Career Goals Podcast

Today’s episode is going to be different from my normal career journey interviews. I will be discussing the topic of Imposter Syndrome. ‘Imposter Syndrome’ is when an individual doubts their skills, talents or accomplishments and has a persistent internalized fear of being exposed as a "fraud". I wanted to record a podcast on this Imposter Syndrome as most of us (especially but not limited women) experience Imposter Syndrome at some point in our careers. This can affect your mental health, confidence and how you progress in your career. For example, 28% of women feel like imposter syndrome has stopped them speaking in a meeting and 26% have failed to change career or pursue a new job because of it. I think it’s important to bring awareness to the subject to let people know they are not alone, it’s a very common feeling and it’s important to recognise it and manage it. In this episode, I’m joined by Trisha Barker, Imposter Syndrome Coach where she shares her view on the topic and some ways you can manage it.

My guest today is Naomi Walkland, the Director of Marketing at Bumble. Naomi leads Bumble’s operations across Europe, overseeing the brand’s strategy and campaigns. She combines commercial acumen with creativity to forward Bumble’s mission to help women make the first move in love, life and business.

Previous to Bumble, Naomi worked in PR and consulted on marketing for global brands including Google, Uber and Bumble itself. After working closely with the brand as a consultant she decided to go full time with them in 2018 as they were a brand that truly aligned with her personal values - supporting and empowering women.

Naomi’s career has been driven by supporting and empowering women. In 2017, she founded ‘The Power of Quitting’ a panel series that explores how professional women pivot to embrace change and find purpose. She is currently a board member for OK Mentor, a programme that supports female graduates into creative industries.

In this interview Naomi and I discuss her incredible career journey, the benefit of mentorship and networking and the importance of always being kind.

My guest today is Ilana Lever. Ilana is the Co-Founder of jewellery brand Motley. Motley collaborates with some of the world’s most talented designers on exclusive pieces at affordable prices. Their vision is to disrupt the jewellery industry through quality, sustainable design and fair pricing for the designer and the customer.

Ilana started her career as a management consultant working for top consumer and retail brands such as Argos and Innocence. After facing redundancy, she began consulting for startup brands. That’s when Cecily, her future Co-Founder at Motley, reached out with an idea that she knew Ilana could help with.

In 2018, Ilana and Cecily launched Motley and began their journey in disrupting the archaic jewellery industry. Two years later they have a team of ten employees, collaborate with multiple designers and have been coined as the jewellery ‘Holy Grail’.

In this episode Ilana and I discuss her transition from employee to entrepreneur - a role she never envisioned for herself and how every job will teach you something for your future self.

My guest today is Mimi Koné. Mimi is the founder of Mimi et Mina, a luxury hair salon that seeks to empower women and create an environment where clients from all backgrounds and cultures are welcomed.

Whilst working Mimi often became frustrated with the lack of customer service and quality experience she received in salons, she worked hard and knew she deserved better. As an ambitious person, looking for a new challenge she knew this would be the perfect one - she left her job, friends and life in Switzerland and moved to London to start her luxury hair salon Mimi et Mina.

Mimi has so much positive energy and is a true go-getter. What she has created from nothing in 5 years is so inspiring and her passion for women and empowering others is evident through everything she does.

I spent the morning with Mimi at her beautiful salon in Notting Hill talking about all things career - there may be a phone call or two and a cheeky coffee break - but it was inspiring and lots of fun getting to record and hear Mimi’s story - I hope you enjoy it.

If you are enjoying this podcast please subscribe and follow our instagram @careergoalspodcast for inspirational and behind the scenes content.

Charlotte Cox is the founder of FLY LDN, a boutique yoga and fitness studio in the City of London. FLY’s objective is to widen the appeal of yoga and create a ‘non-yogi’ market that attracts boutique fitness customers to low impact exercise.

As a lawyer, Charlotte turned to fitness to manage stress, when a friend recommended Yoga she noticed the classes often left her feeling self conscious, confused and reluctant to return. She found there was a complete lack of classes that accommodated beginner and entry level students. When she became aware that she was not the only one feeling this way she toyed with the idea of setting up her own boutique studio for non-yogis and so the journey of FLY LDN began.

In this interview Charlotte and I talk about her career journey of setting up FLY LDN and the importance of building a career around your natural skill set.

My guest this week is Alexandra Dudley Food Writer, presenter and ‘serial dinner party host’. Alexandra Dudley has crafted an amazing career around her love and passion for food. Alexandra is the author of the cook book Land & Sea: Secrets to simple, sustainable, sensational food, the host of the podcast ‘Come for Supper’ and all round food goddess sharing delicious recipes and food inspiration to her thousands of followers on Instagram.

At 20 years old Alexandra launched her first company, Punch Foods - a healthy snack start up stocked in major retailers such as Sainsburys and Planet Organic. However, running a business can be challenging and soon Alexandra started to experience burnout and loss of motivation - soon releasing this was not the career path for her.

Continuing with her passion for food, Alexandra made a career pivot into food writing and building her personal brand as a food influencer on instagram. Today, she has successfully curated a career around her passion - writing food columns for publications such as Town & Country, hosting her own podcast ‘Come for Supper’ where she interviews chefs, restaurateurs and creative people about their relationship with food and inspiring others in the kitchen through her amazing Instagram content and cook book!

In this episode, Alexandra and I discuss curating a career for yourself with the help of social media, passion and networking and the importance of not comparing yourself to others.

Thank you so much Alexandra for joining me and I hope you all enjoy this one.

My guest today is Anna Brightman. Anna is the Co-Founder of UpCircle Beauty, a sustainable skincare company based in London. UpCircle Beauty elevates leftover natural ingredients, bringing them back to life as beauty products your skin will love.

Anna founded UpCircle Beauty with her brother, William after noticing the huge volume of coffee waste produced in London every day, their first product a sustainable coffee body scrub.

Since launching in April 2016, UpCircle Beauty has turned 200 tonnes of coffee grounds into award winning skincare products, is stocked in retailers across the UK, Europe and the US with Ulta Beauty.

In this interview Anna and I discuss her career journey and the importance of knowing that you do not have to have all the qualifications or experience to break into a new industry and how best to use the skills you do have to your advantage.

Fiona is a critically acclaimed clinical hypnotherapist and founder of guided meditation app ‘MindDetox’. As a model during her 20s, Fiona struggled with anxiety and turned to hypnotherapy recordings to overcome this. This experience left her with a desire to help other people overcome their struggles. Today, Fiona works with clients including Executives, Editors and TV stars at her clinic in Harley Street and successfully promotes the positive effects of meditation and mindfulness to her 30,000 followers on Instagram.

Her guided meditation app 'Mind Detox' includes a series of guided meditations to suit every mood from Calm, Happy, Mindful to Successful.​ In this interview Fiona and I discuss the benefits of meditation and positive thinking and the importance of not listening to other people when you are pursuing your passion.

Eshita is the Founder and CEO of ByRotation, the UK’s first peer to peer fashion rental app. ByRotation allows you to rent designer fashion from your peers and lists brands such as Chanel, Gucci and Ganni.

Last year, whilst on honeymoon Eshita travelled to her motherland Rajastan, India. Here, she witnessed the first-hand effects of textile waste. She felt compelled to change, and bring about change and so began her mission to change the way we shop luxury fashion. Eshita launched ByRotation whilst still working full time in her career in investment banking.

Since launching in October 2019, ByRotation has over 17,000 users, remains 100% self-funded and has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Refinery29 and Forbes.

In this interview Eshita and I talk about what it takes to turn your side hustle into your main hustle and the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry today.

Eshita is the Founder and CEO of ByRotation, the UK’s first peer to peer fashion rental app. ByRotation allows you to rent designer fashion from your peers and lists brands such as Chanel, Gucci and Ganni.

Last year, whilst on honeymoon Eshita travelled to her motherland Rajastan, India. Here, she witnessed the first-hand effects of textile waste. She felt compelled to change, and bring about change and so began her mission to change the way we shop luxury fashion. Eshita launched ByRotation whilst still working full time in her career in investment banking.

Since launching in October 2019, ByRotation has over 17,000 users, remains 100% self-funded and has been featured in publications such as Vogue, Refinery29 and Forbes.

In this interview Eshita and I talk about what it takes to turn your side hustle into your main hustle and the importance of sustainability in the fashion industry today.