The Left Turn

The Left Turn
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The Left Turn is a career-change podcast for thoughtful professionals questioning what comes next. Hosted by Deborah Schaal and Julie Rajaratnam, the show explores the human side of professional transition: the doubts, practical constraints, identity shifts, and systems that shape choices about work. Some left turns mean leaving a role or field. Others mean staying under different conditions, returning differently, or living with a question before there is a clear answer. Each conversation makes room for what no longer fits and what becomes possible next.

Episodes

  1. Oct 22

    When Success Costs Too Much, with Delila

    Delila was the colleague everyone thought had it together. She was really just good at holding it together, and it cost her more than anyone could see. Delila Katzka Dale spent sixteen years at Boeing before leaving corporate work to make art. From there, her path runs through long-haul truck driving, a return to corporate, burnout, retirement, a move to Ecuador, and a move back to the Pacific Northwest to be near family. Through all of it, she kept painting. This isn't a story about one clean career change. Delila talks with Julie and Deb about why "productive" feels like pressure, going back to a corporate job for the money and calling it survival, and how she kept taking on more, even in retirement. Her advice for anyone in a job that doesn't fit who they are: money matters, but it comes second to keeping who you are sacred. Know someone with a left turn story we should hear, or want to hear about new episodes? Email us at theleftturnproject@gmail.com. Guest: Delila Katzka Dale, abstract painter. Hosts: Deborah Schaal and Julie Rajaratnam, career coaches.

  2. Oct 22

    Introduction to The Left Turn Project

    A career change podcast about the part most stories leave out: the doubt, the cost, and what it feels like when your work stops fitting. In this first episode, co-hosts Deborah Schaal and Julie Rajaratnam share why they started The Left Turn and how it works. Every guest first sits down for a research interview that never airs, with the same questions every time, so patterns can surface across career transitions. Then they come back for a conversation that goes wherever their story goes. Then Deb and Julie answer the questions themselves. Julie was a rising leader in global health, getting great feedback and feeling the opposite, until a leave of absence and a pandemic changed how she left. Deb spent years optimizing everything, herself included, until she ran out of productivity hacks, moved her family to Costa Rica, and wrote a book to help her cope. They talk about what the change cost that they didn't expect, what made it possible, and what they'd tell someone who knows something is off but isn't ready to move. If you're feeling stuck, burned out, or unsure what comes next, start here. Full disclosure: this is our second take. The first one went out to a small group of early listeners, who told us it sounded scripted. We were trying so hard to get it right that we forgot to sound like ourselves. So we tried again. It seemed like the right way to start a show about changing course. Mentioned in this episode: Lazy Systems: A Practical Philosophy for Building Systems That Breathe, by Deborah Schaal: https://a.co/d/04O0Belh Know someone with a left turn story we should hear, or want to hear about new episodes? Email us at theleftturnproject@gmail.com. Hosts: Deborah Schaal, Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and career coach, and Julie Rajaratnam, career coach and public health professional.

  • 2 Episodes

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

The Left Turn is a career-change podcast for thoughtful professionals questioning what comes next. Hosted by Deborah Schaal and Julie Rajaratnam, the show explores the human side of professional transition: the doubts, practical constraints, identity shifts, and systems that shape choices about work. Some left turns mean leaving a role or field. Others mean staying under different conditions, returning differently, or living with a question before there is a clear answer. Each conversation makes room for what no longer fits and what becomes possible next.

Information

  • Creator
    The Left Turn
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    2
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The Left Turn
  • Show Website
    The Left Turn

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