Today we’d like to introduce you to Molly Smith.
Hi Molly, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
For most of my career, I did what many ambitious professionals do—I chased achievement. I spent nearly 15 years climbing the corporate ladder, collecting promotions, taking on bigger responsibilities, and tying my sense of success to external validation. From the outside, everything looked great. Inside, I was increasingly disconnected from myself.
Eventually, I found myself deep in what I now call “the funk”—that place where life looks successful on paper, but something feels off. I was exhausted, unfulfilled, and operating from a definition of success that no longer fit who I was becoming.
One of the most pivotal decisions I ever made was quitting drinking. What started as a personal challenge created space for greater clarity, self-awareness, and the courage to ask some hard questions about the life I was building. That clarity ultimately led to the scariest conversation of my corporate career.
After 2.5 years in a C-level role, I realized the position I had worked so hard to achieve wasn’t actually a fit for my strengths, values, or the life I wanted to create. While most people spend their careers trying to reach the executive suite, I made the decision to step out of it. I voluntarily moved into a role with less responsibility, less influence, and a step down in title—but one that allowed me to leverage my strengths and do work that energized me instead of draining me.
That decision became the catalyst for one of the biggest breakthroughs of my life.
What I thought would be a career pivot turned into something much bigger. Creating more space in my life gave me the time, energy, and mental bandwidth to pursue passions that had been sitting on the sidelines for years.
Today, I help people recognize when they’re in the funk—that space between where they are and where they know they’re meant to be—and equip them to move toward a life that feels more grounded, purposeful, and true to who they are. My mission is crystal clear: equipping one million people with the tools to recognize the funk and, more importantly, how to pivot out of it. Everything I do is in service of that mission.
I have the opportunity to live that mission in multiple ways. In addition to working part-time for the same company, I host the WTF Podcast, coach clients, speak, write, and create content designed to help people recognize when they’re in the funk and take their next best step forward.
Looking back, the breakthrough wasn’t leaving one life for another. It was having the courage to build a life that fits who I really am.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Absolutely not.
Looking back, the biggest challenge wasn’t building a business—it was rebuilding my relationship with myself.
For years, I measured my worth by my achievements, my title, my productivity, and what I could accomplish for other people. That mindset served me well professionally, but it also left me disconnected from who I was outside of what I could do. Walking away from a C-level role, even when I knew it wasn’t the right fit, challenged everything I thought I knew about success.
There were moments when I questioned whether I was making a huge mistake. When you spend years climbing a ladder, it’s hard to explain to people why you’re choosing to climb down. There were also plenty of moments where fear, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome showed up and asked if I was really qualified to do the work I felt called to do.
At the same time, I wasn’t building this next chapter in a vacuum. I was still working in corporate, raising a family, navigating life transitions, and trying to grow a business around a mission I deeply believed in. Like many entrepreneurs, there were seasons where progress felt slower than I wanted it to and moments where I wondered if anyone was listening.
What I’ve learned is that growth rarely looks the way we expect it to. The breakthroughs didn’t come from having a perfect plan. They came from taking the next best step, trusting myself, and being willing to choose alignment over achievement again and again.
Ironically, many of the struggles I faced became the foundation of the work I do today. The experiences that once made me feel stuck are the same experiences that help me connect with clients who find themselves in their own version of the funk.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Next Best Step LLC?
Next Best Step was built around a simple idea: when you’re stuck, overwhelmed, or in what I call “the funk,” the path forward rarely reveals itself all at once. Most people know where they are and have some sense of where they want to go, but the gap between the two feels so overwhelming that they stay stuck. My philosophy is simple: don’t focus on the entire staircase. Focus on the next best step.
Everything I do is built around helping people navigate those moments. Whether someone is struggling with their health, career, purpose, relationships, or a major life transition, the process of moving forward is remarkably similar. The challenge isn’t usually a lack of information. The challenge is the emotional baggage, limiting beliefs, nervous system dysregulation, and subconscious programming that keep them from doing it.
What sets my work apart is that I address both sides of the equation.
Like many coaches, I teach practical tools, frameworks, and strategies that help people create change in their lives. But I also help clients identify and release the emotional baggage, patterns, and stories that are often operating beneath the surface. Through Emotion Code® energy healing, nervous system regulation practices, subconscious reprogramming, and coaching, I help clients release what is holding them back while simultaneously building the skills and confidence to move forward.
I’m known for making personal growth relatable and practical. I love helping people connect the dots between what they’re feeling, what’s keeping them stuck, and what action they can take next. My clients often tell me that I help them see things differently—not because I give them all the answers, but because I help them uncover answers that were already there.
What I’m most proud of is that the brand has evolved into something bigger than coaching. Through my book *What the Funk?!*, The WTF Podcast, speaking engagements, workshops, and one-on-one client work, everything points back to the same mission: equipping one million people with the tools to recognize when they’re in the funk and, more importantly, how to pivot out of it.
Because the reach of my mission is vast, accessibility matters to me. Not everyone is ready for coaching or deeper healing work, and that’s okay. That’s why I’ve intentionally created multiple ways for people to engage with me—from free resources on my website and podcast episodes to social media content and my book. The path out of the funk is available to everyone.
I want people to know they don’t have to have everything figured out before they start. Whether someone is looking for a simple mindset shift, a practical tool they can implement today, or deeper support navigating a major life transition, there’s a place for them within the Next Best Step ecosystem.
Is there anyone you’d like to thank or give credit to?
Absolutely. One thing I’ve learned along the way is that nobody builds something meaningful alone.
As a coach, I firmly believe that if you’re not investing in your own growth—whether that’s through coaching, therapy, mentorship, or being part of communities that challenge and stretch you—you’re making the journey much harder than it needs to be. Every meaningful breakthrough in my life and business has been supported by someone who helped me see what I couldn’t see on my own.
My therapist, Avis, deserves tremendous credit. She has helped me navigate some of the most important personal growth and self-discovery work of my life. Many of the tools I share with others today were first lessons I had to learn myself.
My former coach and now one of my closest friends, Lena Khais, has probably had the most profound impact on my business journey. She challenged me to think bigger, helped me see possibilities I couldn’t yet see for myself, and has been a constant source of encouragement, wisdom, and accountability. The way I show up as a business owner today has been deeply influenced by her.
Kristen Shea has also played an important role in my growth. She has helped me work through the fear of being seen—which is somewhat ironic considering my mission is to impact one million people. If I want to help that many people, visibility isn’t optional. Kristen has helped me embrace that reality and step more confidently into sharing my message.
And then there’s my husband, Geoff. We’ve been married for 27 years, and through every pivot, risk, breakthrough, and crazy idea, he’s been my biggest supporter. Having someone who believes in you when you’re still figuring things out yourself is an incredible gift, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without his encouragement.
Finally, I’m grateful for the close circle of friends, clients, and supporters who continue to cheer me on. Entrepreneurship can be lonely at times, and having people in your corner who celebrate your wins, challenge your thinking, and remind you why you started makes all the difference.
The truth is that while Next Best Step may be my business, it has been shaped by the influence, support, and belief of so many incredible people along the way.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://nextbeststep.co/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mollypositivepants/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molly.m.smith.90
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/molly-smith-24345712/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@mollypositivepants
