Corporate Shapeshifter

On how the traits that made me incompatible with HR are exactly what make me effective as a coach.

The very first thing I wrote in my bio when I tentatively started my Substack in the summer of 2025 was that I was a former “Corporate Shapeshifter.”

Whatever the fuck that means.

And then I wrote several confused and angry pieces about what a shit show the HR space can be, including:

My exit plan

My POV that talk is cheap, but human labor is expensive

Of course my take on the Coldplay concert shenanigans

And my favorite–”You Should be Grateful to Have a Job Culture and Other Fuckeries”

And now here we are, in January of 2026. My lifestyle has evolved. I am in build mode. For better or worse, I am what will be at the root of my own success or demise.

No pressure!

I say this, I joke, I make light. But honestly? It’s been a bit depressing and has forced me to come to terms with what, as an individual, I am capable of. Because oftentimes, it feels like all I’m hearing is what I am NOT capable of.

I recently discovered Jennifer Houle* of Uncompliant, via an article she wrote that was so simple but sort of blew my socks off. Jennifer writes beautifully about the ugly lack of critical thinking welcome in the HR space:

“Critical thinking requires authorization to ask uncomfortable questions: who benefits from this rule, who carries its cost, what problem this system was originally designed to solve, what problem it is solving now, and what happens if no one intervenes. HR education rarely invites these questions, and organizational culture often discourages them.”

I immediately subscribed to Jennifer’s newsletter and restacked her article with my own Note:

[*Disclaimer: Jennifer pronounces her last name like it rhymes with “cool,” and I butchered it in the video.]

Between us friends, when I came across Jennifer’s page, I had been feeling really down. I had so much momentum at the end of 2025 as I worked towards–and secured–my first International Coaching Federation credential. I could rest!

But then suddenly, it was January. Suddenly, I had to actually do all the things I said I would do in 2026. And if I don’t?

Ugh. I’d have to get another JOB. The horror.

When we are away from something, we start to romanticize what we used to have. My youngest child is now five, and suddenly I’m remembering the newborn days that nearly broke me with a wistful nostalgia.

You know where else wistful nostalgia is creeping into my mindset?

A steady paycheck. I am wistfully nostalgic for this experience of yore.

Regardless, Jennifer’s article was a reminder why, for me, not fitting into the HR box is an asset.

After all, the traits and characteristics that get in the way of certain success are typically the keys to a different room with unknowable treasures inside.

When I first started working in HR (I’m sorry, “People & Culture”), I couldn’t believe my luck. I genuinely thought I was there to help people! No one actually told me, ever, that “helping people” was not my job.

This might be because I’ve worked under some wonderful HR leaders who really wanted to invest in people so they could give back to the business. Unfortunately, in my experience, those leaders don’t last long when a CEO and a board of advisors are looking for a “quick win.”

And alas, a “quick win” culture requires a strongman, an HR leader, a Commander of Compliance.

Compliance over all.

Uniformity.

Blindly following orders.

While this is not always the case, I am sad to say that too many times I witnessed hard working, dedicated employees, managers, and leaders get screwed over while a few bad leadership eggs with arbitrary but higher titles rake in bonuses.

You don’t have to be a business aficionado or a certified executive coach to know this model is not only unethical, but it is also unsustainable.

Clearly I don’t fit in the HR box, as we all now know. But I’ve always loved the coaching aspect of my work—that should be easy, right?

It’s not easy.

But do you know what I discovered? I’m actually really good at it. Coaching leaders and employees who actually care about what they can achieve broadly, who have an interest beyond their own bonus potential.

The other side of what made working in HR under unethical leaders unsustainable for me—empathy, authenticity, integrity, emotional intelligence, critical thinking, an astute sense of people—these are my treasures.

This is the door that the key of being laid off opened up for me.

And in this space?

This is where people’s contribution to the business gets meaningful.

This is where the business becomes sustainable.

Because I can’t in good faith go find another job, not knowing if my leaders are genuine until it’s too late.

I can’t in good faith tell employees untruths, because I can no longer claim ignorance.

I can’t be complicit in these crimes of morality.

I need to be doing my own thing, the universe is screaming at me, and I have not wavered in the fact that I am following the path, even when I can’t see the way it curves up ahead.

I’m curious–what sorts of experiences have you had with HR teams and people leaders?

What do you see as the role of that team?

What would get you to consider working with an executive coach?

©Rachel Nasatka. All rights reserved. You can’t have her she’s mine.