The Story Behind Own the Chair
My name is Lala Sorenson, and I am a Professional Civil Engineer, Certified Core Energy Leadership Coach through iPEC, and founder of Own the C.H.A.I.R.™.
For over 16 years, I have worked in technical environments across the Philippines and the United States, leading projects, solving complex problems, and building a successful engineering career.
But the story of Own the Chair began long before engineering.
“The issue wasn't capability. It was self-trust.”
Where It Began
I come from a family where formal education was a privilege that previous generations never had. When I started school, I wasn't just another child walking into a classroom. In many ways, I became the family's hope—the belief that education could create opportunities and help break the cycle of poverty.
It was a gift, but it was also a responsibility.
Without realizing it, I learned early that achievement mattered. Success mattered. Failure felt expensive.
Discovering Coaching
The most transformative experience of my life came when I became a coaching client through iPEC.
For the first time, I experienced what it felt like to examine the beliefs, assumptions, and patterns that had quietly shaped my decisions for decades.
I began to see how much of my life had been driven by perfectionism, fear of failure, and the belief that my worth depended on what I achieved.
Coaching changed that.
Chasing Achievement
I worked hard. I set ambitious goals. I earned degrees. I built a career. I immigrated to the United States and created opportunities I once only dreamed about.
Every time I reached a milestone, I immediately set another one.
The next promotion. The next certification. The next accomplishment. The next goal.
From the outside, life looked successful. Yet underneath it all, I was exhausted.
I know now that I wasn't chasing success. I was chasing worthiness.
The Moment I Knew I Had Changed
In the spring of 2026, I stood before more than 170 people and delivered a keynote speech.
Years earlier, I would have obsessed over every word, every mistake, and every possibility that something could go wrong.
This time was different.
I wasn't there to prove myself. I was there to share a message that mattered.
Motherhood, Career, and Self-Trust
Life continued to stretch me in new ways.
I navigated leadership roles, career transitions, motherhood, and returning to engineering after stepping away from the workforce to care for my daughters.
That season taught me lessons I still carry today. Mom guilt is real.
For the first time, I began confronting a question that achievement could not answer:
How do you know you're making the right decision when there is no perfect choice?
Why Own the Chair Exists
Own the C.H.A.I.R.™ was built from a lifetime of experiences, difficult conversations, imperfect decisions, hard-earned lessons, successes, and setbacks.
Today, I help analytical women in STEM move beyond perfectionism and self-doubt so they can trust themselves more deeply, navigate difficult conversations with confidence, make high-stakes decisions with clarity, and create careers and lives aligned with who they truly are.
Because we are not only leaders at work.
We are leaders at home, too.
When who we are in both places is aligned, we experience greater meaning, purpose, fulfillment, and presence.
That's what it means to Own the Chair.