28,000 Days
A COHORT WITH ALANA KAREN
LAUNCHING JANUARY 2027
The average life span has 28,000 days.
Make yours count.
You're not stuck. You just don't know what you're aiming at anymore.
Let’s change that.
Hi! I’m Alana Karen and I'm running a six-week cohort for mid-career and senior professionals. These are leaders that know that things are changing rapidly and want to be clear about what they are optimizing for and what the next evolution of their career will look like. If that’s you, I’d love to have you join me.
I only have twelve seats available and will be inviting some of the best professionals I know into the program.
The cohort will run January 14, 2027 to February 18, 2027. You will leave with a clear actionable plan for what your unique version and evolution of success looks like and how you’ll get there in the next 18 months.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
Who's Alana Karen
Alana Karen spent 20 years at Google, leading hundreds of people across Search, Ads, Fiber, and more. She built and scaled products that billions of people use today. She's an award-winning author and has keynoted around the globe on leadership, wellbeing, and professional development.
Alana wrote The Adventures of Women in Tech and its 2025 second edition, which won multiple awards. She writes a Substack read by thousands and coaches leaders across the tech industry.
Joining as employee #319, she saw more than 99.98% of Google’s workforce hired after her over a 23-year career that spanned from early startup to global giant. She helped build one of the most consequential companies in the world, on her own terms and then built what came next as well. That's the thing she's spent the last six years helping other people do.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
Who this is for
Professionals interested in redefining what success looks like on their terms.
You're mid-career or senior: employed, consulting, or between things, and by every visible measure, doing just fine. When people ask you what you do or what’s next, you may give an answer that sounds uninspired or unsure. You’re upskilling and use AI but you’re not sure what you’re aiming for anymore.
Most people won't look at what they need to change until something forces them to. A layoff, a reorg, a bad year. You're looking at it now, on your own time, while you still have leverage and options.
You’re senior enough to have judgment, honest enough to explore what is and isn’t working, and past the point of pretending the old plan still applies. Your definition of success has changed and you want to do something about it.
That's the entire reason this is worth your time and focus.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
Who this isn't for
You need a job in the next ninety days.
That's a search, and it runs on different urgency than this does. Six weeks of thinking won't get you there fast enough. Reach out anyway: I know a lot of people and I'd rather help with the actual problem.
You want one-on-one coaching.
Reasonable, and not this although there will be coaching elements in the container. I do 1:1 coaching separately, however.
You can't make four of the six sessions.
In a room this small, an empty chair changes the conversation for everyone. I plan on holding one more of these in 2027.
This cohort is for personal reflection and leadership and career planning. If you're interested in what this means for your company team and world at large, stay tuned for another cohort coming soon.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
What you’re signing up for
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
The Six Weeks
What are you even optimizing for
You picked a definition of success long ago and have been executing against it since. We say it out loud, then hear eleven other people do the same. No blame, just reflection.
What actually changed
Your industry changed, your company changed, and you changed. We separate what you can move from what you can't.
What you're still carrying
Titles, levels, metrics you absorbed from rapidly changing companies and industries. Your experience still serves you well, but it’s also a weight you never put down.
What would make the days worth it
This is idea generation. We build more directions than you could pursue, on purpose, narrowing too early is how people end up limiting their options prematurely.
Pick something
You commit to a direction and the room pressure-tests it. Twelve senior people who've heard your situation for five weeks help you sanity check.
Say it out loud
You tell the room what you're doing and who's holding you to it. We're back together in April to guarantee follow-up.
What you get
- Six live sessions
- A 45-minute one-on-one with Alana
- An April check-in
- Eleven people to support you
What this program is worth
Six weeks of live strategy work with Alana directly: $5,000
A private strategy session, one-on-one, plus her personal review of the eighteen-month plan you leave with: $1,500
Eleven people who know what you're working on: senior, screened, chosen by Alana, and still there in April: $1,000
Total: $7,500
Working with Alana 1:1 in this capacity runs about $12,000. Market rate for a former Google director who ran organizations of hundreds, literally wrote the book on this, and now advises companies and startups is even more.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14th.
Early enrollment — $2,000 Available if accepted and enrolled by October 9, 2026.
Standard — $2,500 October 10 through November 14, 2026, until the twelve seats fill.
Both include all six sessions, six months of paid Substack, and Alana's personal review of your eighteen-month plan. Payment plans available on request.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14th.
Company Learning Budgets
If your company has a 2026 learning budget, this may qualify, and those funds expire December 31.
How the cohort works
Most group programs solve for the facilitator's time. Breakout rooms, worksheets, peers coaching peers. We’re not doing that.
I’m in the room the entire time. Every session, all six. I’ve managed, coached and led hundreds of people and I’m so excited to work with all of you directly in this container which will be specifically curated by yours truly.
No breakout rooms or awkward round-robins. Every session is working time on the thing you're actually trying to figure out.
Participants don't coach each other. You are generous and experienced, which means the instinct to fix others is strong. But you’re not here to give free labor or fix other people. You’re here for you. My job is to ensure we support each other, and keep the focus on your development.
What's said here stays here. Nothing leaves the room: not names, not employers, not situations. No AI recorders. No LinkedIn posts about what someone else shared. This container is sacred and everyone that is there has applied and agreed to our code of conduct.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
What you leave with
A clear vision on what you actually want. This is a declaration of what will give you energy, in your words, defining success on your terms.
An achievable plan to fuel your energy. An action plan you can start on Monday. With a hint of Alana magic so it propels you forward, but realistic enough that you won't abandon it by April.
A group that uniquely understand you. People with the same motivation as you who will keep you accountable beyond the cohort.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14.
FAQ
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Miss one and you'll get a written recap. Miss more than one and the cohort stops being effective for you.
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No. People say true things because nothing is being recorded.
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Two pieces. After week 4 you go explore the ideas you generated. After week 5 you draft your milestones. Neither takes more than an hour.
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Actually, that’s perfect. Whether you are currently confident, semi-sure, or totally lost, I’ll help you move through your feelings towards an actionable plan.
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Payment plans are available if your company will not provide reimbursement. I’m happy to work with you. Just let me know on your application or reply to the acceptance email.
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Seats are capped, and a seat we hold is one we don't offer to someone else. So the refund timeline is firm:
Notice received on or before 11:59pm PT, November 20, 2026: full refund of the amount paid.
Notice received November 21, 2026 through January 12, 2027: 50% of the amount paid, refunded to the original payment method. In place of a partial refund, you may instead apply 100% of the amount paid as credit toward the next scheduled cohort, once one is scheduled. Credit may be applied once and must be used within twelve months.
Notice received on or after January 13, 2027: no refund, regardless of attendance. Transfer to a future cohort is at Alana Karen's sole discretion.
If we cancel: if the cohort is canceled or rescheduled, participants receive a full refund or the option to transfer to the rescheduled dates.
Refunds are processed within ten business days of written notice and processing times may vary by payment provider.
To withdraw, please email alana@alanakaren.com.
How to Apply
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.
Applications close November 14th.
We have twelve seats total in the program and were intentional about the size and what the group looks like.
Step One: Apply! It only takes five minutes.
Step Two: Pay the program fee to save your seat.
Step Three: You will hear back within 48 hours on how to get started and dates to save.
28,000
We get about 28,000 days in our life. This is six weeks to decide what you most want to do with yours, right now, for you.
Six virtual cohort sessions, one hour each week with a personalized 1:1 and review of your plan led by Alana personally.