This month, it is an absolute pleasure to welcome onto the podcast the renown career strategist, and author of 15 books on careers and work, John Lees, who’s best-selling book ‘How To Get A Job You Love’ was last month's WHS Travel’s Business Book of the Month. 

In this episode, we discuss the three most common perceived barriers to a career change - money, the sunken cost fallacy, and confidence. John shares incredibly helpful ways to open up and shift your thinking around these obstacles so they don’t continue to hold you back from moving forward. We discuss the power of starting small, exploring alternative career options with a curious and playful mind, the importance of talking to the right people about your career change, and stepping away from the black and white into a space of grey. We hear how the stories we tell ourselves, and the assumptions we make around our careers are not always true, and how looking outwards is often the key to progress.

In this episode, we speak to Rosie Croft, who worked in fashion buying for 12 years, working with some of the world’s most prestigious brands. After years of feeling dissatisfied, Rosie changed career, and is now a skilled artisan craftswoman, creating bespoke handmade lampshades using antique fabrics.We hear how the magic words ‘portfolio career’ opened Rosie’s eyes to what a diverse and varied career aligned to her values could look like, and how helpful it was to experiment with her ideas before committing to the one that inspired her the most. Rosie’s story really shows how a career change can bring about a whole lifestyle change, leading to a happy, content, and more chilled life.

In this episode, we speak to Hector Hughes, who quit his job in a tech start-up in order to co-found the now infamous digital detox cabin company, Unplugged. We hear how a mild Quarter-Life Crisis led Hector to re-consider the life path that he was on, resulting in him attending a silent retreat in the Himalayas. Following that experience, and a much needed push, he made the decision to make the most out of life, and start his own company with a friend. Hector talks openly about the ups and downs of this career change, the mistakes he made along the way, his relationship with risk-taking, and how he overcame his fear of what others think in order to move forward with his plans.

In this episode, we hear from Jenna Mcavoy, whose career has taken many turns, all fuelled by a desire to help and empower others. Her career journey shows how one chapter can unknowingly lead onto another, and the importance of knowing and verbalising what you want in order to make things happen. Jenna also shares the common barriers her clients face when achieving their goal requires changing the way they think and behave, and how to overcome these obstacles. 

We have something a bit different this month. We speak to Vida Skreb, who is a Neuroscientist and Leadership Coach (and a career changer, too, as it happens). Vida helps us understand why contemplating a career change, or any change for that matter, is so challenging for us humans. We delve into the neuroscience of the brain to find out where our fears and doubts come from, why we procrastinate, and we often avoid change, even when we know it’s what we need. By understanding a bit more about what we’re up against, Vida describes how to go about making a change in the most brain-friendly way.

This month, we hear from career changer, Christina Frowein, who started her career in hotels and the travel industry, after her BA in Hospitality Management. After doing that for 8 years, she went back to university to follow her passion, earning a MA in Coaching and Leadership, and now works for a coaching startup. Christina’s journey highlights the effectiveness of a stepping stone approach to changing career, and how following your gut instinct can help move you forward. She talks candidly about her experiences, the impact Covid had on her decision making, and the courage it takes to follow your dreams.

This month, we hear from Hannah Stange, who, 12 months ago, made a complete career change from the finance and private equity sector, into the Probation Service. Hannah’s career change reminds us that it’s important to follow our gut when it comes to making decisions, and that ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’ in that Alice herself left the Probation Service to embark on a new career in coaching. Hannah highlights the importance of financial planning when your career change may require a pay drop, and offers three key pieces of advice for others considering a change, based on her own experiences.

In this episode, we speak to Rachel Schofield, who worked for the BBC as a journalist and news presenter for 20 years, before training as a career and personal development coach. Rachel discusses how even ‘sexy' jobs can have their downsides, and how it can be hard to let go of a career that defines a large part of your identity. We hear how simply exploring and testing your new ideas first can free you up to move forward, as well as how to overcome common fears related to career change. Rachel talks us through her own career transition, the uncomfortableness of ’starting again’, and how she built up her business over time. There’s also a fascinating discussion around why we find change so hard, according to neuroscience, and how to best work with our brains so they don’t hold us back.

This month we hear from career changer, David Horrich. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of 100% Studios, a group of 3 fashion e-commerce photography studios in London. After selling that business, David moved into real estate investment, via the founding of a tech startup and a short career in finance. David provides a candid and philosophical account of his career change journey, talking through the windy road of change, and why it’s OK not to always have it all figured out before proceeding with your next step. Again, the power and importance of networking and testing career change ideas first shine through in his own unique journey to where he’s ended up today.

In this month’s episode we hear from Spencer Williams, who changed career from retail management into garden design and horticulture. Spencer talks openly and honestly about the impact being in a career he simply fell into was starting to have on his mental health, and how the death of his father and turning 40 prompted him to bite the bullet and start his own horticultural business. Spencer also highlights how helpful it was to 'test drive’ his ideas first, and how utilising his network opened up work opportunities that led him to where he is today.