1. Ambition isn't the problem.
You don't have to want less. You have to stop paying for success with your health, your relationships and your sense of self.
About Grounded Success
Grounded Success helps accomplished professionals perform under pressure and build a lighter, richer life, without giving up their ambition.
Our Mission
Stay ambitious. Change what it's costing you.
Many of the most capable people we meet are successful on paper and quietly paying for it underneath: a mind that won't switch off, a body running on pressure, a life that keeps getting pushed to “later.” Grounded Success exists to change that, without asking anyone to want less.
Our Approach
Two lenses most advisors don't have.
Psychology explains why you respond to pressure the way you do. Career strategy shows you what to do next. Grounded Success brings both together: root-level work on the patterns that drive you, and practical strategy for your work and your life.
What We Believe
Our work rests on four beliefs:
2. Patterns, not just symptoms.
Burnout is often the surface. Lasting change comes from understanding what drives you underneath.
3. Grounded performs better.
A steady mind and body make clearer decisions under pressure.
4. Your work should fit your life.
Success is something you define, not something that defines you.
Meet the Founder
Dr. Angélica Pérez-Litwin, PhD, MBA
Dr. Angélica Pérez-Litwin is a psychologist, career strategist and executive coach. For more than 20 years, she has worked with physicians, attorneys, executives and founders who are brilliant under pressure and quietly paying for it.
She is the author of The Great Unraveling: The Silent Crisis of High Achievers and the Path to Career Harmony, the creator of The GroundedWork Method™ and The Hidden Cost of Success Audit™, and the founder and CEO of the Career Health Institute, which is working to establish Career Health as a field. Her work has been featured on The Today Show, NPR, CNN, PBS and Forbes.
Education and credentials +
Education
- PhD, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MA, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MBA, Innovation & Entrepreneurship — Clemson University
- BA, Psychology — Columbia University
Executive Education
- Harvard Kennedy School, Executive Education
- Center for Creative Leadership, Executive Education
Coaching Certifications
- Certified Executive Coach — Center for Executive Coaching
- Certified Physician Coach — Physician Coaching Institute
- Certified Life Coach — Martha Beck Institute
- Career Coaching Certificate — National Association of Colleges and Employers
Academic & Research
- Former Assistant Research Professor — NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Principal and co-investigator on research funded by NIH, NIDA, NIA, and NSF
Author
- The Great Unraveling: The Silent Crisis of High Achievers and the Path to Career Harmony (2026)
Education and credentials
Education
- PhD, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MA, Clinical Psychology — Fordham University
- MBA, Innovation & Entrepreneurship — Clemson University
- BA, Psychology — Columbia University
Executive Education
- Harvard Kennedy School, Executive Education
- Center for Creative Leadership, Executive Education
Coaching Certifications
- Certified Executive Coach — Center for Executive Coaching
- Certified Physician Coach — Physician Coaching Institute
- Certified Life Coach — Martha Beck Institute
- Career Coaching Certificate — National Association of Colleges and Employers
Academic & Research
- Former Assistant Research Professor — NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- Principal and co-investigator on research funded by NIH, NIDA, NIA, and NSF
Author
- The Great Unraveling: The Silent Crisis of High Achievers and the Path to Career Harmony (2026)
Original work +
The Great Unraveling
Book, published 2026, Illumify Media.
Career Distress Response
A framework for the hidden psychological pattern behind high achievers’ quiet unraveling.
Career Identity Fusion
An extension of identity fusion research that explains what happens when who you are becomes inseparable from what you do.
The GroundedWork Method™
A practical approach built on four pillars: Recognize, Regulate, Reconnect, and Realign.
The Career Distress Inventory
An assessment now in clinical validation research.
The Hidden Cost of Success Audit™
A free, 5-minute reflection on what your success may be costing you.
Original work
The Great Unraveling
Book, published 2026, Illumify Media.
Career Distress Response
A framework for the hidden psychological pattern behind high achievers’ quiet unraveling.
Career Identity Fusion
An extension of identity fusion research that explains what happens when who you are becomes inseparable from what you do.
The GroundedWork Method™
A practical approach built on four pillars: Recognize, Regulate, Reconnect, and Realign.
The Career Distress Inventory
An assessment now in clinical validation research.
The Hidden Cost of Success Audit™
A free, 5-minute reflection on what your success may be costing you.