Identity-first career discovery · Built on 25 years in North Carolina

Every map of your future starts at the same point: you.

People don't lack information. They lack a coherent pathway connecting identity, education, work, and purpose. PursuingPathways is that pathway — walked with you, step by step.

✓ CDF-certified facilitation ✓ Former WIOA Center Director ✓ All levels, all backgrounds
Two students working together at a computer
"Your story is your strategy."
The journey

Five stops. One pathway.
No steps skipped.

The gold line below is the same one on the map above — it runs through everything we do. Scroll, and watch it fill.

STOP 01 · SEE YOURSELF

We start with you, not job titles

Your values, strengths, story, and culture — mapped through the Career Discovery Workbook, differentiated across three levels so every literacy level finishes strong.

STOP 02 · NAME IT

Your identity statement

One sentence most adults have never been able to write about themselves — and the foundation of every essay, resume, and interview answer that follows.

STOP 03 · THE OPPORTUNITY MAP

5–10 vetted opportunities, curated for you

Not a job board. Your facilitator researches real opportunities matched to your life map — your identity, applied to real possibility.

STOP 04 · THE ACTION MAP

A 9-step targeted pursuit plan

One chosen opportunity, broken into skills to build, people to meet, and moves to make — a path that energizes instead of drains.

STOP 05 · THE PORTFOLIO

You leave with it in your hands

Printed and digital: identity statement, values, strengths, resume, and plan. Proof of who you are — ready for any room you walk into.

Student writing in a workbook Students in a classroom A graduate in cap and gown A young man smiling outdoors
Free monthly workshop · Live on Google Meet

Find Your Words.
One hour. One sentence.

We do one real workbook exercise together, live — and you leave having written a sentence about yourself most adults have never been able to write.

  • Students and parents welcome — come as a family
  • Capped at 25 so every voice gets reflected back
  • Led personally by a 25-year career development facilitator
  • Free. All you bring is a pen.
Save my seat
Admit one · and one parent

Find Your Words

When4th Saturdays · 10:30 AM ET
WhereLive on Google Meet
Length60 minutes
CostFree
You leave withYour identity sentence
Register free
Programs & services

Every service moves you from confusion to direction

Start at $27 or start with a conversation. Sliding scale on the cohort — no one is ever turned away for money.

Career Discovery Workbook

$27
one-time · instant download

The identity-first workbook that starts everything. Three differentiated levels for every starting point.

  • Level 1: Finding My Words
  • Level 2: Building My Story
  • Level 3: Writing My Path
  • 45-value discovery system
Get the workbook

Resume Lab

$125
90 minutes · one session

A resume that actually sounds like you — built from identity, not a template.

  • Identity-to-resume translation
  • ATS-friendly formatting
  • Accomplishment language
  • LinkedIn summary included
Book a session

Mentorship Track

$200/mo
4 sessions per month

Ongoing coaching for direction, barrier navigation, and self-advocacy development.

  • Monthly 1:1 coaching
  • AI Mentor between sessions
  • Barrier navigation support
  • Accountability check-ins
Start mentorship

Not sure where to start? Book a free 30-minute conversation and we'll figure it out together.

Between sessions · 24/7

The AI Mentor never replaces the human. It keeps the light on between sessions.

Grounded in the PursuingPathways framework — identity first, always. It coaches values, explores careers, rehearses your pitch, and translates your experience into resume language. Every judgment call still belongs to a credentialed human.

🧭 Career Explorer 💎 Values Coach 🎤 Pitch Practice 📄 Resume Helper 🔦 When You're Stuck

Included with the Career Discovery Cohort · Powered by Claude AI

PP
PursuingPathways MentorCareer Explorer mode
For schools, workforce boards & nonprofits

How does identity work for a caseload of 400?

Tiered, WIOA-aligned delivery. AI drafts; a credentialed human decides. Depth increases by readiness — never by selection. Reportable outcomes at every tier. In-person, virtual, or hybrid.

100%
Tier 1 · Foundation

Every client: differentiated workbook across three levels + 24/7 AI Mentor. Counselor scripts fold check-ins into existing appointments.

~38%
Tier 2 · Story building

Monthly live group facilitation. Clients speak their identity statement aloud and are reflected back — the witness moment, one-to-many.

~12%
Tier 3 · The Maps

AI drafts the narrative analysis; the facilitator curates every Opportunity Map and delivers it 1:1. Human judgment at every decision point.

~4%
Tier 4 · Intensive

Six weeks, fully human, deliberately capped. Weekly 1:1s with a CDF and former WIOA Center Director, through to a finished portfolio.

"Depth increases by client choice and readiness — never by selection or worthiness. Every tier receives the same identity-first framework; no client receives a lesser philosophy."

What becomes possible

Real people. Real pathways.

"Nobody ever asked me what I valued before. I always just answered what I thought I was supposed to say. This changed that."

High school senior

"These weren't random job listings — they were researched specifically for me, connected to who I actually am."

Adult in career transition

"I've never seen anything help young people articulate who they are this clearly and quickly. It's the missing piece."

Workforce professional · 25 yrs
Vicky Locklear, CDF — founder of PursuingPathways
The founder

25 years in North Carolina.
One conviction.

I'm Vicky Locklear. High school classrooms in Moore and Lee counties. Middle schools in Alamance and Guilford. WIOA career centers serving adults, dislocated workers, and reentry populations. Today: teaching high schoolers virtually, statewide.

I built PursuingPathways because after 25 years I knew exactly what was missing. It was never information. It was a pathway that starts with the person — every time, no exceptions.

Certified Career Development Facilitator NC Licensed CTE Educator Former WIOA Center Director B.B.A. · 64 graduate hours, LSU
Free resources

Real data. Real support. No paywall.

Every recommendation we make is evidence-based. These are the sources we use — free for you too.

Get in touch

Your map is waiting. It starts where you're standing.

Questions about programs, pricing, or bringing PursuingPathways to your school or organization — we respond within 24 hours.

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