.png)
Meet our Spring 2026 Fellow - Rica Wang
- admin63685
- 6 days ago
- 5 min read
We are happy to introduce you to Rica Wang, a Leadership & Career Coach who supports high-achieving, early and mid-career professionals to stop navigating their careers on autopilot and start moving with intention, clarity and conviction. Rica was a graduate of our Level 2 Fall 2025 Cohort, and now returns as our 10th, Spring 2026 Fellow. During her time studying with the IFCE, Rica demonstrated exceptional leadership; completing the most thorough and compelling Promotional Package IFCE has received to date. Not only did Rica receive the highest Capstone project score in her cohort, 100% of her classmates recommend her coaching services to their network.
Read on to learn more about Rica’s coaching work and what she has been up to since graduating. Follow her on LinkedIn to connect and check out her website to learn more about her coaching and consulting services.
Can you tell us about yourself?
I'm Rica Wang, founder of On Purpose Coaching & Consulting. I grew up between Asia and North America, and I hold a Master's in Industrial-Organizational Psychology from New York University. I bring over eight years of global work experience — spanning New York and Toronto — in organizational development, change management, and business analytics, at places like UNICEF and Magna International. Now I coach high-achieving, early- to mid-career professionals — the kind of people who look great on paper but feel stuck, misaligned, or like they're running their career on autopilot. I coach in both English and Mandarin, and my job is to help clients stop reacting to whatever's in front of them and start actually choosing where they're headed.
What motivated you to become a coach?
About eight years into my career, I'd done everything "right" — the degrees, the good company, the steady climb. Then I looked up one day and realized I'd let my career happen to me. I was successful and completely stuck at the same time. It took two career pivots and eventually hiring my own coach to figure out the real problem: it wasn't ambition I lacked, it was intention. That experience changed how I thought about my work, so I combined my background in organizational psychology with coaching. I wanted to build the space I needed back then — somewhere capable, driven people can figure out what they actually want, instead of just doing the next sensible-looking thing.
“Rica helps clients move beyond chasing external validation toward building a career aligned with their deeper needs for autonomy, competence, and purpose.”
What services do you offer?
On Purpose Coaching & Consulting exists for high-achieving early- and mid-career professionals who are competent, driven, and respected — yet carry a quiet sense that they aren’t fully realizing their potential. Things may look fine on paper. They don’t feel that way. The practice exists to close that gap — helping professionals stop navigating their careers on autopilot and start moving with intention, clarity, and conviction.
As of Fall 2025, I’m excited to launch a full suite of professional services:
Signature 1-1 Coaching Package: Personalized coaching sessions designed for deep, transformative work. Together, we’ll uncover your unique strengths, navigate challenges, and create a tailored roadmap for your career growth. This package includes:
Free 45 mins Discovery Call
Personalized coaching goals
Ongoing accountability support
Flexible scheduling options
Five 1-1 coaching sessions
Group Coaching & Workshops: Collaborative learning experiences that harness collective wisdom. Connect with peers facing similar challenges and grow together in a supportive, structured environment. This package includes:
Peer learning & networking
Structured workshop formats
Corporate team programs
Minimum 3 people group
One 2-hour group session
Ready to move with purpose? Book your free discovery call today!
What are your core values and how do you approach coaching?
I believe growth doesn't happen by accident. A few things I hold to in every session:
Wholeness over résumé. Career decisions don't happen in a vacuum. We look at your values and lived experience, not just your next promotion.
The coach as thinking partner, not advice-dispenser. I bring structure and framework, not a generic roadmap. The goal is for you to access your own clarity, not borrow mine.
Challenge as care. Support and agreement aren't the same thing. I bring warmth to every session, but I also ask the hard questions and hold clients accountable, because I believe in their capacity to rise to them.
I integrate psychology, change management, and adult learning principles to help early- and mid- career professionals grow with intention — helping them build confidence, find their voice, and navigate career transitions. My clients leave sessions with a clearer sense of who they are and where they're headed.
What methodologies and approaches inform your coaching work?
My coaching draws on I-O Psychology and change management rather than quick fixes. A few frameworks I lean on:
Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan) — helping clients tell the difference between chasing external validation (titles, money) and meeting real psychological needs like autonomy, competence, and purpose.
Self-Concept & Identity Theory (Erikson, Ibarra) — because a career transition isn't just a logistical move, it means updating who you believe you are.
Immunity to Change (Kegan & Lahey) — for uncovering the hidden commitments and self-protective habits that keep smart, capable people stuck even when they genuinely want to move.
Psychological Safety (Edmondson) — every session is judgment-free, because honest reflection is the only place real change starts.
To learn more about the theories that guide my practice, click here.
What was it like being an IFCE student?
It reshaped how I work. I came from consulting and analytics, where I was used to being the expert who diagnosed the problem and handed over the fix. IFCE taught me the difference between giving advice and actually being a thinking partner. The program gave me a rigorous, supportive place to unlearn the habit of fixing things for people, and instead learn to hold space, ask better questions, and trust that the client already has more answers than they think.
What have you been up to since graduation?
Mostly building out my 1:1 client roster, networking, and scouting where potential market opportunities are. I recently restructured the business as a sole proprietorship to simplify operations and free up more energy for clients. It's been less about a single big launch and more about steady groundwork — the conversations, connections, and market research that everything else gets built on.
“Rica brings frameworks, questions, and expertise to every session so clients leave with sharper thinking and stronger self-trust, not dependency.”
What advice would you give to individuals thinking about becoming a coach?
The thing that shaped me most wasn't advice, it was sitting on the other side of the table first. Being a client before I was a coach is what taught me what it actually feels like to sit in the tension of a good question — that's not something you can shortcut. I also had to unlearn the instinct to be the one with the answers, which was harder than I expected, given how much of my career had trained me to be exactly that. If any of this is resonating, that discomfort is probably not a sign you're in the wrong field. It might just mean you're paying attention.
Interested in working with Rica?
To learn more about Rica’s work as a Leadership & Executive Coach, check out her newly launched website, email her directly, and follow her on LinkedIn. You can also visit her alumni profile on the IFCE website to learn more about her work.
We appreciate the thoughtfulness, strategy, and authenticity Rica brings to her coaching work. We are excited to see what comes next in her journey and encourage you to reach out if you or your organization can benefit from Rica’s coaching.
Comments