The Next Chapter by Ellie Barker

I still can’t quite believe it but look who is opening series 5 of The Next Chapter. I’m not sure Eamonn Holmes needs much of an introduction, he’s one of our most loved household names. He’s presented pretty much everything from of course GMTV, This Morning, Sunrise, The National Lottery, Songs of Praise, Radio 5 Live the list continues, and now he’s just started his own Next Chapter presenting G...

Laura Casey was enjoying a successful life in textile marketing, but she always felt she wanted more control over her career. After she had her two daughters, she decided to become a freelancer. She also started to design her own sewing patterns and began a blog, sharing her designs for free. Laura had no idea she was also beginning her own business but when she had 40,000 followers she realised s...

Sarah had just finished her job as a performing arts lecturer, she had a young family and wanted to spend more time with them, so was looking to start her next chapter. But then one morning everything changed. Sarah suffered a dreadful injury which left her lying on the floor in agony for the next year. I’ll let Sarah tell you what happened but from these dark days, Sarah was able discover somethi...

Joanne Truby not only had that niggling voice that something wasn’t right in her working life, she listened to it. Not just once, many times. When Joanne was at school she would never have believed one day she’d become an incredible florist with her own school. She didn’t even know then she had a passion for flowers. But by listening to that niggling voice, it took her to exactly where she is mean...

I’m just going to put it out there – I am guessing you’ve never met a Reverend vet before. But then I’m also guessing you have never met anyone like Reverend Jenny McKay before. When a careers adviser said she’d never be a vet, well there was Jenny’s mission to prove them wrong. But since then Jenny has proved so much else wrong as well. A diagnosis in her 40s made her think there was something mo...

Julie New had just left her job as a midwife to begin her next chapter as a personal recovery coach. But when she did, she had no idea she would be needing this work herself. Julie and her family suffered two terrible losses in three years. I’ll let Julie tell you what happened, but as you can imagine - life became really hard. But she used her own work, took small steps along – as she calls it -...

It’s impossible to fit all of the Next Chapters of Mark Desvaux’s life into one title. But this is how much he loves life and believes in experimenting and having a go at what you’ve always wanted to do. His optimism and determination helped him play Glastonbury 3 times (3 times!!!). He’s started a charity, he’s a bestselling author, his work along with the brilliant Mark Stay at The Bestseller Ex...

Joanna Penn started off her working career in corporate IT. She did really well, and worked all over the world including Australia and New Zealand. But she was always frustrated by the lack of creativity. And after trying different ventures, in 2006 she wrote her first non-fiction book. Joanna not only decided to publish her own book but she started a blog and began to share everything she was lea...

Sam Pantlin and Alex Williams were both mums working in jobs they didn’t feel were quite for them. So, they decided to do what they’d wanted to do for a long time and become midwives. This decision not only changed their lives but it brought them together. They both work for the NHS but together they’ve started The Naked Midwives. I’ll let them tell you what this is (but just for the record, they...

Cathy Moseley grew up in Bethnal Green in London. She describes it as a true working-class upbringing with a proper, honest work ethic. As a teenager, Cathy was the only girl working on a big city trading floor with no experience. But she rose all the way to becoming the Senior Director of Trading, a job which took her all over the world. But she wasn’t happy, so one day she left. Cathy has since...

***Welcome to my first ever Listener Episode***  This is where my lovely listeners get in touch and ask me to interview someone they would love to hear from. Abigail Rogers got in touch, wanting to hear from a surgeon, and Mr Cha Rajakaruna very kindly agreed. But Cha isn’t just kind, he’s humble, filled with passion for his work and has saved and transformed so many lives. Cha talks about what it...

Nena Foster has come all the way from Texas wanting to be a doctor to working here in the UK as a food stylist, writer and she has her own fermentation school. In between, she was a researcher, a university lecturer, finished a PHD and became a public health consultant. But by being truthful about what wasn’t working, Nena has created a career which does work for her and her family, all around her...

Gill Sherwin loved her job working in insurance, it took her all over the world. Everything was great, until one day it wasn’t. She and her husband realised this lifestyle was no longer working for them. So, they decided to start their own business doing something they loved. They’ve since sold millions of bottles of beer, created a family business, supported young people needing a little help in...

Claire Davis is changing lives. If you are feeling too overwhelmed with the mortgage, children, husband, wife, job, life to even think about your Next Chapter, then Claire could have the answers for you. Not only does she talk bravely and honestly about her own First Chapter, she is now working tirelessly with her lovely husband James to make sure people start and stay with their own Next Chapters...

Woody Morris says she now lives her true life, filling her time with exactly what she loves, every single day. There are not many people who live life to the full in the way Woody does. And when you hear what happened to her and her lovely family when she was thirteen years old, you will understand just how special she is. This conversation covers it all: grief, pain, hope, joy and why you must no...

Why work really hard at something you don’t really like? This was the thought which helped Anna Clements make the brave step towards living a life she loves. Anna worked as a commercial lawyer but when she had young children and realised her job didn’t suit family life, she decided to give herself a budget and a time limit to see where her love of interiors would take her. Anna didn’t spend more y...

In Susan Tanner’s words, she has never really known where her career is going, but what a journey it has taken her on. One of the first stops was the Bristol International Balloon Fiesta. It wasn’t quite the enormous event it is now when she arrived and over the years she helped it grow into the only fiesta of its kind in Europe. Susan speaks openly about how she navigated the ups and downs (and w...

When life wasn’t going as Hanna Armitage wanted for her and her young family, Hanna and her husband were really honest and made a huge change. But Hanna had no idea this honesty would take to her to a job and life she absolutely loves. Hanna runs the Winterbrook Garden Nurseries in Oxfordshire with her dad, John. She’s learned how to grow and now she’s teaching others to do the same. Her hours sui...

**** NO MUSIC EPISODE **** … Episodes addressing the Next Chapters we don’t ask for, the ones where the music suddenly stops. Heidi Loughlin had what can only be described as an ‘eventful’ start in life. But any challenges or obstacles put in her way would not stop Heidi. In fact, she went on to use these experiences to fight gangs, help young criminals, and police riots and football matches for t...

Julie Reilly has done what so many people dream about but often never do. She has built the life she wanted for her and her family, doing something she loves. Julie fell in love with clay when she was at secondary school, but life and job offers took her do a different world. She worked for a museum, for Shell and lived in Singapore, but she never lost her love for ceramics. It was when Julie beca...

In her own words Jenny Urquhart loves painting pretty pictures which fill her with joy... but Jenny's passion, work-ethic and love of life fills this conversation with joy too. From the beginning of her story in a tough state school with a love of nature, to now working at her kitchen table doing something she loves every day, it's hard not to be inspired by Jenny. But there's no fancy art schools...

Nick Hounsfield cannot fail to inspire. He trained as an osteopath and set up the wonderful Family Practice with his wife Juliana, in Bristol. Some would say this was already a big enough dream. But a life-changing event and a Eureka moment gave Nick a vision he could not ignore. He thought it would take two years to build a surfing lake in Bristol.  It took ten years and more than twenty-six mill...

Jen Stanbrook describes her beginnings as working class, but the life she has designed for herself and her family is bound to make anyone from those roots of hers proud. And goodness, she has had several Next Chapters. From a graduate trainee in retail, to having her own cleaning business, back to the corporate world in IT, owning a franchise to ending up exactly where she was always meant to be.....

Sam Burgess says her life hasn’t been easy despite the perception on Instagram. Expelled from boarding school at 15, two marriage break-ups and throw in some redundancies too, at times in her life, Sam says she was at rock-bottom. There, she could have stayed but instead her bravery and spirit took her to exactly where she is supposed to be. Sam left London and corporate life behind and she now li...

Kristin Magnusson had what many would describe as 'a dream job.' Her work as a television producer and director working in national television took her around the world, was filled with glamour and showbiz and she worked with some of the industry's biggest names. But deep down, she knew something was not right, so she took the brave leap and left it all behind. She now has her own business, Kristi...