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

Alisa Murphy - From Corporate Into Calling
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Does your career look good on paper but feel wrong in your bones? If you’re stuck in corporate — exhausted by burnout, questioning your work life balance, or secretly wondering “is this really it?” — you’re not alone. And you don’t have to tolerate it. From Corporate Into Calling is your lifeline. I’m Alisa Murphy, a regenerative business mentor and former CEO who walked away from corporate systems to build meaningful work of my own. Now I help others do the same: leave behind burnout and misalignment, and create careers — often businesses or consultancies — that bring life back, to you and to the world. This isn’t about polishing your CV or slotting into another misaligned role. It’s about career change with purpose. Together, we’ll explore what it takes to find your purpose, build your own business, and create work that matters. Each week, I’ll share stories, provocations, and practical guidance to help you: Recognise the signs of burnout and know when it’s time to quit Redesign your relationship with work Find your purpose and create meaningful work Build a career or business that brings life back If your career looks good but feels wrong — this is your invitation to step out of corporate, and into your calling. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

  1. 32M AGO

    70: Layoffs Aren’t a Personal Failure — But They Do Force a Career Decision

    A layoff isn’t just an income shock. What often hits just as hard is the identity rupture — the future you assumed was unfolding, the loyalty you invested, the structure you relied on. If all that matters right now is replacing income, do that. Stability matters. This episode isn’t here to compete with that. But if you’re questioning whether you want to rebuild your career inside the same structure that just eliminated your role — this conversation is for you. We break down three paths after redundancy: replacing stability, taking a structured pause, or beginning to build agency by leveraging the skills and experience you already have. You’ll hear how to move deliberately rather than reactively — and why reclaiming control over how you earn can fundamentally change how you navigate career change. If you suspect your next chapter may not sit entirely inside corporate, this episode will help you clarify your direction — and take the first practical step.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Leaving Corporate? Build Your Exit Ecosystem→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business→ Who Are You Without Your Job Title? Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    25 min

  2. FEB 11

    69: How to Build Work That Brings You Back to Life After Burnout or Career Change

    When my son was four months old, he came with me to a notary’s office in Berlin. I was setting up a company during Brexit uncertainty, travelling across Europe, growing fast. At the time, the structure of my life could hold that intensity and the work made sense inside it. Nine years later, everything looks different. In this episode, I explore what it really takes to build work that brings you back to life after burnout or career change. It all starts with a question that’s often skipped when people plan their next move: How do you want your work to feel?And how should it actually support your life? We talk about why changing jobs often doesn’t stop burnout repeating, how this question becomes a decision point before job searches or business ideas, and why many forms of full-time employment are structurally incompatible with the lives people want to live. Whether you stay employed, change roles, or decide to build your own work, this episode offers a calmer, more grounded place to start.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ You Don’t Need a New Job! How to Choose Purposeful Career Change Instead→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work)→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    26 min

  3. FEB 4

    68: Why values-first work is rare (and what to do about it)

    So many people want meaningful work that aligns with their values — especially when burnout sets in or a career change starts to feel inevitable. Yet truly values-first organisations remain hard to find. In this episode, I share my experience of working closely with a genuinely values-first business, including time spent on retreat with the team in the Czech mountains. We explore what’s really happening beneath the surface of work like this — the choices, trade-offs, and commitments that make it possible, and why waiting for the “right” opportunity often leads to frustration and self-doubt. This conversation is for anyone questioning their career, searching for purpose, or wondering how to move toward more meaningful work without burning everything down. If you’re questioning your career or feeling burned out, explore earlier episodes of From Corporate Into Calling for grounded reflections on career change and finding purpose. If you’re still inside corporate but know something has to shift, take a look at Courage to Quit for practical support in building a responsible exit.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    32 min

  4. JAN 28

    67: Leaving Corporate? Build Your Exit Ecosystem (Interview on the Up Your Impact podcast)

    This week’s episode is a replay of an interview I recorded with Courtney Holm for the Up Your Impact podcast. We talk about what it really feels like when you’re stuck in corporate — especially when financial fear, responsibility, and the day-to-day reality of your work feel completely out of sync with what you want your life to look like. In the conversation, I share an ecosystem approach to career transition: a resilient way to expand your options and start building meaningful work over time — without needing to take a dramatic leap or burn everything down overnight. In this episode, we cover: Why the gap between “what you’re doing” and “what you want” can feel so heavy The role of financial fear in keeping you stuck What an “ecosystem approach” actually means (and why it works) How to build options and momentum in a grounded, realistic way The difference between craving clarity and needing a first step Discover Courtney's work at https://theholmedit.com/ Ready to make an empowered exit from corporate? Courage to Quit will give you clarity, direction, and a practical plan for what to do next — without spiralling, procrastinating, or trying to force certainty before you act. Book Courage to Quit here.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    25 min

  5. JAN 21

    66: If leaping out of corporate feels too scary, build a bridge instead

    Quitting your corporate job can feel like you’re teetering on the edge of an impossibly high diving board. Everyone’s shouting advice from below. You can’t see how far the drop is. And the idea of leaping — without knowing what comes next — is enough to keep most people frozen exactly where they are. What if you don’t have to leap? What if you can build a bridge instead? In this episode, I talk about why so many people stay stuck in work they’ve outgrown — not because they lack courage, but because the dominant story about career change makes quitting your job feel reckless or irresponsible. If you’re edging toward burnout, questioning your purpose, or longing for more meaningful work, that story will feel very familiar. Today we look at how to take a bridging approach to career change: reducing hours, going freelance or fractional, creating a portfolio phase, or backing yourself for a defined period of time. These are powerful ways of leaving corporate that protect your income, your energy, and your ability to think clearly — especially if you don’t yet know exactly what comes next. If you know it's time for an exit — and you want a way out that doesn’t require blind faith or superhuman bravery — this episode will help you see a different path. One that lets you move toward meaningful work without waiting for burnout to force the decision.Book Courage to Quit here. Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ When work stops making sense (early signs of burnout)→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    27 min

  6. JAN 14

    65: When work stops making sense (early signs of burnout)

    What do you do when work stops having meaning for you? When the career you’ve poured years of energy into still looks fine from the outside, but no longer feels aligned? That moment can be hard to name — and even harder to act on — especially when nothing is obviously “wrong.” In this episode, I talk about that early phase that often comes long before burnout. The sinking loss of belief. The nagging questions that won’t go away. The sense that you’re propping something up that no longer makes sense to you. I share reflections from my own experience of questioning work I’d invested in for years, alongside what I’ve seen happen when people ignore these signals for too long and end up paying a much higher price later. This isn’t about dramatic exits or throwing everything away. It’s about learning to trust what you’re feeling before your body has to force the issue. Too often, we tell ourselves to push through, be grateful, or wait for certainty — and in doing so, we override important information about what’s no longer right. If you’re at a point where something in your work has shifted, but you haven’t given yourself permission to listen yet, this episode is for you. It’s an invitation to take that feeling seriously — and to act in an empowered way, rather than waiting until burnout makes the decision for you.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    24 min

  7. JAN 7

    64: Why I’m Choosing Consistency and Commitment in 2026

    I’m starting 2026 by sharing the word I’ve chosen for the year, and why it matters more to me than any New Year’s resolution. This episode is a behind-the-scenes look at how I’m thinking about goals, commitment, and what it really takes to build a meaningful work life over time. We talk about why career change and meaningful work aren’t just about clarity or finding your purpose, but about staying with the work when things feel slow, uncertain, or uncomfortable. I share parts of my own journey — from building and selling my previous business to focusing on health and strength — and how I’ve come to understand the power of compounding results. This isn’t about hustle or pushing harder. It’s about showing up in a human way, even when life gets in the way, and trusting that small, consistent commitments add up. Especially if you’re recovering from burnout, questioning your direction, or trying to build work on your own terms. If you’re tired of extractive goal-setting and wondering how to keep going without burning out, this episode is an invitation to think differently. You don’t need a perfect plan for your career change — but you do need commitment, and the willingness to keep believing in yourself and your work.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    28 min

  8. 12/31/2025

    63: A Regenerative Christmas Carol – Part 3: The Ghost of Meaningful Christmas Future

    As the year comes to a close, I continue the regenerative retelling of A Christmas Carol, turning our attention toward the future and what meaningful work might actually look like when it’s no longer shaped by exhaustion or extraction. In Part Three, we meet the Ghost of Meaningful Christmas Future and glimpse a different way of working: one rooted in alignment, care, and contribution — not just for ourselves, but for the people, communities, and living systems our work touches. This final chapter isn’t a blueprint or a promise. It’s an act of imagination. A reminder that the ways we work today are not inevitable — and that stepping away from dehumanising systems can open space for more honest, humane, and generative forms of contribution. At its heart, this story is an expression of belief: that individuals are capable of far more than the corporate system asks of them, and that meaningful, regenerative work is not a fantasy, but something real and available to be shaped.Next steps:✦ Discover the Meaningful Business Incubator✦ Subscribe to my emails✦ Book a call with me Related episodes:→ Sick of the job market? Why now is the perfect time to build your own business with purpose→ Don’t Just Quit Your Job — Pivot with Purpose→ The 3 Types of People Who Need to Quit Corporate (and Find Meaningful Work) Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

    6 min
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Does your career look good on paper but feel wrong in your bones? If you’re stuck in corporate — exhausted by burnout, questioning your work life balance, or secretly wondering “is this really it?” — you’re not alone. And you don’t have to tolerate it. From Corporate Into Calling is your lifeline. I’m Alisa Murphy, a regenerative business mentor and former CEO who walked away from corporate systems to build meaningful work of my own. Now I help others do the same: leave behind burnout and misalignment, and create careers — often businesses or consultancies — that bring life back, to you and to the world. This isn’t about polishing your CV or slotting into another misaligned role. It’s about career change with purpose. Together, we’ll explore what it takes to find your purpose, build your own business, and create work that matters. Each week, I’ll share stories, provocations, and practical guidance to help you: Recognise the signs of burnout and know when it’s time to quit Redesign your relationship with work Find your purpose and create meaningful work Build a career or business that brings life back If your career looks good but feels wrong — this is your invitation to step out of corporate, and into your calling. Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

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