Sep 16, 2026 · 24 min
Zenji Tancinco trades IT success for purpose-driven coaching
From 17 Years in IT to Finding Purpose
The episode examines whether meaningful work can replace conventional measures of success without sacrificing financial sustainability or reach.
- 1Material stability did not resolve Zenji Tancinco’s deeper dissatisfaction after 17 years in IT.
- 2Energy Aveo lets clients choose what to pay, turning compensation into part of the coaching experiment.
- 3Referrals and word of mouth support Zenji’s practice while raising questions about how purpose can scale.
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Zenji describes reaching a low point after 17 years of career and material success, then treating that crisis as the beginning of a personal rebirth.
The brief
Zenji Tancinco had money, housing, possessions, and a stable 17-year IT career, yet those conventional markers of success failed to deliver lasting fulfillment.
At a personal low point, Zenji found a new direction in Energy Aveo, a coaching practice built around service, client-defined projects, and helping people change what matters to them.
Energy Aveo’s pay-what-you-think model shifts pricing to the end of each project, exposing both the risks of unpaid work and the value clients place on the process.
The practice grew without advertising or paid promotion, relying on referrals and word of mouth while Zenji treated disappointing outcomes as lessons rather than failures.
The unresolved question is how to expand a purpose-driven practice beyond its solo founder without letting growth replace the meaningful connection that made the work matter.