From Cupcakes to Curriculum: A Nontraditional Path Into I-O Psychology

I remember sitting, exhausted but grateful, in a movie theater at the Mea Culpa Netflix premiere, watching as my team members handed cupcakes to guests. They explained the flavors and offered their personal recommendations with confidence. It was a full-circle moment.

In January 2024, the Netflix marketing team contacted me with a dessert order: over 200 mini cupcakes for the screening. Although it wasn’t my first corporate order, it was another clear testament to the consistency, quality, and systems I had built within my cottage-based, e-commerce bakery.

Before the event, I contacted my part-time contractual team, knowing from experience that support would be essential. But on the morning of the event, both team members were unavailable. There I was, at 8 a.m., preparing to bake, ice, and box 200 cupcakes by myself before 1 p.m.

Fortunately, I had spent years building systems that helped prevent burnout and allowed me to pivot efficiently. Entrepreneurship taught me that pivoting is both a job duty and a skill. In fact, the skills I was using—systems design, adaptability, stress management, and collaborative work design—are all rooted in core industrial-organizational (I-O) psychology concepts. One team member arrived just in time to help with setup, and the other came later to assist with distribution and brand storytelling at the event. Their professionalism allowed me to rest in their capabilities, even amid the chaos.

Over the years, several of my friends have worked with me in my business. I created roles tailored to their skills and interests, practiced flexible work design, and developed workflows that protected our mental and physical well-being. Without formal training, I was applying I-O psychology principles: job analysis, work–life boundary management, collaborative leadership, and occupational health strategies. Though I loved the brand I built, I knew early on that baking was a passion but not my purpose.

That’s what led me to pursue my master’s in industrial-organizational psychology.

(For readers new to the field, I-O psychology is the scientific study of human behavior in organizations, focused on improving workplace systems, employee well-being, and performance.)

From Entrepreneurship to Employment: Reframing the Journey

After running my business for nearly a decade, reentering the workforce wasn’t about starting over; it was about repositioning. It required me to translate my lived experiences into the language of workplace behavior, organizational systems, and leadership frameworks.

Reflective practice—intentionally analyzing one’s past actions to make meaning of future choices—is a strategy I leaned on heavily. As Gill (2014) suggests, reflective practice paired with emotional intelligence enhances how we understand growth and plan professional movement. That approach helped me not only assess my strengths but also reframe how I saw my place in the workforce.

This experience also reflects what I-O scholars refer to as “protean” or “boundaryless” careers—self-directed, value-driven paths that often move across traditional industry or functional boundaries. Entrepreneurship equipped me with adaptive competencies that translated into a more purposeful corporate reentry.

Conducting a Personal Audit: Reframing Experience Through Reflection

One key step that helped me navigate my transition from entrepreneur to educator was conducting what I call a personal audit. A personal audit is a structured self-reflection tool, a way to make sense of your path, recognize transferable skills, and align your experience with where you want to go.

It’s especially powerful for nontraditional professionals or those reentering the workforce after a career pivot, caregiving, self-employment, or simply time away. In executive coaching and career transition programs, personal audits are often used to help individuals recognize their strengths, challenges, and direction. In I-O psychology, this kind of intentional self-assessment supports professional identity formation and informs strategic career decisions.

Here’s a simple, actionable framework to follow.

Personal Audit Checklist

1. List your accomplishments
   • What have you done that you’re proud of? Include work, school, business, family, or community-based achievements.
   • Don’t just count credentials—include wins like launching a project, managing stress, or mentoring someone.
2. Compare to your initial goals
   • What did you originally set out to do?
   • How closely do your accomplishments match your intentions—and where did you surprise yourself?
3. Evaluate emotional impact
   • How did each milestone feel? Energizing, draining, motivating, confusing?
   • Your emotions are data. They help point you toward what fulfills or depletes you.
4. Identify transferable skills
   • Translate your experience into I-O or organizational language.

For example,

• Managing burnout → Well-being and work design
• Coordinating schedules → Project management and delegation
• Handling conflict → Interpersonal effectiveness and emotional intelligence

5. Decide: Continue, pivot, or release
   • Which paths do you want to keep walking?
   • What roles or responsibilities no longer serve your growth?
   • What new directions are opening up now?
6. Set a microgoal
   • Choose one next step based on your audit—whether that’s updating your resume, applying for a role, seeking mentorship, or simply learning something new.

This process revealed that my entrepreneurial years were a foundation for my leadership, empathy, and adaptability. The main lesson: A personal audit clarifies your value and power by centering your own voice.
As Gill (2014) notes, reflective practice invites emotional awareness, which helps individuals align experiences with values and better prepare for future leadership roles.

Scaling Impact: Educating the Future of Work

Today, I serve as a program mentor at Western Governors University (WGU), supporting approximately 120 students through personal, academic, and professional growth. I also work as a course facilitator for eCornell, facilitating leadership and management courses to around 100 working professionals monthly, many of whom are emerging or current leaders.

Additionally, through my continued education programs and high-performance coaching, I engage with over 200 learners and leaders every month. These learners are at different points in their careers, but they all seek the same thing: guidance grounded in experience and backed by evidence. That’s where I-O psychology comes in.

In these roles, I actively apply core I-O competencies: adult learning theory, training and development, leadership coaching, emotional intelligence, and occupational health psychology. My instructional design training allows me to create webinars and asynchronous content that’s accessible, effective, and grounded in performance outcomes.

Designing for adult learners requires deep consideration of relevance, reflection, and real-world application. Martin and Bolliger (2018) found that engagement strategies, such as instructor presence, interactivity, and relevance, directly influence online learning success. Knowles’ adult learning theory (andragogy) also highlights that adults need to see the immediate value and application of learning, which I prioritize in every training and course I facilitate. Therefore, utilizing these principles in all my teaching platforms to support sustained engagement and practical transfer is significant.

Emotional intelligence also plays a critical role in how I show up for learners. Therefore, I lean heavily on emotional intelligence (EI) frameworks, especially for healthcare professionals and early career leaders navigating uncertainty. Augusto Landa et al. (2008) found that emotional intelligence is closely tied to occupational stress management and well-being, particularly in healthcare settings.

These findings support what I’ve experienced with the hundreds of learners I coach each month: empathy, awareness, and connection consistently foster healthier performance.

From Mentoring to Movement: Creating Institutional Change

Recently, I was selected to be a part of the Faculty Innovation Champions Program at WGU, an initiative designed to foster meaningful change across the university. As 1 of 25 faculty selected, I collaborate with colleagues on innovative strategies that directly improve the learning experience for thousands of students.

Had I not first served in an individual contributor role as a mentor, listening closely to students’ needs, understanding their barriers, and walking with them through transitions, I don’t think I would have had the insight or empathy required to lead change from a broader institutional level.

This kind of organizational contribution reflects what OD scholars call “bottom-up change”—change initiated from frontline employees or contributors who have unique insight into system gaps. In these contexts, mentors and educators become change agents, using their daily engagement to inform larger systemic improvements.

Purpose Over Prestige: Honoring the Unclear Path

Although the two roles I’ve landed feel like home, I still sometimes feel the tension of being overqualified but unsure of what direct path I should take. I know I have the skills, the lived experience, and the passion to contribute meaningfully, but even with all of that, the next steps aren’t always obvious.

This is something many professionals, especially Black women, encounter in their careers. There’s often the pressure to have a perfectly plotted trajectory, paired with the reality of being overprepared but underestimated in professional spaces. Roberts and Mayo (2020) call this the racial credibility gap—a tension where competence is met with doubt rather than opportunity.

This gap affects how talent is recognized, who gets promoted, and which voices are seen as leadership material, regardless of actual performance or capability.

But I’ve come to realize that alignment doesn’t always mean prestige; it means purpose. And sometimes, purpose is discovered more clearly through action than titles. Every step, even the unclear ones, is contributing to something greater.

Five Takeaways for Navigating a Nonlinear I-O Career Path

1. Own your story.
   Whether you’re a student, entrepreneur, or seasoned professional, your journey holds value. Don’t downplay your experience—entrepreneurship, consulting, parenting, teaching, and leadership outside traditional paths are all forms of applied I-O.
2. Translate, don’t shrink.
   Use the language of I-O to describe your work. Managing burnout? That’s occupational health psychology. Coordinating teams? That’s collaborative leadership. Designing processes? That’s organizational development.
3. The gap is a gift.
   Whether you stepped away to run a business, raise a family, recover, or explore something new, you didn’t pause your growth; you changed your classroom. Reflect on what you learned and how you led.
4. Find the fit, not the flash.
   Your next role doesn’t have to impress the industry; it has to align with your values. This is especially true for seasoned professionals considering a pivot into entrepreneurship or a more purposeful niche. Your expertise is not “too late”—it’s exactly on time.
5. Stay curious and keep learning.
   A non-traditional path doesn’t mean you’re off-course—it means you’re customizing your map. Whether you’re reentering the field, launching a business, or transitioning out of a long-held role, there is still room for you. And the field is better for your presence.

Final Reflection

I went from flour-dusted counters to faculty meetings, from late-night baking to early morning mentoring. And honestly, no one could have painted a better picture of what my purpose-driven path would look like.

Not every career journey is linear—but every valid contribution to this field matters. If we all took the same path, we’d bring the same perspective. Instead, we bring innovation through differences. Through flexibility. Through faith. Through lived experience.

So, whether you start in a corner office or at your kitchen counter, know this:

There is room for you in I-O psychology, and the field is better because you’re in it.

References

 Augusto Landa, J. M., Lopez-Zafra, E., Berrios Martos, M. P., & Aguilar-Luzon, M. C. (2008). The relationship between emotional intelligence, occupational stress and health in nurses: A questionnaire survey. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 45(6), 888–901.

Gill, G. S. (2014). The nature of reflective practice and emotional intelligence in tutorial settings. Journal of Education and Learning, 3(1), 86–100.

Martin, F., & Bolliger, D. U. (2018). Engagement matters: Student perceptions on the importance of engagement strategies in the online learning environment. Online Learning, 22(1), 205–222.

Roberts, L. M., & Mayo, A. J. (2020). Toward a racially just workplace. Harvard Business Review, 98(6), 10–19.