Hi, I'm Sarah and this is the Squiggly Careers podcast, where every week we take a different topic to do with work and explore the ups and the down, some ideas for action and some tools to try out that we hope will help you to navigate your career with that bit more confidence and clarity.

It's National Careers Week at the moment in the UK and that's

inspired us to have four different episodes this week. We've had four squiggly career conversations

that we hope will give you a window into someone else's world of work and they have been

so varied and brilliant and inspiring so I'm so glad that we decided to do

something a little bit different. Our conversations this week include Helen talking to Jim McLeod.

He's a Royal Navy Rear Admiral who shares some brilliant examples of squiggling and staying in perhaps

a sort of organisational structure that might not feel that easy to do that in.

I talked to Eric Sim, who is a real inspiration. His career story is full of resilience and bravery.

From starting out working with his dad, age 10, selling street food noodles, to becoming an MD of an investment bank.

And he now runs an organisation called the Institute of Life. Definitely worth listening to that. selling street food noodles to becoming an MD of an investment bank.

And he now runs an organisation called the Institute of Life.

Definitely worth listening to that.

And then finally you'll hear Helen talk to Simon Mundy,

brilliant BBC journalist and he talks a bit about progression and how to create, not wait for career opportunities to come your way.

And so today you're going to hear my conversation with Steph Douglas, the founder of

Don't Buy Her Flowers.

I followed Steph on Instagram for a while and I really appreciate how honest she is about

the realities of running her own business and how it works and at times doesn't work with

the rest of her life.

And she shared some career advice for our latest book, You Coach You,

which really just made me laugh.

...