Please enjoy this blog co-authored by Raquel Lewis, Technical Program Manager, Intapp and Natasha Tucker, Director, Business Development Operations, Bennett Jones LLP.
Raquel's Story
We often imagine our careers as a straight line: a roadmap with clear goals and milestones, leading us steadily toward the destination we envision. For me, that destination was the chief marketing officer chair. I was a successful marketing technology manager at a law firm, steadily building the skills, relationships, and experiences that I believed would carry me there.
And then, life intervened in a way I could never have predicted. My mom and my nephew were murdered. In that instant, everything changed.
The trajectory of my career shifted—not because I lost ambition, but because I was forced to reassess what mattered most in life. This experience taught me that professional development is not only about building skills and achieving goals, but it's also about resilience, redirection, and learning how to lead when the path forward is no longer clear. With hindsight, this horrific experience provided me with a deeper commitment to leading with empathy.
Natasha's Story
When I was younger, I never imagined that I would be an expat, moving somewhere that I didn't choose, not once but five times. While it sounds very exciting, the reality is that you are always the new person and careerwise you repeatedly need to prove yourself.
With each move I started at the bottom, rebuilding my professional identity from scratch. Those transitions demanded courage, humility, and a willingness to trust people quickly. I had to create new networks, learn unfamiliar systems and expectations, and take risks when nothing felt comfortable.
In every new place, I learned to say yes—yes to opportunities that intimidated me, yes to roles that stretched me, yes to experiences I wasn’t sure I was ready for. Those early months were full of experimentation: trying new things, being o.k. with getting it wrong, learning new skills, and applying the lessons I carried with me from previous moves. I discovered that resilience isn’t built in a single moment—it’s built every time you choose to act without having all the answers.
Those experiences taught me how to adapt fast, how to read a room, how to rebuild community, and how to trust my own ability to grow.
Tina's Story
For over a decade, I had slowly worked my way to becoming a business development director, but my path took an unexpected pause when my father then my mother got sick. As an only child, they relied heavily on me for support and between a busy work schedule and hospital visits, everything was becoming increasingly difficult to manage. After one particularly difficult day I could no longer manage it all and I chose to take time off to care for my aging parents, a decision that felt necessary, though it meant temporarily stepping away from my career at a critical moment.
The temporary pause turned into eight years and when I returned to the workforce, everything had changed. Many of my former contacts had moved on or retired, and the tools, systems, and ways of working were entirely new. I realized I was actually starting my career over again at an older age, navigating unfamiliar technology and workflows while learning to prove myself against unconscious bias.
Yet being the oldest person in the group brought its own advantages: I was calm under pressure, steady in the face of uncertainty, and able to draw on a perspective shaped by having “seen it before.” Those qualities became invaluable, helping me lead with patience, credibility, and quiet confidence as I rebuilt my career.
Harriet’s Story
I take great pride in being at the top of my game and excelling wherever I go. So losing a new role 90 days in shook me to my core – not just because I was now scrambling to find a new role, literal days after moving, but also because I didn’t have any clear answers as to what happened. Luckily, I had spent the last decade building a strong professional network, and told as many people as possible that I was back on the market. The biggest benefit was having a group of former colleagues and managers who could remind me that I was, in fact, very good at what I do, and that I have plenty of evidence to support that. I was able to secure a short-term contract role while I job-hunted, and after a few months, landed another role that was well-aligned with both my skills and my long-term career goals.
My ultimate takeaway? Life will throw you for a loop. Your network won’t necessarily be able to help you get a job, but keeping in touch with folks you’ve worked with (and that know your work product well) can help when you need the reminder that this is simply a speedbump, not the end of the road.
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Lessons From the Roadblock
Resilience is built, not given.
In the immediate aftermath of adversity or dramatic change, take time to step back. Focus on healing and thriving more than career milestones. Resilience doesn’t mean “bouncing back” quickly, it means learning to adapt, to carry forward while honoring what you’ve endured.
Redefining success on your own terms.
Everything we are taught about success points to climbing toward a specific title but after navigating a significant roadblock, it becomes more about creating meaningful work, maintaining balance, and living in alignment with your values. Redefining success gives you the freedom to pursue professional growth in ways that feel authentic, rather than narrowly defined.
Leading with empathy.
Loss whether it be of people, a place, a role or health, changes how you see the world. It helps you become more attuned to the struggles that others face outside of work—struggles we often can’t see. This empathy makes us stronger leaders and collaborators, helping build trust and foster a culture where people feel supported.
Permission to pause.
One of the most important lessons is that pausing does not equal failure. Professional development is not a sprint. Sometimes, stepping off the path to heal or reprioritize creates a foundation for even greater growth later.
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Practical Guidance for Navigating Your Own Roadblocks
Everyone will face roadblocks at some point in their professional journey. Here are a few insights that may help:
• Acknowledge the setback. Pretending it doesn’t exist only delays growth.
• Revisit your goals. It’s okay for your definition of success to change.
• Communicate. Share what you can with trusted mentors, peers, or leaders—support systems can only help if they understand your reality.
• Lean on your network. Communities like LMA and ILTA exist not just for knowledge sharing but also for perspective and encouragement.
• Practice self-compassion. Progress may look different than you planned, but different doesn’t mean lesser.
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Beyond the Roadblock
Roadblocks are not dead ends. They are detours that force us to slow down, reflect, and sometimes find a new route. Careers do not end when paths change— they evolve.
Professional development isn’t only about how quickly you reach your destination; it’s about how you navigate the unexpected along the way. And often, the strength you build in those moments becomes the most valuable leadership skill of all.
Take a moment to consider: What roadblocks have you faced in your own professional journey? And how have they reshaped your perspective on leadership and success?
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