9 YEAR GAP - interviews with talented people, their careers and success stories!

With guests from all around the world including France, Australia and England, host Robert Barbaro takes us through the guests on 9 Year Gap and points out some of the noteworthy themes featured in the interviews so far. These include: 1) the organic process of career development, 2) not being afraid to ask questions, 3) trusting past experiences and instinct, 4) focus and 5) teamwork. Robert will also tell us his plans for the podcast in 2021 and introduce a special guest 'Bobbi Cannoli' who shares a delicious recipe for a bruschetta. For information about Robert, please visit his Instagram @robarbaro, his Link Tree @9yeargap and his website www.robertbarbaro.com

This week we are joined by Anisha Gangotra. Her story involves being diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and surviving a traumatic car accident. We discuss learning how to be a natural leader; putting life’s pieces back together; dealing with trauma; and the magic of travelling, languages & dance. Her career has developed from recruitment to a successful role in marketing and sales and now she works within the NHS mental health service specialising in supporting people with their mental health and employment. She also runs inclusive dance and Zumba classes, is a mental health advocate and holds a BA Honours in Sociology. Our chat goes in many directions! For more information about Anisha and her inclusive dance and Zumba classes, head to her Instagram @zumbawithanisha

From Melbourne, Australia, Cailin Howarth starting out as a trained classical singer and performed throughout Australia and Europe. She’s changed direction, studied psychology and become a Performance Psychology Coach to the performing arts, sporting and corporate worlds to name a few! Cailin tells us about discovering the psychological challenges, needs and solutions for people in the performing arts and how this led to forming her company The Performer's Edge : a company which offers various personalised psychology coaching and workshops helping performers overcome challenges and reach their goals. We also talk being awareness of career and personal direction, growing a business, describing the role of a coach and self motivation. Cailin is passionate about the wellbeing of artists and her purpose is to support performers and creatives to be their best so that they can make a positive impact on the world. For more information about Cailin and The Performer's Edge, see the following links: Website: https://www.theperformersedge.world/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.performers.edge/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theperformersedge/ The next intake of Cailin's online group coaching course, Performance Dynamics, will be starting in mid November.

Based in London, UK, Kara R Bieber began her career as a photographer, having her first exhibition at the age of 12. She has now moved into the medium of hand cut collage. Her amazingly vibrant collages have been featured internationally in galleries, private collections and even department stores! Her flair for design, colours and language have led to being the Founder and Editor of Yes Please! Magazine - accessible on Flipboard and Instagram (see links below). This online magazine showcases the latest in trending art, design, innovation food and fashion. We'll discuss becoming a collage artist, naming artwork, the importance of music in our lives, travel experiences and how networking needs tailoring for the individual's personality. Yes Please! Magazine can be accessed on Flipboard: https://flipboard.com/@krb/yes-please-c54m2o9rz Kara's instagram is full of new collages and colourful updates on the world through Kara's eyes: @yes_please_magazine Check out Kara's collages this exhibition 'I don't wanna be famous': https://augustusbrandt.co.uk/i-dont-wanna-be-famous-an-exhibition-by-kara-bieber/ Interesting article on Kara: https://about.flipboard.com/inside-flipboard/spotlight-collage-artist-kara-bieber/

From Dali in the Yunnan Province, China, Yiran Duan has shifted from theatre costume making to starting a business in London, UK. She founded Yi Crafts which promotes and celebrates the history of crafts, tea and indigo manufacturing of the Chinese ethnic minority called Bai. The company offers workshops and classes. Yiran will discuss: her journey to London, using an Entrepreneur visa (Tier 1) from the UK, finding a hole in the marketplace, growing the business online during COVID-19, how she balances running Yi Crafts with her freelance business making costumes, her development as a teacher and being an ambassador of the Bai culture. The documentary Yiran described in the episode can be found on this link: https://www.yiranduan.com/news/2020/2/11/meet-culture-chinese-ethnic-minorities-traditional-handcrafts-in-dali-yunnan-china For more information about Yiran, please see www.yiranduan.com and her instagram https://www.instagram.com/yicraftslondon/ (@yicraftslondon)

This week's guest is my friend and mentor David Corcoran. Originally from Melbourne, Australia, he now lives with his amazing wife and kids in Vienna, Austria. We discuss his career history and the mixed bag of jobs he has had over the years: from the corporate world, to cycling instructor, to psychology graduate, to opera singer, to English instructor. He now practices as an executive voice coach and runs his own business called Resonant Personal Development. We delve deep into the personal development aspect of one's career direction and heavy choices that need to be made. David touches on family considerations, honest self assessment of our skills and abilities, how Toast Masters has helped him and the paramount importance of identifying when we get that yummy feeling of satisfaction. For more information on David please see his websites: www.davidcorcoran.com.au and www.resonantpd.com

Based in Perth, Australia, James Summers will tell us about the shipping industry and the surprising and forward attitude he took to land his current job. This episode gets a little more real and personal. Topics include: family history, bullying, mentorship, being in it for the battle, understanding the world and people around you and of course, shipping. A lot is shared and the audience will get a glimpse of the strong friendship between James and the host Robert. Outside of his day job, James has his own podcast 'Random Attractive Friends' and is often referred to as L.A., Luv Ambassador.

Based in London, Sophie Medlin is a rising star in the health & diet community in the UK. As a specialist in gastrointestinal diseases she has gone from working in acute hospitals; to academia, as a lecturer at King’s College London ; and now she co-heads a team of world class specialist dietitians as Founder and Co-Director of CityDietitians in London. She’s also Chair for the British Dietetic Association for London ; as a consultant, she has contributed to the development and manufacturing of game changing vitamins and probiotics; and she regularly champions health and diet issues in the media and social media platform. She tells her story and gives us some helpful insights into how to shape your career direction - even in the face of unexpected discoveries. She has a formidable presence on social media - where she is often interviewed and sharing ideas and knowledge about the latest news and progress in the world of nutrition and diet. To follow Sophie, see: Instagram is @sophindietitian & Twitter @CityDietitians Also see www.citydietitians.co.uk

Trishna Bharadia is a true mover and shaker! As a health advocate, writer, inspirational speaker, mentor and ambassador for organisations including MS Society UK, ADD International, Cambridge MS Therapy Centre, Asian MS and Lyfebulb, she has raised awareness to the public and healthcare professions about MS and the needs of patients suffering with chronic illness and hidden disabilities. You may have seen her on BBC1’s The People’s Strictly for Comic Relief (Strictly Come Dancing for non-celebrities)! - there was also a short documentary series about her time on the show. She tells us how she began her volunteering positions and becoming a real leader in patient advocacy. She’ll also discuss balancing volunteering with her full time career as a specialist Spanish translator.

From London, UK, Kate McAdam's career story is full of surprises. She has gone from rising operatic soprano in the UK to singing teacher to Project Manager in the construction industry for Morgan Sindall. She is also a Trustee of the brilliant Amar-Frances and Foster-Jenkins Trust. We spoke about exploring one's options and how untapped and undiscovered skills and talents can lead to a new career.

Hailing from Melbourne, Australia, Athan Didaskalou has had quite the winding road of a career journey so far. Starting out in small business in the suburbs of Melbourne, he then went on to work in marketing consultancy. After some more successful business ventures, he became the Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer of international luggage brand July. His insights into starting new ventures and entering different business sectors is refreshing and truly encouraging. Our chat was candid and we shared a few notes too! For more information about Athan and July, please check out their website july.com and follow their updates on Instagram @july.

From Melbourne, Australia, Dave Newington has successfully shifted from an accomplished career as a pianist and touring artist to the recruitment sector as Practice Lead in Service Delivery at Granite Consulting. Dave's story of redirection is encouraging for those seeking a reboot. He'll shed light on the what goes on in the mind of a recruiter and share a few tricks of the trade too!

If you follow patisserie in any shape or form on social media then you no doubt have come across the name, Sharon Heinrich. She is the face of the Paris chez Sharon brand and her Instagram profile and food blog have a significant international following. She’s a journalist, pastry chef, popular culinary tour guide and author of “The Best Patisseries in Paris – a Guide to Cake and Dessert Boutiques”. Sharon has one of those stories you hear about in magazines. She's a passionate and inspiring individual! We also introduce a little competition...wink wink, nudge nudge - Stay tuned! For more information about Sharon and all her endeavours, please check out her website: www.parischezsharon.com

We meet Robert Barbaro, host of 9 Year Gap. He'll tell us about his background and the twists and turns of his career in the entertainment, classical music and legal industries. He'll also introduce us to the fun and random 9 Year Gap quiz.

9 Year Gap...with your host Robert Barbaro