A-Maze-ing Careers

In the last episode of this series of A-Maze-Ing Careers we’re going to hear from Karen whose career took a real twist when she suffered a tragedy. I’m particularly pleased that Karen is prepared to share her story as I think it will give inspiration to all of us about what is possible if you follow your instincts and have an open mind. As with all my wonderful guests, Karen is very happy to be contacted directly. You can reach her on Facebook and Instagram with @karensuttonwidowcoach or www.karensutton.co.uk.

It is a complete pleasure to welcome Jana Hennig to A-Maze-Ing Careers. Not only did we find out when we first spoke that we did the same course at the same university so she’s obviously an incredible person, but Jana’s story is one of the most maze-like that I’ve come across. It starts in East Germany where she was born and goes through not-for-profit, Finance, Marketing culminating in marine biology, and all of this across multiple countries. She has lots of hints and tips she wants to share with you so have a paper and pen handy as you listen. As with all my guests Jana would love to hear from you afterwards. You can reach her on Linked In under Jana Hennig https://www.linkedin.com/in/jana-hennig-sustainable-fisheries/

On this A-Maze-Ing Careers episode we are meeting another one of my wonderful colleagues, Molly Steere. Molly has had the type of career change that would probably make a fascinating conversation down the pub with all the stories she could tell. At EZRA she’s one of our salespeople, but before that she was in the police, both as a detective and as a uniformed response officer.

My guest today is Jennie Curran, a former colleague of mine who transitioned career at a time of relocating from the UK to Australia - so only two small changes then! Jen was in quite an unhappy place in one role before she moved, so I love her story because it’s about recognising that and rebuilding your confidence to find other opportunities in a completely different environment. You can contact Jennie via Linked In (just look for Jennie Curran at Hunter Valley Wine & Tourism).

This episode will take a slightly different angle. I’m really pleased to be speaking to Kaia Hannolainen who’s made the transition from the corporate world to being self-employed in a completely different space. A-Maze-Ing Careers normally focuses on stories of people moving between organisations but Kaia was so committed to helping people have the confidence to make a big change that I had to have her on. Kaia is happy to hear from people, please contact her on mail@olemine.nl .

The minute I heard Rohit’s career background I just had to have him on A-Maze-Ing Careers. I know when you hear more about his path you’ll have more questions than we can cover today (and I've shared his contact details below and at the end of the episode), but I hope you still enjoy hearing about Rohit’s complete pivot from practising as a doctor to moving into consulting, and eventually product management. Grab a cuppa, sit back and enjoy. And after you've listened if you'd like to get in touch with Rohit you can do so on Instagram @dontchitwhereyoueat

Patrik is the first professional sportsman I've had the pleasure of spending time with and I’m thrilled he’s happy to share his story of how he moved out of the world of sport and into the world of business. Patrik has had a tremendous career with Fortune 500 human capital management business the Adecco Group. But we’re here to hear more about what he did before that and how he transitioned into that world

In this episode we meet Pip Clarke, whose career really does feel like a box of chocolates - so many flavours of work frankly we could do a whole episode on each of the stages of her career. Pip now heads up the international sales team at EZRA Coaching, but unsurprisingly given the nature of this podcast her journey has been anything but linear, with possibly the most turns we’ve heard so far.

Steve Harvey's story will be a lesson into the value of understanding your transferable skills and, much like Gary in Let Them Eat Cake or Zoe in From Retail Spreak to Legalese, that a strong work ethic can open doors for you. Steve wasn’t particularly academic and followed an early path that was more vocational until he eventually saw an opening to move from hospitality to retail. With another move still to happen his story continues to show us that it can be impossible to see your end point when you make choices earlier on, but have faith that opportunities will come to light.

Today I’m delighted to introduce you to Gary Lincoln, whose career had a surprising start (involving very early mornings), and a number of false starts including a spell of self-employment, before eventually finding where he’s been for the last 16 years. I’m looking forward to you all hearing not only his story, but also Gary has some great pointers for what has helped him make the career moves he’s made.

This week’s guest is a current colleague of mine, Zoe Edwards. Zoe’s story is a little different to other guests in that she’s only had one big career shift. However within her roles she was able to create and take new directions, and today she is doing a job she wanted to do back at school but didn’t think she ever could. Like Fi McLay in episode 4, she wanted to do the role she is now doing when she was younger and is better for it now having taken a longer route to get. She has enjoyed all her learning, “treated it like a hobby” which has really helped her make the most out of it. Zoe has had some mental health challenges along the way, and whilst we won’t dwell on those today, she is an example of someone who despite that has managed to take up new opportunities and develop professionally.

Today you’re going to meet Fi McLay who I’ve got to know specifically because of her story for this podcast. Fi’s career journey has actually come pretty much full circle, although it’s not over yet. Her journey to date involves jobs in both the private and public sector and a couple of different educational paths as well. There are a couple of themes within Fi’s story - her choices have reflected other things going on in her life at any point in time, and she got to know herself better after each role.

In this episode we feature not just three big career changes, but a country change as well! Born in Malta, Leah Vella had to navigate quite a niche education and job market at the start of her journey before eventually coming to the UK. Once in the UK her journey continues with two further career changes. What I love about her story is that she has absolutely taken ownership at each stage, which we both hope will inspire listeners that a career change is absolutely within your control.

Today we’re meeting Dan, one of my oldest friends whom I met in my first week at university in 1994. Ever since I’ve known Dan he’s been on the hunt for a rewarding job that gives him purpose and job satisfaction. I’ve asked him to talk to us today as he has been uncompromisingly committed to that objective, and has dealt with more twists and turns than anyone I know to try and achieve that. Today he’s in a great place, and I’m excited for him to share his journey on how he got there.

Welcome to our first A-Maze-ing Careers podcast, the podcast helping us all get comfortable with the maze that can be our career journey – dead ends, twists and turns, corners you can’t see around and yet somehow people do make it to the centre and find their own A-Mazing career. Today we’re meeting one of my family members whose story has frankly blown me away. I’ve asked Laura to talk to us today as she’s changed career not once, not twice, but three times. She’s worked in the public sector, she’s worked for herself and she’s now working in the not-for-profit sector following her true values. For me she epitomises what it means to navigate this career maze.