Creative Career Change

Hello and welcome to the final episode in the ‘Inspiring Creative Career Change’ series.

Starting a podcast was never on my agenda until one sunny September afternoon last year I couldn’t think of doing anything else, and so the Chez Hanny podcast was born.

I feel so privileged to have been able to connect with, and interview, thirteen women who have all made changes in their career at some point in their life.

and I first connected on Substack in September 2023 and we discovered quickly that we had lots of common interests and goals. I was thrilled when Sarah agreed to be a guest on this podcast.

I was particularly interested in Sarah’s route from leaving school, aged 17, to running her branding and design business now, aged 40.

If you’d like to explore Sarah’s work further and see the services she offers, take a look at her website: thesearethedays.co

You can follow her on Instagram: @thesearethedays.co

And, of course, don’t forget to subscribe to her Substack:

Create Ensemble - Wednesday 20th March

Tonight, I am hosting the 5th online creative session for paid subscribers. Join me from 7:30pm (GMT) for a soothing hour of getting into your flow. You will need a paid subscription to join, but for 24 hours I’m offering 25% off:

You can read more about the session and access the link here:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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It was back in 2012 when I discovered adventure athlete Sophie Storm Roberts. I read an article in a magazine about the Three Peaks Challenge that she had completed with fellow adventurer Sean Conway and I was totally hooked.

At that time, I was a super keen cyclist and reading about Sophie’s achievements contributed to inspiring me to complete a triathlon in 2013.

Since then I’ve followed Sophie’s journey on social media. She left a promising career in sales with a tech start-up in search of adventure and personal challenge.

Not long after starting this podcast series, I suddenly had a thought that Sophie would be a brilliant guest. We didn’t know each other, but I thought it was worth a shot to drop her an email and see if she might be interested in coming on the Chez Hanny podcast to share her inspiring story.

To my complete delight, she said yes and so here it is!

You can find out more about Sophie’s work on her website: www.challengesophie.com and on Instagram @ChallengeSophie

Let Sophie and me know what you think about this episode by leaving a comment!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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It was an absolute dream to spend an hour chatting to a few weeks back. Emily was made redundant last year, but instead of it causing the devastation that many would experience from this kind of news, Emily used it as a springboard to gather a new experience in a different country with her brand new husband (after getting married in Vegas, of course!).

Emily and I talk about the desire for flexibility over security, the benefits of maternity cover roles and why moving from job to job doesn’t make you disloyal!

If you would like to get to know Emily a little more, subscribe to her Substack here:

Tonight I am hosting a Create Ensemble online session at 7:30pm (UK Time). It is open to all of my subscribers: free and paid. Register and read a little more about how it works by clicking here:

https://lu.ma/4qsfce7c

I’d love you to join me!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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Like me, began her career as a teacher. Over the past few years she found herself making a big change due to an “unplanned, pandemic-induced transition” and now absolutely considers herself to be a writer.

In this episode, we talk about giving yourself permission to become a writer, honouring the ideas when they come and listening to whispers.

Have you ever found yourself to be an ‘Ideas volcano’ where you can’t stop coming up with (and spewing) new ideas? Maria mentions this piece of mine during our conversation and so I’ve linked to it here in case anyone didn’t see it when I first wrote it back in September.

Maria has a Substack page of her own: Dream Big (click the link to check it out and subscribe!)

I hope you find listening to Maria’s writing journey to be as inspiring as I did! There will be a new episode coming in two weeks’ time which features .

Subscribe here and receive the next podcast episode with Emily direct to your inbox!

One final thing…

Today at 7:30pm (UK time) I am hosting Create Ensemble, the online place to gather for an hour of calm inspiration. Set aside the time and come along and write, draw, paint, knit, sew, read, compose (or something else) in the presence of others on the screen. You won’t regret it!

It’s for paid subscribers, but I’m offering a 24-hour only flash offer (until 1st Feb) where you can sign up for an annual subscription and get 20% off FOREVER! That’s just £32 per year.

The meeting link was available at the bottom of this paywalled post and will be sent to all paid subscribers again a few hours before the session. Don’t miss out!

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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Korynn and I first connected on Substack several months back, and as soon as I’d discovered a little about her career journey, I knew I needed to hear more and share this inspiring woman’s story of determination and immense creativity.

To check out Korynn’s amazing work, take a look at her website: www.korynnmorrison.com and Instagram page

Subscribe to Korynn’s Substack page here:

Whilst I’m here, a reminder that I am hosting the next online gathering of the Chez Hanny Create Ensemble taking place on Friday (19th January) at 2pm GMT. You don’t need to have attended the first one - you can simply dip in and out of these as works best for you. The idea is that we meet online to spend an hour doing something creative. It could be writing, painting, sewing, baking, composing, reading or something else. It’s your choice.

Those that came to the first session commented on how they enjoyed having some accountability to start something they had been putting off. There’s no pressure to speak, for those that prefer to remain quiet (that’s usually me on a group call!), but equally there is opportunity to chat at the start and end if you want to.

These sessions are for paid subscribers but I am currently offering a reduced price on annual subscriptions until Monday.

This works out at just £2.33 per month. There will be at least two Create Ensemble sessions every month as well as weekly written paywalled content to enjoy.

I would love to welcome you there on Friday and to work on creating something in your virtual presence. I plan to spend the time writing a Substack piece to go out on Sunday.

If you know someone who you think might enjoy listening to my podcasts - perhaps someone contemplating a career change - please do share.

Shares, likes 🧡 and comments are very, very much appreciated!

In case you’ve missed any podcast episodes so far, and need to catch up, you can listen here:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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Funnily enough, I was in France on holiday in October when I discovered Elisabeth Parry’s writing. It was this post about moving to France, renovating a beautiful old building and having a 7ft grand piano hoisted via crane into a top floor window that caught my eye.

Three of my favourite things: music, home renovation and France!

I knew I needed to know more about how Elisabeth and her partner had realised their dream, and so I was delighted when she agreed to chat to me for this podcast series.

I hope you enjoy listening to this interview as much as I enjoyed the opportunity to talk with Elisabeth. If you’d like to learn more about Elisabeth’s work, you can find more information on her websites: www.flutesinspired.co.uk and www.aureacapra.com

To subscribe to Elisabeth’s Substack page, type your email address below:

A little note from the author…

🎧 Making a podcast is a wonderful thing, but it is very labour intensive and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation (sometimes with someone in a completely different time zone), editing, mixing, creating music and producing the episode itself.

🧡 If you love to listen and want to access all episodes past and future, support my work by becoming part of the Chez Hanny community:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit chezhanny.substack.com

Yesterday, I sat for a while and pondered what my personal hopes for 2024 are. I prefer the term ‘hope’ to ‘resolution’. I’ve never been good at sticking to resolutions and they always feel too extreme and seem an obvious way to set yourself up for failure. In music, the word resolution refers to when two or more pitches become concordant after a period…

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I am thrilled to share the final podcast episode of 2023 with you today. Don’t worry there are still a few more to come in 2024, but I did make the jingle a little festive for this one just to acknowledge the season 🔔 🎵🎄

Vanessa and I first connected here on Substack several months back and I was delighted when she agreed to be interviewed for the podcast. Listen to today’s episode to hear how Vanessa has approached decision making and career-change in her life. I guarantee it will leave you feeling inspired!

You can find Vanessa on Instagram and she has a page here on Substack:

My ‘ideas volcano’ is still going strong and I have one more newsletter coming on Sunday before I sign off for a few days over the holiday period.

In the meantime, if you know someone who you think would enjoy a subscription to Chez Hanny as a present, click below to find out more. You can even schedule it so that the email lands in your loved one’s inbox on the day of your choosing!

A little note from the author…

🎧 Making a podcast is a wonderful thing, but it is very labour intensive and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation (sometimes with someone in a completely different time zone), editing, mixing, creating music and producing the episode itself.

🧡 If you love to listen and want to access all episodes past and future, support my work by becoming part of the Chez Hanny community:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Support the show

Hello!

Today's post is a new episode of the Inspiring Creative Career Change podcast. More on that shortly, but first…

In case you missed it

Last Wednesday I wrote a rather spontaneous piece assessing whether I am a control freak or not:

And then on Sunday, I posted my first ever video. 8 minutes of chat on spontaneity, libraries and online parents' evening:

To listen to all previous podcast episodes, click here. I’ve taken the paywall off episode 4 temporarily so catch it while you can!

Today’s Podcast

In this episode, I had the pleasure of chatting with about her varied career in the world of sports apparel and interior design, making choices between freelance and salaried work, and going full circle.

If you would like to find out more about Sonya’s home styling work, check out her website: www.sonyathehomestylist.co.uk and her Instagram page.

Sonya is also here on Substack:

We would love to know you thoughts on the discussion!

A little note from the author…

🎧 Making a podcast is a wonderful thing, but it is very labour intensive and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation (sometimes with someone in a completely different time zone), editing, mixing, creating music and producing the episode itself.

If you love to listen and want to access all episodes past and future, support my work by becoming part of the Chez Hanny community:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Support the show

This week, Chez Hanny has gone international! I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to interview writer and journalist , 48 who is based in Texas, USA.

Kristi’s career has taken a number of twists and turns as she has navigated caring for her family alongside carving out a way of working that she loves.

You can find Kristi here on Substack where she has a wonderful page Almost Sated which she describes as ‘A space for growth-minded women who are done with diets and defining their success by their appearance.’

A little note from the author…

🎧 Making a podcast is a wonderful thing, but it is labour intensive and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation (sometimes with someone in a completely different time zone), editing, mixing, creating music and producing the episode itself.

This is why some of the episodes are only available in full to paid subscribers. If you love to listen and want to access all episodes past and future, support my work by becoming part of the Chez Hanny community:

This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Support the show