Gemma trained in creative arts and film production at uni, but wrote herself a diary entry early on that's basically become her career manifesto: forget the starving-artist portfolio career, just give me a nine-to-five that's vaguely creative and pays reliably. She stumbled into media almost by accident, not even knowing what the industry was when she took the leap — and then burned out completely, not once but twice, before finally landing at a major global media agency, where she's spent the last twelve years working her way from business director to running a seventy-person team through the chaos of COVID-era hiring, and now sits on the national executive team as National General Manager.

In this episode, we get into the stuff no one really says out loud: the exact moment burnout stops being about hours and starts being about feeling numb to the people around you, why every promotion you take needs a backfill plan before you say yes, how to stop over-talking in rooms to prove your value, and why being asked "are you sure?" when you go for your next role after having kids is a bias worth calling out. Gemma's built an entire career on knowing when to walk away and when to plant her flag — and she's handing over exactly how she reads the difference.

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