Redefining Success Without Burning Out

I help high-achieving women create change that feels safe, aligned, and achievable by starting exactly where they are. You do not have to burn everything down to move forward. What you need is clarity, permission, and a path that honors both your ambition and your inner truth. I have lived this work, and I know what becomes possible when you stop performing and start trusting yourself again.

- Colleen Pimentel

a few of my favorite appearances

Podcast Interviews

Flow Driven CEO Podcast

CXO Dispatch | Colleen Pimentel

value for your audience

Things I love to talk about...

I am a speaker, mentor, and former Big Tech executive with a deep understanding of how high-achieving people think, perform, and quietly burn out. I bring insight from lived experience and pair it with practical, grounded strategies that help people gain clarity, reconnect with purpose, and move forward with intention. My work focuses on helping individuals stop overperforming on the outside and start aligning their success with who they truly are.

Lead with Internal Alignment: Why honoring your values and truth is not a luxury, but a leadership requirement, especially for women in high-stakes careers.
Reinvent Without the Crisis: How to initiate change without chaos. This is for the woman who’s done “everything right” and is still wondering, “Is this all there is?”
Burnout Is Not Always About the Workload: A deeper look at purpose burnout, what it is, how it differs from overwhelm, and what to do when your job looks good but feels wrong.
Emotional Clarity as a Strategy: Why emotional self-awareness isn’t soft. It’s the secret to confident decisions, sustainable success, and powerful second acts.
Redefine Success on Your Terms: Learn how to create a version of success that feels aligned, not performative, without walking away from everything you’ve built.
Move from Stuck to Clear: Tools to help high-achieving women pause the pressure, quiet the noise, and reconnect with the version of themselves they’ve outgrown.
The Second Act Playbook: A modern framework for midlife reinvention that blends identity, purpose, and career clarity, with zero hype and no need to burn it all down.
Leading Through Uncertainty Without Losing Yourself: How to navigate personal or professional pivots while staying rooted in who you are and what matters most.
The Quiet Crisis of High Performers: Let’s talk about the women who look like they have it all, but feel empty inside. This conversation helps them feel seen and gives them tools to begin again, on their terms.

About my book

SECOND Act: How Successful Women Rewrite the Rules of

Fulfillment and Power in Midlife

CLICK TO ORDER

Second Act is a guide for high-achieving women who have checked every box but still feel something is missing. This book helps you redefine what fulfillment looks like in your next chapter, without burning everything down to find it.

Inside, you'll find practical tools and real stories to help you reconnect with your values, gain clarity, and create a life that feels both meaningful and truly yours.

If you're craving direction, purpose, or simply permission to want more, Second Act is your invitation to evolve into who you are now, not who you used to be.

Real people. real results.

What others say about me

Working with Colleen didn’t just help me land my dream role. It helped me rediscover who I am and what truly fulfills me. Her blend of strategic insight and human warmth transforms more than careers. It transforms confidence.

Trisha B.

Enterpeneur

Colleen has a gift for helping you see your potential long before you believe it yourself.

Cristina H.

CEO

Second Act is the wake-up call so many high-achieving women didn’t know they needed. Colleen gives language to that quiet, inner shift that happens when success starts feeling empty and you feel like you need something more fulfilling. Her writing is deeply relatable; equal parts strategy and honesty. Second Act a mirror that reminds you that you’re not behind...you’re just getting started.

Melanie Borden

Founder, The Borden Group

areas of expertise

Why High-Achieving Women Feel Unfulfilled Even When Everything Looks Right

In this powerful conversation, I share the moment when I reached the pinnacle of my career and still felt completely disconnected. I speak directly to high-performing women who appear successful on the outside but privately wonder why it does not feel like enough. This topic resonates with listeners who are tired of pretending they are fine and are ready to explore what is next. I help them understand that their discomfort is not failure—it is the signal that they are ready for more.

How to Create a More Aligned Life and Career Without Losing What You Have Built

Many women believe they have to walk away from everything in order to feel fulfilled. I challenge that narrative. In this episode, I share the mindset shifts and emotional clarity that allow women to evolve without starting over. I offer tools to help listeners create purposeful change inside their current career or life structure, without choosing between ambition and authenticity. This conversation helps women move forward with confidence and compassion for everything they have already built.

Understanding Purpose Burnout and How to Reclaim Energy, Meaning, and Self-Trust

Most burnout conversations focus on workload and productivity. I introduce podcast audiences to something deeper—purpose burnout. I explain why so many high-achieving professionals feel emotionally drained, even when they are managing their schedules and responsibilities. This conversation helps listeners identify the real cause of their disconnection and provides a new, empowering lens on how to move forward. I offer practical tools and compassionate insight for those who are ready to feel like themselves again.

question ideas to ask

Tap Into My Expertise

You’ve had over ten career reinventions. What was the moment that told you it was time to pivot again, and how did you know what direction to go?

What is purpose burnout, and how is it different from just being overworked?

Why do so many high-achieving women feel unfulfilled, even when they’ve reached the top of their careers?

How can someone start redefining success without feeling like they have to quit everything or start over?

What role does emotional clarity play in leadership, especially for women navigating high-pressure roles?

What mindset shifts are essential for women entering their second act, especially if they are used to high achievement and control?

How can someone tell the difference between logical hesitation and fear disguised as logic?

What would you say to the woman who feels stuck, but is afraid to make the wrong move?

about me

Meet Colleen Pimentel

A Distinct Blend of Clarity, Strategy, and Real-World Wisdom

I’m not just a seasoned executive. I’m a guide for high-achieving women who are ready to evolve into their next chapter with clarity, purpose, and courage.

With more than 30 years in Big Tech and over ten personal career reinventions, I know exactly what it feels like to succeed on paper and still feel unfulfilled. I have lived the pressure, the performance, and the burnout that so many ambitious women silently carry. That lived experience shapes everything I speak and teach.

Today, I’m a dedicated speaker, author, and mentor focused on helping women reconnect with themselves and redefine success from the inside out. My work combines emotional clarity, neuroscience, and practical tools to help women stop spinning, start listening to themselves again, and take meaningful, aligned action.

I do not offer hype or empty inspiration. I offer real strategies, grounded insight, and the kind of emotional permission most high performers never give themselves. Whether I’m speaking on a podcast, leading a keynote, or working with a leadership team, I help people move beyond exhaustion and into a version of success that actually feels like theirs.

I believe your second act can be even more meaningful than your first. And I’m here to show you that you don’t have to blow up your life to get there. You just need a clear path, a new perspective, and someone who knows how to walk with you through the unknown.