From Corporate Into Calling: Career Change, Burnout, Meaningful Work, Find Your Purpose

88: A Season Finale 08.07.2026 19p

I'm back after missing an episode last week, and I owe you an explanation. I was away at Groundswell, a regenerative agriculture festival here in the UK with 10,000 people immersed in soil health, biodiversity, and healthy food systems. That, on top of a recent trip to visit new farmers in Cornwall, has brought a lot of acceleration to my new venture. It's time for some changes, and I wanted you to hear it from me directly.I talk about what this festival stirred in me, the hope and tangibility I felt in this work, and the kneading dough metaphor that's been on my mind since (gluten free tortillas are not for the faint hearted). If you're in your own messy middle right now, not sure how the lumpy mess in front of you could ever become something smooth and workable, I want you to hear this one.I'm also sharing some news. I'm taking a break from the podcast over the summer to give my new venture the attention it needs, and I'll check back in with you in September. If you've been listening for a while and have been thinking about working with me, I've kept the door open with one off sessions and a pack of three (link to book below)..This one is for those who have made space for this podcast in their life, whether that's on a dog walk, doing the dishes, or watering the garden. Thank you for being part of this. I'll see you in September.Next steps:✦ Book a coaching session with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

87: The Work You Want Is Coming (You Just Can't See It Yet) 24.06.2026 27p

You left corporate — or you're on your way out — and right now the path forward isn't clear. Maybe you're months in and nothing has clicked yet. Maybe you're still in the job and exhausted by it. Maybe you've started building something and you keep wondering if it's working.This week I want to tell you something I've had to remind myself of recently: the hardest part is often the part right before something shifts.I came back from a trip to Cornwall last week feeling overwhelmed and depleted — not inspired, not clear, just spent. And it was in that exact moment, before I'd had chance to recover, that a business idea I'd been circling for months finally surfaced. I didn't see it coming. I couldn't have, from inside the exhaustion.I've watched the same pattern with clients. The moment they're most tempted to walk away is almost always the moment something is about to move. Seth Godin called it the dip and my own experience keeps confirming it.If you're in the middle of a career change, burnout recovery, or just trying to find work that means something to you, this episode is for you. Wherever you are in that process, the difficulty isn't a signal to stop seeking. It might be just the opposite.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ The Room You Used To Belong To Isn't Yours Anymore→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

86: This Bit Is Meant To Feel Uncomfortable 17.06.2026 16p

You left corporate to find work that actually means something to you. And right now that process feels messy. Uncomfortable. Maybe even a bit lost.Here's a reframe: what if that discomfort isn't a sign you're doing it wrong? What if it's actually the surest sign you're heading in the right direction?It builds well before you ever hand in your notice, peaks once the structure of your old role disappears, and only eases as you build something real to stand on, then it shows up again the next time you're ready to grow.This episode is about recalibrating what "good" is supposed to feel like once you've left the version of success that used to define you.If you're in the messy middle of your career change and that discomfort keeps showing up as your try to move forward, this one's for you.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meIn this episode you'll hear from Kevin Howard, to learn more about his work visit: https://ageofbalance.com.Related episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

85: What Your Corporate Job Is Still Doing To You 10.06.2026 16p

You left the corporate job. Changed your title. Stepped away from the sector. But the operating system that defined how you worked, what you produced, and who you had to be to survive... that came with you.Most people trying to build something new after corporate are doing it while still running the old software. Then they wonder why it feels wrong and whether they'll ever find meaning and purpose in their work. In this episode I share the story of a client who was well into building before they realised how much the previous role was still shaping what they thought was possible. That was the real turning point in their building journey.If you've left corporate and something still feels off, or you're exhausted in a way that didn't resolve when you handed in your notice, this one's for you. There's a simple exercise at the end to help you start choosing what you carry forward and what you don't.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

84: The Room You Used To Belong To Isn't Yours Anymore 03.06.2026 20p

There's a particular kind of discomfort that comes with standing in a room you used to belong to and realising it no longer feels like yours. Not because you're unwelcome, but because something in you has moved on. If you've ever found yourself on the outside of a career, a sector or a version of yourself that once defined you, you'll recognise this feeling.This episode comes from a recent personal experience. Standing in a church in Prague at one of the biggest events in my old professional world and realising I was on the periphery of a room I once helped to build. This is my honest account of what that experience taught me about career transition and about finally making peace with the identity shift that comes with it.Because the version of you that's navigating a career transition rarely gets to do it cleanly. There's grief in it. There's the LinkedIn scroll that brings up feelings you didn't expect. There's the dreaded networking question, so what are you doing next?, that you don't yet have a good answer to. These aren't signs that something has gone wrong. They're signs that something new is forming.This episode is for you if you've stepped away from a career that once defined you and are sitting with the discomfort of not quite knowing who you are on the other side of that. Career transition isn't a tidy phase. It's identity-level work. And it's worth it.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

83: Why I'm Out Of The Office And Among The Chickens 20.05.2026 13p

Most of us spend far too much time thinking about the work we want to do and not enough time actually experiencing it. We research, we read, we take course after course, we endlessly tweak the pitch deck. Some of it is necessary. Too much of it distances us from the meaningful work we actually want to do.Recently I've been firmly stuck inside my own head — lost in the complexities and thorny questions of what I'm building. I needed a change. I needed to get my hands dirty and get closer to the people and places I actually want to serve.Which is why you'll find me today in an organic orchard, among the chickens.If you're navigating career change or building something meaningful of your own and you need to feel reinvigorated, this one's for you.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

82: Why I'd Build This Even If It Fails 14.05.2026 26p

This week I spent time with a flower farmer, making her a locally-sourced lunch, sitting in her field on a sunny day surrounded by brightly coloured flowers and buzzing bees. It was the perfect antidote to the fear of failure that I seem to be doing battle with every day.Doubt is a natural part of career change or building a business. Loneliness can go hand in hand with doing things differently and forging your own path. But we're not helpless: the road ahead may be risky and unpredictable but the part we get to control is our day to day experience. I know what it's like to face a continual inner battle with overwhelm. But I also know what it's like when building meaningful work becomes its own reward. Today I'm looking back nearly 20 years to see what I can learn from the ridiculous amounts of fun I had building my first company and exploring what the "grown up" version of that can look like as I step into my next venture.If your worst case scenario is looming large and your questioning whether it will be worth it, this episode will help you find the joy in the journey. Next steps:✦ Book a call with me✦ Subscribe to my emailsRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

81: When What You're Building Feels Too Big 06.05.2026 24p

This week I've been feeling the enormity of what I'm trying to build. I know I'm not alone. Stepping outside of the dominant system and building meaningful work of your own is hard. Overwhelm is an understandable response. But it doesn't help us. It's too easy to get stuck inside your head, wrapped up in story and believing all the internal chatter. Today's episode is about shifting your focus so you can keep moving forward: one foot in front of the other. This is how we climb mountains!Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

80: How I'm Getting My Brain On Board With My Big Idea 29.04.2026 21p

This week I found myself in Dublin for a one-day seminar on conversational hypnosis. It was an idea that made sense months ago when I booked it but seemed completely unrelated to the work I'm now doing. Or so I thought. Turns out the universe had sent me there for a very good reason — to remind me that I have incredible tools for this journey. That the spiral, the panic, the what the hell am I doing loop isn't just something to push through. It's a pattern. And patterns can be rewired. I came home with a question I'm now asking myself every morning before I sit down to work: how do I want to feel about this today? This episode is for anyone in the messy middle of building something audacious. A reminder that we get to choose whether to carry it like a burden or hold it lightly and find the joy. Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

79: Glamour Or Grind? A Fork In The Road 22.04.2026 16p

This week I'm recording from inside my own fork in the road. Two paths with the same values at the core, but asking very different things of me. On one side, glamour — the route I've trodden before, where people sit up and pay attention. On the other, grind — the path of real, tangible work with no attachment that makes it interesting to the ego.What I'm learning, in real time, is that these moments are never really about the decision on the surface. Whenever we hit a fork like this in career or business building, it always comes down to identity. It's about who you're willing to become, and how much of yourself you're willing to commit, for how long. Most of us underestimate how deep that commitment runs.For anyone trying to find your purpose in the middle of a messy career change: this one's an honest check-in from the threshold, not a tidy lesson from the other side.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What Changes When You Stop Looking For An ExitHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

78: When Your To-Do List Scares The S*t Out Of You! 15.04.2026 13p

How does your to do list make you feel? Stressful, overwhelming? Or maybe it’s make you feel empowered and in control?Right now, my to do list is reasonably small... proportional to the time I have available... and really, really scary. Today I’m going to talk about why that is a really good thing and exactly where I need to be. If you’re building meaningful work for yourself and your to do list doesn’t feel at least a little bit terrifying, this episode is an invitation to up the ante. Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How I Stayed the Course Through 15 Years of Building a Meaningful BusinessHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

77: Do You Have Main Character Energy? Or Are You A Supporting Artist? 08.04.2026 17p

This week a trusted advisor (my sibling) asked me a powerful question: am I a main character, or a supporting artist?This isn't about ego. It's not about ambition or status or who gets the credit. It's about finding the right energetic fit.I've watched really capable, accomplished people build careers and businesses in the wrong register — doing good work, meaningful work, work they're proud of — and wonder why something feels slightly off even when everything looks right.This week I had a version of that realisation myself. In this episode, I talk about what it feels like to finally stop performing the wrong role, even a good one.If you're building something meaningful, trying to name what's not quite working, or somewhere in the middle of figuring out what work you're actually here to do — I think you'll find this framing helpful.Next steps:✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How I Stayed the Course Through 15 Years of Building a Meaningful BusinessHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

76: What Changes When You Stop Looking For An Exit 01.04.2026 15p

Some weeks the journey toward meaningful work looks like momentum and clarity. And some weeks it looks like stopping dead on the school run and saying out loud: what the **** am I doing?This week was the second kind.In this episode I share what happened when a wobbly week — the investment banker advice I didn't want to hear, the complexity that kept multiplying, the energy dispersing into backup plans and exit strategies — finally brought me to a single question: am I in or am I out?And what shifted when I finally answered it.If you're building something meaningful, trying to find your purpose, or somewhere in the middle of a leap you're not sure you can land — you're in the right place.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About→ What's The Worst That Can Happen?→ How I Stayed the Course Through 15 Years of Building a Meaningful BusinessHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

75: What's The Worst That Can Happen? 25.03.2026 21p

The question most people making a career change are already asking themselves — just never out loud. It sits in the background, usually at 3am, shapeless and exhausting. This week I want to change that.Because naming the fear isn't pessimism. It's the thing that makes meaningful work actually possible. When you look directly at the worst case, something shifts — it gets smaller, and it becomes something you can build a response to.In this episode I share what happened when someone asked me this question about my own new venture this week, why I think it's the most useful question you can ask at any stage of your career change, and two real examples of what it looks like to answer it honestly — including one that completely reframed what was possible for someone who thought she was stuck.If you're navigating burnout, trying to find your purpose, or somewhere in the middle of figuring out what comes next — this one's for you.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

74: How to Start Building the Thing You Can't Stop Thinking About 18.03.2026 41p

Have you ever had an idea you couldn't stop thinking about — one that kept coming back no matter how many times life got in the way? The gap between that feeling and actually building something real is where most people get stuck. Not because they lack the vision or the talent, but because they don't know how to begin.In this episode I'm sharing five lessons for getting yourself into momentum when you're standing at the threshold of something new. From knowing where your energy comes from, to borrowing confidence when yours runs dry, to trusting joy as a genuine creative force. These are the tools that make the difference between an idea that stays in your head and one that starts to take shape in the world.If you're sitting on something — a business, a career change, a bigger expression of your own meaningful work — and you don't know where to start, this episode is for you. The answers are already in you. You just have to find the courage to begin.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

73: How I Stayed the Course Through 15 Years of Building a Meaningful Business (Even When Self-Belief Was Shaky) 11.03.2026 29p

What actually keeps you going when you're building something from scratch, before the evidence catches up? In this episode I'm sharing the story of how I stayed the course through 15 years of building a meaningful business, even when self-belief was shaky. We talk about why clarity about your idea matters more than confidence in yourself, and I share the simple framework I use with every client to get there.Whether you're navigating a career change, recovering from burnout, or trying to find your purpose after years in corporate, the thing that usually stops people isn't lack of ambition or ability. It's that the idea isn't clear enough yet to believe in. I share what it really looked like to build my climate tech communications agency over 15 years, the doubt, the hard days, and what I kept returning to when self-belief wasn't enough.If you're still in corporate and thinking about making a change, figuring out what comes next after leaving, or already building meaningful work but feeling the wobble, this one is for you.Self-Directed Work That Works For YouThis 90-minute workshop will help you build a clear, practical framework for work that fits your values, your strengths, and your life.You've spent years being exceptionally good at work that was built around someone else's priorities. Now you're in a different moment — one where you have ideas, skills, and a growing sense that something new is possible. The problem isn't capability. It's clarity. This workshop is designed to give you that.Book here.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

72: How To Get Comfortable With The Messy Middle Of Purposeful Career Change 04.03.2026 27p

You left corporate consciously and with good reasons. But you still feel things "should" be different and you're scared you won't deliver the purposeful career pivot you want. This episode is here to remind you that you did not float into the messy middle of career change, you chose it. This in-between stage is a stepping stone not a quagmire.Listen in to learn how to reconcile emotions around your corporate exit, get clear on the career direction you are taking, feel empowered to share your story with others and lean in to the problems you were meant to solve. Self-Directed Work That Works For You This 90-minute workshop will help you build a clear, practical framework for work that fits your values, your strengths, and your life.You've spent years being exceptionally good at work that was built around someone else's priorities. Now you're in a different moment — one where you have ideas, skills, and a growing sense that something new is possible. The problem isn't capability. It's clarity. This workshop is designed to give you that.Book here.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Leaving Corporate? Build Your Exit Ecosystem→ When work stops making sense (early signs of burnout)→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with PurposeHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

71: Quitting Corporate Doesn’t Mean Lowering Your Ambition 25.02.2026 14p

If you’re seriously thinking about a career change but you’re afraid that stepping out of corporate might mean becoming less serious, less competent, or less ambitious — this episode is for you.You’ve probably said things like:“I’m good at what I do…but I don’t enjoy it anymore.”“It feels wrong in my body, even if it looks fine on paper.”“I don’t want another job like this — but what else could actually work?”Many high-performers stay where they are not because they love the work — but because they’ve internalised the belief that ambition only happens inside a system that runs on pressure.In this episode we unpack that belief structurally, not emotionally: why corporate environments condition us to equate stress with success, and why stepping away doesn’t automatically lower your standards. On the contrary — it forces you to decide whether your ambition belongs to you or to the machine that trained it.If you’re wrestling with burnout, craving purposeful work, or wondering whether meaningful, self-directed work is actually possible — you’re in the right place.Self-Directed Work That Works For You This 90-minute workshop will help you build a clear, practical framework for work that fits your values, your strengths, and your life.You've spent years being exceptionally good at work that was built around someone else's priorities. Now you're in a different moment — one where you have ideas, skills, and a growing sense that something new is possible. The problem isn't capability. It's clarity. This workshop is designed to give you that.Book here.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

70: Layoffs Aren’t a Personal Failure — But They Do Force a Career Decision 18.02.2026 25p

A layoff isn’t just an income shock. What often hits just as hard is the identity rupture — the future you assumed was unfolding, the loyalty you invested, the structure you relied on.If all that matters right now is replacing income, do that. Stability matters. This episode isn’t here to compete with that.But if you’re questioning whether you want to rebuild your career inside the same structure that just eliminated your role — this conversation is for you.We break down three paths after redundancy: replacing stability, taking a structured pause, or beginning to build agency by leveraging the skills and experience you already have.You’ll hear how to move deliberately rather than reactively — and why reclaiming control over how you earn can fundamentally change how you navigate career change.If you suspect your next chapter may not sit entirely inside corporate, this episode will help you clarify your direction — and take the first practical step.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ Leaving Corporate? Build Your Exit Ecosystem→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business→ Who Are You Without Your Job Title?Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

69: How to Build Work That Brings You Back to Life After Burnout or Career Change 11.02.2026 25p

When my son was four months old, he came with me to a notary’s office in Berlin.I was setting up a company during Brexit uncertainty, travelling across Europe, growing fast. At the time, the structure of my life could hold that intensity and the work made sense inside it.Nine years later, everything looks different.In this episode, I explore what it really takes to build work that brings you back to life after burnout or career change. It all starts with a question that’s often skipped when people plan their next move:How do you want your work to feel?And how should it actually support your life?We talk about why changing jobs often doesn’t stop burnout repeating, how this question becomes a decision point before job searches or business ideas, and why many forms of full-time employment are structurally incompatible with the lives people want to live.Whether you stay employed, change roles, or decide to build your own work, this episode offers a calmer, more grounded place to start.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with meRelated episodes:→ You Don’t Need a New Job! How to Choose Purposeful Career Change Instead→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with PurposeHosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.