My Guilty Pleasure

November 21, 2025
Women In STEM

I’ve got a confession to make… Married at First Sight is my guilty TV pleasure. As a coaching geek, I watch it for the coachable moments, and there are just so many. But one phrase keeps coming up, over and over:

“I never want to feel hurt again.”

It’s a powerful emotional allergy. One we build entire strategies around to avoid.

And I see the exact same thing in career coaching. Over the past few months, the number of people coming to me for strategy sessions after quitting their jobs has skyrocketed. The emotional logic? “If work is the source of the pain, then leaving is the way to stop hurting.”

For others, the coping strategy is overworking, staying busy enough to outrun the discomfort. It acts like an anaesthetic. You don’t feel anything… until the numbness wears off.

Are You Moving Away From or Towards?

In my free Intentional Careers™ Workshop, we explore the crucial difference between “away-from” and “towards” motivation.

Often, when people are considering their next move, it’s to escape something:

  • A toxic workplace
  • A lack of trust in leadership
  • Feeling trapped, undervalued, or overlooked
  • A role that’s become unsustainably demanding or has no visible future potential

But unless we take time to refine, optimise, and explore what we do want, we risk running headfirst into another cycle of dissatisfaction, just wearing different clothes.

🎁 Win a Place on The Career Design Mastermind 🎁

Just as Black Friday deals start flooding your inbox, I want to give something back.

I’m gifting one place on the January 2026 cohort of the Career Design Mastermind, for free.

This is my flagship six-month group coaching programme, specifically designed for:

  • Women with a STEM background, women in STEM, or women in STEM industries who want to create an intentional career with balance, confidence, and fulfilment.
  • You’ll refine, optimise, and leverage your current role and define what you’re moving towards, with all the implementation support you need to make it tangibly happen.

As Sally Caldwellsays in her testimonial,

“Participating in the Career Design Mastermind was 100% worth it. Through the programme I have secured my first intentional career pivot to a Technical Manager role; aligning my values, newly identified vision in natural health and sustainable production, while maintaining a role utilising my natural talents and strengths. The work we did together was hugely influential.”

🎉 How to Enter

It’s completely free and incredibly easy to enter.

Click the link and WhatsApp me the word: 👉 competition

https://wa.me/+442080584506?text=competition

Deadline: Thursday 27 November 2025 at 17:00 GMT Winner chosen LIVE after entries close.

Do you know someone who would benefit? Please forward this email or share the link above, you could change their 2026.

You’ve got to be in it to win it!

☕ Reflective Journal Prompts

  • Where have I cut off sources of hurt in the past, and what did that protect me from?
  • What could refinement and optimisation of my current role unlock for me?
  • What would having clarity on the right next step in my career mean to me?

Keep opening up,

Hannah

P.S. Want to refine what you have and clarify what’s next?

Here’s how I can support you:

P.P.S. Now booking 2026 keynotes and workshops. Let’s move beyond compliance and dismantle systemic barriers, starting with the conversations we’re not having. Find out more

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