Relational Transitions Episodes

The future of work and self-employment intersect in this conversation with Valentine Gitard, a Paris-based researcher who has spent nearly 15 years working independently while studying workplace transformation. For experienced independent professionals considering how agency and narrative shape their working lives, this episode maps the shift from prescribed work to self-directed practice. Valentine explains why French workers no longer want to be managers, how different definitions of the word 'collaboration' caused a team conflict she observed firsthand, and why the concept of human agency matters as AI automates routine tasks. She shares her own experience vibe coding an agency assessment app on Lovable connected to Supabase, and her decision to pause a PhD at La Sorbonne to write a book that more people would actually read.

Career coaching for experienced professionals requires understanding what happens on both sides of the hiring process. Alisha Hook spent 25 years in talent acquisition and HR across Australia and the UK before founding Your Career Edge, a consultancy offering fractional talent services and career coaching. For independent professionals and career changers, this episode maps the practical mechanics of navigating a job market that has shifted significantly since the pandemic.Alisha introduces three trends reshaping the employment landscape: job hugging, where employees cling to roles out of fear rather than satisfaction; peek-a-boo jobs, where high applicant volumes cause listings to disappear within days; and anti-perks, the hidden downsides that make otherwise attractive roles problematic. She discusses the growing impact of AI on hiring, including employer hesitation to fill roles and rising distrust as AI-generated resumes become indistinguishable.The conversation covers pra…

Bex Thomas spent 20 years in recruitment, earned a director-level promotion at a global firm, and realised the achievement felt hollow. That moment of anti-climax led to an eight-month sabbatical that became the catalyst for designing a portfolio career as a career transition coach, sabbatical coach, and podcast host of Sabbatical Stories.Bex explains her five-question framework for planning intentional career breaks: why you are taking the break, when to take it, where to go, who to spend time with, and who you want to become afterwards. She describes the financial planning behind extended breaks, including the currency hack of spending time in Asia on Australian dollars. For experienced professionals sensing their current role no longer fits, Bex shares why the integration period after a sabbatical determines whether the break transforms your career or fades into a distant memory. She also covers how to negotiate leave when your company has no formal sabbatical policy, the p…

Margareta Krizova offers freelance advice for professional reinvention, sharing six questions that replace the business plan.After almost 30 years in M&A dealmaking, she sold her equity stake at 53 to rebuild as an independent freelancer. The conversation covers her six questions framework, invisible work (where freelancers fail to count their own hours), and why side hustles work as a low-risk transition from corporate employment.Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice.

Ben Legg helps experienced professionals monetise expertise as co-founder of The Portfolio Collective, a 16,000-member community for portfolio careers. Before that he was COO of Google Europe, led Coca-Cola's India turnaround, worked at McKinsey, and served in the British Army's Royal Engineers. Ben explains why experienced professionals are leaving corporate careers for portfolio work, covering the practical mechanics of building advisory practices, keynote speaking, and consulting across multi...

Systematic business development for independent consultants who want predictable revenue without employees or feast-famine cycles. Melisa Liberman coaches experienced professionals to build consulting practices generating $500,000+ using quantifiable metrics rather than hope-based pipeline management. A consultant for 13 years and now a coach for independent professionals, Melisa explains why consultants who think like CEOs rather than subject matter experts scale faster. Her Business Developmen...

Thirty years of full-time independent practice, booked 18 months ahead, with no formal business training. Artist Mark Trinham offers one of the most practical case studies on the Wisepreneurs Podcast for how accumulated expertise becomes sustainable revenue when you learn to position it as premium capability. Mark moved from illustration and graphic design into public art and large-scale sculpture, developing a business model through trial and decades of learning when to say yes and when to say ...

Professional reputation built through decades of relationships beats personal branding built through content marketing. Robert Vlach leads Europe's largest freelance community, supporting over 250,000 professionals. In this three-hour conversation, our longest episode, he explains why experienced independent professionals should stop competing with younger workers on their terms. Robert covers why pattern recognition from 20+ years of practice creates unbeatable market advantages, How career cap...

Laurie Smale left school at 13 to work in a junkyard and at 79 produces his own Magic Minutes YouTube series after learning digital tools from scratch with LinkedIn specialist Sue Ellson.Between the junkyard and YouTube, Laurie graduated from Melbourne University with honours, built a speaking career through the National Speakers Association, and wrote three books. He shares how he overcame a lifelong fear of technology and why baby steps and the right mentor make reinvention possible at any age.Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice.

Retirement planning for professional women that addresses identity, purpose, and community rather than finances alone. Kim Watty spent three decades in Australian academia as an accounting professor before co-founding The Main Act with her daughter Prue. Their Retirement by Design program uses Stanford Business School methodology where women create three odyssey plans for different possible futures across an eight-week guided process. Kim explains why 62% of women wish they had planned better fo...

Jane Hudson built an independent L&D consultancy specialising in regulatory training after leaving corporate employment, and returns to Wisepreneurs 50 episodes after her first appearance. She covers pricing strategies, managing remote teams, finding a defined niche, and balancing client delivery with business development as a solo operator.

Emma Williams moved from a career in physics and Magnetic Resonance Imaging research to building a coaching business that helps STEM professionals navigate the transition from academia to industry. Emma explains the specific challenges academics face when leaving research, including how to recognise transferable skills that feel invisible inside university culture. She discusses the role personal values play in career decisions, the weight of student debt on professional choices, and what highly...

Melisa Liberman coaches solo consultants to grow their practice using a 14-step roadmap and free IEC Toolkit. (110 chars ✓) An accidental consultant who stayed on at her employer when she moved to Hawaii, Melisa went from Accenture executive to building a coaching practice dedicated to independent consultants. The conversation covers Her four-C framework for building a consulting client base (clients, connections, collaborators, and channel partners), Why experienced professionals consistently d...

From her base in Belgium, Marleen draws on 26 years building HR staffing strategy at Randstad (world number one in staffing services) before launching Nextconomy, an online knowledge platform covering the evolving world of flexible work. She explains why the freelance workforce is growing 6 to 9 percent per year across every professional domain, not just ICT and engineering, and why most organisations still ignore 30 to 40 percent of their actual workforce because contingent talent sits outside ...

Michelle Kvello, founder of Lantern Partners and creator of the Corporate to Consultant course, shares what independent professionals need to know about finances when leaving corporate employment to build a solopreneur consulting practice. Drawing from 12 years running her own CFO advisory firm, she explains why most new consultants underprice their services and walks through the financial planning that prevents common mistakes. Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice.

Sue Ellson moved from corporate banking to becoming an independent LinkedIn specialist, author of five books including Gigsters, and a self-described gigster who has built a multi-stranded career across consulting, writing, and professional education. Sue explains how she stays employable and visible as an independent professional through deliberate online presence and continuous learning. She shares practical strategies for building professional credibility on LinkedIn, why the gigster model su...

Sandra McGuire, founder of Money Wellness, turned two decades of corporate accounting expertise into an independent coaching practice. Her journey from corporate roles to solopreneur practice is itself a case study in expertise monetisation. She explains how unconscious money stories drive adult financial behaviour, covers the 50/30/20 cash flow framework, and addresses financial challenges specific to women including superannuation gaps and why women over 50 are Australia's fastest growing demographic of homeless people. Wisepreneurs explores how women over 50 monetise expertise and build sustainable solopreneur practice.

Paula Ronan helps experienced professionals understand what marketing actually requires when you move from corporate to independent practice. Based in rural Ireland, she made the transition from corporate marketing in London to freelancing and built Ronan Marketing into a consultancy serving Irish businesses. Paula covers the distinct business cultures between corporate London and rural Ireland, why understanding your target market matters more than any marketing tactic, and how to maintain bran...

Valentine Gatard has been an employee for only nine months in her entire life. Based in Paris, she works as a coach, speaker, and podcast host, helping companies and independent professionals rethink their relationship with work. Valentine explains how jazz improvisation shapes her approach to coaching, why freelancing and portfolio careers are reshaping professional identity, and how crafting your own work narrative matters more than following conventional career templates.

Terri Connellan helps experienced women professionals navigate career independence through self-leadership, creativity, and psychological type awareness. After 30 years in TAFE, she trained as a life transition coach, wrote Wholehearted: Self-leadership for Women in Transition, and built an independent practice around creativity and writing. She explains why wholehearted living means designing work around what fulfils you rather than what you are qualified for. Wisepreneurs explores how women over 50 monetise expertise and build sustainable solopreneur practice.

Meredith Fuller OAM about the award-winning documentary, 'Home Truths', which focuses on domestic violence and is co-produced by Lesley Coleman & Rod Winning. Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice. Subscribe for new episodes.

Mark Elliott coaches experienced professionals starting independent businesses after 50, helping them navigate the specific challenges of launching a venture later in life when the stakes, the skills gap, and the motivation are all different from doing it at 25. Mark covers why lifestyle design matters more than revenue targets for older entrepreneurs, how to track spending as the foundation of financial independence, when to outsource rather than learn a new skill, and why self-care and energy ...

Lisa Ross-Marcus helps experienced women professionals navigate career transitions and build leadership capability from her Amsterdam executive coaching practice. Her path from performing arts in Paris to executive coaching blends kinaesthetic awareness, artistic creativity, and structured method. Lisa covers discovering a niche market, the practicalities of becoming a coach after a performing arts career, what confidence means when internal dialogue is not cooperating, and why values alignment anchors sustainable independent practice.

Mary-Clare Switz explains why getting the financial foundations of an expert business right from day one can determine whether it succeeds or fails. A registered BAS Agent with more than 40 years of experience, she covers why Xero gives small business owners real-time financial visibility, common mistakes including miscoding expenses, and why she tells every new client to set up their business as if they are ready to sell it tomorrow. Wisepreneurs explores how independent professionals turn accumulated expertise into sustainable practice.