From Insight to Action: Building Your 2026 Career Plan

In this episode of the Work it Like a Mum Podcast, we’re sharing the eighth session from Smash 26, our two-day virtual event designed to help women start the year with confidence, clarity and momentum in their careers.

Featuring Claire Wood, Career Pivot Coach and Founder of Lightning Bolt Coaching.

Claire specialises in helping women, particularly mums, navigate career change with more clarity, confidence and alignment, creating careers that truly work for their lives.

What We Cover:

⭐ Turning career confusion into clarity and direction
⭐ Identifying your values, strengths and non-negotiables
⭐ The “Three Ps of Momentum” framework: Pause, Prioritise, Plan
⭐ Breaking big goals into small, achievable steps
⭐ Overcoming common blockers like confidence, time and fear
⭐ Creating a simple, realistic career plan for 2026

This session is all about helping you stop overthinking… and start moving forward.

Key Takeaways:

⭐ You don’t need a full plan, you just need the right first step
⭐ Clarity comes from reflection, not rushing into action
⭐ Your values are your compass, your strengths are your power
⭐ Small, consistent actions build real momentum
⭐ Confidence grows through action, not before it
⭐ Reframing “I can’t” to “I can’t yet” can completely shift your mindset
⭐ Progress > perfection -  always

 Why Listen:

 If you’ve been feeling stuck in your career, overwhelmed by where to start, or inspired but unsure what to do next, this episode will help you bridge the gap between thinking and doing. 

Show Links:

Connect with  Elizabeth Willetts on LinkedIn here

Connect with Claire on LinkedIn here

Find out more about Claire’s work here

Boost your career with Investing in Women's Career Coaching! Get expert CV, interview, and LinkedIn guidance tailored for all career stages. Navigate transitions, discover strengths, and reach goals with our personalised approach. Book now for your dream job! Use 'workitlikeamum' for a 10% discount.

Transcript

Welcome And What The Show Promises

SPEAKER_02 0:00

Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willis, and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids and helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life. I'm a working mum with over 17 years of equipment experience, and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women Job Board and Community. In this show, I'm honoured to be chatting with remarkable women, redefining our working world across all areas of business. They'll share their secrets on how they've achieved extraordinary success after children, their boundaries of balance, the challenges they face, and how to overcome them. Find their own version of success. Shy away from the real talk. No way! Money struggles growth off boundaries of balance. We cover it all. Think of this as coffee with your mates, mixed with an inspiring TED talk, sprinkled with the career advice you wish you'd really had at school. So grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine, make sure you're cozy, and get ready to get inspired and chase your boldest dreams. Or just survive Mondays. This is the Work It Like a Mum podcast. This episode is brought to you by Investing in Women. Investing in Women is a job board and recruitment agency helping you find your dream part-time or flexible job with the UK's most family-friendly and forward-thinking employers. Their site can help you find a professional and rewarding job that works for you. They're proud to partner with the UK's most family-friendly employers across a range of professional industries. Ready to find your perfect job? Search their website at investinginwomen.co.uk to find your next part-time or flexible job opportunity. Now, back to the show. So you can now put into practice every single thing you've learned and build your 2026 plan so you smash this year and you achieve your career goals. Please do let us know as you're logging on if you can hear us all okay. Give us a like, give us an emoji, let us know where you're dialing in from. Let us know is this your first session or is this your eighth session? Have you been hardcore and watch them all? Where are you at? How many of you you watched? And if you have watched, what has resonated with you the most so far? What has inspired you the most and what you're going to take um take away and action today? But today, yeah, this session is all about action because that's what we all want, isn't it? We can learn the theory, but actually it's about taking it into action. But thank you so much, Claire, for joining us today. Um, do you want to give, before we jump in, a bit of a brief overview as to who you are, what you do, and who you help?

SPEAKER_01 3:08

Yeah, sure. Um, well, hi everyone. Um, first of all, I'm sure your heads are all spinning. Um you've spent two days learning from all these incredible experts. So I'm going to try and make this session as interactive as possible. Um, so before I talk about myself, um, I would love it if you could share an emoji or a word that kind of sums up how you're feeling about your next career steps right now. So if you could share that in the chat. And Liz, if you can read out a few words.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

Yeah, when we've got people have a lot of people just saying what session they're on, eight numbers, eight. A lot of people are done eight sessions, so well done. But yeah. Wow, that's amazing. Amazing. So obviously, a lot of people are on fire. So that would be a good emoji, the fire emoji. Oh, yeah, yeah. Lovely. I will let you know as we get them. Oh, stuck, someone has said stuck, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Well that's you're in the right session then.

SPEAKER_02 4:04

Yeah, frustrated, frustrated and scared, optimistic.

Claire’s Career Pivot Story

Reflection And Chat Storm Aha’s

SPEAKER_01 4:10

Nice, love that real mix there, understandably. Yeah. Um, so the aim of this session is to really help you reflect on everything that you've learned over the past couple of days, bring it all together, and turn those insights into action. Okay, so by the end of this session, you're gonna feel a lot more inspired, motivated, and you're gonna have a clear, a clear, tangible plan to help you move your career forward. So, a little bit about me. So, so just to give you a bit of background on my um on my career background. So, I started out in PR and then I had babies and realized that actually I didn't think it was that compatible with family life and motherhood. And I made it my mission to find work that would really um give me more freedom and more flexibility. Um, I found, I mean, I found freelance work and I did some uh part-time PR work as well, so that gave me a little bit of flexibility, but nowhere near enough of what I wanted. So I actually then pivoted pivoted into recruitment through a mutual connection on LinkedIn. Um, and that felt like a really natural progression because it was still within the PR and marketing sectors, but just doing recruitment. Um, and I could do it remotely, I could do it um in school hours. So that felt like I've really hit the chat pot. Um, but then a few years down the line, I realised actually the kids were needing me less. I had the flexibility I wanted, but I was trading my happiness for that flexibility. I mean, I like parts of it, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't quite right. So the problem was I felt stuck, like totally stuck. I'm sure a lot of you can relate. Um, and I, you know, all I could see were barriers, you know. Oh, I'm too old to change a career now. I'm, you know, I can't afford to invest in retraining, I can't go back to university. Um, my confidence was very low, yeah. All the barriers were there. So that's when I decided I really can't do this on my own anymore because it felt like I'd really fallen into every job that I'd had. Um, so that's when I decided to invest in a career coach. And that decision was really pivotal for me because that's when I realised that actually, well, the more I knew found out about coaching, the more I realised that this is what I should be doing. It ticked all my boxes, it just felt right. Um, so that's when I retrained. Um, so that was three years ago, and then since then I've launched my business um Lightning Bolt Coaching. So I launched that uh January two years ago. Um, and now I'm a career pivot coach. So I am essentially exactly who I needed three years ago. So I work with mums who want to change career direction, they want to carve out a career that um is more compatible with motherhood, but that a career that also lights them up. So that's enough about me. Um let's just move on to the reason why you're all here. So um we are going to start reflecting on the key kind of learnings that you're taking away from these sessions. So, first of all, I want you to close your eyes and take a deep breath. So breathe in through your nose, hold it for two, and then breathe out for five. Just make sure that your exhale is longer than your inhale. Okay, and as you're taking these deep breaths, ask yourself out of everything that you've heard so far, that you've learned so far, what's really landed for you. So, not just in your head, in your heart as well. It sounds a bit cheesy, but just write whatever comes to your mind. And when you're clear on that, take a last deep breath and then write it down. Okay, so the next um questions I'm gonna ask you to reflect on. We're gonna do a bit of a chat storm. So um, what I mean by that is I'm gonna ask you to write these questions, write your answers to these questions in the chat, but don't send them yet, okay? Because I'm gonna count down and we'll all share them at the same time to kind of flood the chat box. Um, so the first question to think about is what was your biggest aha moment from this summit? So that could be, you know, you've realized just how unhappy you are on your work, it could be you've realized your work doesn't fit your life anymore. Um, it could be that you need to upskill, you need to build your confidence, just anything. There's no right or right right or wrong answer, it's just what's really landed. So hopefully you've got all your answers ready. Um, so I'm gonna count down now. So three, two, one, hit send.

SPEAKER_02 9:32

And now, Liz, I'm gonna mine shot come off just mine so far. So everyone, yeah, if you're feeling brave, pop them in the chat. Oh, brilliant. Um, they're all coming through now. It must have been a bit of a delay. Do you want me to read them out?

SPEAKER_01 9:49

Oh, yeah, please.

SPEAKER_02 9:51

Yeah, um, mine was that we were all just probably humans. Um, Malkett needs to embrace my discomfort to achieve what I want. June needs to be brave. Heather, knowing I'm not alone in being old and wanted to have a complete career change, and also that I needed to learn AI. Chen needs to do something new, Joanne needs to stick to what um she's in now, and she'll not be able to change worlds without a strong network. Um, Kate needs to own her own store with story. Um, there's some similar themes there. So there's a lot about oh, nothing out of that comfort zone, continuing to network, um, yeah, Ellen use your network. It's definitely about the networking as well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 10:34

Okay, brilliant. Thank you so much for sharing.

SPEAKER_02 10:36

Actually, it's interesting because you got your job in recruitment through your network.

SPEAKER_01 10:40

Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, LinkedIn did a pivot and did a pivot. LinkedIn is amazing for that. Yeah. So even if you're sharing things on LinkedIn and you think, nobody's seeing this, you know, why I'm even why am I even bothering? You never know who's going to see these things. So it's a really useful tool, which I'm sure you've um heard from the previous session. So, right, next question. So these are a bit of a these are two questions combined into one. So I want you to think about what do you want more of in your next chapter? So, is it more energy, more flexibility, purpose, joy, um, just whatever feels right for you. What's going to bring you more fulfillment? And then the next question is what do you need to prioritize in order for that to happen? So that could be anything from but rebuilding your confidence to um really finally sorting out your CV, um, being more consistent on LinkedIn, anything. Okay, I'll just give you a little bit more time to get those down and then I'll count down again.

SPEAKER_00 12:03

Okay, hopefully you're ready now. So three, two, one, hit send.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

I'll read them out as they're coming in. Do you want me to do that? Um create create own network networks and reach out to them. Stability embrace upskilling alongside main role. Um, I put one more energy, so need to make time to rest and recover and do more of our love. Um that's it so far. So if we get any more, yeah, just put them all. Need more clarity, purpose, and creativity, need to re-engage with my networks, um, start before she feels ready, job fulfillment, focus, job search, not desperately applying for anything. Connection is key to well-being. My rationale for wanting to be back into a corporate role.

SPEAKER_01 13:59

Okay. Oh, you went a bit funny there.

SPEAKER_02 14:04

Yeah, you went a bit funny. You're back now.

Quick Tools To Find Strengths

SPEAKER_01 14:08

Oh, I can hear you now. Okay, cool. All right, thank you so much for sharing those. So now we've honed in on the pivotal learnings that you've taken that you're taking away from the past couple of days. Now we need to reconnect with the things that you've learned about yourself. So um, I know that you've spent time identifying your strengths and your values and your career non-negotiables. So let's bring those back to the surface. Um, so when you're navigating your next career move, it's really important to have a solid understanding of your values, okay, because your values show you what's matter what matters most to you. They're like your inner compass. So they're like they're the things that you need to feel fulfilled and content. And your strengths are really important too because they are how you bring those values to life, they're like your power source, and when you align those two, that's when the magic really happens because you start to show up with more clarity and more confidence. Um, so just to give you an example to illustrate that, so one of my core values is um connection, and one of my strengths is my ability to build rapport quickly and easily with others. So that's how those two work together. Um now we're gonna do a bit of a journaling session. Um, so I'm gonna give you a series of journal prompts, and they're there to help you reflect more deeply and get more clarity. So just use these prompts as a way of exploring your thoughts. So just do use them as a starting point and use them to just do a brain dump onto the paper onto your notepad. So don't overthink it, just let it flow. Okay, so whatever comes into your mind, just pop it down. Okay, not in the chat, just in your for your private um notes. Um, okay, so the first one is what values do you want to honour more in 2026? So that could be more flexibility, more joy, more of a sense of purpose. Yeah, again, there's no right or wrong answer. Think of these values are as the things that you need to feel fulfilled. So you might have a value, but you're not honouring it. Okay, and don't worry if you don't get all of these down. I'm going to be sharing um a career action workbook that you can put all of your learnings, um, put all of your notes from today into, and then you'll get even more clarity when you do that as well. So do not worry, because some of these questions are quite big questions, and that they're not easy to answer. Um, right, so the next question to think about is what ripple effect would that have? So if you were able to honour those values, so think about just three values, okay, and the ripple effect it would have if you honored those values. So other areas of your life that it would impact, your family life, your personal life, your confidence. You can write in full sentences, you can write in just put words down, one-word answers. The next question is what are three of your strengths that you can think of right away? So some people struggle to think of their strengths. I know a lot of my clients do initially, so you can always reframe it for yourself. So um think of the things that people tell you often compliment you on, um, things that you can do that other people find more difficult, but they come easily to you because your strengths are the things that they they come to you, they're like second nature, so they're like the things that you do without even having to think about them. It's like riding a bike. And then ask yourself what I've gone too far ahead, but anyway, which strengths are you underusing and what is that telling you? So you might have a strength that you when you're doing it, something you're you're really good at doing, and it brings you a lot of joy. Um so when you're you're in like your zone of genius, um, but that might be a strength that you're not using. So, what is that telling you what needs to shift internally and externally for you to be able to use that strength more or those strengths more. And then the final question, no, it's not the final question actually, which strengths can you use to bring those values to life? So I talked earlier about my value of connection and my um strength that will bring that to life. Um, to give you another example, so one of my other values is freedom. Now I have so I guess my strengths of um, so I can be quite brave and I um can listen to my intuition. So those strengths of mine have enabled me to go out and well, to act on my on my intuition um to retrain, to build my business. Um, and I'm using those strengths all the time because when you run your own business, you're always pushing yourself out of your comfort zone. So um that is just another example. So hopefully that helps. And then now this is the last question. Um, what are your top three non-negotiables for your career going forward? And hopefully the other questions will have enabled you to um get more clarity around that moving forward. So I'll just give you a little bit of extra time to jot those down before we come up come on to move on to the next session section, even shout if you have any questions as well.

SPEAKER_02 21:17

Which I found helpful for the strength thing. Um I don't know if any of you advise your clients to it, but you know the strength-based assessments you can do. Yes. So I did one with Gallup and it was really cool. Oh yeah. Yes, I'm done.

SPEAKER_01 21:32

Yeah, I did one called 16 personalities. All right, yeah. That was that was really good. It's really interesting. Yeah, you can't. And it was quite small, actually.

The Three Ps Of Momentum

SPEAKER_02 21:43

It's quite spooky. 16 okay, I'll have a little look. So 16 personalities or gallop. Yeah, yeah, try that. I've no affiliate with either of them. Yeah, um, they're good, aren't they? There was, I think there's the five voices as well.

SPEAKER_01 22:00

I haven't tried that one.

SPEAKER_02 22:01

No.

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Alright, I'm making it that one.

SPEAKER_02 22:04

My friend did that one. I think anything like that where you just take a bit of time and it'll ask you quite probing questions, and often it is quite, and you're just meant to do it, aren't you once quite quickly and then Yes.

SPEAKER_01 22:16

Yeah, don't overthink it.

SPEAKER_02 22:18

No, and you got quite an accurate response.

Your 2026 Vision And Goals

Coaching The Gap Barriers Map

SPEAKER_01 22:21

Yeah. So don't worry if you're finding these questions hard because we're just kind of skimming the surface of the kind of detail that I would go through in a session. So this is just to help the juices start to flow. Um, okay, so let's move on to the next section. So now we've got clarity, hopefully, on um what you need next. Um, now we need to move into the action part of the story. So So now it'd be really easy to go away from this summit with feeling totally overwhelmed, feeling like you've got a million different actions to do, and then not doing any of them because you just get overwhelmed, and that overwhelm leads to kind of paralysis. So you don't need a hundred or a million things to do, you just need the right first step. Okay, so this is a really practical framework that you can use to help help yourself kind of take a step back and break things down into smaller actions. So the first um, so it's called the three P's of Momentum, and the first P is for course. So that's all about creating space and time to really reflect before you move into action. So that's what we've spent time doing in this session so far. Okay. Now the second P is for prioritize. So you have to choose one area to focus on first. Um, it might be clarity, confidence, connection, communication, um, and it might be a combination of all those things, but what you need to work out is what is the one thing that would help me to focus on first. Um, and then the third P is for plans. So this isn't a huge plan, this is all about turning everything that you've learned into a small doable action. So an action for today, this week, and this month. So, and it's really important here to strike while the iron's hot because you know you've made the time to come to these sessions, so you need to really go away and um start taking action now, not leave it till next week. So, with that in mind, let's start sketching out your career plan for this year. Okay, so again, just drop this down on your notepad, and you can update this all into the document that I'm going to send you later, either today or tomorrow. Um, so the first question to think about is what's your 2026 vision? So think about what you want your work and life like to feel by the end of this year. Try and visualize or imagine what life could be like. I know it's hard to think and look beyond your current situation, but just try and take everything that you've just been um reflecting on and just write down keywords. So is it more energy? Is it more more of a sense of purpose? Is it more joy? Just write down the keywords there, okay? And then um now setting goals, it sounds quite simple, but there's actually a bit more to it. Um, because when you're setting a goal, you need to make sure that it's 100% in your control. So, for example, if you set yourself the goal of I want to get a new job by the summer, that's not 100% in your control because you're relying on someone else to give you a job. Um, so instead, I mean that could be your overarching goal, but you need to think about what how you can break that down, how you can make it in your control and specific. So, using the same example, you might want to say, Okay, I want to put myself in the best position in order to get a new job by August 2026. Okay, and then you'd ask yourself, right, how is it like how do I know? How will I know that I've achieved this goal? So it needs to be measurable. Okay, so you need to think about okay, what will I be feeling like when I've achieved this goal? What will I be hearing? What will I be feeling? So that might be okay, yeah. I will have I will be seeing um my CV, which is I'm really proud of, um, and it's make it getting more traction. Um, I might be hearing recruiters talking to me and telling me I've got interviews lined up. Um, so you might um be applying to X number of roles um per week. So it's just about breaking it down and just making it really tangible. Um, and then you also need to make sure it's achievable and realistic. So if you set yourself a goal that is too big and you don't achieve it, then that's yeah, it's demoralizing. Um, so you need to make sure that you set smaller goals because the more you achieve your goals, the more momentum you get and the more confident you get. So it's fine to set yourself small goals. Much better to do that rather than big, um, unrealistic ones. Okay, and then you need to make sure that you have a very clear deadline. So, not vague, not by summer, um, needs to be 31st of August 2026. Um, so just be really clear around that.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Okay.

Today Week Month Action Plan

Vision Versus A Brutal Job Market

SPEAKER_01 28:26

So, hopefully, you've been able to make notes on that. Okay, so the second step is thinking about the things that are getting in your way. So, in coaching, we refer to this as coaching the gap. Because so, if you imagine yourself on a platform, a train platform. So, where you are with the platform, that's your current situation, and the train is your goal, where you want to get to, and then the gap in between you and the train is the thing that's getting in your way. So, there are five different types of gaps. You've got a skills gap, knowledge gap, will, capacity, and emotions gap. So, skills and knowledge sound similar, but um, skills might be you know, we training, um, upskilling, whereas knowledge is more about okay, well, I need to work out what like jobs there are out there that actually align with my skills and my values. Um, the will gap that might look like um, well, like, do I have enough motivation to do this? Like, do I want it badly enough? Um, then you've got the capacity gap, so that could be time and energy. Um, you might be telling yourself, well, I just don't have the time to do this. Um, I'm just drained of energy all the time. And then emotions. So um that might be fear of failure, fear of rejection, lack of confidence. So, and it might well be you have all of these, and that's very common, but the thing that you need to work out is the thing that's holding you back the most, because that's the thing you need to focus on first. Okay, and then you need to ask yourself what needs to happen in order for you to bridge that gap. So if it's um upskilling, so that there might be um a research gap, so you need to put the time into researching courses. Um, if it's a capacity gap, then you might need to um earmark time each day where you so you build a habit in each day where you spend time doing, I don't know, working on your CV or um researching jobs. And it might be working or um asking your partner to support you, so look after the kids or just uh take the dog for a walk or just whatever you need to happen. If it's something like emotions, like lack of confidence or um fear of failure, then that you might need to spend uh more time on that with a coach or a mentor. Um, so those are the kind of examples that you could work. Okay. So now you've got clarity around hopefully what you want, what's getting in your way. Now is about the time to think about action. So what is one small move that you're gonna take today that's gonna make a big impact? Write that one down. So it could be um, it could be a conversation uh with a recruiter, it could be sending an email, um it could be writing a LinkedIn update. So it just needs to be small, but you absolutely have to do it today. Okay, and now next you need to think about the small move that you're gonna make this week. So by the end of this week, well, tomorrow. Um so again, it doesn't need to be anything big, um, but just something that starts moving you closer to that goal because any type of action is progress. The next thing to think about is one bold move that you're going to commit to taking by the end of this month. So this could be updating your CV, so getting it um in a better place. Um, it could be updating your LinkedIn profile, um, saying that you're going to approach a company that you've been wanting to um work with for ages, um, a boundary that you're gonna put in place. Just whatever it feels right for you. Now, hopefully you've got all those down. Um, I was gonna ask if anyone is feeling brave enough to come off mute and talk through their goals.

SPEAKER_02 34:44

I don't know if they can talk through this. Oh, can they not? Ah, no worries. They can pop it in the chat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't think it has to bring like people in like Zoom, but yeah, absolutely. Please pop it in the chat. Yeah, any questions in there? We do have one question, um which I think people um it's resonated with. How do you balance this kind of aspirational thinking about designing the life you want with the truly brutal job market that at times feel it's impossible to break back into? Swing between imagining imagining an amazing new career with almost applying for minimum wage jobs in a coffee shop.

SPEAKER_01 35:23

Yeah, I mean, it depends what you want, but I think the thing to focus on is to be really clear on your values and what you want. Because when you've got total clarity around those things, then that's going to help you. Um that's just gonna help you feel more kind of optimistic and determined. If you're approaching uh the job market feeling totally deflated, then I think that's gonna come across. What would you say, Liz?

SPEAKER_02 35:53

Yeah, I think obviously you need a vision, don't you? You need to have some clarity on what you want, and actually, once you do have that clarity, work it backwards, and then you this is really helpful, it's this step-by-step action to get you there, and you know, like um Claire said, it might not, it might not be that you know, you're gonna get there straight away to wherever you need to be, but actually every single step you take is gonna intentionally get you closer to where you need to be, and then if you've got that clarity, you need can then work backwards on each step that you need to take to create that life that you want.

SPEAKER_01 36:35

And I mean, there is generally always some kind of compromise. Yeah. So even though I've developed, you know, I've created a career that gives me more freedom and flexibility, and um, I absolutely love it, and I feel like I've found what I'm meant to be doing. Do not get me wrong, like running your own business, it's not a walk in the park either. So you don't have the you don't have a monthly salary coming in, you don't have that financial stability. So it's it's weighing up, it's working out what you're prepared for that compromise to be.

SPEAKER_02 37:09

Yeah, yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, everything's a common it's like when you're buying a house, it's not a just a house. You might think, I want my new house to have you might have a 10-point wish list, and actually you might only get six or seven, but it's prioritizing what on that list is the most important as well to you. But I think we do have much more control than we think we have on how to get what we want. It's just having that clarity and then that tunnel vision, and then once you know that and you've got that laser focus, it just everything else becomes noise. Yeah. And you can then shut that out and then just work backwards. Yeah, totally. Yeah. Oh, we've got some actions now. Natalie, small action today, read the CI SI workbook, which is compliance this week. Um, I've been recently speaking to an internal recruiter, so an update with him to see what the app outcome, and then update LinkedIn, and then you want to do my first LinkedIn post or comment.

SPEAKER_01 38:08

Love it. Yeah, well done. Um, what about a bold move you're gonna take by the end of this month? Anyone want to share that?

SPEAKER_02 38:17

So Natalie's bold moves updating LinkedIn. Okay, also that's really helpful. Think I need to work on that vision clarity.

SPEAKER_01 38:25

Hmm. And just remember that it it is hard, and you do need to give yourself the time and space to reflect on these things. It's not this isn't like a quick fix. This is just to help you get those thoughts running through your head.

SPEAKER_02 38:42

Um yeah, and it is really hard. Do you know what? When I used to work in agency recruitment, we were always sort of thought, um basically we equate obviously in agency recruitment, it's all about billings and you know, and we worked it out pro rasted ratio. If you an interview, if you got a candidate an interview that was worth about 500 quid, obviously not every candidate is then gonna get the job, but you if you get enough candidates' interviews through the course of the week, month, whatever, then you you know, the law of average is you're gonna make money. So we used to be all, you know, our goal was to try and make£20,000 a month on our desk, and that worked out at 10 interviews a week. So it was we were always trying to get 10 interviews for our candidates a week, because that was five were you know, on average would be worth about£5,000 um a week, which would then make us£20,000 a month. But I think that was to help us it was breaking it down. Okay, so we've got we need to get 10 candidates, we need to get 10 interviews booked for our candidates this week. What how many CV cents is that? How many phone calls is that, how many screens is that? And then that is how you break down those goals. Yeah, breaking grand.

SPEAKER_01 39:49

Yeah, breaking it down is key.

Accountability And Your 2026 Word

SPEAKER_02 39:52

Key because that 20 grand is quite a daunting, like, oh my gosh, that's a lot of money, 20,000 pounds. But actually, once you break it down, you're like, okay, so that's maybe that's a hundred phone calls, you know, whatever it was. Um and you just break it down, you then it feels much more achievable. Yeah, absolutely. Lovely. Oh, we've got some we some got some plans, creating a new plan for my business venture from Amy. That's exciting. Um, Joanna LinkedIn and Stevie also relaunch myself to recruiters. I've spent pictures myself up wrong. Okay, always remember to celebrate the wins. When you do achieve some of these small steps, celebrate this, tells the brain that this feels good, so you're more likely to carry on. I think that's so true, Claire, because I know that people set really ambitious goals, and then if you don't achieve it, you can beat yourself up. And I'm so guilty of this when actually you have achieved other things. So sometimes it's better actually to perhaps make more realistic goals as well, or realistic goals on the way to the big goal.

SPEAKER_01 40:46

Yeah. And also, I think I think it a lot of it is about working on a growth mindset. So if you've got a fixed mindset and you're kind of attached to outcomes, um, so say for example, if you went for an interview and you didn't get the job, you if you had a fixed mindset, you would be, and you didn't get the job, you would be, you'd see it as a failure. Um, if you had a growth mindset, you would say to yourself, okay, right, so I didn't get that job, but actually I've learned X, Y, and Z from it, and I can use that to help me in future interviews. So again, it's not an it's something you need to work on over time. Um, but it's I think when you're telling yourself, so your brain can't actually compute the difference between a thought and reality. So if you're telling yourself I can't do this, then your brain is going to tell you that's a fact, okay. Yeah. Um, but if you're saying to yourself, I can't do this yet, just adding that word yet onto the end of that sentence is a game changer. So try to have that in mind the next time you're feeling low on energy and feeling deflated. Well, hopefully you won't be feeling any of those things after the end of the session, anyway. Um but yes. Um, so now you've got clarity on hopefully on your next actions that you're going to take, what you want, what's getting in your way. That's great. But how are you gonna make it stick? Okay, what you need is someone that's going to support you and hold you accountable. So think of someone that you were going to message today after this session. Um, it could be um a career pivot cage, it could be um someone, it could be Liz um getting her to help you with your CV, it could be a community like a Facebook um group, uh, a mentor. Um just put down the name of one person or thing that you're going to um message or research after this session. So if you share that in the chat now, you can even send them a message right now, that would be even better. That's exciting.

SPEAKER_02 43:13

Also, sorry to jump in. You know what I've got as well? I write down all my goals and I've literally got them pinned there and I'm like, this is what I'm gonna achieve, and I've done the day like you suggested, Claire. And it's like, right, that's it. I'm gonna do it, and I know what I'm gonna do it by, and then it just helps that focus as well. If you pin it somewhere where you are gonna see it every day, they do say your goals, you're much more likely to achieve them if you physically write them down as well. Rather than don't put it in your phone in notes, I think it's the actual don't even type in. I think they say it's the physically writing it down, it just goes into your subconscious somewhere. Don't ask me why, I'm not a psychologist, but they do say that. And so I've I've done it. I've written them down.

SPEAKER_01 44:01

Yeah, when you when you update the career temp plan template that I send you, you can print that out, and so you can put all of that info in, and then hopefully that will help. Yeah, yeah. Okay, has anyone shared any names in the chat? Um, I haven't shared names, but uh well, or things that they're gonna do.

SPEAKER_02 44:23

No, no more than what we've got. We've just had about the same.

Coaching Offers And Free Resources

SPEAKER_01 44:26

Yeah, okay, cool. All right. Um, so now I would like you to write down your word for 2026. Um I don't know if it can you see the um can you just see the chat, Liz?

SPEAKER_02 44:46

I was gonna say they can write it down on the notepad and then hold it up to the camera, or they can just Oh no, no, yeah, you can't hold it. Unfortunately, it does not have that. Just write down your little write down your word for 2026. Yeah. Love it, Natalie is winning. Love it, Natalie. What's Natalie written? Winning. A winning, yeah. Winning. I love it, Natalie. That's my fellow. I love that. I feel like I'm gonna borrow that word, I'm gonna write that down. Um I don't know anything about it. Termination, I love that Caroline alignment, fearlessness, how good is that?

SPEAKER_01 45:31

That's a really good one. My word is cringe for this year. Yeah, so that's kind of like leaning more into the things that make me feel uncomfortable, like speaking to camera on my socials and things like that. Because although they make me squirm, um, I do that's when I get the most kind of messages from. So I'm definitely doing more of that and more events. Because as much as I love these, they are they're a bit nerve-wracking as well. So any other words coming through. We've got holistic.

SPEAKER_02 46:10

That's a good one. Yeah. But our Chana has booked a catch-up session tomorrow with her workout. Oh, brilliant. Well done.

Thanks Closing And Next Steps

SPEAKER_01 46:20

Okay, good stuff. So hopefully you've all got a lot more clarity, but if you do need more support um helping you kind of turn that clarity into more momentum, then this these are just a couple of ways that I can help. So I offer um one off bolt out the bee power session. So that's a 90-minute session where we work on a specific um challenge or decision that you need to kind of reflect more on. And then if you're thinking about totally changing career direction, then my She's a Vetric career pivot program might be helpful for you. So that's a four-month coaching journey. At the end of it, you get more clarity. So you walk away with a personalised career pivot roadmap, laying out your steps really clearly, confidently, and then you walk away with a lot more confidence and self-belief. Like some of my clients come to me with very little confidence, and um by the end of it, they are. So like a toolbox that you can use not just for this challenge, but also for any other challenges that later on in your life as well. So, but um accountability is a key one as well. So um I've just put my details here. Um, if you wanted to book a free um discovery call, then the there's the QR code, can't think of the word for it then. If you wanted to do that. Um, and I've got a free resource on my website as well, which is if you are looking to change career direction, then it's um a really great exercise to help you open up your mindset and think about different possibilities, uh different routes that you could go down. Um, and also feel free to follow me on any of my socials. Um, be great to hear from you.

SPEAKER_02 48:26

Yeah, okay. Well, thank you so much, Claire, for wrapping up Smash. This has been a brilliant session. It's been a brilliant event. Um, you know, myself, Claire, who's our marketing manager, um, who's helped me organise it, and she has been amazing. Definitely couldn't have done it without Claire. And I know she's been sending all the replay emails as well and working really hard behind the scenes to get this up and running. And Adele as well. I know a lot of you have done sessions with Adele during um during this the um the week, and she's our recruitment manager, and I know that a lot of you will have met Adele as well. It's part of your job search. So I just want to say a big thank you to them too, because none of this would be possible without them. And thank you so much to all our coaches, um, including Claire, that have helped deliver the sessions, because again, couldn't do it without um without any of them, and also to you, to everybody that has attended, whether you've attended one session or eight sessions. Um, really do appreciate your support because you know, investing women wouldn't have been here. I know a lot of you um have supported the business since I started um nearly eight nearly five years ago now. So thank you so so much and to everybody that has supported um this event and the business. So thank you. Have a lovely, lovely afternoon. Can't wait to see what you all do next. Do let me know, do send me, connect with me if you're not connected with me on LinkedIn and let me know what action you are gonna take from um from this this week. Um and I can't wait, honestly, to see what you all do next. Thank you so much, and thank you so much, Claire.

SPEAKER_01 49:54

Thank you, everyone. Thanks, Liz, for hosting it, it's been brilliant. Thank you.

SPEAKER_02 49:57

Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work It Like a Mum podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review, and subscribe. And don't forget to share the link with a friend. If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willett and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode. You can also follow my recruitment site, Investing in Women, on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram. Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dream.