Whistle to Work Podcast
“Whistle to Work” delves into the journey of transitioning from corporate life to entrepreneurship in a portfolio career. Mike and Zed share personal anecdotes, professional insights, and strategies for thriving in new communities while effectively managing career shifts. The podcast provides a welcoming and supportive space for learning and personal growth.
Portfolio careers cannot rely on your past role and ‘brand’ alone. In this series we’ll focus on how you’ve got to “show up properly”. That means, purposefully, organised, prepared, knowledgeable, and a myriad of other things that we will talk about during this series. It's serious stuff but not dull.
The primary objective of “Whistle to Work” is to assist individuals in navigating portfolio career opportunities. The podcast aims to share real-time narratives on managing portfolio careers, impart productivity, personal branding, and targeted learning principles, and foster a community of engaged listeners.
Hosted by Zed Vakil and Mike Anderson
Connect with Hosts
Zed Vakil https://www.zarirvakil.com/
Mike Anderson https://dottt.co.uk/
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Whistle to Work Podcast
Purpose, Positioning & Authenticity: Crafting Offers That Truly Connect
In this episode, we’ll be talking about how to show up in your portfolio career. Zed and Mike explore how to identify your passionate purpose, clarify your business hypothesis, and use both to shape a model of work that’s purpose-driven, market-ready, and authentic. Whether you're transitioning from a corporate role or already navigating portfolio life, this episode will guide you to organize and articulate your offering with more confidence.
[2:19] Discovering Your Passionate Purpose - Separating passionate purpose from popular concepts like Ikigai can bring clarity. Visualizing personal purpose helps refocus and align business direction.
[3:56] Building a Business Hypothesis - Having a clear understanding of what you offer, who it’s for, and why it matters creates a strong strategic foundation and prevents premature solutions.
[4:59] Productizing Yourself Without Pigeonholing - New service offerings can emerge by closely listening to client needs. Confidence comes from knowing your core strengths and staying flexible in your approach.
[12:35] The Spear Analogy & Getting in the Door - Your experience forms the base, but a sharp, specific proposition is what gets you noticed. It’s about solving current problems, not relying on past titles.
[19:02] Authenticity Over Perfection - Being genuine and imperfect often creates stronger connections and greater impact, especially in spaces that value authenticity over polish.
Connect with Hosts
Zed Vakil https://www.zarirvakil.com/
Mike Anderson https://dottt.co.uk/