“My new mission in life...is about helping women be seen, heard, and valued in their space, whether that's in work and beyond”
In this episode, I talk with Aimee Bateman, an incredible entrepreneur and advocate for women in the workplace.
Aimee shares her story of how experimenting helped her through a closing door after selling her business Careercake. She had spent 10 years building a successful company, then sold it, which was the plan all along. But after the sale, she faced a new challenge: What’s next? She was also adjusting to life as a new parent, balancing her drive with the demands of motherhood. Rather than jump straight into her next big project, Aimee took a different approach: she gave herself a year to experiment.
Aimee’s “year of experiments” wasn’t about perfect plans or guaranteed outcomes. It was about trying things out without pressure. She explored new ideas, met new people, and tested projects to see what resonated. Some ideas worked; others didn’t. And that was okay.
Aimee admits it wasn’t always easy: “At points, my ego was on fire. What if I fail? What will people think? What if I need to change things?”
But she learned to embrace the experimenting mindset. Looking back, she now sees her year of experiments as one of her most valuable experiences. It helped her figure out what truly excites her and what direction to take next. “It can feel unnerving to experiment. Like you have to get everything right the first time. But I’ve learned so much, and I know that 2025 is going to be a brilliantly focused year because of how clear I am now about what I want to do.”
Here are the highlights:
03:39 Helping women be seen, heard, and valued in all aspects of life.
08:57 Facing gender bias in the workplace.
11:47 Massive life changes after having a baby led to an identity crisis, and selling a company
17:45 Pursuit of success overshadowed happiness
20:23 Core values, especially kindness, are vital for personal transformation
33:34 Take a career break, be gentle, there's time to go hard later
46:44 Discover your North Star values
The things that helped Aimee navigate change
Book: “The Long Game" by Dorie Clark
Music: "Sympathy for the Devil", The Rolling Stones.
The one piece of advice: “Go and figure out what your values are, which are conflicting with each other, and work out not just what your values are but what's your north star. So we've got our north, our east, our but there will be one value that overrides everything else. That's your north star.”
More about Aimee
A former recruiter, turned award-winning career coach and the founding CEO of the venture-backed Edtech startup, Careercake (Voted UK’s #1 career development platform), which was acquired in 2022. Aimee defied the odds by securing venture and angel investment across two continents, despite operating in a global landscape where less than 2% of funding goes to a female founder. 10million+ professionals in 42 countries have taken Aimee’s career development courses, including 3million on LinkedIn Learning and featuring as a career expert for the BBC and Sky TV. A busy mum to a toddler and 2 rescue dogs and Aimee hosts the weekly, Seen. Heard. Valued. Podcast and runs Female Further coaching programme.
Find out more: https://www.aimeebateman.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aimee_bateman/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/aimeebateman/
About your host
Eleanor supports individuals, teams and organisations through change. Whether it’s 121 coaching or large scale organisational change through communications and training. Eleanor’s work centres around how we, as humans, work through change, embracing the messy bits, the role of playing, with the aim to see opportunity. “Too often we get stuck in the change happening to us, when just through that next door is an exciting next chapter.” Eleanor is the founder of Another Door and the author of Why losing your job could be the best thing that ever happened to you.
Connect with Eleanor:
Instagram:instagram/anotherdooruk
LinkedIn:https://www.linkedin.com/in/eleanor-tweddell/
Website: eleanortweddell.com
Produced by winteraudio.co.uk
