Arya’s Story
I was born to refugee parents, which means I grew up understanding that stability is not a given and opportunity is not evenly distributed.
It also means I have spent a good deal of time feeling both grateful and slightly responsible for what I have been given.
That combination tends to shape a person.
Through my work in career counseling and career coaching, it has led me to advocate for those whose stories are often overlooked or translated poorly in professional spaces.
Not because they lack ability, but because the systems they are navigating were not designed with them in mind.
So part of this work is practical—resumes, interviews, negotiations.
And part of it is quieter, but just as important: making sure people are heard, understood, and taken seriously when it matters most.
This philosophy, combined with a personal commitment to being polite, positive, and professional—especially when it is inconvenient—has shaped the way I work and, in turn, the kind of career I have built.
Through career counseling and career coaching, I have found a steady way to help others help themselves, which is about as close to a reliable system as one is likely to find.
I tend to believe that if you want the world to improve, you have to begin by behaving as if improvement is already possible.
Not loudly, not perfectly, but consistently enough that other people can see what it looks like in practice—and decide, for themselves, to try it on.
This is why I do what I do, and why I encourage the people I meet to let whatever is steady and good in them be seen—clearly, and without apology.
My name is Arya Zarrinkelk. Through career counseling and career coaching, I have found my way into work that leans, however imperfectly, toward social justice—one person, one story, one opportunity at a time.
I tend to do my best work with people who are often described as “untapped,” which is a polite way of saying overlooked, underestimated, or asked to explain themselves more than seems reasonable.
Through career counseling and career coaching, I specialize in working with communities that have always had the talent, but not always the access:
youth finding their footing
women navigating expectations that shift depending on who is watching
people of color moving through systems not built with them in mind
members of the LGBTQ+ community who are asked, too often, to translate their lives into something more “acceptable”
individuals who are differently abled
immigrants building new ground beneath their feet
English language learners doing the additional work of being understood before they can even begin to be evaluated
The goal is not to “fix” anyone.
The goal is to make sure ability is recognized, voice is heard, and opportunity has fewer excuses to pass people by.
