Career Stories

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The podcast that shares other people's career stories, to help you with yours. Career Stories is a podcast for people who want a better working life. Hosted by Dr Luella Forbes - consultant, researcher and founder of The Career Library. Each episode features an honest conversation with a leader, entrepreneur or expert about the real story behind their career: the transitions, the setbacks, the decisions that didn't go to plan, and the lessons that shaped where they ended up. Every month, Luella is joined by Associate Professor Michelle Gander (Murdoch Business School), an experienced leader and specialist in career development and organisational careers, to unpack the themes from that month's episodes and offer practical, evidence-based advice. Whether you're navigating a career crossroads, leading through change, or simply trying to build a working life that fits — Career Stories gives you the real picture, from people who've been there. Topics include: leadership, organisational change, career development, women at work, management, workplace culture, career transitions, and what it really takes to build a meaningful career.

  1. 3d ago

    Engineering Your Own Work Fame - Leanne Hughes

    "The world doesn't reward intent - it rewards action." Everyone tells you their big break was luck. It wasn't. It was a habit of showing up with your head up instead of your AirPods in. This week Luella sits down with thought leader, speaker and author Leanne Hughes to unpack the real story behind her new book, Work Fame - out 30 September. Forget the highlight reel of stages and airports. Leanne breaks down what actually got her noticed in a big organisation, and why the same mindset now powers her solo consulting business. From a childhood dream of playing netball for Australia to a corporate role that inspired an entire book, Leanne's career story is a masterclass in creating your own momentum instead of waiting for a conveyor belt to move you. She and Luella talk through the reality of solopreneurship, the "walk of fame vs walk of tame" concept at the heart of her book, why being hard to explain might be your biggest asset in the age of AI, and the Canada workshop disaster that accidentally launched her first podcast. Episode highlights: 00:36 - The reality of being a "thought leader" - what Leanne's week actually looks like behind the Instagram highlights 05:01 - Why being "unexplainable" is a strength, not a weakness, in the age of AI 10:38 - The idea behind Work Fame and how one piece of blunt career advice sparked it 13:36 - The "walk of fame vs walk of tame" - the mindset shift behind getting noticed 18:20 - Her formative years at Wicked Campers and the "seek forgiveness, not permission" lesson 24:38 - The workshop that went wrong in Canada - and accidentally launched her first podcast 34:03 -  What success actually looks like to Leanne (and why she talks openly about money) 41:07 - Quickfire round - coffee order, WFH vs office, and the best career advice she's ever received Resources: Leanne Hughes Linked In New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  2. Sep 8

    From Law Firm to the United Nations - Sally Richardson

    "Sitting behind the nameplate and thinking of an extraordinary privilege to represent Australia on that world stage." Today's News: Luella has recently launched new change leadership services - training programs for middle managers and senior leaders, keynote sessions, and a methodology developed through her doctoral research. Find out more here. Most people think corporate affairs means writing press releases. Sally Richardson's version of the job means coordinating with state governments during a live incident, running on what she calls the "no surprises doctrine," and keeping 3,500+ staff aligned when a transport network is in the headlines. Her path there wasn't linear. A commercial lawyer who moved to New York for what was meant to be one year and became ten, did a masters at Columbia, then joined Australia's diplomatic mission to the UN - working the campaign that got Australia elected to the Security Council, then serving on it herself. She came home, worked in Victorian state government, then jumped to Tennis Australia just months before COVID, ending up deep in the biosecurity and border coordination that got the Australian Open delivered safely. Corporate affairs at Yarra Trams, then Keolis, followed. In this episode, Sally Richardson, Chief of Corporate Affairs at Keolis, joins Luella to unpack what corporate affairs actually involves, how a "no surprises" relationship with government clients holds up under pressure, and how staying open to unplanned opportunities took her from law to the UN to national transport leadership. In this episode 00:01 - What Corporate Affairs actually covers at a national transport operator 00:13 - Wanting to be a paediatrician, coming from a family of lawyers, and Arts/Law at Monash 00:16 - Starting out as a graduate lawyer 00:17 - Moving to New York for one year and staying ten 00:20 - Joining Australia's Mission to the UN and the Security Council campaign 00:29 - Luella's Aristotle framework on trust, and doing what you say you'll do 00:35 - Joining Tennis Australia weeks before COVID, and delivering the AO through border restrictions 00:48 - The best career advice she's been given: be open to opportunities 00:49 - Her proudest career moment Resources & links: Sally’s LinkedIn New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  3. Sep 1

    From Art Gallery Director to Behavioural Scientist: One Winding Path - Angela Bliss

    "I was telling them their baby was ugly. That's the last thing they wanted to hear." Today's News: This episode marks the launch of Luella's new change leadership services - training programs for middle managers and senior leaders, keynote sessions, and a methodology developed through her doctoral research. Find out more here. Ever gone from being the outside expert everyone wanted in the room to being the person who actually has to live with the decision - and noticed people stopped listening to the exact same advice? In this episode, Dr Luella Forbes talks to Angela Bliss, Head of Behavioural Science at NAB, about a career that's moved through art history, gallery direction, web design and freelance consulting before landing in a discipline built on one idea: it's easier to change someone's environment than to change their behaviour. They cover why personality predicts behaviour better than demographics, the very ordinary origin of her career (she wanted to be a police officer at eight), and the hardest lesson of her career - learning that being right isn't the same as being heard. In this episode: 00:00 - Introducing Angela Bliss, Head of Behavioural Science at NAB. 00:47 - What behavioural science actually means, and the ATM story that explains it best. 06:15 - Why personality traits predict behaviour better than demographics. 08:29 - Studying behavioural science at the London School of Economics. 13:25 - Childhood ambition: wanting to join the Queensland police at age eight, and the winding path through Japan, London and art gallery direction that followed. 19:35 - Reimagining a NAB bank branch as a design studio. 22:01 - Leaving NAB, going freelance, and being invited back to work on romance scams. 25:04 - The hardest period of her career: moving from consultant to insider, and why the same advice landed differently once she was "inside." 29:23 - Wellbeing, upbringing, and how both shaped her approach to career. 31:11 - Quick-fire round and the best career advice she's ever received. Resources & links: Angela Bliss on LinkedInNew episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  4. Aug 25

    Read Your Own Leadership Habits Before Your Team Does at Work

    "On their worst day, the shadow kind of looms over everybody and stops them being able to do what they need to." Today's News: This episode marks the launch of Luella's new change leadership services - training programs for middle managers and senior leaders, keynote sessions, and a methodology developed through her doctoral research. Find out more here. Ever walked into a meeting already flat, distracted, or just not yourself - and wondered afterwards why the room felt off? Turns out your team feels it too. And there's a name for it. In this month's Career Advice episode, Dr Luella Forbes and Associate Professor Michelle Gander unpack the "leadership shadow" - the idea that what you say, measure, prioritise and how you act on your best and worst days shapes your team far more than you realise. Sparked by a listener email and a comment from August guest Ron Christianson, it's a practical framework for turning self-awareness into better leadership, plus a look at why big organisations seem to grow leaders differently, and Luella's exciting news about a brand new chapter in her own career. In this episode: 00:00 - Michelle's quiet winter of reading (including her ongoing octopus obsession) and Luella's trip to Melbourne. 03:23 - Luella shares the new change leadership services she's launching today - training for middle managers and senior leaders, keynote sessions, and a methodology built from her doctoral research. Full details below. 07:06 - Quick take-aways from Ron Christianson, Asha Bhat and Janette O'Neill's episodes. 08:45 - What McDonald's, Mars and Mercedes get right about talent development - and what gets lost for people who've only ever worked in one place. 20:22 - A personal story about applying for - and not getting an interview for - a role, and what it revealed about how leaders are chosen. 24:48 - Luella breaks down the four-part framework - what you say, measure, prioritise and how you act - and why your bad day doesn't have to become your team's bad day. 32:29 - Michelle shares an example of a leader whose emotional, honest town hall speech landed better than a polished one would have. Resources mentioned: Dr Luella Forbes' new services - Lead Better Change at The NarratologistGravitas by Dr Louise Mahler  New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  5. Aug 18

    A C-Suite View on Adaptability Over Resilience with Janette O'Neill

    "I think what I'm most proud of is the relationships that I've built along the way." -  Janette O'Neill She built a global sustainability function from the ground up, led people and culture transformation across Australia, the UK and Ireland, and was named interim Chief HR Officer for North America right as Covid upended everything about the role. Thirty years in, people still ask her the same question: how do you actually make sustainability work inside a business, instead of it just being a slogan on a slide. Along the way there's a New York apartment lined up in the West Village, a view of the Chrysler Building, and Billy Joel tickets for Madison Square Garden - and then, as she puts it, "the Covid happened." Janette O'Neill is a former Global Head of Sustainability at QBE, with a career spanning strategy consulting, culture and HR transformation, and sustainability leadership across Andersen Consulting, PwC, NAB and QBE in Australia, the UK, Ireland and the US. In this conversation, Janette talks with Dr Luella Forbes about how she built a global sustainability function from scratch, her interim posting to New York and the Covid timing that upended it, what she's learned about resilience versus adaptability, and what it's like navigating a workplace that assumes childless employees have nothing else pulling at their time. Timestamps 00:01:06 - Meet Janette: Global Head of Sustainability at QBE 00:03:09 - A Deliberate Pause: Stepping Away On Her Own Terms 00:09:10 - Decoding Sustainability: Beyond the Paper Cups 00:13:44 - AI's Hidden Cost: Convenience vs Consequence 00:16:19 - From Art Curator to Andersen Consulting: How It All Started 00:32:07 - The New York Dream That Covid Cancelled 00:35:14 - Redefining Resilience: Why Adaptability Wins 00:38:54 - Success, Wellbeing and Life Without Kids at Work 00:44:34 - Quickfire Round 00:45:42 - What She's Proudest Of Resources Mentioned: Janette O’Neills LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/janette-o-neill-a60343/ Connect & Subscribe New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts. Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  6. Aug 11

    Redefining Career Success on Your Terms - Asha Bhat

    "Resilience is not that we don't have setbacks. Resilience is about coming back and showing up every day in spite of all the challenges that we have." She arrived in Australia with a husband, a master's degree, and no career plan of her own. Within two decades she was running one of Western Australia's largest Aboriginal community-controlled organisations - pulling it back from massive debt, then leading it to a King's Birthday honour for service to the community she serves. But the harder story isn't the title change. It's what came before it: convincing a traditional husband she needed to travel for work, rebuilding trust in a community that owed her nothing, and learning - the hard way, over email, in a restructure she still thinks about - that some conversations can only happen face to face. This week, Luella sits down with Asha Bhat, CEO of Southern Aboriginal Corporation in Albany, WA, and recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia (2022) for service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia. Asha moved from India to Australia in 2004, worked her way from finance officer to CEO during an organisational crisis, and has spent the years since building trust, capacity, and cultural connection across housing, legal services, and family violence support. She talks with Luella about leadership lessons learned the hard way, what "sorry business" means and what it teaches about grief and community, and how she's had to renegotiate ambition, marriage, and identity at every stage of her career. Timestamps 00:00:53 - What Southern Aboriginal Corporation Actually Does. Asha breaks down the scope of the organisation - legal services, housing, mental health, and family violence support - and why every program is designed bottom-up with the community, not for it. 00:06:46 - The Restructure Mistake That Changed How She Leads. A hard lesson in delivering difficult news by email instead of in person - and why she's never done it again. 00:10:30 - What "Sorry Business" Means. Asha explains the Aboriginal community's approach to grief and mourning, and the parallels she sees with her own Indian cultural background. 00:21:03 - From Finance Officer to CEO in a Crisis. How Asha ended up leading the organisation she'd joined in an entry-level role, and what she changed first. 00:31:23 - Redefining Resilience and Success. Asha's take on what actually makes someone successful - and why it isn't a number, a title, or being the loudest person in the room. Resources mentioned: Southern Aboriginal Corporation: https://www.sacorp.com.au/ Asha Bhat on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/asha-bhat-oam-gaicd-46b9552/ New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  7. Aug 4

    Inside McDonald's Crisis Comms Playbook - Ron Christianson

    "Trust is very hard to build up, and it takes a long time - but it can be destroyed overnight." - Ron Christianson Most of us think of a crisis as something that happens to other people's companies. Then the media is outside the CEO's apartment, ringing the bell, and someone has to decide what gets said in the next five minutes. That someone, for years, was Ron Christianson - and this week he tells us how he got there, what it actually feels like, and why the leaders who handle it best are usually the ones who've learned to listen first. Ron is the founder of Credence Comms and Coaching, working across corporate affairs and leadership communication. Before going out on his own, he spent more than a decade inside McDonald's - rising from a communications role in Australia to a global position covering franchised markets across South America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia - before a strategic move to lead communications for Toys R Us Asia, right as Covid hit. Along the way there's also a language degree, a year teaching English in Korea, a "kismet" story about two careers landing in Hong Kong at once, and a front-row seat to the 2019 unrest and handover-era change in the city he called home for eight years. Luella and Ron talk trust, crisis communications, coaching leaders under pressure, and what it actually takes to build a career across four continents. Timestamps 00:00:53 - What Credence Comms and Coaching actually does, and why Ron sees communication as a business-critical skill, not a soft one. 00:09:42 - What it's really like when the press is at the door, the boss is calling, and there's no margin for error. 00:27:24 - Ron on the languages and teaching path he almost took, and the year abroad that told him it wasn't for him. 00:58:07 - Resilience, listening, adaptability, empathy, and why celebrating success matters more than leaders think. 01:08:45 - The risk that took him to Australia, and why he'd take it again. Resources Ron Christianson - Credence Comms and Coaching Connect with Ron on LinkedIn  New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

  8. Jul 28

    Your Job Isn't Disappearing (Yet)

    "The bits that will never go away are the human interactions that go with it." - Dr Luella Forbes Everyone wants a straight answer on whether AI is coming for their job. Dr Luella Forbes didn't have one either - not until she'd spent a month talking to three different people who do. What she took away instead is sharper - it's not AI taking anyone's job right now, it's the excuse it gives leaders who wanted to cut costs anyway. In this monthly recap episode, Dr Luella Forbes and Associate Professor Michelle Gander sit down to unpack a month of AI conversations and cut through the noise around job security, hype, and what's actually worth worrying about. Luella and Michelle speak about the challenges with AI adoption at scale, whether whole job categories are really at risk, and the specific skills - critical thinking, adaptability, and a healthy dose of scepticism - that will matter most as AI capability keeps climbing. Timestamps 00:10:50 - Why this month became an AI month: Three guests in a row circled back to AI, and Luella admits she needed the reassurance as much as anyone. 00:13:15 - Is AI actually taking your job? The four-day-week debate, the layoffs blamed on AI that probably weren't, and the filing-cabinet argument for why roles change more than they disappear. 00:23:19 - Agentic AI, the models pulled over cybersecurity risk, and why lumping "AI" into one category misses the real threats. 00:27:21 - Why the sharpest AI users treat every answer with healthy cynicism - and why the craft of analysis isn't dead yet. 00:36:19 - The skill worth building isn't a technical one - it's the resilience to keep letting go of what you just learned. 00:41:00 - AI's uneven reach across countries, and why its impact on jobs is likely to hit women disproportionately harder. 00:46:18 - Just start: Matt Dunn's advice in a previous episode for getting over the fear of AI, and the ground rules for using it safely at work. New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion episode at the end of the month. We would love to hear from you. Share your thoughts on recent episodes or questions you would like Luella and Michelle to answer to stories@the-career-library.com. Support this podcast by becoming a member and get access to bonus episodes containing work related advice from Luella, Michelle and expert guests as well as a monthly newsletter with access to tools and guidance from this week's advice episode. Join here Connect & Subscribe Subscribe to Career Stories wherever you get your podcasts.  Follow Career Stories on Instagram, YouTube, and LinkedIn. Career Stories is brought to you by The Career Library.

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About

The podcast that shares other people's career stories, to help you with yours. Career Stories is a podcast for people who want a better working life. Hosted by Dr Luella Forbes - consultant, researcher and founder of The Career Library. Each episode features an honest conversation with a leader, entrepreneur or expert about the real story behind their career: the transitions, the setbacks, the decisions that didn't go to plan, and the lessons that shaped where they ended up. Every month, Luella is joined by Associate Professor Michelle Gander (Murdoch Business School), an experienced leader and specialist in career development and organisational careers, to unpack the themes from that month's episodes and offer practical, evidence-based advice. Whether you're navigating a career crossroads, leading through change, or simply trying to build a working life that fits — Career Stories gives you the real picture, from people who've been there. Topics include: leadership, organisational change, career development, women at work, management, workplace culture, career transitions, and what it really takes to build a meaningful career.

Information

  • Creator
    The Career Library
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    34
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    ©The Career Library, 2026
  • Show Website
    Career Stories

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