Peer Circle - Drawing a New Map: Energy, Agency, and Positive Change During Life Transitions
Facilitated by Founding Member Vanessa Hicks, this three-part peer circle series is designed for women and gender expansive people who want to build community and learn how to purposefully navigate personal and professional transitions.
Whether you're shifting careers, reimagining your path, or navigating the in-between, this peer circle helps you clarify your direction and take confident, grounded steps forward!
This three-part coaching series is for women and gender expansive people who are navigating change and wondering what comes next. Instead of treating life like a single highway with fixed rules and milestones, this program invites participants to see their lives as a network of nature paths, where many routes are possible and direction matters more than speed.
Along these paths, we use the metaphor of the mycelium network—the underground system through which trees in a forest communicate and share resources. Above ground, each tree appears to stand alone. Below ground, they are deeply connected. In the same way, each woman and gender expansive person walks their own transition path, but their communities—past, present, and forming—create a hidden network of support, perspective, and growth beneath their feet.
Across three 90-minute sessions, participants explore practical frameworks for understanding energy, agency, and change, and connect through thoughtful conversation and reflection to move forward with greater clarity, confidence, and care.
Session 3: Understanding Change: Why the Middle Feels So Hard—and What It’s For
This session introduces William Bridges’ Transition Model and James Nottingham’s Learning Pit to explain why change feels so disorienting. Participants learn the difference between external change and internal transition, and explore the three phases of transition: Ending, Neutral Zone, and New Beginning. They also learn that between not knowing and knowing is a “learning space” marked by frustration—a normal and necessary part of growth. These models reframe confusion and discomfort as meaningful rather than pathological. Participants use A-Flow to locate themselves within a current transition and identify what this phase requires of them now.
Participants will:
Understand change vs. transition
Learn the three phases of transition
Understand the Learning Pit (Not Knowing → Learning Space → Knowing)
Normalize frustration and uncertainty
Locate themselves in a current transition
Apply A-Flow to change
Integrate the full series
Peer Circle Session Schedule:
Thursday, March 26th - Getting Off the Highway: From One Road to a Network of Trails
Thursday, April 16th - Energy & Agency: How the Way You Show Up Shapes What You Can See
Thursday, May 14th - Understanding Change: Why the Middle Feels So Hard—and What It’s For
Join for one or journey through all three! You’re welcome to register for individual sessions as you go, or opt for the full series at a discounted rate:
Members - $100/session or $250 for all three sessions ($300 Value!)
General Public - $150/session or $300 for all three sessions ($450 Value!)
Questions? Email info@AlcoveRI.org.
Meet Your Facilitator!
Vanessa Hicks, Founding Member and owner of VHH Consulting, brings to her clients over 30 years of leadership in human capital management, organizational development, and executive coaching. She specializes in executive coaching and leadership development, human capital strategy, and fractional HR services, guiding organizations through complex HR environments with a holistic, people-first approach.
Vanessa partners with organizations in social services, the arts, and the private sector to foster inclusive, collaborative workplaces that achieve meaningful results. With extensive executive experience across a variety of industries, Vanessa helps both private sector and nonprofit leaders co-design thoughtful, sustainable solutions that drive growth and innovation. Having lived and worked in Kenya, Singapore, Brazil, and across Europe,
Vanessa’s perspective highlights the importance of leveraging diversity as a key business strength. As a consultant specializing in human capital strategy and management, she provides expert, flexible HR leadership, allowing organizations to scale and adapt as needed. As a certified executive coach through the International Coaching Federation (ICF), she is known for her approachable, empathetic style that builds trust and creates lasting impact. Vanessa is personally based in New York City and Rhode Island, but her clients are located throughout the US and Europe.
The Alcove is grateful to our community of members and supporters whose generosity makes programs like this one possible. Together, we create space to thrive.