Favourite Positions
Favourite Positions is a platform and podcast designed to help you find your dream role.
Founded by Alex Young in 2022, the platform was born from her own frustration with outdated career advice and rigid workplace expectations. Early in her career, Alex was often told she was “too young” to lead or made to feel uncomfortable in environments rife with sexism and performative policies. Like many, she was left disillusioned – not by hard work itself, but by systems that held people back.
Instead of conforming, she looked to those building better businesses – the founders, leaders and creatives shaping inclusive, purpose-led workplaces that prioritise well-being, impact and autonomy. Their stories lit the path forward.
Favourite Positions began as a way to share those stories – and has since grown into a trusted space for candid conversations about work, identity and ambition in a changing world.
Today, Favourite Positions is home to a growing community of over 10,000 people.
Alex’s work has been featured by the BBC, Channel 4, Cosmopolitan, Metro and Start Up Magazine. She is the recipient of the Excellence Scholarship at Imperial College London, where she’s continuing to grow the platform alongside her MBA.
Tune in for honest episodes that showcase the people reimagining work for a new generation.
Whether you’re early in your career, switching paths or leading a team, Favourite Positions is here to help you carve your own path and find work that truly fits.
Favourite Positions
Episode 06: Work In Progress - Austin Okolo
💬 Summary
In this episode, we speak to Austin Okolo – founder of Gen Z Recruits and a leading voice for Gen Z in the world of work – about turning lived experience into lasting impact.
Austin shares how his entrepreneurial journey began with selling football boots at school and how it evolved into a mission to fix a broken job market. We talk about building confidence from the ground up, creating opportunities where none exist and why visibility and vulnerability are powerful tools for career growth. Austin opens up about the loneliness of leadership, what most people get wrong about Gen Z and why effort still beats everything else.
💡 Takeaways
- Your audience might be you – build what you wish you had
- Confidence comes from repetition, not personality
- Gen Z aren’t lazy – they’re just unwilling to settle for outdated norms
- Recruitment doesn’t have to be transactional – it can be transformational
- Visibility leads to opportunity – show up even when you’re nervous
- Document your journey, don’t wait to be ‘an expert’
- Working in isolation can damage your mental health – community matters
- Personal branding works best when it’s grounded in lived experience
- Employers and employees both need to define their non-negotiables
- The future of work needs to include flexibility and connection
🕒 Chapters
00:00 – Who is Austin Okolo and what does he do?
01:43 – From football boots to fashion to founding a business
03:50 – The rise and fall of Clubhouse and building a real-life community
06:16 – Becoming “Mr Gen Z” and launching Gen Z Recruits
08:57 – Why he started a recruitment agency with no corporate background
11:39 – Starting from scratch: mentorship, prep and long-term thinking
13:15 – The real problems Gen Z face in the job market
16:13 – Are Gen Z expectations really that unrealistic?
17:56 – Rethinking traditional work models and expectations
20:43 – Meeting in the middle: flexibility vs reality
22:48 – The hardest part: loneliness as a founder
24:10 – Why we need to build our own communities after school
26:05 – The hidden cost of working from home
28:15 – How Austin got into the media – and why visibility matters
31:04 – Building confidence by doing hard things
33:35 – Personal branding tips for early-career professionals
35:14 – What not to post online (and how to avoid being cringe)
38:13 – Why Austin didn’t post about Coldplay – and how to stay in your lane
41:08 – What’s next for Gen Z Recruits
42:46 – Austin’s signature advice: reverse engineer your dream role
44:31 – Where to find Austin online
🔗 Follow Austin
Follow Favourite Positions on LinkedIn and Instagram, connect with Alex here.
