“There’s more to me than meets the eye.”

That’s where Louise starts. And it’s honest. She knows it. But knowing there’s more and actually discovering what that is? That’s the lifelong work.

In this episode, Louise Reader, shares her story through multiple transitions, corporate career, Buddhist monkhood, somatic practice, but not as a journey toward answers. As a journey of staying curious. Of releasing what doesn’t fit. Of slowly coming home to herself while still navigating with the story who she actually is.

Because what’s real for Louise is that she hasn’t arrived. She’s still learning. Still exploring. Still working through the sadness and grief she carries. Still asking who she is beneath all the roles.

This is for anyone who feels there’s more to them but hasn’t figured it out yet. For anyone learning that the figuring out might be the whole journey. For anyone giving themselves permission to stay in the becoming.

Topics covered:

Identity and labels / multiple life transitions / self-discovery as ongoing work / Buddhist practice / somatic work / sensitivity and humanness / grief and sadness / releasing old patterns / still learning who you are

Connect with Louise:

Louises's website: https://www.louisereader.com/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-reader-9b7b45234/

She’s spent a lifetime moving on. Different homes, different countries, different careers, different versions of herself. Kym Vincenti calls herself a “life jumper”, always moving towards the next thing.

But this season is different.

For the first time, Kym has a reason to stay.

In this conversation, we explore why some people find it difficult to stay still, what keeps us moving on, and what can finally make staying feel worth it, including:

• Why some people develop a lifelong instinct to keep moving, changing and creating new chapters
• How childhood experiences, loss and instability can shape our relationship with freedom, home and staying put
• What it means to be a “life jumper”, always moving towards the next experience, place, role or possibility
• Why staying still can feel harder than starting again
• How becoming a grandmother has given Kym a reason to stay that she has never had before
• The different identities, names and versions of ourselves we carry through different seasons of life
• The constant thread of service that can exist beneath a life that looks full of change
• What we learn about ourselves when we finally stop moving long enough to look back
• Writing your own story after spending years helping other people tell theirs
• How old experiences can resurface when we finally become still enough to feel them
• The difference between helping, fixing and taking responsibility for other people’s lives
• What it means to create a life that holds both adventure and rootedness

If you have spent years moving on, starting again, seeking freedom or wondering what might be next, this conversation offers a different question:

What might make staying worth it?

Kym shares an extraordinary story of survival, movement, service, family and finding her way into a season she never expected, one where, perhaps for the first time, she has a reason to stay.

Connect with Kym: Sexagenarian.co.uk

https://glamgirlmedia.com/

Instagram @kymvincenti

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/kym-ciftci-vincenti-976a823a1

When former attorney and professor Asha Wilkerson found herself asking this question, she realised she wasn't simply deciding whether to leave a successful legal career. She was confronting something much deeper: the invisible obligation to honour generations of family sacrifice.

Asha's story is about leaving a successful career, navigating family sacrifice, redefining success and finding the courage to choose a different life. In deciding to write her own life story, she doesn't reject the sacrifices her family made. Instead, she comes to understand that perhaps the deepest way to honour those sacrifices is to embrace the freedom they made possible.

This episode is for anyone who has reached a point of career transition, career change, reinvention or personal transformation and feels conflicted about choosing a different path, even when the life they have built looks successful from the outside.

It is particularly relevant if you are asking:

Why do I feel guilty about leaving a successful career?

Why is it so hard to walk away from a career I've worked so hard to build?

How do family expectations influence career choices?

How can I honour my family's sacrifices without living according to their story?

What happens when success no longer feels fulfilling?

How do I reinvent myself after a successful career?

Who am I if I stop doing the thing that made me successful?

How do I write the next chapter of my life when the old one still looks successful from the outside?

At the heart of this conversation is a powerful question about the stories we inherit and the stories we unconsciously continue.

Sometimes, the hardest part of changing your life is not disappointing other people.

It is giving yourself permission to stop carrying a story that was never meant to be yours forever.

Because perhaps the greatest way to honour the sacrifices that came before us is not to spend our lives repaying them.

Perhaps it is to use the freedom they created.

Connect with Asha: https://www.ashasplacelisbon.com/

on Threads @AshaWilkersonEsq

For 27 years, Marianne Page built a successful career at McDonald's. Then she left and found herself asking a question that many accomplished professionals wrestle with:

Who am I without my career?

In this deeply honest conversation, Marianne reflects on the loss of identity that followed leaving corporate life, the dark season that came next, and the slow journey back to herself.

Today, Marianne is an award winning motivational speaker, business mentor and bestselling author, but this episode isn't just about business success. It's about identity, purpose and what happens when the role you've worn for decades no longer fits.

Together we explore:

• why so many leaders confuse who they are with what they do
• rebuilding confidence after leaving a long career
• finding joy again after redundancy or retirement
• values, resilience and creating a life that feels like your own
• why the season between "what was" and "what's next" can become the making of you

Whether you're leaving corporate life, facing redundancy, approaching retirement, or simply wondering what's next after years of professional success, Marianne's story is a reminder that losing your role doesn't mean losing yourself.

Connect with Marianne via her official website Marianne Page or on LinkedIn

You’ve built a successful business yet something still feels unresolved. Many founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders reach a point where external success no longer matches internal fulfilment, and the work begins to feel repetitive or misaligned. In this episode of What Was, What Next, I speak with entrepreneur and creative strategist Sarah Clemson, who has built three successful businesses over the years. Sarah shares what it looks like to realise a business has become comfortable but no longer energising, and how she chose to evolve her work to reflect who she is becoming rather than who she once needed to be. We explore leadership, identity, achievement vs fulfilment, self-worth, and reinvention in later-stage business journeys including:

• Why successful businesses can start to feel repetitive or unfulfilling
• The shift from achievement-driven identity to fulfilment and alignment
• How self-worth and “proving yourself” can sit beneath long-term success
• What it means to evolve your business as you evolve as a person
• How confidence develops through courageous reinvention
• Redefining success across different seasons of leadership and life

  If you are a founder, business owner, or leader navigating a season where success no longer feels like enough, this conversation offers language, reflection, and perspective for what comes next.

Connect with Sarah: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahclemson/

Website: https://www.tothesummit.co.uk/team/

n this insightful conversation, Dr. Lalith Wijedoru shares his transformative journey from paediatric emergency doctor to social health consultant and storytelling facilitator.

Discover the profound story behind "The Green Hour"- a single hour of tracking stress markers during an NHS shift that completely altered his trajectory. We dive deep into his medical career transition away from clinical practice and into the world of reflective storytelling. Learn how sharing narratives can enhance social health, improve workplace culture, manage functional burn-on, and foster genuine human connections.

In this episode, we explore:

• Navigating an identity shift during a medical career transition.
• How to spot the signs of workplace burn-on and chronic exhaustion.
• The role of storytelling in healthcare and leadership environments.
• Grounded coaching strategies for clinicians standing in the space between chapters.

Guest links

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/lalithwijedoru/

Instagram- @lalithwijedoru

What happens when an unexpected health crisis forces you to pause your professional trajectory? How do you begin rebuilding your life, career, and personal legacy when your old routine no longer makes sense?

In this deeply grounding episode, with Katie Higginson, we explore the messy space of navigating a medical or physical pause and the transition that follows. We unpack what it means to heal, let go of the pressure to instantly perform, and step forward into a new chapter of leadership and life.

In this episode, we explore:

• Reclaiming your professional identity and rebuilding career legacy after a major illness or pause.
• Navigating the intense life transitions and emotional space between recovery and what comes next.
• Moving past functional burn-on and learning to listen to your body’s true markers.
• Practical self-coaching strategies for founders, leaders, and clinicians seeking a fresh alignment.

Takeaways

• Embracing change is part of the journey
• Community and support are essential during difficult times

You can connect with Katie on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/katiehigginson/

In this episode, Marcela Heime shares her journey through leadership transitions, exploring the grief and rebirth that come with change. Discover how she navigated closing a cherished charity and found self-awareness and growth in the process. Marcela discusses the importance of honouring emotions, setting boundaries, and questioning core values to foster authentic growth. Perfect for those in transition, this conversation offers insights into embracing uncertainty as a vital part of growth and evolution

If you want to connect with Marcela her profile on LinkedIn is: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marcela-heime-msc-0941318