Allison Blackwell
Identity Reset Coach
About Me
I grew up an overachieving perfectionist, in a loving Christian family. I was a middle child, an A student, a dancer, Student Body President. I went to public school and then on to a small Christian liberal arts university. On paper, I was pretty clean and shiny.
But, there was often tension underneath. One version of me pushed to succeed by every external, conventional measure. The other version didn't know how to be set free, or where she fit in.
In 2014, I had an extramarital affair with a coworker that quickly became public at our very small Christian university. I lost my job, my marriage, my community, and the carefully polished version of myself I’d maintained for years.
Underneath the wreckage was the first real glimpse of myself I'd ever had. For the first time as an adult, I got to choose who I wanted to be and what I wanted my life to look like.
Personally, I got some of it right. Professionally, I walked straight back into the high-performer identity that had been draining me all along.
It worked, for a while. I won praise and awards, made more money than I'd ever imagined. But underneath it, I was increasingly depressed, anxious, and sick while pretending I was fine. I had chronic fatigue, headaches, stomach issues, rashes. Full-body vigilance, all day, every day.
I spent over $10k trying to fix what was "wrong" with me before I finally accepted the truth: it was the way I was prioritizing work that was making me sick. The problem was never just the job. It was the identity I'd tied to the job. Until I confronted that, I was going to keep recreating the same result under a different title.
With nothing left to give, I walked away from the multi-six-figure salary, the title, the version of success I'd spent 20 years chasing. Not because I had it all figured out. Because I finally couldn't afford not to.
I had the chance to choose myself back in 2014. It took me ten more years to bring the rest of me along.
Why I Do This Work
What I know from doing this work myself, and now with other women, is that the hardest part is never knowing something needs to change. It's understanding how to actually change it.
When you're inside it, life feels like a Jenga tower… like pulling one wrong block will bring your whole world down. So instead, you optimize. A better morning routine. Stronger boundaries. Exercise. A cleaner diet. Small moves that make you feel like you're doing something, without ever touching the root issue: that it’s the identity you’ve been living that doesn’t fit anymore.
I don't want the women I work with to spend another year (or another ten) optimizing a life that doesn’t fit anymore. I want to walk them toward full, audacious ownership of their own.
A woman living audaciously sets her world on fire in the best way possible.
My Experience
Master of Arts in Education
BA in English
Certified Wayfinder Coach — 2025
Nearly two decades in higher education and corporate leadership: Residence Life Director, Assessment, English Composition Faculty, and a fast climb through Product Management, from Product Owner to Principal Product Manager, in just five years.
Along the way, I also spent three years as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA) for kids in the foster system.
I've never stayed in one lane. I've built programs, led teams, shaped strategy, and been promoted fast, over and over, across completely different worlds. Two decades of proof that I know how to walk into a broken system, figure out how it actually works, and rebuild something better for myself and for the people I lead.