How I Changed Careers in My 40s ( And My 30s!)

​​Episode 1: Welcome to The Career Change Studio. In this very first episode, I’m sharing my personal story of successfully changing careers not once - but twice, including how I transitioned in my 30s and again in my 40s.

From starting out as a BBC Radio Producer, becoming a Strategist in advertising, and later becoming a Career Change coach, I walk you through the real, raw moments of reinvention - including the doubts, the grief of leaving a former identity, and the practical steps that helped me create a working life that truly fits who I am now.

This episode is for anyone who feels stuck, overwhelmed, or unsure about what’s next - especially if you’re navigating a major life shift, juggling family, or just questioning whether it’s “too late” to make a change.

In this episode, I cover:

• Why I changed careers (twice) and what I learned each time
  
  
• The real reasons many people pivot - beyond passion and purpose
  
  
• The mindset shifts that helped me find clarity and confidence
  
  
• How career coaching tools helped me redesign my life
  
  
• Why it’s never too late to take action on what you truly want

If you’ve ever thought, “I need a change but I’m not sure if it’s possible” this inspiring episode is for you.

To book a free consultation with me, to discuss how coaching can help you change careers just click here: https://calendly.com/danastevens/initial-coaching-chat

To find out more about working with me, just visit my website: www.danastevens.com

Hit the SUBSCRIBE button to make sure you get career change inspiration delivered to you each week. A REVIEW would also be super useful and would help other people find this podcast.

And feel free to share this with any friends, family or colleagues who are curious about switching careers.

Special thanks to @Lou_Greenaway_Music for the piano composition and performance.

Connect with Dana:

Website: https://www.danastevens.com/workwithme
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dana_stevens_coach/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danastevens1/
Free Coaching Consultation: https://calendly.com/danastevens/initial-coaching-chat

If this episode resonated, follow The Career Change Studio and share it with someone who’s feeling stuck in their career.

And if you’re ready to design a working life that truly fits your needs and lifestyle, book a free clarity call at https://calendly.com/danastevens/initial-coaching-chat

Special thanks to @Lou_Greenaway_Music for the piano composition and performance.

Transcript

Today, I’m going to share with you my story of how I changed careers in my 40s because I not only want to help you see what’s possible, I also want you to see why I’m the right person to be talking to you about changing careers.

The best bit is that I’ve not just successfully transitioned once - moving from the corporate world to running my own coaching business was my most recent change BUT  I DID actually also change careers in my 30s. 

At the very start of my career I was actually a BBC Radio producer so this is actually a lovely, full circle moment for me to be talking about this on my first podcast  - telling stories through audio was my very first passion.

So let’s get into it - because I want you to help you see that we can change careers at different chapters in our lives - often for different reasons. 

And I really do know what you are going through - that frustration you’re feeling because you’re stuck and unable to make a decision, how that can really take over so many parts of your life - you might be going round in circles, playing different options over and over in your mind constantly - this can feel like a low level hum that’s always in the background.

It can feel exhausting you and stops you feeling present in all areas of your life - not just at work, but with family,in your relationships, when your with friends - even when you’re doing something that’s supposed to be fun, it’s just there

I also know what you need to do to get through it and start moving forwards, and that’s what I help my career change clients do every day - make decisions, figure out what’s next, and build up the confidence to make changes, then its about creating an action plan and securing that new job so that they can live, a working life that is a much better fit for what they want and need in the particular chapter of their life that they are in. I’ll be sharing more about the process of how to make changes in upcoming episodes of The Career Change Studio Podcast.

But for now I’m going to take you back to the start of my career, 

I decided I wanted to work in radio quite early into my degree. It was something I loved and I was really passionate about - I did loads of free work experience in hospital radio and on the Vanessa Feltz show at BBC London until I started getting some paid shifts. I worked 3 part time jobs on top of my radio shifts at the start because I wanted it so bad. And I loved it. 

I Loved working in radio - working on speech and music shows at BBC London, then doing some work at Radio 1  - working in shows like The Sunday Surgery, music shows at BBC 1xtra - then getting the dream gig working with the music and arts team at the BBC World Service, producing music and culture programmes.

Here’s the thing - as much as I loved the job and loved the people I worked with - there wasn’t much progression. People loved their jobs in radio so much that they didn’t leave very often - and I wanted more. I wanted promotions and opportunity. I was ambitious and wanted to be challenged more. I also needed more - financially -  I was in my early 30s and I wanted to get on the property ladder and living in London I knew that wouldn’t be possible on a radio producer salary. I knew I wanted to have a family one day. 

I am telling you this because people often think that they should only be changing careers if it’s to follow their passion or find their purpose - but the truth is, many people, including me might want or need to change careers for much more pragmatic reasons. For money, financial security - to get a mortgage - You might want something that’s more flexible or part-time work if you have small kids or other care responsibilities.

Or you might need to prioritise your health - whether that’s your physical or mental health. 

And that’s OK. These are all really valid reasons for changing careers. 

Your life will have many chapters - and what you want and need in these chapters is likely to change. So if you find yourself needing to make a change and it’s not about purpose or passion, that is totally fine.

I basically spent a long time researching different industries to see where there was growth. I spent time really looking at my skills - figuring out what was transferable and what new ones I would need to learn. I identified that my skills in radio could transfer across to the burgeoning online world, websites, content and social media. 

I saw that social media was growing and taking off and it was a very pragmatic reason why I wanted to move into that area…. It wasn’t for a sense of purpose or that I was particularly passionate about it (at the time, I actually did become into it and fired up by it later)  - the driving force was my next chapter and what I  needed to live the way that I wanted….

It took courage to walk away from something that had been a dream career and  was so much a part of my identity at the time ….that might be something that you are struggling with - getting to that place of acceptance that something you loved, used to love or even spent lots of time and energy working towards is no longer right for you.

. And in a way there is a sense of grief, as you feel like you are letting go part of your identity….and .that can be where you might need some support

But really you’re not fully leaving that version of you behind, you’re upgrading your identity to something new that is more suitable for where you are going - I like to think of it as creating a new version of myself, like a new OS, a new operating system more capable of dealing with the next phase.

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So after moving into online work at the BBC, I was working in a team managing homepages and websites and helping to set up the new and emerging social media in BBC TV - the new blog for BBC Three, social channels for shows etc

And when I’d expanded my skillset enough I was able to move out of the BBC and get a job in a creative content agency, working on lots of exciting brands like Cadbury and developing ideas for the Olympics

And ultimately I worked my way up in content and advertising as a Strategist until my last role in the corporate world, where I was Head of Strategy at a big London Advertising agency. I was managing a large team, had some big name clients like Nationwide, Simple Skincare and frankly it was a demanding job. 

While I had achieved outside markers of success “promotions, salary, wonderful team’ - the stress, the pressure and the long hours just wasn’t working with family life - I have two young boys - and the lifestyle I wanted for myself and them just didn’t match up. 

Back then, If anyone asked me how I was I remember I always replied “Busy” - my brain felt like it was always going at 100 miles an hour, juggling work priorities, young kids - that never slept - childcare, and I often felt like I was teetering on the edge of burnout. Just as I’d feel like I was tipping over - a holiday or a break would be the only thing that would pull me back from the brink - but tht was only ever temporary. And the cycle would start again

And I became irritable, resentful and angry - I felt like my family and partner were constantly getting the dregs of me. I felt like I had to be this tough, constantly resilient person at work and it was slowly breaking me. 

I no longer felt like me anymore and I knew I needed to change.

I had already been interviewing at various other brands and agencies for about 18 months, thinking the answer was moving further up the ladder, because that was just the accepted path. Need a new job - go and get a promotion in another agency. But even though I got offered a few jobs, I turned them down because it didn't feel right - it felt like just jumping from one stressful thing to another - more of the same.

And it was mindset work that really helped me realise - I didn’t want more of the same, I actually did want something different. 

I didn’t want to just get another job. 

I wanted to change how I was living my life. I wanted to learn to think differently about work and how I approached it. I wanted to get back to me.

I wanted to create a life that I really loved, with space in it for me - my family  - my friends - for my health and for joy and fun.

Coaching tools helped me to realise that I could make a change happen myself.

And I could set my life on a different course - and I found the coaching tools so powerful that they changed how I thought about everything.

And I couldn’t believe that no one had taught me before how I could think differently and create a different life for myself through Thought work and action as a result of that.

So I decided to retrain as a coach and help other people. 

Different the second time around as I had a mortgage, kids - there was more at stake…I had a certain level of status & my identity was once again, very wrapped up with my career. 

But There was such calmness when I finally knew what I wanted to do, mapped out a plan and started managing my mind to take a leap into the unknown. And I finally had the tools to deal with uncertainty and the prospect of failure or things going wrong.

 And this helped me to actually go ahead and make changes - I started my own business, built it up alongside my corporate job initially until I quit my job to go full Time.

And I’m constantly looking at how I can improve how I work and how I live.

And honestly, I’ve never been happier. I feel more me.

I am intentionally living a life where I can balance the needs of my kids, myself and my business.

Even now, years later, I am so grateful every day for the small things, small moments of this new life that are only possible because I decided to make changes.

And all those small things add up to a big thing, a new life - a different life that is possible because I was willing to change the work I do and how I work.

 And the person I have become since going through this career change experience - is one who is much more confident, more self assured and more able to continually adjust and optimise my life based on what I want.

And now I get to help other people who are at a career crossroads to get clear on what they want next in their career and take action to make it happen. 

I help them get clear on what they really want, and make decisions even if they think they are indecisive

I help them understand how they’re thinking is often the main thing keeping them stuck and what they need to change in order to move forwards.

I help them create belief in themselves and what is possible so that their transition feels exciting and positive.

And I help create a plan of action and provide practical strategies to help them get the job - whether that's reviewing CVs, preparing for interviews, setting up their own business or retraining.

I do know what it feels like to be stuck. And I also know how debilitating that can be.

I also know what it feels like to start making changes and how genuinely life-altering that can be.

So I’d love it if you could join me each week for the The Career Change Studio podcast and I’ll share knowledge, insights and ideas to help you change your career so that you can change your life for the better.

Bye for now