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Published by Alice Stapleton
Welcome to The Career Change Diaries. Hosted by accredited Career Change Coach, Alice Stapleton, this monthly podcast is for all those contemplating a career change. Featuring inspiring interviews with career changers, and insightful conversations with experts on change more generally, you’ll learn all there is to know about changing career - tips and advice, the highs and lows, how to manage it financially, helpful resources, and where to start. You can find out more about Alice and the coaching she offers at https://www.alicestapleton.com
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From the feed
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Most career changes are fuelled by the mind. What if tuning into your nervous system and reconnecting with your body could be the game-changer you've been missing? In this episode, Maude Burger-Smith, a Leadership and Burnout Prevention Coach, with a background in somatic practices, reveals how the body holds the key to sustainable change, resilience, and clarity in times of transition.Maude shares her own career change journey, before exploring the fascinating connection between body and mind, showing that true change begins by recognising how the state of our nervous system shapes our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Discover how subtle practices like movement, breathwork, and sensory awareness can create a sense of safety, making the daunting process of career change feel possible and even joyful. You'll learn practical tools to regulate your nervous system: shaking off tension with a quick dance, mindful walking in nature, or breathing techniques that calm the mind. If you're contemplating a career shift, but feel overwhelmed, anxious, or disconnected, this episode is for you.
When Ryan McGuigan hit a breaking point after 15 years as a massage therapist, he discovered a powerful way to reset his mind and build a new, location-independent career through Guided Immersive Meditation. His career change story reveals how he turned physical pain, self-doubt, and life setbacks into a thriving, flexible online practice that allows him to live in Portugal, pursue his higher purpose, and finally enjoy true freedom. In this episode, Ryan shares the pivotal moments that pushed him to reimagine his path, from the physical toll of deep tissue massage to the quiet breakthroughs of meditation. You'll hear how he used Guided Immersive Meditation as a tool for his own self-discovery, which led him to create a new business helping others access their deeper selves. Ryan breaks down the practical steps he took — from qualifying in the framework of Guided Meditation, to validating his new service with real clients — all while navigating the emotional rollercoaster of a relationship breakdown, and closing the doors of his massage practice for the final time. Ryan’s journey highlights the importance of cutting through societal expectations in order to find genuine purpose and fulfilment. If you're feeling stuck in a job that drains you, or craving more freedom and meaningful connection in your work, this episode will inspire you to take that first step toward a life that truly feels right.
This month’s career changer, Abbie Bennington, was a senior producer at BBC News at Ten, and worked as the producer for the BBC Political Editor, before walking away at the height of her career to retrain in food and wine. Abbie has been working in wine education, hosting, and judging for the last 16 years, before recently deciding to marry the political world with her wine knowledge to release a brand new podcast, called ‘Vintage Politics’. In this episode, we hear how Abbie made the bold decision to leave a high-profile role to retrain and build a new career in a completely different industry - all whilst getting married and starting a young family in her mid 30s. For Abbie, further training and qualifications helped build her credibility in the wine world, whilst her supportive network offered up unique opportunities along the way, allowing Abbie to forge a varied and enjoyable career in wine. We hear how Abbie’s sister gave her the nudge she needed to finally make a change after a low period; how important it is to just focus on the next step in front of you; and how it really is never too late to change career.
Today, we hear from career changer Laura Romanowski. Laura spent over 15 years as an English teacher before becoming a copywriter at a PR and digital content agency, where she has been for over two years. In this episode, we discuss how hard it can be to let go of a career you’ve spent a long time building experience in, and how vulnerable you can feel starting something new. Laura’s journey reminds us that a growth mindset is key when it comes to changing careers, and how having a financial plan can give you the confidence to finally hand your notice in. We also discuss the sense of identity that comes from our careers, and how the rise of hybrid working opened Laura’s mind to doing something different. Laura’s love for her new career really shines through in the discussion, giving hope to others looking to make a change.
It was a real pleasure to speak to friend and career changer, Ludmila (Ludi) Fadejeva, for this month’s episode. For 8 years, Ludi was a Civil Engineer working on wet infrastructure projects in Europe and the Middle East. 12 years ago, Ludi made a brave career pivot into software sales. Today, Ludi is a Strategic Global Account Executive serving the UN ecosystem with a major SaaS (Sales as a Service) company.We hear how a chance comment from a colleague led to Ludi discovering a new career that she loves, and that suits her natural strengths and personality. Her journey is also a prime example of how you can slowly side-step away from one career into another by first working for a client or supplier in the same industry where you have valuable knowledge and credibility (engineering) but changing your skillset (to sales, in Ludi’s case). The key for Ludi was a past connection she had at a company where she’d seen a vacancy advertised. Ludi’s experience shows us the need for grit and perseverance when changing career, and the ability to sit through the initial years of discomfort when you’re new to a career. In Ludi’s case, the short term pain really has led to long term gain for her and her family.
For all his professional career, Benjamin Benois worked in the tech industry as a Sales Manager for companies like Google or Tripadvisor. He then decided to radically change his career path to follow his passions and dreams. Three years ago, he started from scratch and became a Mental Performance Coach for Professional & Olympic athletes - with no contacts, no network, and no “permission” from the high-performance sports world.Since then, Ben has worked with more than 30 professional athletes, supported Olympic athletes (including an Olympic final in Paris 2024), helped his clients achieve a total of 76 medals, and worked with athletes from over 12 nationalities.In this episode, we discuss why dreaming big is a strategy, not a cliché; how to make the decision to change careers when nothing feels certain; what questions to ask yourself when you’re considering a career change; how to build a business from scratch without any contacts; and the transferable essentials from high-performance mental coaching that can help you along the way, such as self-belief, persistence, consistency, grit, discipline, and resilience. If you need some inspiration and motivation to start making a change, this episode is for you!
To round off the year, we speak to James Lewindon, Head of Client Development UK at Pinsent Masons Vario, the global law firm and alternative legal services provider. Although he started out as a history teacher, James has built a strikingly varied, ‘squiggly’ career: from working for a newspaper and entrepreneurship skills programmes in schools, to leading a science centre team building exhibits, moving into management consulting within a global law firm, launching and scaling a legal resourcing business, serving as a CEO in a legal employment and training business, to now joining Pinsent Masons Vario in 2025. James’ story shows us that a long-term career plan isn’t always essential for a fulfilling career. Driven by a fear of “Groundhog Day,” James moves on when the sense of challenge fades, shaping a path that plays to his strengths and preferred environments. Rather than pursuing a fixed-end career goal, he prefers to seek roles that offer stability, but also the space to grow, learn, experiment, and create. In this episode, we also explore imposter syndrome, the experience of redundancy, and the power of asking your network for feedback and support along the way.
It was a real pleasure to speak to previous client and career changer, Rajiv Chande, this month. Rajiv spent over 13 years working in Counterparty and Credit Risk at Barclays and Bank of America. He’s now the co-founder of The Chande Project, a wellbeing and connection-focused events business, and currently sits on the Board Risk Committee for the Dharma Endowment Fund. While building his purpose-led venture, Rajiv is also exploring how to apply his previous risk management experience to the growing field of sustainability and ESG risk.Rajiv talks authentically about why he got into banking, and how disconnection, and burnout prompted him to hand his notice in 13 years later - with no job to go to. A period of travelling, self-reflection, career coaching, and vulnerable conversations with his cousin eventually led him to a new career path more aligned with his values and life purpose. We hear how challenging it can be to balance the needs of the practical ‘head' with the gut instincts of the ‘heart’ - especially when it comes to starting your own business, having been trained to assess risk your whole career!
At the crux of it, career change boils down to a difficult decision-making challenge. With so many job options these days, deciding what we want to do next can feel confusing and overwhelming. This month, we explore the decision-making process with decision expert, Michelle Florendo. Michelle is a Stanford-trained Decision Engineer and Executive Coach who is on a mission to teach people how to make decisions with less stress and more clarity. She has spoken to audiences around the world about how to use principles from decision science to grow their impact.In this episode, we hear about the three essential parts of effective decision making, and, therefore, how to approach a career change choice. Common mistakes and barriers to making a good decision are discussed, as well as ways to overcome these. If you’re facing a tough career decision in your life, this is the episode for you.
This month, we hear from career changer Joe Mercy-Marshall. Joe was an aspiring professional musician, who worked all manner of jobs, including hospitality, banking, care work, clinical research, and university lecturing, before finally finding his vocation as an Advertising Strategist.Joe discusses how hard it can be to let go of a career you’ve spent many years working towards. He tried several jobs before figuring out what he wanted to do. Even then, it took an Advertising insider (now his wife!) to inform him that the skillset he loved so much was known as 'strategy’ within the industry. Joe highlights how beneficial making connections and applying to companies speculatively can be in getting that first role in a new field. Joe also shares his passion for the creative advertising process, and where he sees his career going next
In this episode, we speak to Amanda, who has been a Teacher for 18 years. Amanda is currently a part-time Assistant Head and Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCO) at a Primary School in London. Through coaching, she identified a new career she wanted to work towards. As a result, Amanda is now one year in to a three year Acupuncture course, which she is thoroughly enjoying.Amanda discusses how useful it was for her decision making to speak to professionals doing the jobs she was interested in, and how pivotal the support has been from her employer, and friends and family. Whilst changing career can be hard work and relentless (especially when working and raising a young family at the same time), Amanda highlights the benefits of it. She also clarifies the essential shifts in perspective that meant her limiting beliefs and fears didn’t hold her back from contemplating a career change. With coaching playing a clear role, we hear what else helped Amanda along the way - the ability to focus on the present being one of the key factors.
This month we chat to Shelby Fields, whose varied career has seen her move between different sectors, work models, and continents. She’s led teams, managed projects, and built operations in everything from humanitarian charities and Big Four consulting, to creative start-ups and small wellness businesses. She now heads the Data and Tech function at a research and development funding agency. At the start of her career shift journey, Shelby thought she needed a big career change. However, through coaching, it became apparent that what she really wanted to do was to take her current skillset into more fulfilling environments related to her interests. In order to do this, Shelby needed to get more comfortable with uncertainty to allow her to experiment with freelance work and moving to the US. We hear about the importance of connections in making things happen, and how it’s OK not to know your next move.
It’s a great pleasure to hear from Hannah Gregory this month. Hannah began her career working at a fashion magazine publisher in their advertising sales team. She then moved to a business and finance newspaper to work in their brand partnerships team. 3 years ago, Hannah made the jump out of the corporate publishing world, joining a start-up (dedicated to empowering women, businesses, and female entrepreneurs) as their Strategic Partnerships Director. She kindly speaks to us 8 months into her maternity leave.Hannah discusses how coaching helped her understand what the key priorities were for her when considering a change in career. It became apparent that her goal to start her own fashion business might need to wait - sometimes it’s just a matter of timing. In the meantime, Hannah found a way to have purpose, autonomy, and creativity in her career by working for a company she really believes in, in a role where she can see the real difference it makes for female founders. Hannah’s story is a great example of how a shift in career doesn’t always have to be huge to feel meaningful. Sometimes it’s simply a change of industry or skill set that’s needed.
This month’s episode is with Nick Armstrong, career changer and founder of Avint-Garde Fine Wine — an online wine merchant harnessing technology to deliver value on world-class wines. Nick’s journey to the wine industry is a remarkable one. After graduating from university, he served as a captain in the U.S. Army before earning his MBA. He then embarked on a career in finance, joining a global investment bank. Most recently, Nick spearheaded business development across the Americas for the world’s foremost wine trading platform — an experience that positioned him perfectly to launch his own wine venture earlier this year.From Nick, we learn the power and importance of networking when it comes to learning about a new industry and creating new opportunities. He advocates for having a plan before quitting a job, even if it’s just a short term one detailing those first few steps. With family life an important priority, Nick is now at a point in his career where mornings with his two children are far less stressful, thanks to running his own business. Although, as most founders can relate to, it can be hard to switch off when it’s your own thing.
To kick off Spring, we hear from the energetic and inspiring Melissa Power. Melissa is a world-leading indoor cycling expert, educator, and studio owner who made a bold career pivot from TV production to revolutionising indoor cycling. After retraining as a fitness professional, and spending a decade teaching across London, she founded Cadence, the city’s leading boutique cycling studio, and the MPowered Academy, a globally recognised certification through which she has trained over 600 instructors - guiding many to make their own career change into fitness.Melissa talks through her own career change, detailing the how and why of moving away from working on shows like This Morning and Catchphrase. We hear how a freak bike accident changed her life by introducing her to the world of indoor cycling as part of her rehabilitation. 8 years later and she is a world leading expert on the subject, even going on to launch an academy certifying instructors - the majority of which are those who are 'bored of the day job' and looking for a career change. If you’re into fitness, or love the idea of starting your own business, this episode is for you.
This month’s episode is an absolute must for career changers. We hear from Graeme Jordan, a highly experienced Job Application, CV, and Interview Consultant. A career changer himself, Graeme previously worked as a Recruitment Consultant, then a Marketing Research and Strategy Consultant, before founding his own business 12 years ago. Now, he helps professionals get selected for the jobs they really want.To begin with, we hear about Graeme’s own career change. Graeme then goes on to share his insights and key advice on: how to approach your CV when seeking a career change; how to deal with possible ‘gaps’ on your CV; what to do about ATS software; how to make sure you get shortlisted for a role; and how best to approach your applications and subsequent interviews. The rising use of AI in the recruitment process is also discussed and debated. If you're making online applications this year, be sure to have a listen.
It was a pleasure to speak to Jon Adams this month. Jon originally trained as a Shipbroker, going on to work as a Chartering Manager for a Shipowner for 12 years. Within the last year, Jon has transitioned into a Control Management role, choosing to continue to work for the same employer, but in an entirely different capacity, as opposed to changing career completely. Jon’s career transition is an interesting one to listen to, as it encourages us to realise that a complete career change is not always what’s required for someone to feel fulfilled and satisfied in their work again. Jon shares his experiences of delving into other career options, and the ‘red flags’ these experiences threw up for him. He also talks through how he negotiated the creation of a whole new role in his current organisation that aligned well with a lot of what he was hoping for in a new role, with the added ease of staying in a company and industry he knew incredibly well. This new role may not be the end destination for Jon, as he discusses the need and desire to remain open to where his career goes next.
This month’s episode is a unique one in that Alice spoke to none other than herself! After her podcast guest dropped out last minute, she took the opportunity to record and share her own career change story. Alice discusses what made her want to move away from being a Probation Officer, and how and why she ended up starting a coaching business. She talks about the patience and grit required to change career, and what often holds people back from making a change. Alice also passes on her advice for career changers, based on her 14 years of coaching experience. The episode also covers the pros and cons of changing career, as well as sharing Alice’s particular path to self-employment. Whilst not the usual format for this podcast, hopefully all that is shared will be helpful for the year ahead!
This month we spoke with Rebecca Ferreira. Following university, Rebecca worked as a Teaching Assistant and in Hospitality while exploring her career options. During this time, she discovered a genuine interest in Advertising and Production. As a result, she is now working in Advertising and PR as a Creative and Strategy Executive, with the aim of also expanding her work into Media Production.We hear how initially Rebecca shied away from a creative career due to her perceptions around what it took to be a ‘creative’, opting for safer, more corporate careers to start with. However, she decided to step out of her comfort zone and explore her options in the creative industry, which she knew very little about, when it became apparent through coaching that working in this space was what she truly wanted. Rebecca discusses how LinkedIn research, signing up to various short courses, and completing an internship opened doors to a creative career she’s now well on her way to pursuing.
In this honest and heartfelt episode, we hear from Chris Rice. Chris worked in marketing for the film and entertainment industry since leaving university back in 2006. He achieved senior roles within global agencies and brands before making the move to become freelance in 2020. In 2023, he decided that a more wholesale change was needed, and, today, while still working in his original industry, he is also retraining to become a plumber.Chris opens up about how his constant search for ‘more’, and never feeling at home in his career, led him to the realisation that a change was required. He discusses how he needed to let go of some of his own stereotyping and judgements around certain careers before he could really commit to a career that he felt was right for him. Chris also describes how working freelance in his previous career enabled him to re-train whilst still drawing an income. He makes it clear that completely changing career can be hard financially, requiring severe sacrifice at times, but that, in the end, it felt necessary and totally worth the temporary struggle.
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Observed September 17, 2026. Cached outside the daily freshness window; the positions keep the date they were taken on.
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