P36: Possibilities Beyond the Headlines

Lessons from a small shift, a bold move, and Turning Pro

Author

Maria Keckler, Ph.D.
July 06, 2025 • Reading Time: 6 minutes

Welcome to Just One Pivot, a focused pause to spark your next best move. This week, we’re exploring inspiring pivots through the story of my new friend, Eunice Kilonzo.

Welcome, Friend!

What’s one dream that never lets you go?

I’ve always dreamed of traveling the world. Not just to see monuments or check off bucket lists, but to sit across from inspiring people, losing myself in their stories, sharing ideas, and learning how they see the world.

Funny how life works.

It wasn’t a plane ticket that started this journey. It was a seemingly small decision to share my writing more publicly on Medium and stop hiding research and reflections in journals or hard drives.

That single leap cracked my world open in ways I couldn’t have planned.

In just a few weeks, I’ve found myself on a kind of global tour, without ever leaving San Diego. Conversations with brilliant humans in London, Nairobi, Sydney, Geneva, and beyond began because someone read my work, felt a spark, left a comment, or reshared an idea.

Naturally, I had to say thank you. And then came another idea: why not invite them to a virtual coffee, to learn what resonated?

One coffee after another has turned into new friendships and inspiring conversations about unexpected possibilities, reinvention in the age of AI, and the power of just one pivot.

Today, I want to introduce you to one of these remarkable people, someone whose bold pivot not only transformed her own life, but might just inspire your next move.

Meet Eunice Kilonzo

Eunice Kilonzo

Named one of Kenya’s top PR professionals, Eunice is a multi-award-winning global multimedia storyteller. Today, she manages media relations and strategic communications at Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance in Geneva, where she crafts campaigns that prepare communities long before a vaccine ever reaches a child’s arm.

But just a few years ago, she was a celebrated health journalist covering stories from Kenya to South Africa. She chased headlines that made front pages but faded fast.

She loved the work—until she didn’t.

“I felt I was not growing in a proper way. The newsroom is all about breaking news. There’s no long-term work. Even when I tried to do bigger pieces, the next crisis would come and bury it. I wanted something that lasted.”

So she took a leap. She left the fast-paced newsroom behind and moved her family to Geneva, where she now shapes long-term communication strategies that build trust and save lives in ways the headlines never can.

What Eunice’s Story Teaches Us

As Eunice shared her story, it struck me how many of us stay stuck chasing short-term headlines in our own lives.

We cling to quick validation, constant motion, immediate wins, often at the expense of what might truly last.

Steven Pressfield calls it our pull toward remaining an amateur instead of choosing to turn pro. Turning Pro means quieting the noise and focusing on your life’s work, not on the chatter of others’ opinions, validation, or criticism.

Turning Pro is not about being a professional, as in a job title, but a pro at your life’s unique calling. And that takes leaps, courage, and patience, unwavering focus to do the work only you can do with the long game in mind.

In simple terms, Turning Pro requires dedication, discipline, and delayed gratification.

Research on delayed gratification, like Stanford’s classic marshmallow test shows that our discipline and capacity to resist short-term rewards for something more meaningful down the line is tied to career success, stronger relationships, better health, and a deeper sense of personal satisfaction.

Eunice is a striking example of this kind of pro. Her pivot wasn’t just a career change. It was a decision to align her work with her deeper values and aspirations: growth and impact for the long haul.

Today, she shapes global health campaigns, partners with UN agencies, and builds trust in communities across continents.

Your Move

My decision to share my writing more broadly has taken me around the world, introducing me to Eunice and so many other remarkable humans. Eunice’s decision to stay true to her calling took her all the way to Geneva, where she’s aligned with her calling. Two examples of moves—small or bold—that changed everything, though similar in ways we’ll keep exploring later. Now, it’s time to consider yours.

This week, try this pivot:

Ask yourself:

- Where in my life am I still chasing short-term headlines?

- Where am I still operating as an amateur?

- And what small, brave pivot might open doors, or introduce you to people and places, you can’t even imagine yet?

I’ll be sharing more of these stories in the weeks ahead. Real people whose pivots changed everything, often in beautifully unexpected ways.

If you have a story of a pivot that opened doors, I’d love to hear it. Just hit reply.

Because the truth is:

One pivot can change the whole momentum of your game.

And you never know who’s waiting to meet you on the other side.

By the way, Eunice is not only a remarkable professional, but also a stunning storyteller. I invite you to connect with her and learn more about her work and writing. You can find her on LinkedIn or read her beautiful stories on Medium.

Until next week,

Maria

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