Comeback Girl Podcasts

This audio accompanies the blog post at www.comebackgirl.com entitled "Should Your Job be the Main Provider of Your Sense of Purpose?. I have learned over time and in particular the last few years that we possibly ask too much of ourselves and our jobs. Of course, it is vital to find work which chimes as much with your values as possible, but you can discover a sense of fulfilment along the way. You don't have to wait for the perfect job that will serve your life's purpose! Take the pressure of yourself.

This is the new podcast format for Comeback Girl; the format is an accompanying audio to my regular blog post on the Comeback Girl website. https://comebackgirl.com/ I am talking here about the new expectations you should have from an employer in terms of wellbeing, job progression, hybrid/remote working, recognition and out-of-office rules. We have all changed as a result of the hardships of the last two-ish years. We look more holistically at our jobs and what we need from them. Statistics prove it is not just money we are looking for. The new hybrid working environment has changed everything and the Great Resignation means that good employees are harder to find. Good news!! We can be more discerning in the conditions that we expect. I've interviewed myriad people and I know what is at the heart of what we need. This audio accompanies my first blog post of 2022 on the website. The best is ahead!

http://wrpn.womenreturners.com/sarah-b-story/ http://wrpn.womenreturners.com/women-returners-conference-2019/ https://camawise.org.uk/ https://www.mottmac.com/ http://stemtosteam.org/

Can work shadowing help you find the right role for you? Short answer: Absolutely! Long answer, in her podcast Chartered Occupational Psychologist Lucy Standing describes the evidence base to prove it. Listen to this pragmatic, humble innovator here. As founder of social enterprise Viewvo, Lucy is creating a market for returners or career pivoters to encounter a life in the day of their dream job. Carefully vetted "experts" will allow them to experience their ideal job field. The results are remarkable and in each case stop clients wasting precious time being fearful of making the wrong move or indeed any move. Here are the highlights of the podcast (with timings): Just Do It 1.35 – I need to do my best to change the status quo –I tire of people whining and not taking action We Need to Change The Way We Are Recruiting 1.44 Our decisions are improved by having an experience of whatever we are deciding about before we do it, not with a general mental ability/integrity test and a job sample (current mode

Welcome to the Comeback Girl podcast This week, I am talking to entrepreneur Rebecca Newenham, founder of Get Ahead Virtual Assistant agency. How would you like to do what you love working from home, around all of your other priorities your smartphone as your office? Or finally run your own franchise with a proven toolkit and a ready made blueprint for success? Notes: (2.20) Left retail buying in London for 8 year career break – strategic decision. It wasn’t until Robin, youngest started school that she thought “I’d love to be doing something but I don’t quite know what”. She had been chair for the local pre-school and was loving being a mum. "It was part of my career but just not working in a professional sense". (2.5) “Inspiration to run something for myself came from my mum who had run a tutorial agency when I was young, I benefited from her flexibility” (3.09) Rebecca researched lots of jobs, she wanted to have her own thing. She also didn’t want to sacrifice travelling. (3.3) Had heard of VA concept, st

Kenny runs his own podcast called Why Work. He works at PA Consulting from his Linked in profile: "My passion is for innovative learning experiences – particularly in terms of leadership and culture - that people remember, that change them and even – sometimes transform them. That’s the goal: transformative experiences. I started out my career as a creative arts and ethics teacher by day, performer by night. As a professional session singer/musician, I shared the stage with artists such as Westlife and Leona Lewis before eventually focussing on learning and education. Over the last 13 years I’ve worked across private and public sectors, including Vodafone, Johnson & Johnson, Aviva and most recently leading a series of culture change experiences for a large global manufacturing company. I’m a licensed practitioner of the employee engagement tool, Motivational Maps. Deep interest in philosophy, psychology and anthropology. A lover music and, I hope, guided by not only by my professional expertise but my

In this episode, I talk to author and academic Emee Vida Estacio about her Amazon No1 selling books:, 'Change your Life For Good' and 'The Impostor Syndrome Remedy'. She shares her tested methods for overcoming self-doubt and understanding and managing your inner critic. Her trademark is PAME: Living with Purpose, Action, Momentum and Energy. Listen here, notes below. Emee is a chartered psychologist and university lecturer. She wants individuals and communities to flourish in self-confidence and in life. YES! Highlights from the podcast with times: Emee suffered guilt, panic attacks and possible post-natal depression after her baby was born. She lost identify, a “bit of herself”. After maternity leave she experienced chaos and felt very low. She made a decision to turn her life around. (3.18) (3.22) She knew she was capable of “achieving great things “as she had done it before. And decided she wanted to share her process with others and have freedom with her time to write books. (3.41) (4.08) Emee desc

In this very special edition of the Comeback Girl podcast, I chat to Michelle Gyimah of Equality Pays Michelle (who was heavily pregnant with her new baby girl when we recorded this interview) is dedicated to helping people get what they're worth, and this podcast is full of practical advice about not only how to ask for what you want, but how to really take notice of what's being offered, how and when to negotiate, and how important it is to have a dialogue with your own family during the process. From Michelle's website: "So many women struggle with believing that it is ok to ask for the things they need to enable them to keep their career on track, earn decent money and manage their loves outside of work. Even more struggle with hearing 'no' from their employers and fall into the trap of believing that they should just continue to do what they can with less than what they want. There are a number of factors that contribute to the gender pay gap, but I want to concentrate on one. Helping women to be bol

I talk to journalist/editor Jess Spiring about her prolific career in magazines and newspapers, why she thinks print will never truly die and how there's a season for everything.

In this podcast, recorded via Zoom webchat, I talk to Amanda Newman, founder of the successful Facebook group The Career Mum, about the choices she's faced in her own career, and why it's been so important to her to bring others along with her. She is a champion of Diversity and Inclusion, Women in STEAM and EVERYONE' s individual expression at work. https://www.facebook.com/groups/TheCareerMum/

In this podcast, I chat to More Than Musical's Lucy Choi about her remarkable path to a glittering career in the opera world. Lucy began as a pianist, but had to pivot suddenly when, at the beginning of her music degree, injury meant she could no longer play her beloved piano. Lucy went from never having sung at all to having to sing to an advanced standard, virtually overnight. From then on she's never looked back, founding a unique company that reinvents opera for today's generation. Follow me on Twitter! https://twitter.com/C0mebackG1rl

In this podcast, I talk to comedienne Njambi McGrath about making a huge career pivot from IT to standup, as well as her incredible personal and cultural history in Kenya. Njambi is Kikuyu, a culture that has been subjected to the horrors of colonialism but, that persists in spite of a history that has torn families such as hers apart. It's a dramatic and often harrowing tale, but told with Njambi's wonderful energy and great humour. Enjoy!

This podcast is a chat with Patsy Richardson, an amazing woman with an incredible story. Patsy tells of how she coped with kidney failure and going on the transplant waiting list, as she tried and failed to find a donor match among friends and relatives. Eventually Patsy did find a match, but not before dialysis, open brain surgery and a lot of uncertainty in the face of overwhelming odds. Patsy, like her idol Winston Churchill, never gave up hope, and this podcast is a true inspiration to anyone who ever felt the odds were against them.

This Comeback Girl Podcast, recorded in the bustling cafe at Soho House, features brand consultant Naomi Oluleye of The Power of Quitting. Naomi's series of international events has met with widespread acclaim and makes its Berlin debut next month - see http://bit.ly/2KtcRqh for details. www.comebackgirl.com Follow me on Twitter! @C0mebackg1rl

I chat with Liz Ward, founder of Slick Pivot, about her amazing career, why she pivoted, and how you can find the courage to break out of your routine.

The second Comeback Girl podcast is with Ditch The CV's Lee Lam. She shares invaluable advice on personal branding, rethinking personal profiles, and why how to move away from a resume of past achievements and towards an attitude of problem-busting. *Unfortunately the audio quality is not the absolute highest for this podcast as it was recorded over a live webchat. I'm still perfecting the art of recording podcasts so please bear with me. I hope it doesn't detract from Lee's brilliant message.

I'm Laura Izard, and I am passionate about helping people find their confidence and get back to work. My site, Comeback Girl is aimed primarily at women who are coming back after a career break. I'll be talking to women of all levels and backgrounds to hear their comeback stories, coaching tips, the highs and lows of the journey and how they find energy, meaning and purpose. In the first episode, I talk to acclaimed actress Clair Goose about representation for women, agent troubles, balancing a successful career with a family and finding the confidence to take the lead. Highlights: 00:00 Early work on Casualty and Waking the Dead; having the courage to leave work 05:34 going to a life coach who challenged her; settling down 09:50 Going on to TV's The Bill and dealing with a sleepless child 14:55 Swapping agents during a difficult period 20:49 Balancing childcare and sharing responsibilities 25:04 The importance of showing your daughters you enjoy work 27:40 Finding a good mental state for auditions 29:52