Your path doesn't need to be tidy to be valuable.

Why your zigzags were never a problem...

Your career doesn’t look like a neat ladder.
It looks more like a patchwork map.
Different roles. Different sectors. Breaks. Detours. Chapters you didn’t plan and moments you just cracked on through.

This episode is for women who have lived a bit and are done apologising for it.

In this solo episode, I unpack something it took me far too long to own. Having a layered career, multiple specialisms, and a zigzag path is not a lack of focus. It’s range. Depth. Leadership in the making.

I share my own breadcrumb trail, from PR and marketing to leadership, coaching and culture work. From redundancy while pregnant to entrepreneurship before I felt ready. From chasing titles to realising the work I was meant to do had been quietly following me all along.

This is a real career story. Lived, not polished.

What we get into

• Why careers make sense backwards, not forwards, and why curiosity beats self criticism.
• How the parts you thought were messy were building cognitive flexibility, adaptability and leadership capacity.
• Why even the most “linear” CVs hide zigzags, mat leave, caring responsibilities, burnout, restructures, grief and quiet identity shifts.
• Why your path does not need to be tidy to be valuable. It needs to be yours. And you need to own it.

The behavioural science underneath it...
I weave in why lived experience matters. Cognitive flexibility and career adaptability explain why women who have navigated complexity become exceptional leaders of humans, not just processes.

This is the science that gives language to what you already know.

• The weekly pause
•  Take five minutes. Proper five minutes.
• Where in your path have you mistaken range, breaks or detours for a lack of direction?
• What changes when you see those chapters as evidence of depth, resilience and brilliance?

This episode sits with women who are questioning their path and quietly reassessing what comes next. It reframes years of self doubt and hands you back ownership of your story.

Pass it on to a woman who keeps apologising for her CV when she simply needs to own her brilliance. 

And if you’re in your plot twist era and want to be in a room where lived experience counts, where you don’t have to translate yourself and where backing yourself becomes the work, you’ll find your people through FoundHer Fire.

This is It’s Got Pockets.
Stories for women with experience who are not done yet.

Now crack on.

Sponsor
This episode is brought to you by Birkdale Insurance Group, a people-first business that cares about who gets a seat at the table and making sure everyone is included.

Sarah is the founder of FoundHer Fire—a membership space for experienced women in business who know real success isn’t just about strategy, it’s about self; a place, a space, a community where women find their fire, for women who aren't done yet and who are ready to write their own rules of success. Sarah also co-founded The Plot Twist (un)Awards, celebrating female founders and women smashing through glass ceilings with purpose, passion and joy.

Find out more about me and how I can work with you:

• On LinkedIn
• On Instagram
• On the Web
• Or drop me an email sarah@mindthegap.academy