My mission is to help executives and C-Suite leaders become more visible.

I'm a nationally recognized voice in executive resumes, LinkedIn, career, and job search strategy for workers who are 50 and over, cited as an industry expert by Fast Company, Forbes, CNBC, Business Insider, CBS News, Yahoo Finance, LinkedIn News, and FlexJobs. 

As a former engineer and senior analyst for Fortune 500 leaders Procter & Gamble and FedEx, I bring a data-driven approach to today’s most pressing market challenges. Since launching my business in 2006, I’ve partnered with major media outlets and job search platforms including The Motley Fool and Glassdoor to deliver actionable insights to broad audiences. 

Today, I've built an engaged LinkedIn following of 90,000+ with 40+ million views on my content since 2023. I’m known as a trusted advisor on age inclusion, with a dual mission: to help executives position themselves for their next great role and to help organizations engage and retain the 50+ workforce.

I offer:
* Executive resumes, executive bios, and LinkedIn profile upgrades
* LinkedIn strategies for small businesses and executives
* Best practices on fighting ageism, workforce trends, and job search strategies
* Presentations/webinars on age inclusion, LinkedIn, and resume best practices

Collaborations include:
* The ABplatform (advisory board member)
* Randstad RiseSmart (career coaching/outplacement)
* CEO Connection (board strategy for mid-market CEOs)
* Glassdoor (career expert/content creator)
* Carnegie Mellon Tepper MBA admissions (reader/interviewer)

Colleen Paulson

If you're making $250,000, a 5% raise is $12,500.
After taxes? Closer to $7,500.

With inflation, it won't meaningfully change your lifestyle, but it's just enough to feel "fair."

And for many companies, it’s a rounding error.

That's why the "peanut butter raises" trend is so interesting to me: moving away from merit-based increases and toward flat raises across the board.

I ran a poll on this 2 weeks ago.
1,400+ of you voted.

Only 9% expect a raise above 5%.
59% expect 0–2%.
32% expect 3–5%.

That’s not a long-term retention strategy.

As I shared with CNBC: Companies may not feel the impact of “peanut butter” raises right now - especially in a slow hiring market. But market's shift and people will remember how you treated them.

Top performers always know their market value.
The best ones won’t wait around.

When the market shifts, top talent will have options.
And they'll remember who valued them.

My advice for companies: Don't confuse a tough job market with loyalty. And don't mistake retention for satisfaction. I'm talking with so many folks who are "job hugging" but will move quickly when the right opportunity comes along.

And for executives feeling undervalued: Keep building your visibility. Keep tracking your wins. Keep your network warm.

Your value doesn’t change because the market is tight.
The right opportunity will recognize it.

ADHD Career Coach | Founder of Momentum — the 8-week coaching program built to get ADHD brains off the overthinking line and into a rhythm of task execution (even on low-energy days)

If you're like most senior leaders I work with, you're not stuck because you lack experience, but because locking into your next move feels impossibly heavy.

I know that feeling well.

For years, I could lead teams, close deals, and make high-stakes decisions without blinking.

But when it came to my own next step?

– Everything blurred.
– The options multiplied.
– The second-guessing crept in.

And the longer I sat with it, the harder it got to move at all.

You can probably relate:

– You can see multiple lanes.
– You can imagine yourself in all of them.
– You can talk yourself into each one if you're not careful.

But eventually, the weight of all those possibilities starts to work against you.

➝ Your story doesn't point anywhere.
➝ Your positioning feels scattered.
➝ Your confidence nosedives.

And you start asking the real question:

"𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗺𝗮𝗸𝗲𝘀 𝘀𝗲𝗻𝘀𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗺𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝘄?"

Most people assume it's a motivation problem.

It's not.

𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗮 𝗵𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

Because when you're keeping too many options open, nothing really lands.

Once you stop hedging and lock into one clear lane, 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗺 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀:

➝ Your direction locks in. 
➝ Your positioning becomes clear. 
➝ Your visibility grows in the right spaces. 
➝ Your authority increases with the people who matter.

Small wins start stacking again.

Movement feels normal.

Confidence comes back online.

𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁'𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗜 𝗱𝗼.

Through 𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 — my 8-week 1:1 career accelerator — I help leaders in transition stop hedging, lock into one clear path, and build visibility and authority where it actually matters.

Here's what you get:

– A structure for clarity, positioning, visibility, and authority
– The accountability and scaffolding that keep you steady
– 1:1 support to reduce friction instead of adding pressure
– A 2nd brain to guide the work between calls (Persona™)

By the time the conversations start, people already understand who you are, what you bring, and where you fit.

And once you lock in?

Momentum becomes the norm.

📩 𝗗𝗠 𝗺𝗲 "𝗠𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺" 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗵𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱.

David Hannan

10 harsh truths I learned switching careers at 50.

Thinking about a pivot? Read this twice:

1️⃣ You're not too old to change.
But you are too old to keep pretending you're fine

2️⃣ Purpose doesn't just appear.
You create it through messy action and alignment

3️⃣ Confidence won't lead the way.
But it will follow consistency.

4️⃣ Long careers makes choosing difficult.
Each option looks like the right and the wrong one.

5️⃣ Your old career isn't wasted.
It's raw material for your next chapter.

6️⃣ Focus won't magically show up.
You have to build systems that hold you together.

7️⃣ Motivation lies.
You need momentum, even tiny steps count.

8️⃣ You won't feel clear before you start.
Clarity comes after commitment, not before.

9️⃣ Reinventing yourself takes guts.
Especially when it’s easier to stay put than moving. 

1️⃣0️⃣ Progress will feel invisible.
Until one day, you realize how far you've come.

I learned these the hard way by breaking patterns I didn't even know I had. 

If I knew them sooner?

I would've spent less time overthinking and more time trusting the process.

Which one feels the most true for you?

Share below in the comments—let's compare notes.

taplio

The Battle

Colleen Paulson

David Hannan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreColleen Paulson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDavid Hannan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Colleen Paulson

David Hannan

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Colleen Paulson's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreDavid Hannan's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreColleen Paulson's LinkedIn Performance