Creative Career Change with Hannah Ashe

The new series of Creative Career Change is here, complete with a new logo and a few changes here and there!
I’m thrilled to share these interviews with multi-hyphenate women as we explore the challenges, the joys and everything in between of navigating a variety of income steams.
I’d read about the term ‘multi-hyphenate’ some years back, and the idea of it hugely appealed to me. At that time, I was working in a full-time teaching job with no idea how I could make it a reality. And yet, here I am now earning my living from at least five different methods.
In this episode I talk to arts, design and travel journalist who was catapulted into multi-hyphenate life after an unexpected move to Istanbul.
I'm a huge fan of Lucy’s ‘Lucy Loves’ series of writing on her Substack where she shortlists things to see, do and book each month. The June edition is out now and has some excellent recommendations for London and beyond.
“I had no choice, I had to dive in and really give it a go. Sometimes I think, of course you’d have been able to do that if you’d stayed in London. And then I think no, I wouldn’t have done. I’d have been too scared. So, sometimes a little helping hand or a push is what’s needed to make you do that jump, but I’m so glad that was how part of my path has turned out.“ — Lucy Scovell

Links
* Lucy’s Substack: The Istanbulist
* Lucy’s Instagram page: lucy_scovell
* The Multi-Hyphen Method by Emma Gannon
* Culture Whisper - Things to do in London now
* Pandora Sykes
* Laura Jackson’s Instagram page: iamlaurajackson
* Lucy Williams’ Substack: Remotely
* Mayfair Art Weekend
* Affordable Art Fair
A note from the author
I’m aware that those in the thick of a career change, who have left a job or taken a pay cut, may not have the means to pay to listen and so my Creative Career Change podcast will always be free to all subscribers. I hope the conversations may inspire others to make changes in the way they approach their work in order to seek more balance in their life.
Making this podcast is a labour of love and I do everything myself. This includes finding guests, writing questions, recording the conversation, editing, mixing, composing music and publishing the episode.
By becoming a paid subscriber, you help to ensure I can continue to record new episodes and make the Creative Career Change podcast available to all who need it.
Thank you.
Hannah x
p.s. Lucy and I would love to hear your thoughts on this episode as well your own career stories. Please do share in the comments.



This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Substack is a place of constant connection, and over the past few months I’ve had the pleasure of discovering and getting to know many people from all over the world via the platform. Collaborating with others is by far my favourite way of working, so I was delighted when reached out to see if I was interested in creating something together.
Sarah and I share a background as teachers who moved away from the profession at a similar time.
I’m thrilled to publish this bonus episode of Inspiring Creative Career Change which is more of a conversation than an interview. Sarah and I delve into our career achievements, the traps of perfectionism and finding the confidence to try new things as we enter a new season of our lives.
I hope you enjoy listening as much as I enjoyed chatting to Sarah. Do leave us a comment or question if any part of our discussion resonates with you. We will both respond!
To find out more about Sarah, take a look at her Substack page:
We mention ’s photography page in our conversation. If you’re interested in photography then do check it out. It’s so full of joy!
You can find previous episodes of the Inspiring Creative Career Change series on the ‘podcast’ tab of my Substack page and linked at the bottom/side of this post
.I have a new podcast series currently in production, which will focus on women and non-binary people who consider themselves to be multi-hyphenates. The first episode will be published soon.


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Hello and welcome to the final episode in the ‘Inspiring Creative Career Change’ series.
Starting a podcast was never on my agenda until one sunny September afternoon last year I couldn’t think of doing anything else, and so the Chez Hanny podcast was born.
I feel so privileged to have been able to connect with, and interview, thirteen women who have all made changes in their career at some point in their life.
and I first connected on Substack in September 2023 and we discovered quickly that we had lots of common interests and goals. I was thrilled when Sarah agreed to be a guest on this podcast.
I was particularly interested in Sarah’s route from leaving school, aged 17, to running her branding and design business now, aged 40.
If you’d like to explore Sarah’s work further and see the services she offers, take a look at her website: thesearethedays.co
You can follow her on Instagram: @thesearethedays.co
And, of course, don’t forget to subscribe to her Substack:


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

It was back in 2012 when I discovered adventure athlete Sophie Storm Roberts. I read an article in a magazine about the Three Peaks Challenge that she had completed with fellow adventurer Sean Conway and I was totally hooked.
At that time, I was a super keen cyclist and reading about Sophie’s achievements contributed to inspiring me to complete a triathlon in 2013.
Since then I’ve followed Sophie’s journey on social media. She left a promising career in sales with a tech start-up in search of adventure and personal challenge.
Not long after starting this podcast series, I suddenly had a thought that Sophie would be a brilliant guest. We didn’t know each other, but I thought it was worth a shot to drop her an email and see if she might be interested in coming on the Chez Hanny podcast to share her inspiring story.
To my complete delight, she said yes and so here it is!
You can find out more about Sophie’s work on her website: www.challengesophie.com and on Instagram @ChallengeSophie
Let Sophie and me know what you think about this episode by leaving a comment!


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

It was an absolute joy to spend an hour chatting to a few weeks back. Emily was made redundant last year, but instead of it causing the devastation that many would experience from this kind of news, Emily used it as a springboard to gather a new experience in a different country with her brand new husband (after getting married in Vegas, of course!).
Emily and I talk about the desire for flexibility over security, the benefits of maternity cover roles and why moving from job to job doesn’t make you disloyal!
If you would like to get to know Emily a little more, subscribe to her Substack here:


This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe

Like me, began her career as a teacher. Over the past few years she found herself making a big change due to an “unplanned, pandemic-induced transition” and now absolutely considers herself to be a writer.
In this episode, we talk about giving yourself permission to become a writer, honouring the ideas when they come and listening to whispers.
Have you ever found yourself to be an ‘Ideas volcano’ where you can’t stop coming up with (and spewing) new ideas? Maria mentions this piece of mine during our conversation and so I’ve linked to it here in case anyone didn’t see it when I first wrote it back in September.
Maria has a Substack page of her own: Dream Big (click the link to check it out and subscribe!)
I hope you find listening to Maria’s writing journey to be as inspiring as I did!
Subscribe here and receive the next podcast episode with Emily direct to your inbox!



This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit chezhanny.substack.com/subscribe