I found my way to a small, private consulting company in Washington, DC that serves non-profit entities who own facilities for mission-based purposes.  These were mostly schools and universities, and they all had sports centers as well as laboratories, housing, libraries, etc.  For 18 years, I coordinated the planning, financing, designing, and construction of buildings and managed their budgets and schedules.  I eventually became a Vice President, with a decentralized team spread across the country.  I was known for trying different ways of running team meetings and performance reviews, following my curiosity versus emulating the traditional structures modeled around me.  Sometimes it worked.  Sometimes it didn’t.  Following an instinct to find a new challenge, I picked up the book “Designing Your Life” and again, started talking with a wider group of people. 
I became motivated to become the leadership coach my younger self would have benefitted from, while allowing me to potentially be my own boss and work from anywhere.