Dr Ruth Vo
CAREER EVOLUTION COACH, dietitian, author
My name is Ruth
My degrees are in dietetics, adult education and decision-making.
My craft is in interpreting and translating complexity in order to promote clarity and activate growth.
And my mission is to help health professionals reimagine possibilities and make personally aligned career decisions that enhance well-being and impact.
But I am more than the sum of these parts.
From the outset, my journey to date has all the hallmarks of well-known happy-ending stories like:
…Poor girl breaks the cycle of family poverty through the power of education
…Young woman from broken home meets boy, gets hitched, has two kids and is happily married
…Privileged white woman quits her job and can be anything she wants.
I have a lot to be grateful for and gratitude is the key to a good life regardless of who you are.
But I don’t believe our past is some fixed state that needs to dictate our future path. I’m here to promote the idea that change is the only fixed thing in our lives.
I wasn't a standout student until I realised I needed to be to reach my desired destination. So focus was strategic, effort was rewarded.
I was usually unnoticed, the quiet and responsible girl. Rules and structure became my refuge, offering the predictability that was missing in other areas of my life. Learning became my modus operandi, providing a sense of security and confidence.
I chose to become a dietitian...
because it seemed to have the pragmatic and meaningful elements I resonated with for helping people.
I had no grand vision or dream.
Just the excitement of putting theory into practice and having a steady income (a novel thing in my world at that time).
But with each new experience that I chose to learn from, new ones emerged that I could opt into.
My personal and professional worlds intersected to inform and alter the other, causing change I didn’t anticipate.
I thought I’d work in private practice until I did hospital placement
I thought I’d stay a year in hospital work, but I stayed 13
I thought I needed variety in my job tasks till I was nudged to specialise
I thought research wasn’t for me till I had a question that needed a PhD to answer
I thought I wasn’t a leader until I took the chance to inspire and nurture others
I thought working full-time would fulfil me, then I had kids who unlocked part of me
I thought saying yes to every opportunity was the path to success, till I learned the power of no
You see we don’t always know what we are going to like or what’s around the corner. You could argue that I’m just very adaptable. Which is a useful quality. But often we need to stop and question what it is we’re adapting to.
A few months into what I thought was my dream job, it became clear that I was now needing to design my future steps versus invite come what may. I knew I was experienced in compromise, resilience and resource management to fit an external agenda and vision. I’d been doing it for so long and it had served me well. Enough to nearly convince me that this was how you move through life.
But my two little humans...
were drawing out parts of me that I no longer wanted to ignore. I had to find a way to align the two.
Perhaps my journey looks slightly familiar because this is what we all do, right? Move to where the opportunity is. Shed old skin as we embrace the next calling. Develop new ways of seeing and explaining. People adjust their careers, lifestyles, countries, and perspectives all the time.
And it changes who we are. And what we care about. And what we know to be true.
This is exactly what evolution is. A series of small adaptations...and sometimes major leaps that change the course of life.
And yet change can feel so scary. Scary enough to stop you in your tracks and keep on with the same old.
I’ve gone from a chameleon who blends into where I am, to someone who can incite the courage to change where I am, as well as who I am.
My story is one of change. Embracing it, optimising it and deciding on it. Whether you opt into it or it is thrust upon you, change is the one constant. But in many of our professional paths, change can insight fear and discomfort.
The day came where the fear of change and the unknown was surpassed by the fear of what my mind, body and life would be like if I didn’t stop and re-evaluate and alter my path. So I decided to stop. Stop trying to do it all. Stop trying to achieve all things on my plate. Then I had the space to finally redefine what my all is.
After I resigned from hospital work, I focused on my PhD, my health and my family.
I didn’t have all the answers but I didn’t have any regrets. Instead, I invested my energy to exploring new possibilities, ways to transfer my capabilities to roles or problems that I cared about.
And as I made one new decision after the other and followed it with one small step in a new direction, it has brought me here, to where I am now. Here with you, offering dedicated health professionals with tools to explore their interests, develop their own career compass and realise new paths towards a fulfilling worklife.
Career Cliniq is the intersection of my expertise, lived experience and determination to make healthcare's brilliant humans EVOLVE and STAY.
Ultimately, those we serve win as well when we find that place where we belong next.
You are more than your title and qualifications and your evolving identity needs your attention.
What I do now...
I'm here to help you move beyond chasing credibility and gain clarity about your evolving professional identity.
I work with health professionals who want to align their careers with their evolving circumstances and interests. Whether that means finding better ways to thrive in traditional roles, seeking positions that offer different flexibility, or creating entirely new applications for your expertise. Ultimately, it's about making choices that honour both your professional interests and your personal wellbeing.
Through my UnShould Decision Framework™, I guide you from curiosity about what's truly possible for you, through clarity about what matters most in your current season of life, to confidence in making decisions that serve your whole self.
SO THE QUESTION IS...
HOW CAN I HELP YOU?
Whether it's the self-directed tools I've created or the intensive ongoing 1:1 support, I'm here to help you get clear and take action. Many jump into the job searching phase, hoping that well crafted resume or interview performance is all you need. Maybe just for any job. But getting a job is not the biggest challenge.
I've helped people like...
Kaylee decide which Exec MBA to pursue to she can sit in the boardrooms that decide on resource allocation for women and girls (OT, USA)
Kylie decide when and how to leave an organisation after 22 years and pivot into a Business Analyst role (Dietitian, Australia)
Brandy gain her wellbeing back by making the hard decision to wind up her side hustle and learn how to do less and live more (PT, USA)
Alisha to move from a soul-sucking PhD and clinical role juggle to a remote role for an research institute serving indigenous health (Dietitian, Australia)
Erica to leave public service and double down on clinical work, differentiating herself as a specialist in private practice all while minimising financial downside during the transition (Physio, Canada)
And many more who've taken the StreamAhead Assessment and discovered aligned possibility beyond clinical
Curious how I can support you?
