About the coach

I’m Dr. Janet Civitelli. Here are some things to know about my qualifications to write the content on this website.

- My areas of expertise relevant to this site are career and personal development, workplace psychology, and communications.

- My previous careers include marketing, copywriting, project management, and recruiting. I also maintain a telehealth therapy practice. Before I trained to become a psychologist, I worked in the software industry. As a therapist, coach, and/or consultant, I’ve worked in universities, community mental health agencies, hospitals, corporations, start-ups, and consulting firms.

- I moved eight times and restarted my coaching business in eight new places before I finally made my business 100% virtual. I’ve worked remotely since 2011. Because of my experiences, I’m an advocate for remote-first employment and location independence.

- I am certified as a Master Personal and Executive Coach through the College of Executive Coaching, the leader in coach training for professionals with graduate degrees.

- In 2013, I wrote and published a book featuring 15 career experts. In 2018, I updated it and retitled it, Choosing Your Career: Proven Strategies for a Satisfying Life. In 2024, I moved the book to this site so you can read it for free.

- From 2000 to 2008, I founded and ran Bridgeway Career Development, a Seattle area career and leadership coaching firm. I am no longer affiliated with Bridgeway. From 2009 to 2011, I managed the career counseling team at University Career Services (UCS), University of Houston. UCS assists 38,000 students and 200,000+ alumni with all aspects of career development. From 2011 to 2023, I ran VocationVillage.com, a career coaching firm, which is now rebranded as Remote-First Coaching.

- I’ve lived in California, Wisconsin, Alabama, Texas, Washington, Oregon, and Colorado. Some of those locations happened because of long-term consulting projects.

- My educational background includes a B.A. in Economics from UCLA and a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from The University of Texas at Austin. My dissertation research found that changeable aspects of personality are predictive of overall life satisfaction.