The transformation within: Finding your true self through career change with Deon Pillay (and Charlie)

In this episode of LEAP Listens, Sara and Roger speak with Deon Pillay, an award-winning marketing leader and long-time diversity advocate, about what happens when success stops feeling meaningful. Dion shares why he left a secure corporate role to start a coaching practice in response to a deeper sense of misalignment.

He walks through the mindset shift that made change possible, the questions that helped him act, and a simple framework for building a plan that balances purpose with reality. From finances, boundaries and values-led work, it’s an honest look at what it takes to change direction, and how integrity can become a habit, not just a principle.

LEAP Listens is brought to you by LEAP Create, an award-winning people communications agency.  Find out more at leapcreate.co.uk

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome to Leap Listens, the Bite-sized employer branding podcast. I'm Sarah.

SPEAKER_01 0:05

And I'm Roger.

SPEAKER_02 0:06

And we lead Leap Create. Leap Create is a creative communications agency and we specialise in employer branding and internal communications. We work with in-house professionals to help bring the story of your company to life to help attract and retain your best talent. This is our sixth series of Leap Listens. And if you're new here, we chat to a variety of industry specialists about workplace culture and how to communicate with candidates and employees. And if you want to know more, head over to our website or Spotify for over 70 episodes to listen to. Welcome. Hey Roger.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hello, Sarah.

SPEAKER_02 0:41

How are you?

SPEAKER_01 0:42

I'm very well, you?

Meet Dion And Today’s Focus

SPEAKER_02 0:43

Yeah, I'm very good. And I'm looking forward to speaking to our guest today. And we're going to be speaking to Dion, who was the head of marketing technology enablement and governance at LNG. And also he for the last seven years has been the co-chair and founder of the LGBT plus Equality and Inclusion Group. So he's won multiple awards, which he talked about to talk about. He's found himself giving up his corporate role and now moving forward with um coaching business. So which is called the One Life Coach. So I'm really excited to hear his journey from that sort of corporate world jumping into working for himself.

SPEAKER_01 1:43

Yeah. It'll be really interesting and all about finding his true purpose.

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Exactly that. So should we just jump in?

SPEAKER_01 1:52

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02 1:54

Welcome to the podcast, Dion.

SPEAKER_00 1:56

Thank you for having me, Sarah. It's great to be here today.

SPEAKER_02 1:59

Excellent. So, Dion, please tell us about you and um what we're going to be talking about today.

Reflection, Purpose And The Rat Race

SPEAKER_00 2:05

Yeah, thank you. Um well today we'd be talking about purpose and finding your purpose. You know, having been in the corporate world for the last what, 20 odd years, it's time to reflect, re-energize, and rebuild. I guess, you know, as somebody who is very passionate about diversity and inclusion, I've worked a lot in that space. I've recently founded my the One Life Coach business and really excited to be here today to talk about personal reflection, building momentum, and moving forward.

SPEAKER_01 2:34

Excellent.

SPEAKER_00 2:35

It's great.

SPEAKER_01 2:36

So, Dion, so t tell us a little bit about how you arrived at this decision or or you know what's been when did this itch start?

SPEAKER_00 2:44

It's really interesting. I think with all of these things, it starts with reflection and personal reflection, really deep reflection on knowing sort of we spend most of our lives, you know, chasing this rap race of the next promotion, the next milestone. But we don't stop very often to ask and reflect and think about what why am I doing all of this? And I think for me, this sort of change in my career, which came very suddenly, where I decided to walk away from a great corporate job and a great company was a point of reflection for me. It was, why am I doing all of this? Is it the money? Is it is it really driving me? Is it really fulfilling me? And I I guess I came back to the answer that it wasn't really. It was something that was lacking in my life, and that was that purpose. Because, you know, purpose is all about what you do for others, about serving other people and finding that strength within yourself. Think about what am I really good at that I can give to others to really make a difference in their lives? Because very often, as human beings, we can be very selfish. And part of that whole rat race is being that selfish person of chasing the next big success, whether it's financial or the next promotion, whatever that looks like. I guess I was stuck in that rat race, and that taking this time now to reflect has been really, really important for me.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

That's great. And there are any parts that you're, since you've sort of stepped back, um, that are re-emerging now that you're not in that kind of everyday sort of hamster wheel, so to speak.

Slowing Down And Finding Clarity

SPEAKER_00 4:07

Yeah, I think I'm finding much more clarity. I'm taking the time to actually walk around, enjoy the birds, and actually notice things more because, you know, we're so caught up, like I said earlier on, you know, my morning journey to the station literally is I'm just heading to a station to get on a train to get to work, to start my job. Whereas now I can take my time to observe what's really happening around me, to absorb all the great things that nature has to offer, to notice the people that I never noticed before on the street, to smile at people and go, good morning, you know. And I think that's so different from being stuck in the cycle and just taking the time out, your mind completely eases. You're not under stress, you're not under pressure. And you start to rekindle passion about things that you really care about. And passion is something that really sort of drives purpose because people sometimes get confused about things, you know, they think, oh, my passion is this, and therefore I'm going to do something with that passion. Passion, I see, as that light that really enables you to take that thing that you really enjoy doing, but doing it for a better purpose and a bigger purpose that serves you, you know, serves the community instead.

Reactions To Leaving Corporate

SPEAKER_02 5:10

That's great. So, how have people reacted when you've told them that you left? Are they are they curious, um, envious, worried?

SPEAKER_00 5:18

You know, it's it's really interesting. It's such a mixed um response. People are like, what is wrong with you? Like, you loved your job. You know, you care so much about what you did, your people, the job, the company. I think we sometimes forget that we are just a number in a corporate. We are not, you know, we are just a part of a big, a bigger cog, a bigger machine. And some of other people said, Oh my god, John, you'll be an amazing coach because your passion for people and the way you your servant leadership style rarely fulfills that obligation to help make a difference for other people. And I had so many, so much of love and support. Like, you know, I posted on on LinkedIn like all of us do when we say we're leaving. I think it's been just over a week now, there's 20,000 people that it has reached that post. And the amount of people that reached me personally saying, Oh, this is great to hear you using your your you know your education and your training to make a difference for other people. And also lots of people saying, Well, we wish you really well because you know you'll be you will be successful. We've had a taster of your coaching and we really enjoyed it. And others are like, You are crazy. Like, why did you give up your job? And I think sometimes it takes a lot for you to just go, actually, no, I'm done. And I think sometimes it's the universe telling you it's time for change. You know, 15 years in one company is a lot of time. And but it's been a great 15 years. You know, I really enjoyed every opportunity to grow, to develop, to meet amazing people, to learn and to enrich myself, and also take all of that and to really give back to community in any which way I can.

SPEAKER_01 6:44

So I imagine I'm not suggesting that this was you in your career, but lots of people live these lives of sort of quiet desperation, always sensing that there's something else, some other like say purpose. But obviously, there are the very real the realities of mortgages and dependence and all of the things that go with it. So if you were coaching someone and they had that kind of sense of, oh, you know, I've my passion is this, or I've fallen into this, and uh, it's just kind of I'm on the hamster wheel, um, it's very difficult to get off. What what what's your advice? What's your sort of first steps for someone who might want to take leap?

Awards, Burnout And Knowing When To Move

SPEAKER_00 7:24

Yeah. The great thing about coaching is you don't give advice, right? The first thing about coaching is you ask meaningful questions to help unlock the potential of the person. Um and I would always say, what's driving you to make this change right now? What's that thing that's making you want to change? Because people think when they come into a coaching session, normally, people think this is the problem, this is the challenge right now. But when you start to question more deeply, you find it's actually something totally different that's actually creating this the scenario in their life that's sort of causing them to rethink their lives. And, you know, the the struggle is real. You know, I have a mortgage to pay. All the things that you talked about, we all have those bills. And as long as you're in a position where you can still meet your obligations, let's call them that, your obligations, I guess, and I'm very privileged, I'm in a very privileged position right now, and that's why I think for me, right now feels like the catalyst for that change and the transformation, is that I'm comfortable in that I can take time out to really refocus, to re-energize and rebuild. Because it's not just about leaving the corporate space, right? Ultimately I might go back into corporate. But right now, while I have the opportunity to reshape my future, I guess I will only emerge stronger and better. So that when I move into my next role, my next permanent role, I can bring so much more of myself because we do burn out as human beings. We actually do burn out and we just ignore all of these signs of it because we think about our job and keeping our job, thinking about our mortgages, paying, you know, we have to pay our mortgage, we've got to have bills to pay. And that actually almost freezes us into a position where we don't take those important decisions when we should be taking them. I think that's really important. You know, we need to stop and reflect and really think about the balance between a job, a career, your personal health and well-being, and really what's that passion that you have. We all have a passion somewhere deep inside, and we sacrifice that a lot just to fuel that corporate world because it pays us a salary that helps us pay our bills.

SPEAKER_02 9:17

I think you were quite humble in your introduction, Dion, in terms of what you achieved and the awards that you won when you were in your sort of corporate life. And it would be good to cover those as well, because I think that's really important because I think that leads really nicely into what you're doing now. But was there a particular moment when you knew that you couldn't keep going the same way?

Practical Reset: Lists, Boundaries, Exit Plan

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Yeah, I think it's it's been a build over the last 18 months where I just thought, you know what, I've achieved so much in this company over the last 18 years. Oh sorry, 15 years, but the last 18 months more so was a time of reflection for me. When you've won nearly every diversity and inclusion award, you've won marketing leader of the year, you've won awards for transformation and change, which is what I really care about, you know, it's about people and process and really shifting those things, you start to think about I can lose with my eyes closed, almost. Like, am I just staying here because it's comfortable? And when you're not being stretched and stressed and pulled in a different direction, you feel like you almost stop living. It becomes robotic. And when you sort of have the reflection of actually, I don't feel stretched, I don't feel like there's more opportunity here for me right now, you've got to take those difficult positions. And if you can, you know, work with your leadership team and others, or even just sort of self-reflect and find the next big opportunity that's gonna stretch you and drive you, I think then that's really important. And I think for me that lesson was actually, I know the lesson was for me was I should have got left earlier. But but you know, to Roger's point earlier on, it was more about actually I need like someone's gonna pay my bills, I need to pay my mortgage. And that the fear of not having enough paralyzed me. But it got to a point where I wasn't being true to myself, I wasn't being authentic. And I always talk about being an authentic leader to all my people because you know, being a servant leader is really important to me. It's about the next generation, how you're empowering your people to really be the best that they can be. And when suddenly you're becoming a fraud because you are hiding from the truth, the truth that, you know, you no longer feel a sense of purpose and your vision isn't quite where it needs to be. You need to reset and adjust and then move forward.

SPEAKER_02 11:36

What advice would you give to somebody that's feeling like this now, that has been in a role for as long as you had, like over 10 years, thinking about, you know what, I don't feel like I've got that purpose anymore. But like you said, you know, you've got bills to pay. So what would be your sort of gold advice to those people?

Unlearning Corporate And Owning Your Voice

Book Recommendation And Closing Thanks

SPEAKER_00 11:58

Oh, that's that's a lot of pressure, isn't it? Giving people advice. But I think it's you know, what's really important is to reflect on what's important to you for the individual, what is serving you as a person and what's not serving you currently, and make a note of those things because it's easy to play those things in your mind over and over again. But when you actually have them in paper in front of you, reminding you daily that these are the things that are holding you back from progress, it's really, really powerful just seeing it there in writing in front of me. And I had it written down, you know, what do I really enjoy right now? What's not serving me anymore? And that's both people and things, physical things. You know, what are not serving me in my life right now? And that meant even losing friends. You know, I cut off lots of friends because they weren't serving me anymore. Even on LinkedIn, you know, we we very often do a spring clean, right? We do we're very good at tiding up our houses and making it look lovely for spring, but we don't clean out the people and the processes and things that aren't serving us. And it's so important to do that deep cleanse, to surround yourself with the right people that you empower, but equally they give back because I find lots of people draining me, taking a lot from me, but not giving back. And equally in my role, I felt like I was achieving so much, but was it actually fulfilling me? Because I wasn't being pushed that next level that I wanted to be at. And therefore, when those things start to play in your mind, which can be a negative thing, you know, can be very negative, it's at that point where you go, actually, no, then enough. It's time for me to take stock, re-evaluate, and push forward. I think anyone in that sort of cycle, just do that. Take that time out to really think about yourself. Self-care is really important. Mental health, well-being, whether it's meditation or mindfulness or whatever that is for you. Find that thing, make those notes, revisit those notes regularly. I think what's really important is having a diary. And the front page of that diary, when you open it every morning, you have these things written down because it forces you to reflect and then have a clear exit strategy. You know, what is the next opportunity you're looking for? I wouldn't say just walk away from your job. I know I've done that, but don't just walk away from your job, but look for that thing that's gonna keep you busy. You know, my friends laugh at me. They say, Dion, we we can't believe you walked away from your job on the Friday, but the Tuesday, your website was up and running. And I'm like, Yeah, but there's no time to stop and pause, you know, because I care about these things. Yes, you know, obviously the mindfulness and the walking, all that stuff still happens, but I'm a Virgo, and Virgos are very driven people. And we we sort of go into a different mode. So by Tuesday, I was like, Yep, my site's up there. I was like, What? I'm like, yeah, I'm starting my life coaching business. And they're like, Why? I'm like, because I always wanted to do this for me, and I never did because I was so busy serving a corporate, I lost who I was. And now that I've had the opportunity to do it, I'm doing it. So yeah, that's it.

SPEAKER_02 14:42

I think that's great advice. You you did well there. Is there any behaviors that you've had to? I know it's only been a few weeks, but had to sort of unlearn, so to speak.

Leap Lift: Email Talent Pools

SPEAKER_00 14:54

You know what's really interesting? I think it's not behaviors, but it's a mindset. Having that corporate mindset of, you know, you're always gonna do everything so corporately, and now I can use my voice and speak my truth, it's so empowering to obviously still obviously very respectfully, you know, it's my brand ultimately, it's my own personal brand now, but being able to have really open, candid conversations, not to worry about getting in trouble with your your peers or others, or just not having to conform. Because so often they say, you know, be an authentic leader, be yourself, bring your whole self to work. But the reality is they don't want that. What they want is another corporate clone to come into their boardrooms and to behave in the way that they think is acceptable. So, you know, always bring your best self to work, I think is is the right is the right way of framing it. But I think just being me, being authentically Dion, has been amazing for me. It's allowed me to just be myself, to live my truth and to build things the way I want to build them. To really, you know, like I always stand by this. You know, I'm a real people person first. And now I'm able to do that and be there for the people first and not have to follow all the corporate rules and guidelines whilst I have this freedom.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Yeah, absolutely. There there always does, I mean from my time in corporate world, um, just a lot of red tape on certain things. And it's quite good to sort of feel a bit maverick, isn't it, when you're working for yourself that you can cut a little some corners or just do things your way, like you say, without having to get that approval, so to speak.

SPEAKER_00 16:26

Yeah, and also I get to choose who I work with, right? I don't have to work with everybody. If people I don't like people, I'm sorry, I can't work with you. Whereas before, even if you don't like people, you've got to smile, suck it up, and work with them, right? So that's the that's the beauty of of working for yourself, I guess, is being to have able to make those choices.

SPEAKER_02 16:44

Yeah, I know um I feel like that about Roger sometimes. I'm sure you don't need that. I love Roger. Yeah, no, I think I I got there before you did, Roger. That's why I said it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 16:59

Dion, so you did. Yeah, you got you got that in there. Yeah. So Dion, uh, as as we said, we like to keep these quite size because um we think that people's attention span of being able to listen to Sarah is around 15 minutes. Um I guess that's payback, Sarah. But we do always ask people if there's any uh interesting books or listeners that they would like to recommend. It doesn't have to be anything particularly profound, it could just be something that you're currently listening to or enjoying.

SPEAKER_00 17:32

That's an interesting one. See, I didn't have time to really reflect on reflect on this.

SPEAKER_01 17:35

But yeah, that was the one thing that we forgot to.

SPEAKER_00 17:38

Yeah, that would be really helpful back on Roger. But you know, I read a book a long time ago. It was Who Stole My Cheese? And it's a really interesting book because it just shows us how as humans we form these habits. And it actually speaks lovely to this actual conversation because we get stuck in this rap trace and it's about a mouse. Uh, and it's also like we keep going back to the same things because we think the same things serve us, and telling the things aren't there that serve us, or we think that serve us. When someone steals your cheese or moves that cheese, you can't survive. So I think it's a very small read, but really profound, I think, for what it actually is. But it really helps you to rethink your life, and it's a great starting point for somebody who's stuck, actually.

SPEAKER_01 18:20

Yeah, it's a good one. I've I've I've got that one tucked away and read it, and I think, like you say, because it's short, like there's plenty of books around, you know, self-improvement books, but there's quite a lot to them, and it's quite nice when there's one that you know it's just got one or two points that you remember.

SPEAKER_00 18:34

So yeah, and it's not yeah, and it's not even as first of all it's a very silly book because someone said I would read this book, Who Stole My Cheese? Oh, okay, here we go. But actually, you know, to run to your point, it's such a small read, but it's such a good thing because you really remember that with the advice and guidance in there, or you take away from the story a lot of things.

SPEAKER_02 18:52

Yeah, I think I'm gonna download that. I've got um a few credits on my Audible.

SPEAKER_01 18:57

You can have my copy, Sarah. I'll sign it.

SPEAKER_02 19:00

I prefer listening than reading. But that's brand wonderful. Thank you so much, Dion, for sharing your story and the start of your journey. And I'm really excited, and I hope you don't spring clean Roger and I, because I I'm really excited to hear and continue to hear your journey on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Thank you, Sarah and Roger. It's been phenomenal being on today's podcast, and hopefully your listeners find something useful in there. Brilliant. Thank you very much.

SPEAKER_02 19:29

And there is our leap lift again, Roger. Right, what are we lifting about today? Can you see my enthusiasm for this one?

SPEAKER_01 19:38

I can. You feel more enthusiastic than you've ever felt before about a leap lift.

SPEAKER_02 19:44

I know I can't wait to get stuck in. And uh today we're gonna be talking about email talent pools.

SPEAKER_01 19:52

We are, and um, I mean, that was the line in my script, but that's absolutely fine, Sarah.

How We Build Nurture Programmes

SPEAKER_02 19:59

Hold on. Q Sarah. Ah, one of my favourites. In actual fact, it is actually one of my favourites. I do love a bit of email talent pools. So um building and nurturing email talent pools is um one of the most cost-effective recruitment marketing channels available. It's all owned data. And what we can do at LeapCreate is help you um scope that out perfectly to a perfect strategy to help keep potential candidates engaged and informed about your company.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

That's right. We design and build custom email nurture programs that keep talented candidates updated on company news, culture, insights, and relevant job alerts, keeping your brand top of mind when they're ready to make their next move.

SPEAKER_02 20:47

Yes, and it's uh it's brilliant for creating um that warm and engaged talent pipeline. And um what we've done is we've crafted some really great email campaigns to help nurture, like I say, that owned data, which is a much more cost-effective way than um, say, paid social or um constantly paying for for new job awards, which is obviously all still very important, but it's definitely a channel which I think gets massively overlooked.

SPEAKER_01 21:16

It does, and what we can do is design and build emails that suit specific recruitment needs. So whether that's a graduate programs or you need senior leadership or you've got very niche technical roles, then I recommend that you talk to us about getting started with your email talent pool strategy.

SPEAKER_02 21:38

Yes, talk to us. Give us a give us a call or uh drop us a DM in in LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_01 21:45

Slide into our DMs. Right? Good. All right, well, we've arrived.