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ZestPal: Life Skills & Life Lessons
ZestPal (formerly Wellbeing in Focus) is a podcast about life in a broader sense: life skills, life lessons, meaning, regret, joy, elder stories, and of course, zest for life.
I’m Gabriella, and together with my guests we explore the deeper questions in life: what it is that truly matters, what we can learn from those who’ve been there, and how we can live a life that we won’t regret later.
Moving beyond expert advice, ZestPal is a space for real stories and honest conversations about the human experience. It's a place to listen, learn, and take action on what really matters - so we can all build a life that we actually enjoy.
Come and join us!
ZestPal: Life Skills & Life Lessons
It's OK to Change Your Mind - with Alexandra Dolea
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
What happens when your dream job stops loving you back? Alexandra Dolea, archeologist, career mentor, and creator of the Career Excavation Framework, walks us through how she spent nearly two decades in field archaeology across Europe and the Mediterranean, only for everything to unravel during the pandemic: work disappeared, burnout set in, and the story she told herself about success no longer fit. That breaking point became a blueprint for change.
We also get personal about health, rest, and the myth of balance. Alexandra shares how severe illness reordered her priorities and why movement (hiking, lifting, martial arts) became a daily anchor. She makes a case for doing nothing on purpose, noticing invisible work, and asking for help without shame.
If you’ve ever felt trapped by your own resume or worried your best chapters are behind you, this conversation opens a door. Hit play, rethink your next step, and if it resonates, share it with someone who needs permission to pivot.
To discover more about Alexandra's work please visit alexandradolea.com or get in touch with her on LinkedIn.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us Alexandra!