Future Leaders: Career Fulfillment Coach Sophia Kokileff On How Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success
An Interview With Eden Gold
Pursuing passion and purpose, over prestige. Gen Z and younger Millennials are seeking meaningful careers over climbing corporate ladders, just for the sake of status. Many are giving up fancy job titles and high-paying careers to go after full career changes to become digital nomads, content creators, or start meaningful projects that later become businesses.
In a world rapidly changing through technology, societal norms, and global challenges, a new generation of leaders is emerging. Ambitious young adults are not just aiming for traditional markers of success; they are redefining what it means to be successful. Beyond the corporate ladder and financial milestones, they prioritize impact, sustainability, and personal fulfillment. They are entrepreneurs, activists, scientists, and artists who are shaping the future with innovative ideas and actions. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Sophia Kokileff.
Sophia Kokileff is a Career Fulfillment Coach who helps corporate employees find balance between their day jobs and their passions, by enabling them to lead more meaningful and purpose-driven lives, while still making an impact in their corporate jobs.
After spending 8 years in the corporate world as a CPA and facing her own challenges with burnout, stress, and a lack of fulfillment, Sophia transitioned from her successful accounting career to become an ICF Certified Coach. Through her work with 9–5ers, she identified a common thread: a desire to feel more passionate and impactful in their careers while still appreciating the stability of their corporate roles.
Sophia now runs a coaching business where she has guided countless Gen Z and Millennial clients to integrate passion-based projects and side businesses alongside their corporate jobs, effectively reducing burnout from misalignment. She focuses on bridging the gap between enjoying the comfort and security of a corporate career and pursuing one’s dream work, believing that both are crucial to achieving true career fulfillment.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion about Future Leaders, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
Thank you for having me! Absolutely — my career path is one of twists and turns.
When I graduated university, I jumped right into the world of accounting. My father is a CPA, and as I followed in his footsteps, I often reminded myself of his words of advice: “first focus on getting bread on the table, and then the world is yours to explore.”
Something inside always told me I would get my CPA, and then go on to pursue my actual dream — which would have something to do with teaching and guiding others. I guess you could call it intuition.
My time as a Corporate Accountant was equal parts rewarding as it was incredibly challenging. I experienced a lot of burnout, stress and unfulfillment, and wasn’t sure if I could continue on the path to CFO or Big 4 Partner, and whether it was going to be sustainable for me and my health.
The nudge to jump into work I was more passionate about only got stronger over time, and it was a layoff from my last corporate job that really pushed me into my current career.
My mother reminded me of the times as a kid where I would line up my stuffed animals in my bedroom, stand in front of them and just teach them — something I did with so much passion. I knew this was the direction I needed to take my career, and that’s exactly what I did. I went on to become a University Instructor, and then a Certified Coach.
I’ve always been fascinated by the world we live in and how work-focused it all is. In an effort to create more balance for myself in my corporate career, I uncovered that deep down, everyone wanted the same thing — to feel balanced and aligned with their careers and lives, and to be able to enjoy the security of a well-paying job, while experiencing the feelings of impact and fulfillment that true passions bring. Making this a reality for others became my calling as a coach.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
There was one specific defining moment in my career that resulted in a huge career shift, and further shaped who I am today.
After leaving my job at one of the Big 4 Accounting Firms, I joined a Fintech start-up. Unfortunately, the start-up had to shut down just over a year after I joined, and I was laid off. Now, the whole reason I went into the accounting field as a CPA was for stability. I thought becoming an accountant meant I would never have to experience job uncertainty — so when I had my job security taken away after the layoff, I realized that nothing was truly “safe” or “secure” in the career world.
The same month I became unemployed, was the same month I was set to put down thousands of dollars for my coaching certification studies. Despite how uncertain and risky that felt, I did it.
I look back at this memory today, and can clearly see it was the ultimate push from the universe to stop doubting myself, and go after what I always dreamed of doing.
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
If I had to boil it down to three character traits that were fundamental for my success, they would be:
Discipline: I started developing this at the age of 5, when I first started taking piano lessons. Getting up early before school to practice, and attending twice-weekly lessons through my school years was not something I wanted to be doing most days, but it’s what taught me to show up and do the hard work even when I didn’t feel like it. It’s the same character trait that gets me through the tough times in building my business today.
Humility: Admitting I don’t know something, or don’t know how to do something, even if that means I look incompetent in the moment. The temporary discomfort of not looking like you have it all figured out, is always followed by a golden opportunity to gain new knowledge and grow.
Aspiration: Not being afraid to dream big. It’s what has kept my drive and persistence going to reach new heights both professionally and personally over time.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview about how ambitious young adults are redefining success. How would you define success?
My definition of success is first getting to know your authentic self and discovering your Ikigai (or “life purpose”), then using that to make a positive impact on others and the world, while maintaining a level of balance that makes life feel good.
How do you incorporate social responsibility and sustainability into your definition of success?
I believe we only succeed when we stop asking ourselves “what’s in it for me?”, and instead start asking “what’s in it for the world?”
This means moving through your life and career intentionally, with a focus on how you can take your own gifts, interests and passions, and use them in a way that’s going to positively affect society. Viewing success through this lens has naturally guided me to make socially responsible and sustainable choices, because I have the greater good in mind at every step of the way.
Can you describe a moment or decision that significantly redirected your path toward leadership?
Becoming a University Instructor was one of the first moments I felt called to a path toward leadership. There’s nothing quite like having a room full of students staring at you, eager to learn, whose success is dependent on how well you can prepare them for the real career world.
The second moment was becoming a coach. I feel a deep responsibility for the success of my clients, so this was a natural redirection into leadership as well.
What role do mentorship and community play in shaping your approach to leadership and success?
They have both been crucial puzzle pieces in shaping my own leadership and success approach. Throughout my entire career, I have had great mentors. Even after leaving the corporate world, I have continued to put myself into communities and mentorship opportunities that have helped me continue to grow as a person, and build the business I run today. There is no way I could have done it alone — my mentors, both past and present, are the reason I’m able to move fast and continue getting to where I want to be.
I like to think of my mentors as human accelerators who have helped me get places faster, and in better ways than I would have myself.
In what ways do you think your generation’s view of success differs from previous generations?
Being right on the border of Millennial and Gen Z, I consider myself lucky to have gained the perspectives of both generations throughout my life. What I’m generally seeing from my coaching clients, who are a mix of Gen Z and Millennials, is that there is increasingly less focus on the material parts of success, and more focus on personal fulfillment, impact, and true, authentic happiness.
I like to think back to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. I believe my generation’s needs (at least in North America), are collectively moving past the Self-Esteem needs, and into Self-Actualization needs. With that comes a lot of privilege, but also a lot of responsibility.
Some, but not all, in this generation are starting to become less concerned with appearing to be successful, and more concerned with feeling successful. One of the best ways to feel successful is to be doing something that makes a direct, positive impact on the world, beyond the immediate self. This is something that every client I’ve had the privilege of working with has come to me for help with. They are concerned about how to feel like they are making an actual difference. Working a job without those feelings of impact is not doing it for them anymore.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Ambitious Young Adults Are Redefining Success?”
1. Pursuing passion and purpose, over prestige. Gen Z and younger Millennials are seeking meaningful careers over climbing corporate ladders, just for the sake of status. Many are giving up fancy job titles and high-paying careers to go after full career changes to become digital nomads, content creators, or start meaningful projects that later become businesses.
2. Investing in yourself, and lifelong learning. My generation is becoming more focused on investments in self, rather than traditional investments like real estate and stocks. It’s a new way to bet on yourself, and achieve a different type of success than the monetary returns the stock market provides. Learning and applying the knowledge gained from these types of investments pays returns beyond the current time.
3. Increased focus on time and energy management. Success is becoming more about how much control one has over their time, and being able to dedicate more energy to health, relationships, travel, and personal interests. Time-rich lives are becoming the new currency for success.
4. Letting go of home ownership. Young adults are giving up the idea that owning and living in a self-owned house is your ticket to success. Some still strive towards this, but many are realizing they can be happy without it, removing their focus from being entirely about becoming a homeowner, to instead reaching career and life fulfillment goals first. For example, one of my clients sold their house in the first month of working together, took the capital and put it into a carefully curated investment business, which better supports their goals as they carve out a fulfilling career.
5. Setting boundaries, at work and in life. This generation is relearning the word “no”. Protecting their time and their peace sometimes means standing their ground around bosses who demand overtime, or family members who insist on living life a certain way (often based on different, outdated definitions of success). It’s all done in an effort to save their energy for the high value add activities in their lives and careers. We just want to make sure we’re setting the boundaries with compassion, and clear communication.
How do you navigate the challenges of innovation and change while staying true to your values and vision for success?
I do this by running every change or new innovation through my values compass, making sure that anything new I incorporate, always aligns with the bigger picture vision that I have for myself, and the community that I serve.
I’m always open to innovation and change, and would never shut it down until I have had a chance to research, understand it, and even go as far as experimenting with it to see what its impacts would be on myself, my values and my vision. I think with any new technology, AI included, there are parts that we are meant to take to improve the human experience, and parts we need to be conscious of and align with the values and visions for our society, to avoid it becoming detrimental vs. helpful.
This is the same type of analysis I make when it comes to facing my own challenges with innovation and change.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I love this question — it reminds me of a question Jay Shetty asks at the end of every episode on his podcast “On Purpose”, which is “if you could create one universal law, what would it be?”
The movement I would love to start is to have people run every big decision they want to make through one question: “will this help anyone other than me?”
When the answer is yes, you know you have something worth going after. When the answer is no, you have some more work to do.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/yourcoachsoph/
LinkedIn — https://www.linkedin.com/in/sophiakokileff/
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Eden Gold, is a youth speaker, keynote speaker, founder of the online program Life After High School, and host of the Real Life Adulting Podcast. Being America’s rising force for positive change, Eden is a catalyst for change in shaping the future of education. With a lifelong mission of impacting the lives of 1 billion young adults, Eden serves as a practical guide, aiding young adults in honing their self-confidence, challenging societal conventions, and crafting a strategic roadmap towards the fulfilling lives they envision.
Do you need a dynamic speaker, or want to learn more about Eden’s programs? Click here: https://bit.ly/EdenGold
Future Leaders: Career Fulfillment Coach Sophia Kokileff On How Ambitious Young Adults Are… was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.