Squiggly Careers

Feeling overwhelmed is something most of us have experienced. Too many meetings, tasks, and requests—paired with too little time, clarity, and control—can make work feel unmanageable. In this episode, Helen and Sarah share three practical actions to help you regain focus and reduce overwhelm. They explore how shifting your mindset from tasks to outcomes can bring clarity, help you prioritise what...

This is the fifth and final episode of the Squiggly Career Stage Series – 5 days of podcast episodes and practical tools to help you succeed in your career. We’ve focused on 5 stages where we know people need some extra squiggly support and in today’s episode we’re looking at Squiggly Career Continuers, to help people relook at retirement and develop career longevity. Sarah and Helen share their i...

This is the fourth episode of the Squiggly Career Stage Series – 5 days of podcast episodes and practical tools to help you succeed in your career. We’ve focused on 5 stages where we know people need some extra squiggly support and in today’s episode we’re looking at Squiggly Career Changers, to help people pivot and create new possibilities. Sarah and Helen share their insights on career change a...

This is the third episode of the Squiggly Career Stage Series – 5 days of podcast episodes and practical tools to help you succeed in your career. We’ve focused on 5 stages where we know people need some extra squiggly support and in today’s episode we’re looking at Squiggly Career Setbacks, to help people stay resilient when things go wrong. Sarah and Helen share their insights on career setbacks...

This is the second episode of the Squiggly Career Stage Series – 5 podcast episodes and practical tools to help you succeed in your career. We’ve focused on 5 stages where we know people need some extra squiggly support and in today’s episode Helen and Sarah are looking at Squiggly Career Returners, to help people build career confidence after a break. Sarah and Helen share their insights on retur...

This is the first episode of the Squiggly Career Stage Series – 5 podcast episodes and practical tools to help you succeed in your career. We’ve focused on 5 stages where we know people need some extra squiggly support and in this episode Helen and Sarah are looking at Squiggly Career Starters, people who are looking to learn and grow in their first job. Sarah and Helen share their insights on thi...

Small talk is part of lots of the meetings and moments that we experience at work and most of us don't enjoy it! This week, Sarah and Helen discuss why small talk matters for connection and how to approach it. They share 'small talk starters', the importance of listening to what is said (instead of being distracted by what you want to say) and how to transition from small talk into what needs to c...

Awareness is a key skill to support your squiggly career but one that can feel hard to improve. This week, Helen and Sarah talk through 3 different types of awareness; self-awareness, situational awareness and relational awareness. They share ideas to assess your awareness and special actions you can take to improve in any area where you might have a gap. (00:00) Introduction (01:07) The different...

This week, Helen and Sarah are talking about how to use scenario planning as a tool to increase your career resilience. They work through a matrix that you can apply to your career to spot different situations and take proactive action to mitigate risk and maximise opportunity. (00:00) Introduction (01:25) Benefits of scenario planning (04:57) Part 1: a sample matrix (07:07) a) best case - promoti...

Feedback is a powerful tool for career growth, but it can be hard to give and to get. When learning becomes the priority, feedback becomes much easier and more effective.   This week, Helen and Sarah explore three ‘stop and start’ practices to make feedback more impactful. Whether you’re giving or receiving feedback, these actions can help you to reset your approach and focus on growth. (00:00) In...

This is the final episode of our Videobook Club series where Helen and Sarah review and reflect on 4 different Videobooks to identify ideas everyone can put into action to support their development. In this episode, Helen talks to Dan Ariely about how his work on decision making can inform our career thinking and help us to make better choices. The Squiggly Careers Videobook Club is brought to you...

Welcome to week 4 of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club. This week, Helen and Sarah are diving into decision making and discussing Dan Ariely’s Videobook, Predictably Irrational. Together they talk about the statements that stuck, what surprised them and the action they are going to take as a result of watching. The Squiggly Careers Videobook Club is brought to you in partnership with LIT Videobo...

This is our second episode on Burnout as part of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club series, running throughout January. Each week, Helen and Sarah focus on a different Videobook and identify insights and ideas that everyone can put into action to support their career development. In this episode, Sarah talks to one of the authors Amelia Nagoski about the stress cycle and why we need to find new w...

Welcome to week 3 of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club. This week, Helen and Sarah are diving into Burnout: The secret to solving the stress cycle by Amelia and Emily Nagoski. Together they talk about the statements that stuck, what surprised them and the action they are going to take as a result of watching. The Squiggly Careers Videobook Club is brought to you in partnership with LIT Videobook...

This is the second episode of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club where Helen and Sarah focus on a different Videobook each week in January and identify insights and ideas that everyone can put into action to support their career development. This week, the focus is on Influence by Robert B. Cialdini. In today’s episode, Helen and Robert discuss his work and how it can be applied to people’s caree...

Welcome to week 2 of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club. In our second episode of the series, Helen and Sarah discuss their experience of watching Influence, a Videobook from Robert B. Cialdini. Together they talk about a statement that stuck, something that surprised them, and what action they are going to take as a result of watching. The Squiggly Careers Videobook Club is brought to you in par...

This is the second episode of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club where Helen and Sarah focus on a different Videobook each week in January and identify insights and ideas that everyone can put into action to support their career development. This week, the focus is on How to Change by Katy Milkman. In today’s episode, Sarah talks to Katy about some of the key principles in her work that can help...

Welcome to week 1 of the Squiggly Careers Videobook Club. In our first episode of the series, Helen and Sarah discuss their experience of watching How to Change, a Videobook from Katy Milkman. Together they talk about a statement that stuck, something that surprised them, and what action they are going to take as a result of watching. The Squiggly Careers Videobook Club is brought to you in partne...

Helen and Sarah are ending 2024 with a list of their top 10 things to read, watch, listen and learn from. They share the books that have made the biggest difference to their development, the TED Talks that have had a lasting impact, the podcasts that made them think differently, the newsletters that actually got read and the people they prioritised to follow. If you'd like some learning inspiratio...

This week's Squiggly Podcast episode is a special recording of the Career Collective Live, where Helen and Sarah we joined by fellow podcasters to share their different perspectives on work and personal development. Listen and learn from Bruce Daisley (Eat, Sleep, Work, Repeat), Jimmy McLoughlin (Jimmy's Jobs of the Future) and Isabel Berwick (FT's Working It) as they discuss team work, how to get...

This week, Helen and Sarah wrap up the year with 5 quick-fire questions and 3 thoughtful reflections on their personal insights and learnings from 2024. They’ll take you behind the scenes of the squiggly reality of what it’s really like running a company together, sharing the highs, the challenges, and everything in between. You’ll also be able to use the same questions to reflect on your own year...

Being generous with your time and expertise can payoff in lots of ways for your career. You build stronger relationships and feel better about the work you do. However, if you give too much you can be at risk of burnout. This week, Helen and Sarah talk about different types of giver and where risk can creep in. Whether you can be a bit of a people pleaser or have a tendancy to be an adhoc helper,...

This week, Helen and Sarah discuss how to build a healthier relationship with rejection in your career. They share 4 practical steps to help you process rejection, from giving yourself breathing space to creating a full-stop response. Whether you're facing rejection yourself or supporting someone who is, these actions can help you reflect, learn, and move forward with confidence. You can find the...

This week Helen and Sarah are talking about what to do when you don’t feel like you’re being heard at work. They talk about tactics and techniques that create space for you to speak. From bookending meetings to finding a supporter who can bring you into the conversation, they share 5 practical ideas to help you take action. You can find the PodSheet, PodNote and full transcript for the episode at...

In this week’s episode, Sarah is joined by author and expert Robert Poynton to explore the often-overlooked skill of pausing. Drawing from his book Do Pause, Robert shares insights on how introducing intentional pauses into your day can improve performance, sustain creativity, and help you thrive in your squiggly career. Together, they discuss: The barriers that stop us from pausing How to think o...