Pathfinders got its start when I woke up one morning and realized that my career as a telecommunications engineer was terribly unfulfilling. Although I was making good living, I was extremely bored and disenchanted, with little desire to grow in the electrical engineering profession. I realized I was on the wrong career path and wondered how the heck I got there.

Trying to solve this enigma, I grew intrigued by the widespread "status quo" pretension of career happiness in the workplace—I was not the only one who was comfortably miserable. This led me to focus on the psychology of organizational behavior. Finding the organization development field exciting, I began consulting for companies who were committed to creating a healthy, trust-based culture to work in.

While coaching organizations and executives, I found that people were more than just unhappy in their work. They wanted a lot more out of life, but were missing the "know-how" to make well-informed choices. Many said they had never chosen their career, but had haphazardly "fallen" into it. As well, the whole notion of having a fun career seemed like an unattainable fantasy to most; they weren't even looking for something better. With this wake-up call, corporate culture change efforts suddenly seemed like a misdirected adventure. Why is this so?

When people are mismatched with their work, they are like a duck living in a tree. Imagine asking a duck (who thinks it's a squirrel) to make life in the tree more exciting. Won't happen. This inspired me to continue researching human behavior, mythology, evolutionary psychology, sociobiology, neuroscience, behavioral genetics, and the social sciences for ways to effectively help individuals move their life forward.

My objective of fostering people's untapped potential was completely realized through the mentorship and encouragement of Nicholas Lore, good friend, best selling author, and founder of the internationally recognized Rockport Institute.

Today, Alexandria, VA-based Pathfinders is among the most innovative career coaching firms in the Washington, DC area, where I coach clients from all over the world to design and choose a career they'll excel in, conduct research, consult, and write as a professional career columnist and am the coauthor of Now What?, a young person's career guide.

Cheers, Anthony A. Spadafore

Pathfinders is an established independent affiliate of Rockport Institute, a pioneer of world class career choice technology for more than 25 years.