Katie started her career as a vet, yet her experience of burnout on account of her pursuit of perfection led her down another path. She now describes herself as: speaker, imposter syndrome buster, vet entrepreneur. She’s also an author, by the way, and a few other things alongside that too. As an expert at “busting” imposter syndrome, and mastering personal narratives, in this episode, Katie shares a wealth of knowledge and academically-grounded insights and references, which I’m sure...

In this episode, Amanda describes what it’s like to balance working as a musician with everything else in her life, especially her creative pursuits. She talks about the punishing self-discipline typical of musicians, and how she reconciles her inclination to spend her time construtively, with not being “career-oriented”. Amanda touches on the deliberate approach that she and her husband, who one day wish to have children, have taken to set the foundations for the work-life balance they...

Season Two of ‘A Fine Balance - The Podcast’ is launching soon. Listen here to find out what to expect and be sure to subscribe so you know when Episode One is ready to drop.

Tom McLaughlan, a retired Government Relations Advisor, who now works voluntarily for a crisis intervention charity, first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in August 2021. In this episode, we discuss in more depth Tom’s work-life balance choices - both today in retirement, and looking back at when he was in the height of his career. His emotive and honest reflections leave much food for thought about the opportunities and challenges of balancing priorities during these two life stages:...

In this bonus episode, which differs to this podcast’s usual format, Annabel Jeffcoate, coach and founder of ‘Balance for Teachers’ provides her professional advice on how to improve your work-life balance in 5 steps. She also goes into detail about the strategy that she has devised using the word BALANCE as an acronym. In this episode, Annabel shares her story about losing balance early on in her career, which resulted in a severe case of burnout, explaining how she has drawn from her own...

This is a follow-up interview with Laurie Macpherson, who first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The Blog’ in July 2021. https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/07/04/finding-balance-on-her-own-terms-single-by-choice-childfree-by-choice-lauries-story-on-doing-what-suits-you/. Laurie is a career coach and mentor who owns her own business, The Grow Consultancy, advising people on career choices and job applications. Before becoming self-employed, Laurie worked for many years in the retail sector and also...

Follow-up interview with Sarah Macmull, who was first featured on ‘A Fine Balance - The. Blog’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/14/sarahs-story-motherhood-and-the-mental-load-marriage-self-employment-and-primary-care-giving/. It’s rare to hear a feminist extolling the virtues of home-keeping alongside career drive. And it’s equally unusual for the story of a mother building her career around her family to be told in of itself. Sarah’s story does both of these things,...

Blogger Michelle Green, of ‘Fifty & Fab’ notoriety, discusses my latest blog post, “‘Stay at home, Mum’: Nadine’s Story on finding balance as a stay-at-home-mum, opting out of a career path & valuing a mother’s presence”. To read more go to: https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/11/16/stay-at-home-mum-nadines-story-on-opting-out-of-a-career-path-valuing-a-mothers-presence/. Check out Michelle’s blog, ‘Fifty & Fab’, at www.fiftyandfab.co.uk.

Follow-up interview with Tahmid Chowdhury, who was first featured on the blog ‘A Fine Balance’ in October 2020: https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/10/02/work-life-balance-profile-4-tahmid-chowdhury/. Early in his career, Tahmid realised that he was on the verge of ‘burning out’ and he took some drastic measures to change his lifestyle and mindset to improve his situation. Burnout is something that has come up again and again in the interviews I conduct for my blog and is usually an indicator of...

Interview with Jhilmil Kishore, a full-time working architect and single mother. This interview is based on the ‘A Fine Balance’ blog post: “My Work, My Identity”. Read the blog at: https://a-fine-balance.com/2021/05/06/jhilmils-story-my-work-my-identity-on-competitiveness-co-parenting-surviving-job-loss/.

Interview with teacher and ADHD expert, Soli Lazarus, based on the ‘A Fine Balance’ blog post: “Sunny-Side Up, Please”. Read the blog at https://a-fine-balance.com/2020/12/06/solis-story-sunny-side-up-please-self-care-for-caring-professionals-finding-balance-in-mid-life-staying-positive-when-the-course-of-motherhood-doesnt-run-smooth/.