Way Out #32: From Hospital Psychiatrist to Life on the Road: Continuous Reinvention with Dr. Lani Jones
Safety, Books, and Small-Town Scripts
Dr. Lani Jones grew up in a small farming town in Indiana. She was the kid in the public library, reading encyclopedias because she was endlessly curious about everything beyond the town line.
Around her, the social rules were clear: go to college, get a secure job with a pension, and prioritize benefits above all else. At the same time, her mother spent twenty-five years working in a local dental office, quietly showing Lani what real community looks like by building a network where everyone knew and supported everyone.
The 10-Year Journey
As Lani grew, early international trips to Mexico and Europe opened her eyes to life beyond her small town. Travel challenged her perceptions of what success and purpose actually meant.
Lani’s path to a doctorate was anything but linear. As an undergrad, she finished her bachelor's degree in three years—including a semester abroad in Spain—while constantly questioning her path. She weighed med school, physical therapy, and occupational therapy, actively balking when a professor noted clinical psychology took a decade. Yet looking back at an old high school scrapbook, she found she had written down "future child psychologist" years earlier just to secure a college scholarship.
She earned a master's in counseling psychology, only to realize during her clinical internship that 20 hours a week of standard therapy drained her. Instead, she fell in love with the complex puzzle of neurodevelopmental testing and cognitive evaluations, blending hard data with deep human connection.
As she entered her doctoral program, Lani became the first in her family to pursue a graduate degree, balancing intense academic rigor with small-town reminders to stay humble. But the journey carried profound personal weight: her mother fought a two-and-a-half-year battle with leukemia, passing away just six weeks before Lani walked across the stage to receive her doctoral hood. The flexible demands of her hospital rotations allowed Lani to walk across the street and sit with her mother during those final months—a bittersweet season that cemented her appreciation for time and human presence over corporate climbing. With her degree in hand, she stepped into the children’s hospital system ready to change lives.
The Spreadsheet Wake-Up Call
Lani loved the families, the complex clinical cases, and the intellect of her peers. But inside the institutional machine, a different reality was brewing. She watched female colleagues with families get passed over for promotions because they wouldn't surrender their nights and weekends.
Then came the breaking point. After having to take an unexpected medical leave, Lani walked into her boss’s office on her very first day back. She wasn't greeted with care or human concern. Instead, she was handed a spreadsheet detailing how many patients had been rescheduled and the "red marks" that would now stain her yearly evaluation.
“I was just a number in the system, you know, they just wanted my productivity units. That was really kind of the final wake up call of like, yeah, this is not how I want to be doing my life.”
Hearing about that moment on Lani’s journey was heartbreaking. It proved what so many women and working professionals secretly fear: institutions do not love you back.
Freedom on a Monday Morning
Lani didn't stay stuck. She took the leap and built her own private practice from scratch.
The contrast was immediate. On her very first Monday morning working for herself, she didn’t rush into a clinical office. She packed up her clubs and headed to the driving range—simply because she could. She reclaimed complete ownership of her calendar.
Over the next five years, she ran a thriving business, navigated the turbulence of COVID, and shifted into coaching executives. In the fall of 2023, she took a six-week sabbatical abroad. Ironically, while in London, she was literally shopping for new artwork to revamp her clinic—with no conscious intention of walking away. Yet just hours into her first clinical shift back from the trip, clarity hit: she was done.
Shifting Identity and Hitting the Road
Reinvention is rarely a one-time event. Lani realized she wasn't just done with the hospital; she was ready to step out of traditional structures altogether.
She closed her physical clinic, sold her home, gave away the bulk of her belongings, and took her executive coaching business on the road as a full-time nomad living across mountain towns. During our interview, Lani was calling in from one of her favorite places on earth: Park City, Utah.
Along the way, she encountered one of the hardest hidden trials of any pivot:
“One thing I didn’t anticipate was how slowly your identity changes ... once you're formed into your role in their ecosystem, that takes a lot of effort. And that’s usually not an overnight shift.”
People kept trying to put her back in her old box. But anchored by her faith and a deep commitment to putting relationships first, she gave herself permission to outgrow who she used to be.
Lani’s Tips for Wayfinders
Today, Lani lives uncontained, continuing her nomadic journey and empowering leaders to build businesses that serve the greater good. When asked what advice she has for anyone standing at their own crossroads, she offered two essential pieces of wisdom:
Never do it in isolation:
Community is where we learn, grow, and heal. Build your ecosystem and reach out for support.Just take the first step:
If you wait until you feel completely ready, you will never do it. Action is what creates momentum, even if the step feels small.Give your new identity time to catch up:
When pivoting, remember that shifting how you and the world see you takes time and multiple touchpoints; outgrowing an old box rarely happens overnight.
Follow Lani’s Journey
Ready to find your own way out? If Lani’s story resonates with you and you are ready to break free from the "productivity unit" trap, you do not have to navigate it alone. Explore our 30-Day Program, designed to help you get unstuck, reconnect with your values, and build your concrete path forward.
