‘Preparing for your return to work’ with Hellen Muthoni Vostatkova

More from Career Returners All episodes →

1. 

   S3 · E3 · 9 Oct 2024 · 29 min

   Flying High with Skylarks with Deirdre Carswell

   “I have to say I'm in a role that is probably my favourite role that I've ever had in my working career” After a twenty five year career in the corporate and private medical sector, Deirdre (Dee) Carswell successfully made the move into the charity sector. Her journey to this transition was not always smooth sailing. Although she’d been involved in pro bono work throughout her career, she made the first leap in 2019 when she left the corporate sector to set up as an independent charity consultant. But the pandemic threw Dee off course as she took a career break to care for various family…

2. 

   S3 · E2 · 11 Sep 2024 · 33 min

   From TV Production to Rail Innovation with Charlotte Hills

   Charlotte’s first career was in TV production, initially working as a script supervisor and then as a Director working on well-known programmes such as Big Brother and Hell's Kitchen. She took a career break of 6 years to raise her twin daughters and during this time she also relocated to Switzerland with her family. Unable to work there, she was the main carer for her daughters. After returning to the UK, Charlotte began to look for work but returning to her old freelance TV career was not easy or conducive to raising a young family. This led Charlotte to think more creatively about what…

3. 

   S3 · E1 · 28 Jun 2024 · 31 min

   “Be Brave Quicker!” with Joanna Campbell-Meiklejohn

   Joanna Campbell-Meiklejohn has had a varied career, spanning different sectors and countries. She spent the first part of her career working in Corporate and Investment Banking and after her second child, decided to leave banking and return to the UK to spend time with her young family. During this period, she set up and ran a successful property business in the Cotswolds where she lived which gave her a whole host of additional transferable skills and experience. However, during COVID and the slowdown in this sector, she took the opportunity to rethink what she wanted to do professionally…

4. 

   S2 · E10 · 1 Feb 2023 · 41 min

   ‘Confidence and clarity’ with Caroline Deodhar

   In this final extended episode of Series 2, Karen and Liz chat to Caroline Deodhar who qualified as a doctor in the UK in 2013. She practiced medicine for a couple of years and began her GP training, just as her husband was offered a job opportunity in Singapore. Pregnant with her 1st child, the family took the decision to relocate to Singapore after the baby was born. They then later moved again to Australia where Caroline had her 2nd child. After a career break of 3 years, Caroline felt ready to return to medical practice. She found the career break helped build her confidence and gave her…

5. 

   S2 · E9 · 18 Jan 2023 · 39 min

   ‘Being professionally and personally ready’ with Marianna Dooley

   Marianna Dooley is an experienced marketing professional who has built a successful career in marketing and brand management. Her experience lies within fast moving consumer goods, working with brands such as Waterford Crystal and Premier Foods. She thrived on the pace, challenge, relationship building, and international travel in an ever changing exciting career. In 2009, Marianna took a 13 year career break to raise her young family and relocated many times during this period to support her husband’s specialist medical career – 20 times in as many years to London, Ireland and Australia. As…

6. 

   S2 · E7 · 30 Nov 2022 · 37 min

   ‘Follow your Interests’ with Harriet Rogers

   Harriet Rogers qualified in the RAF in 2006, working as an Air Operations (Systems) Manager. She took her 1st career break in 2013 after the birth of her children and her 2nd career break in 2017 after she left the military and moved to the Middle East with her husband’s work. Unable to work there, she kept herself busy studying for a Masters in Terrorism, Crime and Global Security and upskilling. When she was ready to return to work, she began to proactively explore how the areas she was interested in academically might fit with work opportunities. She took advantage of the many events…

7. 

   S2 · E6 · 16 Nov 2022 · 28 min

   ‘’A Values Match is Key’ with Claire Neuman

   Claire Neuman is an experienced banking and consulting leader with a background in Financial Services, Commercial Banking and Financial Technology, built over her years working in Asia and the US. Married to a diplomat, living and working in different countries has become an intrinsic part of Claire’s life. Over the course of her career, Claire has taken 2 career breaks after the birth of each of her children and in 2020, she successfully returned to work in New York through the J.P. Morgan global ReEntry Program. A key theme emerging from our conversation with Claire is the importance of…

8. 

   S2 · E5 · 2 Nov 2022 · 34 min

   ‘Value your Broad Background’ with Derek White

   This episode, we’re delighted to bring you our first conversation with a male returner. Derek White enjoyed a fascinating and varied career which equipped him with a broad mix of people, business, technical, marketing, procurement, and project management skills. After making the decision to follow his wife’s diplomatic career, Derek took a career break of 7 years to care for their young family when they relocated to Canada. He describes this period as a precious time in his life and talks about the valuable transferable skills he gained through various entrepreneurial projects, despite the…

9. 

   S2 · E4 · 19 Oct 2022 · 34 min

   ‘Returning to corporate life with a whole host of new skills’ with Helen Tunstall

   Helen Tunstall enjoyed a very successful career in banking, firstly in Australia and then in the UK. In 2015 she took the leap to leave her corporate life and pursue her passion for the creative industries. She took a career break to set up a successful photography business which she loved. However, after 5 years, she began to miss the intellectual challenge of corporate work. “I really miss talking about finance and economics…..I realised I missed that part of me, which was 20 years of my life”. In our conversation, Helen talks of her pride in taking a career break to pursue her creative…

10. 

    S3 · E2 · 5 Oct 2022 · 36 min

    Self-belief is key with Juhi Asnani

    This episode is dedicated to our much-missed colleague Liz Mason, Women Returners Client Director from 2018, who died suddenly in February 2022. Juhi is an experienced Technology Consultant. Having spent her early career working in technology roles in India, she relocated to the UK in 2010, continuing her career at the same international company. Juhi decided to seek out more flexibility, and after a period of consulting, she took a three-year career break to spend more time with her young son. She credits this time with equipping her with many transferable skills including boosting her…