The Career Change Diaries

About The Career Change Diaries

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

Publisher

Alice Stapleton

Category

business

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

10 Mar 2023

Latest episode

30 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

38 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   30 Oct 2026

   Episode 38: From Tech Sales to Publishing House Founder & Writer

   This month we hear from career changer, Paul Carreo, a fiction writer and founder of PC Studios, an indie publishing company promoting emerging Dublin writers. Paul spent more than 20 years in senior leadership at major tech companies, including Google, before making the leap to pursue his first love, the short story. He joins us to talk about The Stoney Collection, a book featuring essential stories and poems from 22 rising writers, hitting shelves this November. If you have ever felt the pull to leave a “good” job, questioned whether anyone will judge your next move, or wondered how to turn a creative calling into a real business, this conversation will hit home. You’ll discover how 20+ years in sales, coaching, and leadership at companies like Google became unexpected training for publishing; the role writing groups, peer support, and “finding your tribe” played in helping Paul commit to his craft; and why execution, discipline, and self-belief matter just as much in creative work as they do in corporate life. Paul also shares the practical side of making a leap most people only daydream about, including the financial planning, the soft landing, and the mindset shift that made leaving feel less like a risk and more like a natural next step. This episode is essential listening if you’re standing at the edge of a career change, building a creative business, or trying to figure out whether you’re chasing success or actual fulfilment.

2. 

   25 Sept 2026

   Episode 37: From Banking to Tailoring...to Teaching

   From boring invoice processing to bespoke tailoring, from extras work on film sets to teaching maths in schools, this episode has it all. Multiple career changer Neil O’Dwyer shares the unlikely chain of events that turned a “sensible” banking career into a life full of creativity, variety, and bold reinvention. Neil’s story is a masterclass in what happens when you stop forcing yourself to stay on the wrong path. He explains how a chance catch-up with an old friend in tailoring opened his eyes to tangible, hands-on work, why networking and saying yes kept leading to the next opportunity, and how one small creative experiment eventually reshaped his whole career. You’ll discover how Neil worked his way through London on tiny budgets, side jobs, and sheer resourcefulness, and how teaching unlocked confidence, public speaking, and the skill of storytelling. If you feel stuck in a safe job that pays the bills but drains the life out of you, this episode is for you. Neil’s path proves that the next opportunity often comes from the last one you almost didn’t take, and that a messy, unconventional route can still lead somewhere meaningful. This is essential listening for anyone craving a more creative, varied, and self-directed career.

3. 

   31 Jul 2026

   Episode 36: The Role Your Body Plays in Your Career Change

   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.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

1 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

4 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 20 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

28

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

30

Contact The Career Change Diaries

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.