose between the two but could possibly do both. He was excited by those choices. In fact, it surprised me how lit up he was about the whole fractional COO idea, but his Energy Resource function was a huge, “Uh huh!”
Although the idea of his own fractional COO practice excites him, his design also reveals several business skill gaps that could make running a solo business more challenging. Because of this, working for a company that fills those gaps may flow more easily for him. DJ is experimenting now with both possibilities. He is considering taking another operations role inside a company, pursuing fractional COO work independently, or perhaps balancing a little of both until the right fit reveals itself.
His challenge now lies in outreach and self-promotion. As a shy introvert, marketing himself does not come naturally. Yet his design offers clues for overcoming this hurdle. His Reliability skill, influenced by the marketing attribute, suggests that his reputation will grow through attraction and consistent, trustworthy delivery. He does not need flashy promotion. He simply needs to share what he is doing, even imperfectly, and let satisfied clients/employers spread the word. His Builder interaction style reminds him that opportunities will come to him when he responds to what excites and lights him up, rather than forcing it or having expectations that just frustrate him.
Conclusion: Alignment Brings Confidence
DJ’s journey illustrates the power of aligning career strategy with design. By understanding his natural energy, assimilation style, and business skills, he was able to rebuild confidence, reposition himself professionally, and open up to new possibilities he never would have considered. While his career or entrepreneurial path is still unfolding, DJ now stands on firmer ground, with tools, awareness, and a renewed sense of self. He is proof that even after setbacks, aligning with one’s design can open doors to both professional success and personal fulfillment.
About the Author:
Rayana is an Emotionally Intelligent Energy Advisor who is a Certified Human Design Analyst, BG5 Business Consultant, Business and Career Transition Coach, and Master NLP Mindset Ninja.
With 25 years of experience as a business, career and mindset coach, she specializes in guiding people through life, career, and business transitions by helping them uncover their genetic blueprint and live in alignment with their true design. She uses Human Design as a tool to give people permission to be themselves.
A seasoned entrepreneur, Rayana has started up and grown multiple businesses from the ground up, scaling them to 6-7 figures across industries like real estate, insurance, pet care, art and coaching.
But, when she discovered coaching, she found her true calling, to guide and empower people on their journeys to get from where they are to where they want to be, one simple step at a time, to ultimately achieve their goals and dreams.
Rayana was introduced to Human Design in the year 2000, but it didn't take root right away. It stalked her over the years until she finally felt the calling to accept the invitation into her own experiment. She has been formally studying Human Design for over 10 years. She has found it to be a practical tool, along with NLP techniques, to transform her own life and relationships, as well as to empower her clients to break free from fears and limiting beliefs and the comparison trap. She enjoys witnessing her clients' transformation and feelings of validation when she shares a career analysis with them.
Her mission is simple: to liberate potential, excavate inner genius, and transform the future by helping people embrace who they are truly meant to be, living a life that is not only successful but deeply fulfilling.
