Almost two years ago, I came across an episode of the Interior Design Business Podcast titled ‘Career Changing To Interior Design’. It featured several established interior designers who talked about their route into the profession.

Charlotte Dawson was one of those designers and she, like me, had previously been a teacher. I was captivated and I can truthfully say that hearing Charlotte talk about her career change helped me to believe that I could do that too.

I connected with Charlotte on Instagram and she is one of the most encouraging and supportive people I know. I was delighted when she agreed to share her story and chat to me here on the Creative Career Change podcast.

“I started to interior design my classroom without realising. I made curtains, bought carpets, rugs, cushions, canvasses. I even decorated. I painted the classroom and my teaching assistant would leave every Friday not really knowing what to expect when she’d come back on the Monday. Nor the children.” - Charlotte Dawson

Links

* Charlotte’s website: Chestnut Interiors

* Chestnut Interiors on Instagram

* Charlotte’s Renovation Room membership

* The episode of Interior Design Business podcast where I first discovered Charlotte: Career Changing to Interior Design

A note from the author

I’m aware that those in the thick of a career change, who have left a job or taken a pay cut, may not have the means to pay to listen and so the Creative Career Change podcast will always be free to all subscribers. I hope the conversations may inspire others to make changes in the way they approach their work in order to seek more balance in their life.

Making this podcast is a labour of love and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation, editing, mixing, composing music and publishing the episode.

By becoming a paid subscriber, you help to ensure I can continue to record new episodes and make the Creative Career Change podcast available to all who can be inspired by it. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to make a one-off contribution to the podcast you can buy me a coffee here. I’m hugely grateful for all and any contributions!

Have you made a creative career change? I’m going to be recording some new episodes in the New Year and am always on the look out for interesting guests to talk to. If you think you might be a good fit for Creative Career Change, send me an email to info@hannahashe.co.uk explaining why. I’d love to hear from you.

See you in 2025 for more inspiring stories ✨

p.s. On Monday at 7pm (UK time) I will be hosting the final online Create Ensemble session of the year. It’s a festive edition where I encourage you to spend the hour doing something creative AND festive: writing cards, wrapping gifts, making decorations or perhaps writing your end of year newsletter. This is a session for paying subscribers and you can find more details and the link here (after subscribing):

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Hosting a podcast is a wonderful thing, not least because I regularly find myself talking to truly fascinating individuals who inspire me and open my eyes to what work can look like for women across the world.

Lucy Pearson is testament to this. She is a freelance writer, a bibliotherapist (listen to find out what that is), a curator of libraries for hotels and a literary salon host. Her work is centred around books and words and her journey to this point has been anything but straightforward.

In this interview Lucy shares honest and frank reflections on money, explains how her book blog eventually landed her a dream job at the Women’s Prize for Fiction and ends with recommendations for books I should read. It’s a seriously good listen!

Do say hello and leave us a comment if any of this resonates with you.

“There’s a special place in hell for gatekeepers who don’t share knowledge when they’re in a position to do so.” - Lucy Pearson

Links

* Lucy Pearson’s Substack - The Literary Edit

* Lucy’s website: thelitedit.com

* Follow Lucy on Instagram @the_litedit

* Sandwich by Catherine Newman

* Places I Stopped On The Way Home by Meg Fee

A note from the author

I’m aware that those in the thick of a career change, who have left a job or taken a pay cut, may not have the means to pay to listen and so the Creative Career Change podcast will always be free to all subscribers. I hope the conversations may inspire others to make changes in the way they approach their work in order to seek more balance in their life.

Making this podcast is a labour of love and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation, editing, mixing, composing music and publishing the episode.

By becoming a paid subscriber, you help to ensure I can continue to record new episodes and make the Creative Career Change podcast available to all who can be inspired by it. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to make a one-off contribution to the podcast you can buy me a coffee here. I’m hugely grateful for all and any contributions!

Thank you.

Hannah x

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Judith and I first met in 1996 when we started secondary school together. We’ve been friends ever since despite living in different countries for the past 13 years.

With a career in business that has evolved and been shaped by changing family responsibilities, Judith has carved out a career that is both practical and fulfilling.

This is the first time I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing someone I know well on this podcast and it was a very enlightening experience.

We imagine that we know most things about our friends but, in reality, the finer details of each other’s work are not necessarily something we talk about a lot and I learned so much about Judith in this interview.

We would love to hear from you; either just to say hello or to let us know how this episode resonates with your own work/life situation.

“Having multiple activities has actually changed me quite considerably. I’m naturally a perfectionist but because I have so much going on; so many different activities, so many deadlines, so much pressure coming from everywhere, I’ve learned to trust myself and to trust my abilities to produce something good very quickly.” - Judith Giraud

Links

* You can find out more about Judith on LinkedIn

* Judith’s company’s website: dokeraa.com

🎤 Voiceovers on Substack workshop 🎤

A reminder that I am hosting a FREE online workshop on adding audio to Substack posts this coming Sunday, 6th October at 4pm UK time. Find out more and register here: How to use voiceovers on Substack with Hannah Ashe

A note from Hannah Ashe

I’m aware that those in the thick of a career change, who have left a job or taken a pay cut, may not have the means to pay to listen and so the Creative Career Change podcast will always be free to all subscribers with no adverts. I hope the conversations may inspire others to make changes in the way they approach their work in order to seek more balance in their life.

Making this podcast is a labour of love and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, planning questions, recording the conversation, editing, mixing, composing music and publishing the episode.

By becoming a paid subscriber, you help to ensure I can continue to record new episodes and make the Creative Career Change podcast available to all who can be inspired by it. Alternatively, if you’d prefer to make a one-off contribution to the podcast you can buy me a coffee here. I’m hugely grateful for all and any contributions!

Thank you.

Hannah x

Support the show