Maria Semple knows what it means to reinvent yourself — not once, but many times. After more than 20 years working across government, non-profits, and the private sector, she transitioned from employee to entrepreneur, building a coaching practice dedicated to helping professional women, particularly Latinas, step into their full potential.
In our conversation, Maria talks about the emotional intelligence skills that transform careers, the confidence gap holding many women back, and the power of turning a varied career path into a story of strength. She shares practical strategies for navigating identity mismatch, redefining leadership, and protecting your wellbeing while building a life and career that feel aligned.
What first inspired you to focus on emotional intelligence and career coaching for professional Latinas?
I would have to say; my own long and winding professional road in Australia. After 20+ years of working across State Government Departments and private organisations, I witnessed a pattern: talented professional women particularly those from Latin American backgrounds struggling not with capability, but with confidence and professional identity in Australian workplaces.
Many had impressive credentials and deep expertise, but faced challenges translating their value in new cultural contexts. Also the beliefs I see that another certificate will help them get there.
They experience what I call “identity mismatch” a disconnect between who they believe themselves to be professionally and how they are positioned in a very competitive job market in Australia.
Having navigated my own transitions across countries and career phases, I understood this intimately.
The missing piece wasn’t skill development, it was deep self-knowing.
When women strengthen capabilities like self-confidence, straightforward communication, and relationship skills (plus 7 other key capabilities), everything shifts: their presence, their positioning, their earning potential.
I focus on professional women and that also includes Latinas because I obviously understand the cultural nuances (intimately), the tendency to undervalue our expertise, the challenge of advocating for ourselves in new contexts, the balancing act between professional ambition and cultural expectations. Also the idea that “solo” and “scarcity” mentality influences their success a LOT.
But the work translates across any professional woman navigating career transitions or identity recalibration.
How do you help clients find clarity and confidence in their professional narrative?
The first step is recognising that a “varied career path” isn’t something to apologise for, on the contrary, it’s a differentiation waiting to be articulated.
Latinas in particular bring this notion of “permanent jobs” , the kind of path that is in the blueprint of parents that have spent 45 years+ in the same job, because it is better the devil you know!
I use an evidence-based assessment, specifically an EQ Report to help clients understand their internal experience and capability baseline across 10 key areas.
This isn’t a personality test; it is a powerful diagnostic that reveals patterns in how they see themselves, relate to others and manage pressure. Also their focus across three areas, inner, outer and other.
Then we work on what I call the “value translation”: connecting their experience to specific organisational outcomes.
For example, a procurement professional who’s worked across government, private sector and in different countries brings strategic thinking, adaptability and cross-cultural relationship skills that drive cost effective outcomes in complex environments. Before doing the work with me, she wouldn’t see it that way.
The confidence shift happens when clients stop apologising for their path and start owning it as their advantage.
We practice articulating this not just in resumes, but in conversations, interviews and negotiations.
Clarity comes from understanding your value. Confidence comes from practicing how to communicate it.
What are the biggest mindset shifts needed for women to increase earning potential and step into leadership?
There are three critical shifts:
First: From inputs to outcomes.
Many women focus on what they do (tasks, responsibilities, hours worked) rather than the results they deliver.
Leadership roles paying $150K-$250K aren’t about efforts, they’re about impact.
The mindset shift is:
What problem do I solve?
What value do I create?
What outcomes can I demonstrate?
How do I empower my Team?.
Second: From asking permission to claiming authority.
High-earning roles require strategic thinking, influencing and speaking in meetings.
But many women wait to be invited to contribute or ask permission to lead.
The shift is recognising: you don’t need permission to demonstrate your leadership. You claim it through how you show up.
Third: From self-sufficiency to strategic advocacy. There’s often confusion between being capable means doing it all yourself and being leadership ready represents knowing when to delegate, negotiate and ask for what you need. This is the fundamental shift.
These shifts compound. When women start articulating outcomes, claiming authority and advocating for themselves and others, their earning potential increases significantly, not because they became more capable, but because they learned to value that capability correctly.
What emotional intelligence practices do you personally use to stay grounded and effective?
I practice what I teach, starting with self-knowing. Regularly checking in with my internal experience rather than just pushing through.
Self-control under pressure: When facing challenging situations (like pitching to skeptical organisational leaders), I introduce a pause. That space between stimulus and response is where EQ thinking lives. I ask myself: “What’s actually happening here?
What do I need?
What’s the measured response?”
Adaptability: I learned that rigidity kills opportunity. When a potential client says “no” or “not now,” I don’t take it personally or see it as failure. I remain curious: What’s the real concern?
What would make this work?
Sometimes that flexibility opens other doors that are ready for my work to step in.
Optimism grounded in reality: I maintain what I call “informed optimism”, believing in possibilities while acknowledging constraints.
This week for example, I had a major organisational opportunity progress, but I’m staying grounded. Optimism keeps me moving forward in high spirits; realism keeps me prepared.
I have embraced these practices so much that I now do a Podcast called: Letters to my Younger Self, deeply embedded in these EQ practices and have become short stories with prompts that are almost meditative stories. I will be happy to share the link.
What advice do you have for someone who feels overqualified or misunderstood in their current role?
Identity mismatch is painful – that gap between your internal sense of capability and external positioning creates real distress.
First: Validate the experience. You are not imagining it.
When you get overqualified or feel misunderstood, your talent is being underutilised.
That frustration is data, not negativity.
Second: Diagnose what is mismatched.
- Is it the role itself?
- The environment?
- Your communication of your value?
- The organisation’s capacity to use your skills?
Sometimes highly capable people end up in roles that weren’t designed for their level and no amount of effort changes that mismatch.
Third: Make the decision.
You have three options:
- Reshape the current role (if the organisation has capacity and willingness)
- Transition to a better fit role (internally or externally)
- Stay for deliberate reasons while building your next move
What’s not an option: staying in mismatched roles long-term hoping things will change. That erodes confidence, creates health issues and compounds the mismatch over time.
The deeper work: Often “feeling overqualified” masks imposter syndrome or the loss of professional identity.
Work with someone who can help you separate:
What’s objectively true about the mismatch?
What’s the internal belief?
What’s the best path forward?
That clarity enables decisive action rather than prolonged suffering.
How do you balance purpose, productivity, and wellbeing?
Honestly; I’m still learning this. I have realised that “balance” is less about daily perfection and more about rhythms over time.
Purpose first: I structure my weeks around work that matters, coaching women, developing organisational programs that support them at critical life stages such as; (return from maternity leave, acceptance of a new role, higher responsibilities, or organisational misalignment before they may be called for a performance conversation).
Purpose isn’t something I “fit in”, it’s the foundation where everything else gets built on.
Productivity through focus: I learned I can’t do everything.
I say no to opportunities that don’t align with my specialisation (evidence-based leadership development for professional women).
This focus makes me more effective, not less busy.
Wellbeing as non-negotiable: After years of pushing through exhaustion, I learned: wellbeing isn’t indulgence, it’s the scaffolding of my infrastructure.
I walk daily. I spend quality time with my dog, family and friends.
I rest without guilt. I take holidays at least 3 times a year. Even if they are only for a week.
These aren’t rewards for productivity; they are requirements for sustainability.
The hardest part: Staying grounded, managing anxiety and/or excitement when opportunities arise (like major organisational contracts arrive).
I practice celebrating progress without losing perspective, preparing thoroughly, trusting my expertise without arrogance.
What helps the most: remembering I’m in a beautiful wise stage of life with decades of experience.
I don’t need to prove myself by overworking.
My value comes from depth of expertise, not volume of activity.
That mindset shift has been transformative and has protected my overall wellbeing.
