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Clarity for what’s next.

Welcome to the Life & Leadership Essentials blog, a space for thoughtful reflection, honest questions, and meaningful conversations about what comes next.

Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/6/26 Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/6/26

Is This Really It?

What happens when a successful career stops feeling right? No crisis, no bad boss. Just the quiet signal that moved me from executive to leadership coach.

Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/5/26 Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/5/26

I Retired at 64. I Wasn't Done.

Retiring after 37 years did not mean I was done working. Why I started a business at 64, and how to tell when retirement is a choice point rather than an ending.

Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/3/26 Mary Beth Plank-Mezo 9/3/26

I Took a Job for $5 an Hour

A career decision I made as a single mom in 1989: turn down the better-paying offer, take $5 an hour at a small school. That school became 36 years at Full Sail.