This conversation with Christopher Brereton centres on what happens when the identity you built your life around no longer fits as cleanly as it once did.

We talk about momentum and how easily it can turn into something you hide behind. About being known for a particular role, skill, or output, and the quiet unease that can surface when you realise you are still moving, still producing, but no longer sure who that movement is really serving. Christopher reflects on moments where forward motion stopped feeling like progress and started to feel like avoidance.

There is a recurring tension in this episode between building and becoming. Between the satisfaction of creating systems, companies, and portfolios, and the harder work of asking what kind of life those systems are meant to support. Rather than chasing reinvention, this conversation stays with the discomfort of re examination and the patience required to let a more honest direction emerge.

What comes up in the conversation

In this episode, we talk about:

• Momentum as both a strength and a defence mechanism
• Identity beyond titles, roles, and output
• The pressure to keep building even when direction feels unclear
• A portfolio mindset applied to work and life
• Slowing down long enough to ask harder questions about impact

About Christopher Brereton

Christopher Brereton is a fractional product and operations leader working at the intersection of product, energy, health, and long term impact. His work is guided by a portfolio mindset and a clear purpose of amplifying positive impact for people and the planet.

Christopher currently leads energy management systems work at MARA and serves as Head of Portfolio Acceleration at MOHARA. He is the founder of Product Hang Partners and is building The Folder, a platform rethinking estate planning as a living system rather than a static document.

Links & resources:

• Website: https://christopherbrereton.com
• Product Hang Partners: http://producthang.com/
• MARA: http://mara.com/
• MOHARA: http://mohara.co/

About the podcast

12 Steps to Success is a podcast about what happens when the path you were on stops making sense.

Hosted by Eric Mackay, the show centres on honest conversations with people navigating change, pressure, identity shifts, recovery, and redefinition. These are not success stories or instruction manuals, but real conversations about how people live inside uncertainty and keep moving without false certainty.

Stay connected

• Website: https://twelvestepstosuccess.com
• Instagram: https://instagram.com/twelvestepstosuccess