#300 - Navigating Career Growth In Uncertain Times with Alice Olins & Hannah Awonuga

🎙️ Episode Overview

This week’s episode is an extra-special milestone  the 300th episode of the Career Change Maker Podcast, recorded live at Allbright Everywoman. Joined by two powerhouse women, Hannah Awonuga (Founder, Inclusive Foundations Programme) and Alice Olins (Global Head of Learning & Content at Albright Everywoman), Janine leads a deeply insightful conversation on navigating career growth in uncertain times.

From Hannah’s journey from global corporate leadership to entrepreneurship  while navigating grief, redundancy and reinvention to Alice’s transition from journalism to entrepreneurship and back into corporate leadership, this conversation offers grounded wisdom you can apply no matter where you are in your journey.

If you're thinking about your next move, questioning your direction, or preparing for a new career chapter, this episode is full of powerful reminders that nothing is wasted, identity evolves, and you are the CEO of your career.

💡 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

1. How to make bold career decisions — even when it’s easier to stay where you are.

Hannah shares how she left a well-respected director role at Barclays, not because she disliked it, but because she was thinking long-term. The lesson?
 "Go when it’s easiest to stay, and stay when it’s easiest to go."

2. Why self-awareness is your greatest career strategy

Alice breaks down how carving out intentional time to think about your career, track your patterns, and reflect on what energises you is essential,  especially during uncertain times.

3. The importance of having a ‘Personal Board of Directors’

From negotiating salaries to navigating transitions, Hannah shares how having mentors and advisors who are “two or three steps ahead” has been transformational.

4. How to think about your personal brand without boxing yourself in

Alice reframes personal brand as strategic storytelling  flexible, responsive, and anchored in who you are and where you’re going, not just what you’ve done.

5. Career growth requires communitym not doing it alone

From co-working communities to courageous friendships, both guests talk about the power of women supporting women through the messy middle of career change.

🧭 Action Steps

Here are three practical steps you can take after listening:

1. Block out one hour a week for “Career CEO Time.”
   Use it for reflection, networking, journaling, or job searching. Treat it like a meeting with yourself because it is.
2. Build (or update) your Personal Board of Directors.
   Identify 3–5 people ahead of you in the areas you want to grow and reach out.
3. Audit your identity anchors.
   Write down (1) Who you are beyond your job title, (2) What people consistently praise you for and (3) What you want to be known for
   Use this to guide how you show up in rooms, interviews, and online.

👉 If you’re already thinking ahead to 2026 and want guidance on shaping your next chapter, I would love to support you. Book a call to explore 1:1 coaching.

🔗 Connect 

Connect with Alice Olins - 

Connect with Hannah Awonuga 

Connect with Janine Esbrand