Trading VC Success for Holistic Ambition and a Life Anchored at Home with Professional Transition Coach Steve Schlafman

Steve Schlafman (0:01)

Those 18 months of being at home, seeing my daughter every single day, that was the thing that transformed me, I think more than anything. It was almost like the final straw that broke the camel's back.

Kristin Twiford (0:16)

That's Steve Schlafman, professional transition coach and creator of Where the Road Bends. And this is Make Yourself at Home, the podcast that takes you into the homes of people you admire to show you a side you don't usually get to see. I'm Kristin Twiford, and every week, we'll talk to someone at the top of their career to explore holistic success and how work and home are inextricably intertwined. Along the way, we hope to inspire you to live well, whatever that means to you. Make Yourself at Home is presented by Nines, the household management app designed to help you manage your home and everything that comes with it, so you can live with ease.

Today, we're in Steve Schlafman's home in upstate New York, where Steve and his family are moving full time after 15 years in New York City. The move is part of an ongoing transition. After making partner at a multi-billion dollar VC firm, Steve felt something was missing, and at the prime of his investing career, he decided to walk away. Today, he's a professional transition coach, helping high performers find their next calling, and the creator of Where the Road Bends, a podcast and newsletter exploring life transitions. In this conversation, Steve shares how he found his own calling, why he now sees himself as a husband, a father, a cook, and a lifelong learner rather than just a worker, and how home has played a central role in reshaping his life. Make Yourself at Home with Steve Schlafman.

Steve, thank you so much for having us into your home. We're so excited to talk with you.

Steve Schlafman (1:56)

I'm thrilled you're here with me.

Kristin Twiford (2:00)

Tell me about where you're sitting.

Steve Schlafman (2:02)

So I am sitting, I guess, if we were to zoom out.

Right. I am in Ulster County, New York. So we are, or I am about two hours north of New York City.

Ulster County is home to some amazing places, including Woodstock, New York. And my wife and I bought a small little place, like a city escape eight years ago, and we're actually making it our full-time home in three weeks. So big move on the horizon, which I'm thrilled about. And where I'm sitting right now is we have a barn structure on our property, and this is where I work when I'm up here. It's a special place.

Kristin Twiford (2:49)

I love it. And tell me a little bit about what home means to you.

Steve Schlafman (2:53)

Well, that has changed a lot, especially in the last five years as I became a parent. But for me, home is a place where I can get away, unwind, be my full self, and really embrace all the different roles that I have in life.

You know, that of a husband, a father, a coach, a cook, a lifelong learner, a meditator, an athlete. Home allows me to express myself in all those different dimensions. And so it's a place that obviously I love spending a lot of time at. And I would also say it's a special place because it has a bed, and I love to sleep when my kids are actually sleeping through the night. And so it's the place that I get to sleep. So I do love home in that regard.

Kristin Twiford (3:59)

Mm-hmm, amazing. And I love the way that you just described that too, because I think it's so easy to really fall into this trap of describing ourselves by our jobs.

And I think you really touched on all these different pieces of who you are.

And I wanna talk a little bit about how you got to this place of how you think about yourself and your identity and how you sort of separated it from your job. Because I think, you know, you have been, you've told your story in a lot of different ways of how you've transitioned to this sort of version of yourself. So take me back sort of to the beginning and what you were creating. What did you, when you were building your VC career, what did you see your life looking at? Like, you know, what were you working towards? And what did you hope all of those different buckets would be? Were you thinking about all those different buckets that you just described? Or were you really just kind of thinking about one thing?

Steve Schlafman (4:55)