Explore every episode of the podcast The Unexpected Career Podcast
| Title | Pub. Date | Duration | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vivienne Hsu: Following Her Curiosity to Venture Capital | 29 sept. 2026 | 00:43:29 | |
S5E5: Vivienne Hsu started her career in Advertising before several unexpected twists brought her to Venture Capital, where she is focused on helping organisations launch, level or leap to build successful businesses. She has also been recognised among the Top 100 most influential women in European VC. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jason Spalding: Translating a Career in HR to Leadership Consulting | 22 sept. 2026 | 00:55:55 | |
S5E4: Jason Spalding pursued athletics before building a career in HR and is now building something new to support businesses and leaders as the founder of Intupact Group. Intupact Group: https://www.intupactgroup.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Lauragaye Jackson: Making Her Mark as an Executive Coach and Fractional CMO | 15 sept. 2026 | 00:35:48 | |
Lauragaye Jackson built a career in corporate marketing before making the pivot to Executive Coach and Fractional CMO. The Stress Inventory that Lauragaye mentions, Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory, can be found here: https://www.stress.org/self-assessments/holmes-rahe-life-stress-inventory/ Lauragaye can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauragayejackson/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jeannie McGillivray: Open to the Journey From Arts to Software and AI | 08 sept. 2026 | 01:03:27 | |
S5E2: Jeannie McGillivray was the first in her family to go to university, where she pursued an arts degree. Her career took unexpected turns along the way and brought her to software and AI. Jeannie is co-founder and CEO of Remote and Autm AI. Autm AI: https://autm.ai/ Remote: https://remote.online/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Zahra Premji: Finding Her Zone of Genius as a Certified Life Coach | 01 sept. 2026 | 00:55:40 | |
Zahra Premji shares her journey from Occupational Therapist to Founder and certified Life Coach. Zahra can be found on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/zahrapremjicoaching/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Season 5 Trailer | 25 août 2026 | 00:03:09 | |
Season 5 is coming! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Louise Humpington: Positive Impact - Law, International Development, Coaching & AI | 09 juin 2026 | 01:09:26 | |
S4E10: Louise Humpington shares her career journey from solicitor to international development and now strategy and coaching, all tied together with volunteering and a strong purpose. https://www.kairosynthesis.com/ https://www.diverse-ai.org/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Andrew Ta: People and Technology | 02 juin 2026 | 00:56:44 | |
S4E9: Andrew Ta started his career in Software Development and has worked in emerging technologies, consulting and now as a management consultant. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jennifer Makkreel: Building with Purpose in Construction Management | 26 mai 2026 | 00:42:39 | |
S4E8: Jennifer Makkreel dreamt of building bridges in high school and pursued an Engineering degree and while being an Engineer wasn't ultimately for her, she is building buildings. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Velera Wilson: The Courage to go from Corporate to Keynote | 19 mai 2026 | 00:35:12 | |
S4E7: Velera has taken chances in her career and has now pivoted from corporate to focus on her business, Positive Identify LLC, and career as a speaker and trainer. And she wrote a book! http://www.apositiveidentity.com/ https://www.velerawilson.com/book Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Lulu Laidlaw-Smith: Seeing Beyond - From Hospitality to Tech | 12 mai 2026 | 00:56:13 | |
S4E6: Lulu Laidlaw-Smith's grandfather gave her her first introduction to reading between the lines and an education in hospitality developed her strategic holistic vision. Lulu is now Partner, Commercial Growth at The IMCC and Founder of Rip It Up Start Again. http://www.ripitup.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Rob Saltrese: Entrepreneurial Graft - Recruitment to AI | 05 mai 2026 | 00:58:25 | |
S4E5: Rob Saltrese shares his journey into entrepreneurship and what he's building now (and what he learned from facing a divorce and a business divorce at the same time). Rob is Co-founder and COO at Lyra Labs. https://lyralabs.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Shemina Jiwani: It's not a straight line to CEO | 28 avr. 2026 | 00:49:55 | |
S4E4: Shemina Jiwani shares her career journey and how it hasn't been a straight line to CEO. There were pivots to new industries and steps backwards on the way to stepping into the CEO role at Ascendant. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Ben Kinning: Corporate Life to Business Owner, Fractional Sales Leader, Trainer and Mentor | 21 avr. 2026 | 00:55:38 | |
S4E3: Ben Kinning is a Business Owner, Sales Leader, Trainer and Mentor with Sales Geek, but after stepping off of the path that had been laid out for him he first created a path for himself in Corporate. You can learn more about the services he now provides here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ben-kinning/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Susan Walsh: Finding Her Calling in Data | 14 avr. 2026 | 00:57:40 | |
S4E2: Susan Walsh is Founder and Managing Director of The Classification Guru Ltd and turns chaotic business data into something businesses can trust. Following an early career in Sales and then rebuilding after bankruptcy after a retail business failed, she found her calling in data and has built a specialist business supporting 100+ organizations globally and created a tool, Samification, to help organizations standardize their supplier and customer data. And check out her TedX Talk, Say No to No Website: http://www.theclassificationguru.com/ Samification: https://samification.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Nicole Baxby: Carving Her Own Path in Financial Services | 07 avr. 2026 | 00:52:02 | |
S4E1: Nicole Baxby is Senior Vice President of Customer Success and Partnerships at Quantifind and she shares her career journey in financial services and how she has taken risks and showed a bit of gumption to carve her own path. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Season 4 Trailer | 31 mars 2026 | 00:02:29 | |
In Season 4 we share 10 more discussions with real people about their career journeys and the twists, turns, pivots and lessons learned along the way. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Megan Dunford: Physics Degree to Payments Leader | 16 déc. 2025 | 00:48:08 | |
S3E10: Megan Dunford didn't know what to take in university and ended up getting a degree in Physics and ultimately built a career in international payments and foreign exchange. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Mary Kemp: Nurse to AI Consultant | 09 déc. 2025 | 00:33:12 | |
Mary Kemp, started her career as a nurse and is now the co-founder of AI Potential which helps business leaders create a culture of high performance with AI. https://simplerwith.ai/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Yasmin Ulrich: From Professional Tennis to Emerging Payments Leader | 02 déc. 2025 | 00:54:30 | |
S3E8: Yasmin Ulrich was pursuing a professional tennis career when injury had her face some difficult new career decisions. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| John Turley-Ewart: Historian to Columnist and Banker | 25 nov. 2025 | 00:48:04 | |
S3E7: John Turley-Ewart has a PhD in History and a MBA. He has built a career a columnist and a banker. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Geri Valova: Serial Entrepreneur | 18 nov. 2025 | 00:29:09 | |
S3E6: Geri Valova is the founder and COO of MetaSim Learning Solutions, CEO, and founder of Youbee and co-founder of Magna Club, a club and community for executive women. Magna Club: https://magnaclub.circle.so/ MetaSim: https://menta-ai.com/ Youbee: http://www.mybookoflife.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jennifer: From Entertainment Dreams to Diversity and Inclusion Leader | 11 nov. 2025 | 00:46:57 | |
S3E5: Jennifer had dreams of a career in the arts when she was young, but with a desire for a more stable life she started her career in recruitment and has now found her passion as a leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Derrick Walton: Navy to Entrepreneur | 04 nov. 2025 | 00:45:23 | |
S3E4: Derrick Walton started his career in the Navy before transitioning to the world of payments and is the CEO and co-found of Spheros, a data company that allows you to control access and share data across industries and applications. Check out Spheros website: https://www.spheros.io/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Christina Brugger: Flutist, Engineer and B2B Product specialist | 28 oct. 2025 | 00:52:43 | |
S3E3: Christina Brugger is an Engineer by training and an accomplished flautist. She is now a self-employed B2B Customer Insights and Product Launch Specialist at Insight Sprint and Founder and Coach at Keys to Impact, an academy to support women in STEM find their voice and navigate in male dominated environments. Insight Sprint - Turn Customer Conversations into Product & Market Keys to Impact - Build Your Authentic Influence: https://www.keystoimpact.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Mike Dobson: History Degree to Senior IT Leader | 21 oct. 2025 | 00:46:45 | |
S3E2: Before leaning into his passion for computers and creating a career as a Senior IT Leader, Mike Dobson had dreams of becoming a History teacher and rugby coach. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Lisa Ardley-Price: Lawyer and Coach | 14 oct. 2025 | 00:43:04 | |
S3E1: Lisa Ardley-Price had dreams of the stage, and ultimately became a lawyer in the Banking sector while also co-founding Channel Your Serenity, a holistic coaching business that blends coaching, mindfulness, and movement. You can learn more and sign-up for their newsletter, Moments of Serenity, here: Channel Your Serenity and check them out on LinkedIn and Instagram Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Season 3 Trailer | 07 oct. 2025 | 00:03:43 | |
S3 Trailer: Sneak peek from another amazing season of incredible career journeys. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Suresh Vaghjiani: A Conversation at a Party Led to a Career in Payments | 29 juil. 2025 | 00:53:52 | |
Season 2 Episode 10: Suresh is now the founder of Clowd9, but it was a conversation at a party that led to his first role in the Payments space. Clowd9 is the world's first cloud native, decentralized issuer processing platform. Check out their website: https://www.clowd9.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Ilona Brannen: Foreign Office to Executive Coach | 22 juil. 2025 | 00:45:34 | |
Season 2 Episode 9: Ilona is a Leadership Coach and Consultant who found her way to her career with stops in Japan and Italy and stints in the Foreign Office and teaching along the way. Check out her website: https://ilonabrannen.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Aliya Dhalla: Finding her balance as a physiotherapist | 15 juil. 2025 | 00:34:01 | |
Season 2 Episode 8: Aliya Dhalla is the founder of Box Wellness & Co and podcast host of "Not Your Mother's Pelvic Floor". Hear her journey from figuring out what she didn't want early in her career to ultimately finding balance and a passion for women's health. Check out her website: https://boxwellness.co/ and check out her Podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Howard Young: Hospitality to Global Sales Leader | 08 juil. 2025 | 00:37:27 | |
Season 2 Episode 7: Howard had dreams of becoming a Hotel Manager and followed that dream before ultimately pivoting and building a career as a Sales Leader. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Genevieve Dozier: Fashion to Banking | 01 juil. 2025 | 00:44:14 | |
Season 2 Episode 6: Genevieve had dreams of working in fashion before finding herself in financial services. Now she's Product leader, speaker, coach and is writing a book! Checkout her website: https://www.warpaintconsulting.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Dr. Nadia Morozova: Researcher & Data Analytics Entrepreneur | 24 juin 2025 | 00:25:21 | |
Season 2 Episode 5: Dr. Nadia Morozova, Chief Analytics and Insights Officer, shares her journey from an early passion for research to launching a Data Insights company. Check out her TedX Talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VU8wDa5gMo Check out her website: https://enrichedinsights.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Christine LeLacheur: Corporate to Psychotherapist | 17 juin 2025 | 00:46:38 | |
Season 2 Episode 4: Christine pursued a winding corporate career, with some teaching along the way, leaning into roles and opportunities that allowed her to learn and build on her previous experiences ultimately taking her into a new career as a Psychotherapist. https://momentymtherapy.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Dylan Mcdonald: Music Studio or tackling Financial Crime? | 10 juin 2025 | 00:33:26 | |
Season 2 Episode 3: Dylan shares his journey so far and how he has navigated from music studio to financial services, and how he took chances and what he's learned along the way. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Kesley Reidl: Marketing Coach, Consultant and Teacher | 03 juin 2025 | 00:45:59 | |
Season 2 Episode 2: Kelsey Reidl shares her journey figuring out her career path and how she stayed open to the things that lit her up as she figured it out. http://www.kelseyreidl.com/ Check out her podcast Visionary Life Podcast too. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Rachel Gilbert: Maths Teacher to Wine Shop Owner | 27 mai 2025 | 01:04:04 | |
Season 2 Episode 1: Rachel wanted to work with animals from a young age before ultimately becoming a teacher. After experiencing burnout she made a big pivot and is now co-owner of a wine shop that specializes in American wines from the West Coast, https://www.pacificwines.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Season 2 Trailer | 20 mai 2025 | 00:02:24 | |
Season 2 is almost here! Get a little sneak preview of what's to come, starting May 27, 2025. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jocelynn Penzes: Unconventional Road to Financial Services Leader | 11 mars 2025 | 00:42:12 | |
Season 1 Episode 10: Jocelynn shares her slightly unconventional path towards leadership in financial services and how she backed herself while remaining true to herself throughout. Book recommendation shared in this episode can be found here: Mindset by Dr. Carol S Dweck - https://www.waterstones.com/book/mindset-updated-edition/carol-dweck/9781472139955 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Aarti Gurnani: Lawyer, Banker, Sales, CEO | 04 mars 2025 | 00:49:30 | |
Season 1 Episode 9: Aarti's journey spans legal, banking, sales to Biotech CEO and she shares how she made those decisions along the way and how she is taking a different approach as she decides what's next. There were two book recommendations in this episode, check them out here: The 100 Year Life by Lynda Gratton and Adam J Scott: https://www.100yearlife.com/ Range by David Epstein: https://davidepstein.com/range/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Lee Wood: Retail Sales to Police Officer | 25 févr. 2025 | 00:29:14 | |
Season 1 Episode 8: After a changing retail market forced Lee out of a successful career in Sales he transitioned into a completely new career as a police officer in the UK and then in Canada. Book recommendation from this week's episode: Hidden Potential by Adam Grant https://adamgrant.net/book/hidden-potential/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Audrey Vincent: Fashion, Ecommerce and Entrepreneur | 18 févr. 2025 | 01:02:43 | |
Season 1 Episode 7: Audrey shares her amazing journey from France to England and how she navigated her journey from fashion to ecommerce to launching a business all while juggling her diverse interests. To learn more about Audrey's wonderful new business, check out their website: https://www.tinkaandco.com/ Book Recommendation: Think Again by Adam Grant https://adamgrant.net/book/think-again/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Steve Wong: Marketing, Chef, Personal Trainer | 11 févr. 2025 | 00:50:18 | |
Season 1 Episode 6: Steve shares his unconventional career journey through Marketing, a stint as a chef and now as a personal trainer. He has not been afraid to walk away when something is no longer a fit and experiment to figure out what he might want to do next. If you are looking for a trainer or fitness class in London, check out Steve's website: https://totahealth.fitness/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Jenny Basen: VFX Producer to Portfolio Management | 04 févr. 2025 | 00:43:56 | |
Season 1 Episode 5: Jenny unexpectedly found herself in the film industry and over 20 years built her career across Canada, Australia and the UK, climbing the ladder up to Executive Producer (and winning an Oscar along the way) before make a role and industry change. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Bili Davies-Moir: Geologist, Operations Exec, Real Estate Entrepreneur | 28 janv. 2025 | 01:07:00 | |
Bili is an entrepreneur in global real estate and hospitality, but started out as a geologist whose career journey took many turns through audit and finance and operations and strategy on the way. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Michelle: Banking or Energy? | 21 janv. 2025 | 00:24:00 | |
Season 1 Epidsode 3: Michelle had a choice between banking and energy right out of university and chose the one that would give her the experiences she was looking for. Hear how she proactively took ownership of her career and how she had adjusted as her life has evolved. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Lucrezia Spagnolo: Airport Kiosk to Social Enterprise | 14 janv. 2025 | 01:02:58 | |
Lucrezia's career journey started at an airport foreign exchange counter and took her from Montreal to Toronto to Rome and then back to Canada and eventually into the life of an entrepreneur as CEO of Vesta Social Innovations Technologies. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Olivia Minnock: Arts Degree to Fintech | 07 janv. 2025 | 00:46:49 | |
Season 1 Episode 1 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||
| Season 1 Trailer | 30 déc. 2024 | 00:02:01 | |
Season 1 coming January 7th! Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theunexpectedcareer/ | |||