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!