In this month's Career Advice episode, Dr Luella Forbes and Associate Professor Michelle Gander reflect on May's guest conversations with Fadzi Whande, Charity Becker and Annette Brodie, and find a common thread: each of them took a long, non-linear path to land in the work she does now. Luella also opens up about her own delayed reaction, post-doctorate and post-redundancy. The doctorate is done, the corporate job is gone, and the question of who she wants to be for the next 20 years has just walked in.

In this episode:

• The identity work running through all three May conversations, and why every big career transition is also a psychological one.
• Why finding your place rarely happens in a straight line, and why people often need more than one career to find it.
• Self-identity versus how others see you, including what it feels like the first time someone calls you "Doctor".
• Grieving the version of yourself you didn't become, and why naming what's ending matters more than people realise.
• A working lifetime now holds four or five careers, and the rate of change is only quickening.
• How to do identity work practically: trusted advisors, an external coach or mentor, journalling, talking and writing your way to clarity.
• Why sensemaking takes time, and what change leaders get wrong when they skip the middle managers.
• Daniel Goleman's Emotional Intelligence as the book recommendation of the month.

"I was in mourning a bit, because I was kind of grieving the life that I thought I was going to have." — Luella Forbes

Resources mentioned:

• Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (25th anniversary edition)
• The Reconnect Project (Annette Brodie's charity, tackling Australia's digital divide)
• Career Stories May 2026 episodes with Fadzi Whande, Charity Becker and Annette Brodie

All opinions are the hosts' own.

New episodes on a Wednesday, with interviews with leaders or experts every week and a monthly discussion on what we've heard in the last week of the month.

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Read the full notes and practical guide at the-career-library.com/career-stories-episodes/career-advice-identity-work-may-2026.