Shameless Careers

I’ve always been curious about what creates the greatest career leverage - both when you're climbing towards a senior leadership role and once you get there. And I’ve never heard anyone explain it more clearly than Michael Erhard, a senior leader at Amazon, in this episode of the Shameless Careers podcast. Michael built teams from zero to 50+ people, scaled engineering and automation portfolios fr...

Imagine you have three more years to live - what would be your next career move? That’s the question the guest of the latest Shameless Careers episode, Winsie Chen, asked herself after three people she knew unexpectedly passed away. At the time Winsie had a promising career: 10 years in banking in Singapore, a CFA, a great network, and a clear banking career path. Deep down, though, she knew finan...

One of my favourite episodes yet on the Shameless Careers podcast is out - with Karim Chedid, Managing Director and Investment Strategy Lead, EMEA. We discuss a refreshingly simple - but shockingly profound - idea for this day and age: “If you find yourself having doubts about your career track, you’d be surprised by HOW MUCH can be done within your exact current seat to make it feel closer to 100...

Want to get better at networking without feeling fake, awkward, or salesy? In this episode of Shameless Careers, an executive and career coach Jeremy Cline shares practical networking strategies that actually work - whether you're looking for new opportunities, growing your career, or expanding your professional circle. We break down how to approach networking events with confidence, how to start...

The biggest mistake high performers make after becoming senior leaders? They keep doing instead of leading. This is exactly what I unpacked in the latest episode of the Shameless Careers podcast. I spoke with David Feld - executive coach to leaders at JP Morgan, Ford, Schroders, Fidelity, and BNY Mellon - about the mindset shifts that separate strong operators from strong leaders. Here are the ide...

Many corporate professionals want to break into the startup ecosystem - but quitting their job feels too risky. Here’s the good news: you don’t have to. And yes - you can get paid to do it. In this episode of Shameless Careers, we explore fractional work - the fast-growing model where senior professionals advise startups alongside their full-time roles, earn premium day rates, and build multiple i...

Hi guys, I am planning episodes for 2026, and would LOVE to hear from you if you are a regular listener! (Specifically, would love to connect with you and ask why you are listening to Shameless Careers, what resonates with you most and what you would like to hear more of) Please get in touch if you would be up for a chat - my insta account is below (just drop me a message there): Instagram: shamel...

🚀 How do you actually get into Y Combinator - and what does it really take to build a venture-backed startup? In this episode, I sit down with Miroslav Gasparek, CEO & co-founder of Sensible Biotechnologies (a Y Combinator-backed biotech company) and a member of the Forbes 30 Under 30 Europe list. Miro shares the unfiltered truth about getting accepted into Y Combinator after multiple attempt...

Ok guys, this is an episode I could not wait to share with you - especially at the start of the year, when so many of us are making big (and small) career resolutions. This conversation is all about how to figure out what you REALLY want to do - when you’ve done everything “right”, but still feel that something is missing. I’m joined by two brilliant executive coaches who both had high-flying care...

What REALLY happens when you leave corporate stability for startup chaos? This Shameless Careers episode is one of our most honest yet - unpacking what it really costs (and offers) when you make the leap. Guest: Damien Kopp, who spent 11 years at Accenture before jumping to a startup that wasn’t what he expected - and eventually becoming an entrepreneur. We unpack: - What can prompt people to jump...

So many people struggle to find what they really want because they believe they need a grand career plan. But the truth is - you don’t. All you need is to follow the breadcrumbs: your intuition, that sense of the next step that feels right at the time - one small step at a time. In other words, you have to walk the path to understand the path. This episode with Katerina Joannides is a powerful exa...

In this episode of Shameless Careers, we talk about something so many ambitious professionals struggle with: people pleasing. On the surface it looks helpful… but underneath, it’s one of the biggest career saboteurs. To unpack this properly, I’m joined by Jelena Radonjic - award-winning career & leadership coach, Forbes Coaches Council member, and advisor to leaders at Amazon, HSBC, Goldman Sa...

Tech is a hot space for careers, isn’t it? Unsurprisingly, A LOT of people want to break into this space and are wondering: “how can I make it happen?” This is exactly what we are discussing with my brilliant guest - Fabian Fuchs - in the latest Shameless Careers episode. Fabian started his career in consulting at BCG, then joined a food delivery scale up in Germany only to see this space SKYROCKE...

In this Shameless Careers episode, haroon (LBS MBA, ex-startups) shares how two failed probations and years of shame finally made sense after a dual adult autism & ADHD diagnosis - opening the door to self-acceptance, self-awareness, and real career purpose. In this candid, emotional episode, we talk about: - What it’s like to keep hearing the feedback that you “have flashes of brilliance, but...

Feeling stuck on career autopilot - tired, unmotivated, and unsure what to do next? In this Shameless Careers episode, career and life coach Hanan Baba shares a step-by-step framework to build a fulfilling, energising career without guesswork. What you will learn: - The #1 sign you’re on autopilot: persistently low energy - How to “follow the scent” to find what gives you more energy & excitem...

What happens when a stable, well regarded career suddenly feels empty? In this episode of Shameless Careers, Anastasia Tolstova shares her deeply personal story of spiralling into depression, battling anxiety, panic attacks, and an eating disorder - and how that mental health crisis became the catalyst for an entirely new career path. Anastasia walked away from nearly two decades in finance to ret...

Feeling “successful” but unfulfilled? Wondering how to build confidence, take smarter risks, and find true fulfilment in a high-performance career? In this episode of Shameless Careers, I’m joined by Alina Addison - Executive Coach, former Head of Trading & Execution at Rothschild & Co, and author of The Audacity Spectrum . Together, we explore how high-achievers can break free from the tr...

What really happens when you leave a safe, high-paying corporate job to start your own business? In this episode of Shameless Careers, I sit down with Morgaine Conway-Grim, who made the leap from finance into entrepreneurship to launch Hawks & Doves, a financial education company. We talk about: 👉 Why she left a promising finance career to pursue her purpose 👉 The real financial risks of qui...

Feeling exhausted from consulting or another high-pressure career? You’re not alone. In this episode of Shameless Careers, I speak with Daphne Chung - LBS MBA graduate turned executive coach - about her journey from consulting burnout to building a thriving coaching practice. We talk about how burnout can happen even when you enjoy your work, the link between perfectionism and exhaustion, early wa...

Want to build a powerful personal brand but don’t know where to start? Say no more — this interview with Maria Macdonald is here to answer exactly that. Maria is the founder and director of Cord Comms, an agency providing public relations and communication services — including branding and strategic marketing — for premium lifestyle brands and impact tech. She has worked with an impressive range o...

Welcome back to Shameless Careers — the podcast helping high-achieving professionals build meaningful careers on their own terms. In this episode, I sit down with Dina Al-Alami, an ICF-certified career coach and founder of Major Confusions, a career wellness studio. In this episode, we are drilling down into what career fulfilment REALLY means. What are the components of it? Is it even achievable?...

Ever heard of inauthenticity burnout? It’s kind of exhaustion that creeps in when you push yourself really hard in something that looks impressive on paper, but is misaligned with your natural strengths ( e.g . being an introvert who needs to be extraverted 80% of the time). This topic is at the heart of the new Shameless Careers episode featuring Hanan Baba.  Early in her career Hanan was ti...

What if the true measure of success isn’t your title or salary - but how you feel on an ordinary Tuesday? That’s the question at the heart of the new Shameless Careers episode. So often we chase future milestones - promotions, accolades, the next big thing - but it’s how we feel day to day that shapes our happiness much more than any title or status could (which, by the way, is an 'infinite ladder...

What happens when you leave Big Tech to build a startup… and end up coming back? For a while I wanted to interview someone who went on to start their own business - but then came back to employment with a fresh new perspective… and finally I was lucky to meet Anna Buldakova: 🚀 Ex-Big Tech product leader 📈 Forbes Technology Council member 🌍 Founder of a 40,000+ Product Management community Anna...

Portfolio careers are exploding - and they’re not just a trend, they’re the future. By 2030, nearly half the workforce will be part of the gig economy - and portfolio careers are the white collar version of this trend. There are structural reasons for this shift - many companies want flexibility with talent (which will be exacerbated by AI), while many professionals want more autonomy and more ear...