Successful AF Pod – Details, episodes & analysis

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Successful AF Pod

Jessica West

Business

Frequency: 1 episode/17d. Total Eps: 30

Successful AF is a podcast about redefining success on your own terms. Host Jess West — a leadership and burnout coach who's circled the drain on burnout more than once — sits down with people who did everything right, ticked every box, and still found themselves asking "is this it?" Through honest, unfiltered conversations about burnout recovery, career change and reinvention, her guests share how they stopped borrowing someone else's scorecard and started authoring success for themselves. If you've ever chased a version of success that was never built for you, this one's for you.

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https://www.ursusfitness.com/
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Your Thoughts Are Not Facts: Burnout, Rebuilding and Redefining Success — Michelle Doan

Monday, October 5, 2026 • Duration 45:48

Michelle Doan founded Emani in 1998, a clean, vegan beauty brand that now exports to 17 countries. She built it out of a problem nobody would solve for her: more than a decade of cystic acne, and no products that didn't make it worse. So she started phoning cosmetics companies to ask why they were making products that broke her out. Then 2020 hit. Her two biggest distributors were in China and Italy, and over two years she lost close to 80% of her business.

In this episode of Successful AF, Michelle shares what rebuilding after that looked like. It wasn't a new strategy. It was a new relationship with the thoughts in her own head. We talk about burnout, resilience, redefining success, and why so many high achievers find it easier to give help than to receive it. She also talks about how crossing the ocean on a fishing boat at nine years old shaped the resilience she's leaned on ever since.

In this episode, you'll discover:

How an esthetician's ring binder changed the course of Michelle's life, and what it taught her about the impact of so-called ordinary jobs
What happened when Michelle told a chemist at Merck she didn't have the experience, and why saying yes anyway changed everything
How Emani went clean before clean was a category and vegan before anyone knew what that meant on a label, plus the three Ps Michelle uses to judge any skincare product
The book that got her through losing close to 80% of her business, and the "roommate" in your head it taught her to stop obeying
The difference between happiness and joy, and what Michelle means by her zen garden
Why we're taught to give but rarely taught to receive, and the free habit she stacks onto making her morning coffee that turns ordinary moments into extraordinary ones

If you're rebuilding after a setback, stuck in a loop of self-critical thoughts, or you're the person everyone leans on who never asks for help, this conversation is your reminder that your thoughts are not facts.

Connect with Michelle:
Emani: emani.com | Instagram: @emanicosmetics

Books mentioned:
The Untethered Soul by Michael Singer, The Art of Living by Thich Nhat Hanh, Don't Believe Everything You Think by Joseph Nguyen, Atomic Habits by James Clear, and the work of Louise Hay

Before you go:
What's Actually Yours is a half-day retreat for women on Saturday 10 October at Ripley Village Hall, Surrey. It's one morning, with a maximum of 12 places, and includes movement, cacao and the Load Audit. Places are £111. Details at kalicoaching.co.uk.

Love this episode? Hit subscribe and leave us a review! And if you know someone who's redefining success on their own terms, nominate them at successfulafpod@gmail.com - we're always looking for incredible people to feature.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

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You Can Always Start Again: Career Change, Redefining Success & When to Move On — Jo McGowan

Monday, September 21, 2026 • Duration 42:56

At 21, before she'd even graduated, Jo McGowan bought a dance school. Nine years later she'd roughly doubled the number of pupils. Since then she's built a children's party business that was fully booked within six months, run a small business hub, kept a charity going digitally through Covid, and worked in university events. Now she's CEO of Hello Dorking, the town's business improvement district. She calls it a wiggly career, and it's the best argument I've heard for why a non-linear path isn't a detour.

In this episode of Successful AF, Jo and I talk about career change, redefining success, and knowing when it's time to move on. She shares how she built and sold businesses, why integrity and joy matter most to her, and how every strand of her career ended up in one role. If you've ever worried about how a pivot looks from the outside, this one's for you.

Whether you're mid-career change, rebuilding after a hard season, or quietly wondering if it's too late to try something new, this conversation is your reminder that you can always start again.

Before you go:
What's Actually Yours is a half-day retreat for women on Saturday 10 October at Ripley Village Hall, Surrey. It's a one-morning retreat with a maximum of 12 places, and it includes movement, cacao, and the Load Audit. Places are £75 until 30 September, then £111. Details at kalicoaching.co.uk.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

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Whose Perspective Are You Successful From? Depression, Career Change and Rebuilding — Aron Jameson

Saturday, August 29, 2026 • Duration 47:58

How do you rebuild a career after depression takes the one you had?

Aron Jameson was fifteen years into corporate life — trainee to Head of Operations in London — when depression arrived and took roughly a fortnight to dismantle all of it. He quit. No notice period plan, no next role, no sick leave. What almost nobody talks about is the bit that came after: three to six months of not leaving the house, not answering messages, and no clear route back.

This episode is about that route. Aron rebuilt his career into a bodywork and wellness practice across Norwich and London, training in six countries across massage, breathwork, sound healing, Reiki, NLP and EFT — and he did it in a deliberate order that he explains properly here. Body first, mind second, and a strategic reason for both.

If you're burnt out, mid-career, and quietly wondering whether the thing you'd rather be doing is allowed — this is a practical, unglamorous look at what actually happens when someone does it.

What we cover:

The early signs of Aron's depression that he only recognised in hindsight
Embarrassment as the real obstacle in career change: winning clients and still dreading bumping into an ex-colleague on the train
What finally shifted it, and why it wasn't the business getting more impressive
His case for regulating the wellness industry, and the modalities he refuses to teach
The word his mentor banned him from using about his own corporate years — and what changed when he stopped
What a successful day looks like now: half ten start, a book, a mocha

Find Aron: aronjamesonwellness.co.uk | Instagram: @aronjamesonwellness

Got your own version of this story? Email me at successfulafpod@gmail.com — I read every single one.

If this episode gave you something, please rate and review wherever you're listening, and send it to the friend who keeps saying "I wish I could do that."

Readiness Is a Myth: Confidence, Comfort Zones and Doing It Scared — Kerry Harrison

Saturday, August 15, 2026 • Duration 41:49

Readiness Is a Myth: Confidence, Comfort Zones and Doing It Scared — Kerry Harrison

Kerry Harrison's whole job is making people feel seen. She's a business brand photography specialist who's spent sixteen years helping founders show up in their businesses — which is funny, because when she started out, she was the classic photographer hiding behind her own lens: one photo of herself on the website and a firm belief that surely that was enough.

In this episode of Successful AF, Kerry shares how she walked away from a well-paid senior design career to build a business from scratch, and everything she learned the uncomfortable way about confidence — including the two truths she now builds her work around: confidence is not an innate quality, and readiness is a myth. If you've ever caught yourself saying "I'll do it when I feel ready," this one's going to sting in the best possible way. And yes, there's a beginners' tap class at forty-seven in here that ends exactly where Kerry swore it never would.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why readiness is a myth — and the bit of basic brain science that explains why you'll never feel ready before you do the thing
The three-step move Kerry uses on imposter syndrome thoughts the moment they show up: recognise, acknowledge, then compete with facts
Why your business needs your face more than your portfolio — and what happened when the photographer had to get in front of the lens
The loss at twenty that quietly rewrote Kerry's definition of success, and the perspective it took her a decade to name
How "get comfortable being uncomfortable" actually works in practice — networking rooms, stages, and projects launched without an ending
Kerry's new passion project for midlife women — and why she's giving the middle finger to anti-ageing culture, shrinking yourself, and waiting for permission

Whether you're hiding behind your own version of the lens, waiting to feel ready, or wondering if it's too late to try something completely new — Kerry's answer is the same: you can feel uncomfortable and still do really good things. You are imperfectly perfect, just as you are.

Connect with Kerry:
Website: kerryjphotography.co.uk Instagram: @kerryjphoto The Middle Finger Project: @the_middle_finger_project

Stop Saying No to Yourself: Imposter Syndrome, Career Change and Leading AI — Professor Shushma Patel

Friday, July 31, 2026 • Duration 49:51

Stop Saying No to Yourself: Imposter Syndrome, Career Change and Leading AI — Professor Shushma Patel

Shushma Patel built a world-class career — a PhD in dermatology, decades of research, leadership across computing, engineering and business schools. And the whole time, whenever the next big room opened up, she talked herself out of walking in. "I've only been here a year." "Someone else has been here longer." She's now Pro Vice-Chancellor for Artificial Intelligence at De Montfort University, in a role thought to be the first of its kind in the sector — and she'll tell you, completely straight-faced, that she still feels like an imposter.

In this episode of Successful AF, Shushma shares how a career that started in a dermatology lab became a leading role in AI — not through a five-year plan, but through a single golden thread: the belief that the skills you build transfer anywhere, and that no one should hem their life in at sixteen because they picked three A levels. First in her family into higher education, and one of very few women in tech in almost every room she's entered, Shushma has spent her career pulling women in behind her — and she's brilliantly clear on how the rest of us can do the same.

In this episode, you'll discover:

Why a non-linear career is a strength, not a failure — and the "golden thread" that connects every role you've ever had
The crucial difference between mentorship and sponsorship: one keeps the ladder down, the other pulls you up it
What "keeping the seat warm" really means — and why time served is the worst reason anyone ever got promoted
How imposter syndrome shows up even at the top, and what actually builds confidence over a career (spoiler: it isn't waiting to feel ready)
What AI literacy really means for your job — plus the one thing you're doing every time your phone rings that could hand your voice to an AI
What success looks like when you stop measuring it in money and start measuring it in impact

Whether you're contemplating a career change, battling self-doubt in rooms where no one looks like you, or wondering whether it's too late to pivot — this conversation is your permission slip. Stop saying no to yourself. Save your no for the things that drain you.

Relentless: From 'Starving Artist' to Successful AF with Camille Bieber

Saturday, July 18, 2026 • Duration 45:37

“You don’t have to deserve rest.” — Camille Bieber on relentlessness, authenticity, and redefining success

My guest this week is Camille Bieber — photographer, videographer, and founder of Lila & Co, a creative business helping wellness brands tell their story through visuals. But for years, Camille didn’t think the word “success” applied to them at all. Their old Facebook bio literally read “starving artist.” They arrived in the UK at 25 with two suitcases, one acquaintance and no network — a second-generation migrant, entirely self-taught, who’s never had an office job in their life.

In this episode you’ll discover:

What being “relentless” actually looks like day to day — and why there’s no such thing as an overnight success
How Camille’s business took off at the exact moment they decided to give up on it
Why rest is something you never have to earn (“if you’re not gonna rest for yourself, rest for your clients”)
How running a business unearths exactly where you need healing
The permission Camille wants to give you to stop masking and be your weird self publicly
Why success, right now, looks like a walk on the beach in Hove

We talk redefining success on your own terms as a queer, second-generation migrant and self-taught entrepreneur — and what it takes to build something from nothing without losing yourself in the process.

Find Camille on Instagram @lilaand.co, at lilaand.co, and on their podcast The Winding Way.

Got a story about redefining success on your own terms? I’d love to hear it — email successfulafpod@gmail.com

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

You Can't Bubble Bath Your Way Out of Burnout

Saturday, July 11, 2026 • Duration 08:33

Another solo one, and this time I'm getting into something I talk about all the time in my coaching but haven't really unpacked on the pod: burnout isn't a bubble bath problem. It's a nervous system issue. It's a belief system issue. And no amount of journaling, breathwork or gong baths is going to fix it if the thing underneath — the constant performing, the chasing of a version of success you never actually chose — doesn't change.

I share my own story (hello, optimising-to-the-max era, habit trackers and all) and the moment lockdown forced me to stop and realise I had no idea how to climb back down the mountain.

Then a few questions I want to leave you with: When did you last feel peace? Joy? Free? And what were you doing?

Because how you live your days is how you live your life. Kudos if the fast cars and designer whatever is genuinely what you want — but if it isn't, consider this your invitation to reevaluate.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

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Dancing With Pain: Living With Chronic Illness and Learning to Surrender — Lorraine Ansell

Saturday, July 4, 2026 • Duration 58:34

Lorraine Ansell spent 40 years in pain without knowing it. Waking up feeling like she'd been "hit by a plane," feet that hummed, a body that bruised at the slightest touch — she assumed everyone felt that way. It wasn't until lockdown, a TikTok algorithm and a very thorough letter to her GP that she was finally diagnosed with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and four decades of unanswered questions suddenly made sense.

In this season three opener of Successful AF, host Jess West sits down with Lorraine — author of The Surrender Agenda, voiceover artist and dancer — for an honest, surprisingly funny conversation about what happens when there's no cure. Lorraine's radical idea isn't to fight her chronic pain, but to dance with it: to surrender, accept, learn and ultimately love the body she has.

In this conversation, you'll hear:

How decades of symptoms got dismissed as "growing pains" — and why women so often aren't believed by the medical system
What it took to finally get a diagnosis after 40 years, and how to advocate for yourself with your GP
Why "surrender" is a position of strength, not weakness or failure
How Lorraine reframes chronic pain as a dance partner rather than an enemy to defeat
Why rest is "revolution time," and how stripping life back changed her relationship with success
The case for bringing pain "out of the shadows" the way we've started to with mental health

This one is for anyone living with chronic pain, invisible illness or an undiagnosed condition — and for anyone exhausted by the battle of trying to outrun something that lives inside them.

The Surrender Agenda by Lorraine Ansell is available online, on Kindle, and as an audiobook in Lorraine's own voice.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

Season 3: Stop Borrowing Someone Else's Scorecard — Jess Goes Solo

Saturday, June 27, 2026 • Duration 10:08

In the first ever solo episode of Successful AF, host Jess West kicks off season three with a reset on what this whole show is really about. After 21 conversations with guests redefining success on their own terms, Jess pulls together the threads — and gets honest about her own story: circling the drain on burnout more than once, chasing a version of success she'd never actually authored for herself.

This is a short, unfiltered reflection on why we spend so long chasing the big house, the title and the fancy watch — a version of success that, as Jess puts it, was designed for none of us — and what changes when you stop borrowing someone else's scorecard and start defining success for yourself.

In this episode, Jess explores:

Why success is self-authored, not inherited — and how to stop chasing someone else's definition
The gap between knowing you're successful and actually feeling it
Unlearning the conditioning: why your first thought is programming and your second thought is choice
The power of walking away, and why grit and relentless optimisation aren't the whole story
Her own burnout story — chasing a promotion, ignoring the warning signs, and what she found on the other side
Why how you live your days is how you live your life

Whether you're navigating burnout recovery, a career change, or just the quiet sense that you've ticked every box and still feel like something's missing, this episode is an invitation to live differently — and to give yourself permission to define success on your own terms.

New episodes all season. If the show resonates, follow, rate and share it with someone who needs to hear it.

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

Money, Mindset & Multi-Passion: You Can Have It All, Just Not at Once – Jessie Leong

Friday, May 29, 2026 • Duration 50:51

What if the reason you feel bad about money has nothing to do with how much you have?

Jessie Leong is a marketing manager by day and the founder of How I Fund This by night — a personal finance community of over 80,000 people built on one simple but radical idea: that financial confidence isn't about perfection, deprivation, or having it all figured out. It's about understanding your relationship with money well enough to make it work for the life you actually want.

In this episode, Jess and Jessie get into the real stuff — the anxiety, the shame, the seasons where money feels impossible — and why being honest about all of it is the first step to feeling better.

In this episode you'll learn:

Why money is an emotional topic first and a practical one second — and why that changes everything
How to work out what you actually value (and spend accordingly, without guilt)
The case for building an emergency fund — and how to start even when the end goal feels out of reach
Why small, consistent habits will always outperform a one-off financial overhaul
How to be multi-passionate and build something meaningful alongside a full-time job
What Jessie would tell her younger self about mistakes, permission, and peace of mind

Connect with Jessie: Instagram: How I Fund This | Substack: For What It's Worth

Connect with Jess:

Instagram: @kalicoaching.co

Website: www.kalicoaching.co.uk

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