Lissa Appiah, founder of WeApply Canada, helped others to build their careers – and rebuilt her own.Supplied/Amr Jay
A career reinvention doesn’t always happen all at once. For Lissa Appiah of Ottawa, it began alongside her career in government, with a part-time coaching venture. As that practice grew, so did the chance to rethink her path. It took her five years to pivot from the public service to full-time entrepreneur.
The seeds of her journey were planted early in her career, when she was passed over for a high-profile opportunity even though she had done much of the background work on the file. “I was told that I was the quieter person who was better behind the scenes,” she says.
A more vocal and charismatic colleague was tapped, which was a lesson for Ms. Appiah, a self-proclaimed introvert. She started advocating for herself at work, speaking up at meetings and sharing her wins. The efforts paid off; she was promoted five times in less than eight years, with roles touching on policy, operations and human resources.
Realizing she could help other introverted professionals to progress too, Ms. Appiah launched WeApply Canada in 2020 off the side of her desk. She offered resumé-writing services and career strategy coaching part-time.
For two years, she ran a membership program with group sessions every two weeks, plus one-on-one support for higher-tier clients. She realized that her introverted clients weren’t thriving in larger settings, and when she rolled back the group sessions she actually got busier.
Entrepreneurs have to find their way through testing, learning and adjusting, says Goran Calic, chair in entrepreneurial leadership and associate professor of strategy at the DeGroote School of Business at McMaster University. “They’re often not even sure if there is a market,” he says. “You start with, ‘what can I do?’.”
Ms. Appiah says many of her clients saw major career boosts. One government manager worked with Ms. Appiah on an exit plan from a toxic workplace, then landed a role with a UN agency at a sizeable salary increase. About a year later, she returned to WeApply for more coaching, going on to secure a corporate executive role.
“She had the skills, she had the talent – she just wasn’t in an environment that allowed her to showcase what she brought to the table,” Ms. Appiah says.
By 2025, Ms. Appiah decided to take WeApply from side hustle to full-time venture. Stepping away from a salaried job forced her to rethink what she charged. Underpricing is common among entrepreneurs, says Mr. Calic. In Ms. Appiah’s case, he says the value isn’t simply the coaching sessions themselves, but the career and financial outcomes they lead to. “When an entrepreneur discovers [their worth], that’s when they can start taking more of a risk and ask for more,” he says.
When Ms. Appiah first went full-time with WeApply, she was working with just a handful of clients. Today, she has over 20 on her roster and says she has tripled her revenue. She also made her first administrative hire, and hopes to eventually bring in other coaches trained in her frameworks and systems.
She’s also a LinkedIn Top Voice, which is a program that recognizes people who consistently create valuable content on the platform and demonstrate expertise and leadership in their field. Ms. Appiah has over 70,000 followers and helps clients looking to build their personal brands and attract clients on LinkedIn.
Often, entrepreneurs can get “stuck in their head”, Ms. Appiah says, overthinking their next move. “The most important thing about reinvention is you actually have to give yourself that grace, opportunity and space to even try.”