It’s a great pleasure to hear from Hannah Gregory this month. Hannah began her career working at a fashion magazine publisher in their advertising sales team. She then moved to a business and finance newspaper to work in their brand partnerships team. 3 years ago, Hannah made the jump out of the corporate publishing world, joining a start-up (dedicated to empowering women, businesses, and female entrepreneurs) as their Strategic Partnerships Director. She kindly speaks to us 8 months into her maternity leave.Hannah discusses how coaching helped her understand what the key priorities were for her when considering a change in career. It became apparent that her goal to start her own fashion business might need to wait - sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. In the meantime, Hannah found a way to have purpose, autonomy, and creativity in her career by working for a company she really believes in, in a role where she can see the real difference it makes for female founders. Hannah’s story is a great example of how a shift in career doesn’t always have to be huge to feel meaningful. Sometimes it’s simply a change of industry or skill set that’s needed.

This month’s episode is with Nick Armstrong, career changer and founder of Avint-Garde Fine Wine — an online wine merchant harnessing technology to deliver value on world-class wines. Nick’s journey to the wine industry is a remarkable one. After graduating from university, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army before earning his MBA. He then embarked on a career in finance, joining a global investment bank. Most recently, Nick spearheaded business development across the Americas for the world’s foremost wine trading platform — an experience that positioned him perfectly to launch his own wine venture earlier this year.From Nick, we learn the power and importance of networking when it comes to learning about a new industry and creating new opportunities. He advocates for having a plan before quitting a job, even if it’s just a short term one detailing those first few steps. With family life an important priority, Nick is now at a point in his career where mornings with his two children are far less stressful, thanks to running his own business. Although, as most founders can relate to, it can be hard to switch off when it’s your own thing.

To kick off Spring, we hear from the energetic and inspiring Melissa Power. Melissa is a world-leading indoor cycling expert, educator, and studio owner who made a bold career pivot from TV production to revolutionising indoor cycling. After retraining as a fitness professional, and spending a decade teaching across London, she founded Cadence, the city’s leading boutique cycling studio, and the MPowered Academy, a globally recognised certification through which she has trained over 600 instructors - guiding many to make their own career change into fitness.Melissa talks through her own career change, detailing the how and why of moving away from working on shows like This Morning and Catchphrase. We hear how a freak bike accident changed her life by introducing her to the world of indoor cycling as part of her rehabilitation. 8 years later and she is a world leading expert on the subject, even going on to launch an academy certifying instructors - the majority of which are those who are 'bored of the day job' and looking for a career change. If you’re into fitness, or love the idea of starting your own business, this episode is for you.

This month’s episode is an absolute must for career changers. We hear from Graeme Jordan, a highly experienced Job Application, CV, and Interview Consultant. A career changer himself, Graeme previously worked as a Recruitment Consultant, then a Marketing Research and Strategy Consultant, before founding his own business 12 years ago. Now, he helps professionals get selected for the jobs they really want.To begin with, we hear about Graeme’s own career change. Graeme then goes on to share his insights and key advice on: how to approach your CV when seeking a career change; how to deal with possible ‘gaps’ on your CV; what to do about ATS software; how to make sure you get shortlisted for a role; and how best to approach your applications and subsequent interviews. The rising use of AI in the recruitment process is also discussed and debated. If you're making online applications this year, be sure to have a listen.

It was a pleasure to speak to Jon Adams this month. Jon originally trained as a Shipbroker, going on to work as a Chartering Manager for a Shipowner for 12 years. Within the last year, Jon has transitioned into a Control Management role, choosing to continue to work for the same employer, but in an entirely different capacity, as opposed to changing career completely. Jon’s career transition is an interesting one to listen to, as it encourages us to realise that a complete career change is not always what’s required for someone to feel fulfilled and satisfied in their work again. Jon shares his experiences of delving into other career options, and the ‘red flags’ these experiences threw up for him. He also talks through how he negotiated the creation of a whole new role in his current organisation that aligned well with a lot of what he was hoping for in a new role, with the added ease of staying in a company and industry he knew incredibly well. This new role may not be the end destination for Jon, as he discusses the need and desire to remain open to where his career goes next.

This month’s episode is a unique one in that Alice spoke to none other than herself! After her podcast guest dropped out last minute, she took the opportunity to record and share her own career change story. Alice discusses what made her want to move away from being a Probation Officer, and how and why she ended up starting a coaching business. She talks about the patience and grit required to change career, and what often holds people back from making a change. Alice also passes on her advice for career changers, based on her 14 years of coaching experience. The episode also covers the pros and cons of changing career, as well as sharing Alice’s particular path to self-employment. Whilst not the usual format for this podcast, hopefully all that is shared will be helpful for the year ahead!

This month we spoke with Rebecca Ferreira. Following university, Rebecca worked as a Teaching Assistant and in Hospitality while exploring her career options. During this time, she discovered a genuine interest in Advertising and Production. As a result, she is now working in Advertising and PR as a Creative and Strategy Executive, with the aim of also expanding her work into Media Production.We hear how initially Rebecca shied away from a creative career due to her perceptions around what it took to be a ‘creative’, opting for safer, more corporate careers to start with. However, she decided to step out of her comfort zone and explore her options in the creative industry, which she knew very little about, when it became apparent through coaching that working in this space was what she truly wanted. Rebecca discusses how LinkedIn research, signing up to various short courses, and completing an internship opened doors to a creative career she’s now well on her way to pursuing.

In this honest and heartfelt episode, we hear from Chris Rice. Chris worked in marketing for the film and entertainment industry since leaving university back in 2006. He achieved senior roles within global agencies and brands before making the move to become freelance in 2020. In 2023, he decided that a more wholesale change was needed, and, today, while still working in his original industry, he is also retraining to become a plumber.Chris opens up about how his constant search for ‘more’, and never feeling at home in his career, led him to the realisation that a change was required. He discusses how he needed to let go of some of his own stereotyping and judgements around certain careers before he could really commit to a career that he felt was right for him. Chris also describes how working freelance in his previous career enabled him to re-train whilst still drawing an income. He makes it clear that completely changing career can be hard financially, requiring severe sacrifice at times, but that, in the end, it felt necessary and totally worth the temporary struggle.