It's the last episode of Season 1: what have we learned from all our stories and experts? And what didn't we talk about that needs to be said?

This week, Natasha takes the hot seat as she talks to Anna Levy about the themes, lessons and unspoken insights from all our career changers and experts this season. 

Where do great career ideas come from? Why does career change feel so hard? Are there people out there for whom career change just isn't an option? And what do we need to be careful of when we listen to career change stories on a podcast like this one?

Plus... Should we do another season of the podcast? Click here to share your thoughts and suggestions

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Kelly Swingler: The Burnoutologist
• Gallup's State of the Workplace report
• Julia Randell-Khan at The Purpose Xchange
• Stanford Center for Longevity
• The 100 Year Life
• Cynthia Pong: Career Change for Women of Color
• Career Returners Community
• Natasha's article on Micro Shifts
• WHO report on cardiovascular deaths

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

This week, meet Louisa Taylor: ICF-accredited career coach and community manager for us here at Careershifters. 

We discussed Daniel's story from last week: including how high we should be aiming when it comes to looking for the dream job, strategies for finding out the facts about the finances of a career, and how to incorporate things that don’t feel relevant to work - like faith, friendship, and identity - into a career change process. 

Plus... Should we do another season of the podcast? Click here to share your thoughts and suggestions

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Not every career change starts with total misery.

Sometimes things aren’t awful, but they’re certainly not great. And as time goes on, mediocrity can turn into resentment.

In this episode, we hear from Daniel Ricken, who realised that ‘fine’ wasn’t good enough any more. He’s now found an unexpected way to get paid for something he’s always done for free – bringing people together around the things that matter to him most.

We talked about finding the intersection between your personal and professional selves, finding ways to sidestep a crazy job market, and what he did when the political landscape crashed into his career change world.

Find Daniel on Instagram at @danielricken16

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Expert Reflections: This episode is a discussion of the career change story from Monique in Episode 9. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out...

Jo Green is a career change coach and self-confessed 'research nerd' who has supported hundreds of people to find fulfilling work. 

We sat down to discuss some powerful topics from Monique’s story, including why holding on to anger could be keeping you stuck, what to do when you think your career idea is probably just a hobby, and the value of distinguishing between what you can control, and what you can’t.

Find Jo at jogreencoaching.com.

Resources discussed in this episode:

• Brené Brown on 'FFT's (F***** First Times)
• Herminia Ibarra's 'Working Identity'
• Parker Palmer's 'A Hidden Wholeness'
• Dorie Clark
• Byron Katie's 'The Work'
• 'The Choice Point' (Acceptance and Commitment Therapy)
• Sahil Bloom's '5 Types of Wealth'

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

How does a high-flying media professional end up in the woods?

A big career change isn't just about changing your job; it can transform your whole sense of identity. 

Monique Ross was successful, well-respected in her industry, and totally burnt out.

In today's episode, she shares how she redefined her ideas of status and success, got comfortable being a beginner, and created a new career from a line in a book...

Find Monique at https://www.heartwoodnaturebathing.com/

We also discussed:

• This Working Life
• Dorie Clark
• Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides
• Tim Ferriss's 'Fear Setting' exercise

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Expert Reflections: This episode is a discussion of the career change story from Maria in Episode 7. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out...

Rachel Schofield is a career coach and facilitator with a 20-year previous career in BBC broadcasting.

She joined us to discuss Maria's career change story from last week, including the power of listening to your body, not just your brain, approaches for balancing different identities during a shift, and how to talk about your career change when you don’t yet know where you’re headed.

Find Rachel at: www.rachelschofield.co.uk

Rachel's book is:  'The Career Change Guide: 5 Steps To Finding Your Dream Job'

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

How do you fit a career change into an already busy life?

For Maria Evans, ‘The Juggle’ has always been a challenge. Children, work, aging parents, health conditions, diagnoses of neurodivergence… 

In this week’s episode, you’ll hear how Maria made her shift by focusing on what matters most in the latter stage of her career, and how she’s creating a working life that can flex, grow, and nourish her alongside a constant menu of competing priorities. 

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Expert Reflections: This episode is a discussion of Paul's career change story from Episode 5. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out...

John Lees is one of the UK's leading career change experts, and the author of 15 books on careers and work. He joined Natasha to talk about the lessons we heard in Paul's episode last week, including how your interpretation of events can change the speed of your shift, why you probably already know what you want to do, even if it doesn’t feel like it, and practical techniques for getting the most out of conversations with interesting people.

Find John at https://johnleescareers.com/

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

What makes a career change a 'Career Change'?

Will you have to give up everything you know? Make a massive 180 and do something radically different? Throw away the parts of your work you still enjoy?

In this week's episode, we hear from Paul, who explored an extraordinary range of options as he sought a new career that wouldn't leave him burned out and exhausted.

And where he ended up might just surprise you...

Get help to find more fulfilling work at www.careershifters.org

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Expert Reflections: This episode is a discussion of Emma's career change story from Episode 3. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out...

Richard Alderson is a serial entrepreneur and the founder of Careershifters. We explored the career change theory behind Emma's story from Episode 3, including strategies for building confidence; the process of innovation and idea generation, and the power of 'just getting started'.

Find Richard (and get help to find more fulfilling work) at www.careershifters.org

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

What if you make a career change and find out it's not the right one?

Emma Hamlett's confidence was at an all-time low after making a shift into something that still didn't feel right. But with tenacity, curiosity, and a hunger for a more community-driven existence, she experimented her way into an entrepreneurial career where she gets to feel exactly the way she wants to feel every day.

Find Emma at https://collectedbooks.co.uk/ 

Get help to find more fulfilling work at www.careershifters.org

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Expert Reflections: This episode is a discussion of the career change story from James in Episode 1. If you haven't listened to that yet, go back and check it out...

Anna Levy is an an ICF accredited career coach, and a workshop and course leader with us at Careershifters. 

We discuss James's story from Episode 1, and the vital lessons she heard from him on meeting your own evolution, challenging core beliefs, and the power of simply 'showing up'.

Find Anna at: www.annalevycoaching.com

Get help to find more fulfilling work at www.careershifters.org

Resources discussed in this episode:

• 'Working Identity' by Herminia Ibarra
• 'Atomic Habits' by James Clear
• The 4 Tendencies Quiz (Gretchen Rubin)
• Kaleidoscope Theory 
• 'On Passion & Its Discontents (Cal Newport)

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Thinking about a career change, but scared of what it might cost you? Worried you’ll have to start from scratch, take a pay cut, or retrain for something you’re not even sure you can do? 

Today, James Moan shares what it was like for all of those fears to come true – and how he kept going anyway. Through courage, commitment, and vulnerability, he found his way into a career that feels more fulfilling than he ever thought possible.

This is a story of facing down fear, overcoming setbacks, and asking not “What if it goes wrong?”—but “Who do I want to be?”

Find James on Instagram: @ptjamesfitness

Get help to find more fulfilling work at www.careershifters.org

⚡ NEW! Get hands-on help with your career change on our 'How To Find The Work You Love' online workshops: www.careershifters.org/workshop

Feeling stuck in work that doesn’t work for you? 

Dreaming of a more fulfilling career? 

Join Careershifters head coach Natasha Stanley as she digs beneath the surface of career change in a series of frank, heartfelt conversations about the real-life process of making a shift.

No fluff, no glossing over the hard parts – just honest, inspiring insights into what it really takes to find fulfilling work.

Hear stories of career changers who have made successful shifts, and learn from the insights and experience of seasoned career change experts.

Don't miss an episode: make sure to subscribe in your podcast app now.

Get help to find more fulfilling work at www.careershifters.org