52: Finding Purpose - How Clare Left Corporate Agencies to Build Meaningful Work for Changemakers

From Corporate Into Calling: Career Change, Burnout, Meaningful Work, Find Your Purpose

“I remember one Christmas Eve… instead of being with my husband and not-yet-two-year-old, I was finishing a project because that felt more important.” If your career looks great on paper but feels wrong in your bones, Clare’s story will resonate.

This is the first episode in my Finding Purpose series—monthly conversations with clients and other brave souls who’ve left corporate, done the inner and outer work, and built regenerative careers on their own terms. These episodes are about real transitions, not highlight reels: the fears, the false starts, and the choices that lead to meaningful work.

Clare spent years in London’s creative agencies, living the long-hours rhythm that corporate culture normalises. Then life forced a rethink—pregnancy, twins, a move out of London, and the dawning realisation that the “fun had stopped.” We talk about how burnout drains the imagination you need for career change, and how the fear of slipping back into burnout can keep you in limbo even after you’ve left. Together we reframe work from the ground up: start with how you want life to feel (family first, balance, a sense of craft) and only then design the work around it.

What’s powerful about Clare’s path is that nothing was wasted. She turned years of brand/communications experience and a master’s in sustainability into Story Labs—participatory, community-led sessions that surface lived experience and weave it into collective narratives for places, projects and changemakers.

Listen for:

• How corporate conditioning leads us to over-work—and why we double down on it ourselves.

• Why burnout doesn’t end when you quit, and how to move despite the fear of repeating old patterns.

• The mindset shifts that unlocked momentum: slowing down, committing, and building something to last.

If Clare’s journey resonates and you’re ready to reimagine your relationship with work, let’s talk. The Meaningful Business Incubator is my six-month intensive coaching program where we will design, test, and launch your regenerative business or offering.
Book a call with me and we’ll talk about what the Meaningful Business Incubator can unlock for you.

Related episodes:
→ EP51: Is Corporate Burnout Blocking Your Career Change?
→ EP50: You Don’t Need a New Job! How to Choose Purposeful Career Change Instead
→ EP49: The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)

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