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Laura Sellers Interviews Donna Bowden

This week, we are doing something a little different.

After more than 25 episodes, one question has come up again and again from listeners.

What do you both actually do and how do your coaching approaches differ?

So for the next two episodes, we are interviewing each other. 

A small step outside our comfort zones, but an important one. Because so many procurement professionals are trying to understand what support they need and who to turn to at different stages of their career.

We begin with Donna.

In this conversation, Laura speaks with Donna about her journey from recruitment leader to procurement career coach, the purpose behind Narrate Your Career, the recurring patterns she sees in senior procurement careers, and why clarity and confidence are at the heart of all meaningful career progress.

Donna also shares the moment her business name arrived at 1.23am, why so many people reach a crossroads without knowing what they want next, and the shift she hopes procurement professionals will make as they head into 2026.

In this episode we explore

1. How Narrate Your Career began

Why Donna stepped away from a successful recruitment career and built something new that supports procurement professionals in a deeper, more intentional way.

2. The challenges senior procurement professionals are facing today

Why so many people feel stuck, overwhelmed or unsure of their next move and what this reveals about the evolving market.

3. Why clarity comes before action

How getting clear on what you actually want transforms your confidence, your positioning and the opportunities that open up.

4. The importance of visibility and storytelling

Why recognising your own achievements matters and how visibility impacts career progression at senior level.

5. Advice for procurement professionals planning for 2026

The mindset shifts, habits and reflections Donna believes will make the biggest difference this year.

Takeaways

• A deeper understanding of Donna’s career story and the purpose behind Narrate Your Career.
• Insight into the patterns, blockers and opportunities she sees across senior procurement careers.
• Encouragement for anyone feeling stuck or uncertain about their next move.
• Practical mindset reminders to help you build clarity, momentum and confidence in 2026.

Hosted by
Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

New episodes weekly
Listen on Apple and Spotify
Watch on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots

Want to ask a question or share a topic you would like us to cover? Message us via the Procurement Pivots LinkedIn page or reach out to Donna or Laura directly.

Send us Fan Mail

Part 4: Your Procurement Pivot Plan for 2026: A 4-Step Series to Set, Shape and Achieve Your Career Goals

This is the final episode in our four-part January series designed to help you set yourself up for sustainable, meaningful success in 2026.

If you haven’t yet listened to Episodes 26-28, we recommend starting there and working through the series in order.

In Part 4, we explore a crucial ingredient in achieving any goal: getting the right support and resources behind you.

Whether you’re aiming for a promotion, planning a pivot, rebuilding confidence, or elevating your leadership presence, success isn’t a solo sport. Today we walk through the questions you need to ask to understand what you have, what you may be missing, and what will genuinely make the biggest difference to your progress.

In this episode, we cover:

• How to assess whether you truly have the resources needed to reach your goal
• Why a gap analysis often reveals far less “missing” than you think
• The mindset barriers that stop many procurement professionals from asking for help
• The internal support available inside organisations (and how to choose the right people)
• The role external support can play, and why impartiality can transform clarity and momentum
• How to build the network around you that supports (not stalls) your progression
• Bringing everything together to set yourself up for a successful, sustainable year

Key Takeaways:

• Understand what you already have, what’s missing, and what actually matters
• Be honest about your mindset toward seeking support
• Use your internal and external ecosystem intentionally
• Build the scaffolding that will sustain you through the year ahead

If you have questions or want to share your goal for 2026, we’d love to hear from you.

Hosted by
Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

New episodes weekly
Listen on Apple and Spotify
Watch on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
Follow on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots

Send us Fan Mail

Part 3 of Your Procurement Pivot Plan for 2026: A 4-Step Series to Set, Shape and Achieve Your Career Goals

In this third episode of the series, Donna and Laura explore the obstacles that can appear when you start moving towards a meaningful career goal. Some challenges are external. Others come from your own thinking. What matters most is preparing yourself to navigate them so you do not lose momentum when things get difficult. This episode helps you anticipate what might get in your way and strengthen your plan for the year ahead.

Key Takeaways

• Look back at challenges you have overcome before
  • Your past successes hold clues for how you can approach future obstacles.
• Understand what is external and what comes from within
  • Clarity here helps you regain control and respond more effectively.
• Brainstorm possible obstacles before you begin
  • Getting everything out of your head makes patterns and solutions easier to see.
• Prepare how you want to respond when setbacks arise
  • A little future thinking strengthens confidence and resilience.
• Build in regular check ins to stay on track
  • Small, consistent reviews keep your momentum strong.
• Remember that obstacles do not mean failure
  • They are part of the process and often reveal the skills you already have.

Hosted by

Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

New episodes weekly
Listen on Apple and Spotify
Watch on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots

Want to share your goal or ask a question? Message us via the Procurement Pivots LinkedIn page.

Send us Fan Mail

Part 2 of of Your Procurement Pivot Plan for 2026: A 4-Step Series to Set, Shape and Achieve Your Career Goals

Welcome back to our January series designed to help you set and achieve a meaningful and sustainable career goal for 2026.

This is Part 2 of a 4-step journey and we strongly recommend listening to these episodes in order, as each step builds on the last.

If you have not yet listened to Episode 26, start there to define the goal you want to focus on. Today, we help you go deeper and sense check whether that goal is truly right for you.

What we cover in Part 2:

In this episode, we take the goal you identified last week and help you calibrate it so that it becomes clearer, stronger and more achievable. This step is all about refining your intention and making sure your goal stands up to real life, not just early January enthusiasm.

We explore:

• How to define the evidence that will prove you are making progress
• Why anchoring your goal in what you will see, hear and feel increases motivation
• How to identify meaningful milestones so you can track progress, not perfection
• Why your goal must be based on what is within your control
• How to assess the difference the goal will make and why this matters for long term commitment
• The benefits and costs to consider before fully committing to your chosen direction

This episode strengthens your goal so you move forward with clarity, confidence and a realistic plan for success.

Why this step matters:

A goal that has not been fully thought through will crumble as soon as life gets busy.

A goal that has been properly tested and calibrated has real staying power.

Part 2 helps you sense check, refine and confirm that the goal you chose last week is the right one for you and worth your time and energy.

Hosted by

Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

New episodes weekly
Listen on Apple and Spotify
Watch on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots

Want to share your goal or ask a question? Message us via the Procurement Pivots LinkedIn page or reach out to Donna or Laura directly.

Send us Fan Mail

Part 1 of Your Procurement Pivot Plan for 2026: A 4-Step Series to Set, Shape and Achieve Your Career Goals

This January, we are doing something different.

For the first time on the Procurement Pivots Podcast, we are releasing a guided 4-part series designed to help you set and achieve meaningful and sustainable career goals for 2026.

Unlike our usual episodes, we recommend listening to these four in order because each part builds on the last. 

By the end of the series, you will have a clear goal, a stronger plan and a far higher chance of sticking with it long after the early January motivation fades.

What we cover in Part 1:

In this opening episode, we help you get clear on the goal you genuinely want to pursue this year. Not the goal you think you should set. Not the one shaped by expectations or pressure. The one that will actually make a difference to your career and your wellbeing.

We explore:

• Why so many goals lose momentum by week three
• How to define your goal in a way that is specific, positive and meaningful
• The core questions that reveal what you truly want, even if it feels unclear right now
• How to sense check whether your goal is achievable without dampening your ambition
• Why grounding your goal in your personal values is essential
• How reflecting on last year’s proudest moments can help you choose the right focus this year

This episode gives you clarity, direction and the starting point you need to build a goal that feels authentic and energising.

Why this step matters:

A clear and well-aligned goal creates momentum.

A vague or misaligned goal creates stress and stagnation.

Part 1 ensures you set a goal that matters and one you will want to stay committed to as the year unfolds.

Hosted by

Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

New episodes weekly
Listen on Apple and Spotify
Watch on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots

Want to share your goal or ask a question? Message us via the Procurement Pivots LinkedIn page or reach out to Donna or Laura directly.

Send us Fan Mail

As we wrap up 2025, we’re closing the year with something a little different. This episode is an honest and uplifting reflection on the year just gone. We look back at the moments that shaped us, the lessons that surprised us, and the themes that consistently showed up in our work with procurement professionals across the industry.

Whether your year felt full of progress, full of challenge, or a mix of both, this episode is designed to give you space to pause, notice the positives, and move into 2026 with intention.

We talk through:

• What we’re most proud of this year, both personally and professionally
• Why recognising your own progress matters more than you think
• A challenge for you: share your proudest moment with someone you trust
• What to let go of as you move into 2026
• The habits and patterns we’re leaving firmly in 2025
• How to think about energy, boundaries and sustainability in a demanding career
• What we want to do more of next year: joy, rest, connection and intentional growth
• Why community and support networks make all the difference during career pivots

We also share some candid reflections on running two growing businesses alongside the podcast, the partnership we’ve built, and the unexpected highs that have made this year such a rewarding one.

Thanks for joining us on this journey. We’re incredibly grateful for everyone who has listened, shared, commented or reached out. Here’s to a more joyful, supported and intentional 2026.

👥 Hosted by:
 Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
 Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

📅 New episodes weekly
 🎧 Listen on Apple and Spotify
 📺 Full episodes available on YouTube: Procurement Pivots – YouTube
 📌 Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots
 💬 Got a topic or challenge you'd like us to cover? Message us via the page or contact Donna or Laura directly.

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Welcome to Episode 24 of the Procurement Pivots Podcast.

In this final episode of our PIVOTS series, we take a step back and bring you a summary of everything we have covered so far. After more than twenty episodes exploring the themes that show up most often in procurement careers, we reflect on the patterns, lessons and insights that have emerged across all of our conversations.

When we launched this podcast, our aim was simple. We wanted to create a practical and honest resource for procurement professionals at any stage of their career. A place to hear the topics that rarely get discussed openly, but that so many of you experience behind the scenes. And over the past year, you have told us how much these conversations have resonated.

In this episode, we revisit the themes that have shaped the podcast so far, including:

• The topics procurement professionals come to coaching with most often
• The threads that run underneath many of the episodes
• The five common themes that emerged when we analysed every description
• How these topics link together to support confidence, clarity and career momentum
• Why we see this podcast as a library you can return to whenever you reach a pivot point

We also share what we have learned along the way, the moments that have surprised us and how progress over perfection has guided us throughout this journey.

Whether you have listened from the beginning or are joining us for the first time, this episode brings together the core insights that sit behind the pivots so many procurement professionals navigate every year.

Thanks for tuning in. We are so glad you are here.

👥 Hosted by:
 Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
 Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

📅 New episodes weekly
🎧 Listen on Apple and Spotify
📺 Watch full episodes on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
📌 Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots
💬 Got a topic or challenge you would love us to cover? Message us via the Procurement Pivots LinkedIn page or contact Donna or Laura directly.

Send us Fan Mail

What triggers you in your procurement career?

In this episode, we explore a topic that quietly shapes confidence, decision making and momentum for so many procurement professionals. Triggers are the moments or situations that spark an emotional or behavioural response before you have even had the chance to think. Some are external, like restructures, job market pressures, stakeholder dynamics or even what you see online. Others are internal, such as perfectionism, stress responses, fear of being wrong or old patterns that resurface under pressure.

We break down the difference between what happens around you and what gets activated within you, and why understanding both matters. You will hear real examples from our coaching work, including the emotional impact of LinkedIn, the anxiety that comes with networking, and the internal stress patterns that show up when confidence dips.

We cover:

• How external events like change, restructures and market uncertainty trigger emotional reactions
• Why internal stress responses such as perfectionism and fear of not knowing the answer keep people stuck
• What repeated triggers can tell you about your needs, patterns and opportunities for growth
• The power of awareness and how to widen the gap between reaction and response
• Practical ways to reduce the impact of the triggers you cannot avoid

This conversation is especially relevant if you find small moments derailing your day, feel overwhelmed during periods of change or want to build more confidence and control in how you respond to challenging situations at work.

Thanks for joining. We are so glad you are here.

👥 Hosted by:
 Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
 Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

📅 New episodes weekly
🎧 Listen on Apple and Spotify
📺 Full episodes available on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
📌 Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots
💬 Got a topic or challenge you would like us to cover? Drop it in the comments or message us via the LinkedIn page.

Send us Fan Mail

What do you do when you feel stuck in your procurement career and cannot quite work out why?

In this episode, we explore the wide range of obstacles that hold procurement professionals back, from the organisational challenges you face, to the people dynamics you navigate, to the internal blockers that quietly influence your confidence, motivation and momentum.

Obstacles show up in many forms. Restructures can change your path overnight. Difficult stakeholders can drain your energy. Market conditions can make progress feel harder. Internal narratives can cause you to second guess your next move. We break down the different types of challenges our clients bring to coaching and share how to recognise what is really at play so you can regain clarity and control.

We cover:
 • The three main categories of obstacles in procurement careers
 • How internal blockers like fear, overthinking and self doubt silently hold you back
 • How organisational change, restructures and shifting priorities impact your confidence
 • What to do when tricky stakeholders and people dynamics derail your progress
 • Why the job market feels tougher and how to adjust your strategy
 • The importance of talking things through rather than internalising everything
 • How to separate the problem from the emotion so you can move forward
 • Practical ways to identify what is really going on and take the first step out of feeling stuck

We also discuss the role of coaching in helping you see patterns you cannot always spot yourself, and why having the right people around you, whether coaches, colleagues or personal supporters, makes such a difference when navigating challenging times.

Thanks for joining. We are so glad you are here.

👥 Hosted by:
 Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
 Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

📅 New episodes weekly
🎧 Listen on Apple and Spotify
📺 Full episodes available on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
📌 Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots
💬 Got a topic or challenge you would like us to cover? Let us know on the LinkedIn page.

Send us Fan Mail

What does vision really mean in a procurement career, and why does it matter more today than ever?

In this episode, we explore how having a clear, intentional vision can transform not only your personal career trajectory but also the effectiveness and growth of your procurement function. Vision isn’t wishful thinking. It is a strategic anchor that guides your decisions, builds your confidence and shapes how you show up as a professional and a leader.

We talk honestly about why vision is often difficult to define, how to create a future you genuinely want (not one you feel you should want), and how mindset, belief and environment play a major role in whether you stay ambitious or shrink your goals in a competitive market.

We cover:
 • Why creating your vision is a process and often the hardest step
 • How to define a future that energises you, not one shaped by external expectations
 • The link between mindset, confidence and the belief that your goals are possible
 • How vision plays out in team leadership, function strategy and 30/60/90 day planning
 • Why sponsorship, cheerleaders and constructive challengers accelerate your progress
 • How to communicate, influence and sell your vision internally
 • Why acting like the future version of yourself helps you close the gap faster
 • How to break the vision down, stay flexible and build momentum step by step

We also share real examples from our coaching work, from individuals at career crossroads to senior leaders building procurement functions, and what helps people stay resilient, adaptable and aligned as they pursue the future they want.

Thanks for joining. We’re so glad you’re here.

👥 Hosted by:
 Donna Bowden | Procurement Career Coach, Narrate Your Career
 Laura Sellers | Executive and Leadership Coach, Coaching for Procurement

📅 New episodes weekly
 🎧 Listen on Apple & Spotify
 📺 Full episodes available on YouTube: Procurement Pivots
 📌 Follow us on LinkedIn: Procurement Pivots
 💬 Got a topic or challenge you'd like us to cover? Let us know on the LinkedIn page.