Audrey Seymour, A Leading Certified True Purpose® Coach Co-Authors New Book, True Purpose with Tim Kelley
Audrey Seymour, MA, MCC, Founder and Principle of the Clear Change Group is a Master Certified Coach and author whose work guides leaders who feel something is missing to find clarity of purpose and direction. She holds the International Coaching Federation’s highest-level credential, is a Certified True Purpose® Coach and Consultant, and an expert in the True Purpose® process, which she teaches worldwide as a trainer at the True Purpose Institute.
Long before she became a coach, Audrey’s curiosity about the universe began in childhood with a love of astronomy, and carried into a BS in Mathematics from Caltech and an MA in Mathematics from UC Berkeley. That same analytical instinct shaped a 15-year career as a software development manager and lead engineer, before hand injuries led her on a life-changing journey to coaching. It’s an unlikely foundation that now shapes her signature approach: applying linear, analytical thinking to the deeply intuitive work of purpose discovery. She has practiced presence-based inquiry and inner work since 1975.
That blend of intellect and intuition has shaped Audrey’s contributions to the field. She is co-authoring the updated second edition of True Purpose with Tim Kelley, and is the creator of the Purpose Alignment Quiz, a tool designed to help individuals identify their current level of purpose alignment and chart a path to close the gap. Her insights have been featured on podcasts including Her Own Narrative, Redesign Your Life Today, Ordinary Visionaries, and the Life Purpose Lab.
Audrey’s journey from engineering to coaching mirrors the kind of transformation she now helps others make, in service of a more purposeful, fulfilling life.
Tell about a pivotal moment in your life that led you to coaching.
My first career was as a software development manager and lead engineer, a natural path given my background in math. It was fun, but it was also a stressful, high-pressure environment, and over time it led to severe joint injuries in my hands and neck. At that point I was used to just pushing through the pain. But the pivotal moment came when my doctor told me the next step was neck fusion surgery. That scared me more than anything. I didn’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t do my job, and I was afraid that quitting would mean I could never work in my field again.
Very fortunately, a friend who ran a training company lost his business manager around that same time. He invited me to come work for him, which gave me a way out. I mentored a member of my own team to take over my role, which made leaving feel less like I was abandoning ship and more like a reasonable transition.
Then my new boss wanted an internal coach, so he sent me to coaching school. Long story short, I fell in love with coaching. I hired someone to gradually take over my training company role while I built my coaching business.
What felt like the end of my career turned out to be a breath of fresh air and a new beginning, one that led me to discover my own purpose in coaching, and to help others navigate their own transitions.
You are a leading Certified True Purpose® Coach. How are you helping people to find clarity and purpose?
For me, helping someone find clarity isn’t about giving them answers. It’s about creating a space safe enough for them to hear what they already know but don’t trust yet. Most of my clients arrive overwhelmed from other people’s expectations, old fears, their buried hopes, and a version of success they were taught rather than one they chose. Underneath it all is usually a sense that something is missing, but they can’t see what that is. My job is to help them find a way through that overwhelm enough that they can access their own inner wisdom.
When fear shows up, it can be seen as a part of us. It may be the part that overworks to gain approval or the part that stays small to avoid the danger of failing. Before someone can get clear on their purpose, those parts usually need to be heard and healed, not pushed past. I help clients face their fears with curiosity instead of judgment, so the fear can loosen its grip and they can trust themselves again.
I bring a mixture of head and heart to my approach. My background gives me an unusual perspective, shaped by years in engineering and mathematics that taught me to think in systems and to value logic, so I don’t ask clients to abandon their intellect in pursuit of clarity. But my own pivotal moment, facing a health crisis that forced me out of that career, taught me that logic alone doesn’t get you to higher purpose. You need both intuition and analysis. That combination is what I bring to every client relationship, and it matters most when they realize they can’t continue on their current path.
The wakeup call can be a crisis that forces them to look deeper: a health scare, a layoff, a divorce, something that strips away the identity they’ve always known and leaves them asking the bigger questions.
For example, one client came to me miserable at his job and had no idea where to head next. He was working ridiculous hours and could never say no to his boss, which was impacting his health with trouble sleeping and chronic fatigue. Underneath the overwork was a fear of not being enough if he ever let anyone down. We worked with that fear directly, giving voice to the “people-pleaser” part. In this way he could understand what it was protecting him from and finally offer it some reassurance. Only once that part felt heard could he get clarity on his purpose and a new direction, which turned out to be becoming an independent professional.
Ultimately, my work is to help clients meet that crisis not as a setback, but as an opening to their real purpose. Purpose isn’t something I hand them or something they think their way into; it’s something they uncover by learning to trust their own inner wisdom again. They receive practical tools that help them navigate life’s challenges, as well as the inspiration that fuels their path forward.
Please share your True Purpose® program.
The special ingredient in the True Purpose® process, developed by Tim Kelley, is that people learn their higher purpose through a meditative process to access their own inner wisdom, something outside their conscious mind, whatever they already trust to know their higher purpose. For some it’s simply intuition, or the soul. Others might call it God, the Universe, or perhaps a guardian angel.
Of course, the thought of communicating with a source of inner wisdom and learning their higher purpose usually brings up doubts and fears. How do I know the voice I hear is trustworthy, and not just wishful thinking or fear in disguise? What if I go for my purpose and I get ridiculed, or worse, I fail? And underneath those, a quieter fear: what if pursuing this means neglecting the people and responsibilities that matter most, my family, my health, my stability?
These aren’t small questions, and we don’t rush past them. We help clients navigate these doubts directly, before we ever ask them to listen for an answer. We have ways to confirm whether a source of guidance is trustworthy, such as noticing whether it consistently points you toward growth rather than fear. Sometimes what’s needed is simpler than people expect, like a commitment to weekly family time or three gym visits a week, to address the fear of neglect. Other times we teach clients to negotiate with the misaligned parts of themselves, such as transforming an inner critic into an inner coach.
Only once that internal ground feels steady do we move to connection with their inner wisdom to learn their higher purpose. They can use guided meditation, active imagination journaling, prayer, or dreamwork. Guided meditation is the easiest for most people, because it’s an immersive experience. Asking for your purpose in a dream is not easy for most people, but it’s fun to try! All it takes is one method that works.
From there, we ask for four types of purpose: the essence, the transformational impact, the life mission, and the wisdom message they’re meant to share with the world. With that guidance in hand, we help clients draft a purpose manifestation plan informed by best practices for purposeful living. We address any fears about living their higher purpose, then check back in after a few months to keep them on track.
Ultimately, we give clients tools they can use for the rest of their life, and a connection to their own inner wisdom that can guide them through every challenge and transition. It’s a life-changing process, and it’s deeply moving and honoring to be able to share these powerful moments with those we serve.
What will people notice when working with you?
Clients often tell me the first thing they notice is the balance: enough structure to feel held and purposeful, but enough safety and openness to feel liberating rather than constraining. Holding that kind of space is one of my highest values as a coach. I ask insightful questions and listen deeply, and that combination helps my clients reframe their fears and confusion into more positive messages. One client said “Audrey has the experience and wisdom to translate the language of the unknown into pathways to action.”
What clients also value is that the work carries warmth even as it goes deep. A client once said “Audrey is seasoned and wise in her questions and support, but joy-filled and fun-loving in how she celebrated with me as I came to new insights and conclusions about my purpose.” It’s a delight to watch their lives transform and open up to possibilities they couldn’t have imagined before.
Tell us about your new book, True Purpose with Tim Kelley. (How did you become acquainted with Tim?
This book is the updated second edition of True Purpose, released because the methodology has evolved significantly since the first edition was printed. It’s full of examples and exercises that guide readers through the entire process: navigating fears and doubts, connecting with their inner wisdom, crafting four purpose statements, and developing a manifestation plan.
I first met my co-author and True Purpose Institute founder, Tim Kelley, when I was searching for a way to take my coaching clients deeper. It came about through one of those magical moments, when a friend sent me a recording of Tim speaking. When we finally met, it was like a gong going off in my soul. I knew I was meant to work with him. There was a practical reason too: we both came from backgrounds in math and software, which gave us a shared framework and language from the start.
What’s special about this book, for me, is that the methodology teaches a perfect blend of analysis and intuition in the search of higher purpose. For example, we take clients deep into their intuition, then step back together and examine whether what they’ve found actually holds up against the reality of their life journey.
More than anything, I hope this book gives readers the confidence that their inner wisdom and their higher purpose is available to them, not just to a fortunate few. If this book helps even a fraction of its readers find that kind of clarity, Tim and I will have done exactly what we set out to do.
What is next?
Using the same four-part process I described earlier, here’s how I’d articulate my own purpose right now: my essence is the clear light of an exploding star. My transformational impact is to open up clarity and flow for those who have a mission but can’t see which way to go, and my life mission is to open the circulating flow of humanity’s collective genius. My wisdom message is this: every part of you contributes to your magnificence. Leave no part behind, but rather embrace and heal all of you into wholeness.
Living that purpose right now means expanding the reach of the True Purpose book and seeing what it makes possible. Coaching one client at a time is deeply meaningful, but it can only reach so many people. My hope is that the book carries True Purpose to readers who might never have found their way to one-on-one coaching, people who pick it up in a bookstore, or hear about it from a friend, at exactly the moment they need it. I’m also working to grow the True Purpose® Coach Training I co-teach, so this work multiplies well beyond what I could ever do alone.
Ultimately, my colleagues at the True Purpose Institute and I are carrying forward a larger vision: a global community that knows and lives its higher purpose, one that honors the uniqueness of every individual while enjoying the benefits of collaboration and interconnectedness.
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