The Extraordinary in the Ordinary with Dr. Lani Jones

What if the extraordinary results you're chasing are hiding in the ordinary daily tasks you're overlooking?

In this episode, Dr. Lani Jones shares how she helps mid-career professionals navigate the "what's next?" question through psychology-informed business coaching. Lani is a clinical psychologist who works in the leadership space, doing one-on-one coaching with professionals asking "I've checked all the boxes, where do I go from here?" while also working with organizations on culture and clarity. She started her career in a hospital setting as part of an interdisciplinary team before opening a private practice, but COVID became the unexpected catalyst when evaluation needs dropped while therapy demand skyrocketed, and she began working with entrepreneurs and executives on leading through crises and balancing professional ambition with caregiving. Lani's innovative approach centers on deep-dive calendar audits that reveal what's truly important versus what's done out of obligation, helping seasoned professionals reclaim agency they've forgotten they have. Her biggest win was helping a C-Suite executive who achieved her life's goal but was miserable, and after 18 months she was loving work again simply by claiming her agency and rebuilding her calendar. Beyond her professional achievements, Lani champions the motto "the extraordinary abides in the ordinary."

Lani reveals the relationships that transformed her business: three powerhouse women she met in a mastermind group for testing psychologists around 2018-2019, who after the mastermind ended gelled so deeply that one said "I think we need to meet in person," leading to yearly gatherings where they show up so vulnerably that if two end up in the same city there's a text guilting the others to fly in even for 36 hours. These women became her biggest champions who championed her pursuit of coaching saying "pursue this, it's okay to transition out of clinical work," and because Lani had all her cheerleaders behind the scenes giving her business advice while personally supporting her, she could show up powerfully for an early coaching client, a founder drowning without systems who couldn't afford mentorship. She worked with her pro bono, introducing her to key people and helping her handle burnout, leading to Lani's realization that it wasn't just about these three women but about the broader relationship ecosystem she'd built over years where she could say "let me share my people with you."

 

[00:03:20] Clinical Psychologist in Leadership and Business Space

• Works as consultant and coach with mid-career professionals

• One-to-one coaching with those asking "what's next? I've checked boxes, had success—where do I go from here?"

• Works with organizations and leadership teams on culture, clarity, evaluation procedures

• Does workshops and trainings

[00:04:20] Started Career in Hospital Setting

• Worked with variety of medical professionals as part of interdisciplinary team

• Focused on diagnostic side: evaluation and testing

• Moved to opening private practice during COVID

[00:04:40] COVID Changed Everything

• By happenstance started working with group of entrepreneurs and executives

• Covering topics: leading through pandemic, going through reorg while dealing with divorce

• Climbing corporate ladder while being caregiver at home

• Talking about dual roles

[00:05:00] Merging Business and Psychology

• Being business owner herself, loved talking all things business

• Using psych expertise to address people-related challenges

• Coaching was way to merge love of both business and psychology

• Help people maximize impact and show up as best selves in all spheres

[00:05:40] The Need Shifted Dramatically

• Stay-at-home mandates, children in schools at home

• Need for evaluations drastically dropped off

• Need for therapy greatly increased

• What she'd been doing totally unexpectedly shifted

[00:07:40] C-Suite Client Success Story

• Woman came to her, been in C-Suite about a year

• C-Suite was her entire goal—everything she'd done was for this

• Year in, I was not very happy, asking "is this it? Is this what it's supposed to feel like?"

• Crisis moment: "What do I do now?"

[00:08:20] Deep Dive Calendar Audit

• First step with all clients: calendar audit

• Can say such and such is important, but calendar reflects what truly is

• Spend week or two doing deep dive: mindless scrolling, transport times, all the things

• Start peeling back layers in all spheres

[00:08:40] What's on There Out of Obligation?

• What's under obligation or guilt?

• What did you really want to say no to but said yes to?

• Seasoned professionals often forget how much agency they have in a situation

[00:09:00] The Big Win: Nothing Externally Changed

• By end of their time together, she was really loving things again

• Nothing significantly changed externally: same role, two elementary age kids, married

• Started claiming her agency, taking more control

• Peeling away guilt and "shoulds"

[00:09:40] Rebuilding Calendar to Bring Life

• Rebuilt calendar to things that brought her life, things she wanted to say yes to

• Even within job position, had more flexibility than she was claiming

• Structured schedule to maximize deep think time

• Had flexibility in when and how she was taking meetings

[00:12:40] Met in Mastermind Group

• When first starting practice, sought out business mentor

• Was in mastermind group—all testing psychologists in private practice

• Very specific niche, all virtual across the country

[00:13:00] Four Women Really Gelled Together

• At end of mastermind, herself and three women really gelled

• One said "I think we need to meet in person"

• Met up in person number of years ago for first time

• Have yearly gathering somewhere in world, one plays host

[00:13:20] Guilting Each Other to Fly In

• If two end up in same city, there's text message

• Guilting other ones to fly in even for 36 hours to be with them

• Powerhouse business owners

[00:13:40] Biggest Champions and Cheerleaders

• Been some of her biggest champions and cheerleaders

• Shown up in this space so vulnerably and authentically

• Few weeks ago, sitting on beach in Florida talking life, talking business

• What's going great? What's hard?

[00:15:40] Early Coaching Client: Founder Drowning

• One of early coaching clients was a founder couple years in

• Didn't quite have systems in place that she needed

• This was her first business, felt like she was drowning

• Not in financial position to take on business mentor or coach

[00:16:00] Working Together Pro Bono

• Made agreement to work together

• Started working with her on both personal and professional life

• Getting business systems in place

• Introduced her to number of key people with expertise outside of hers

[00:16:40] Had Cheerleaders Behind the Scenes

• Because had all her cheerleaders behind scenes

• Who were giving her all amazing business advice and expertise

• Personally supporting her

• Was able to show up in very similar way for this client

[00:17:40] Broader Relationship Ecosystem

• Wasn't only these three women

• Was the broader relationship ecosystem she shared with client

• So many other key players was able to introduce her to

• All that relationship equity over the years

[00:20:20] The Extraordinary Abides in the Ordinary

• One of her mottos: "The extraordinary abides in the ordinary"

• As entrepreneurs and business owners, we want the big shiny things

• Want to run after really big successes or goals

• Actually the seemingly mundane or just ordinary daily tasks

[00:20:40] Relationships Take Time to Build

• Even relationship building: sending the text, doing the follow up, grabbing the coffee

• Can't alter time—time is what it is, for better or worse

• Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow

• Relationships take time to build, they're not overnight

 

KEY QUOTES

"The extraordinary abides in the ordinary. Sometimes as entrepreneurs and business owners, we want the big, shiny things, but it's actually the seemingly mundane, ordinary daily tasks of relationship building, sending the text, doing the follow up that creates big results." - Dr. Lani Jones

"Our calendar actually reflects what truly is important to us. We can say such and such is important, but how are we spending our time? Seasoned professionals often forget how much agency they have in a situation." - Dr. Lani Jones

"Relationships take time to build. They're not overnight. Don't get in that rapid pace of 'I'm not where I need to be.' Just do the daily tasks, do the ordinary, and you're gonna see the big results." - Dr. Lani Jones

CONNECT WITH DR. LANI JONES 

🌐 Website: https://drlanijones.com 

📋 Free Calendar Reset Guide: https://drlanijones.com/reset 

💼 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drlanijones

 

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