Success Stories

"When I caught the train to work one beautiful march morning. The sun came out, the breeze was a steady force 3-4, perfect for sailing, and I just thought 'what am I doing?'. I resigned that day in 2004." Read Peter's story about how he gave up a job in insurance and investment in the city to become a skipper sailing super-yachts in the Caribbean! More

Gavin Leonard fell into a job in computer programming having been seduced by the idea of becoming a computer games designer. Realities of the job were a long way off from the career he had imagined and so, one day, he decided to pack it all in. He didn't know what to do, but he did know he wanted to work outdoors.
Watch his him tell his story... More

Fran Monks of Howtomakeadifference.net meets successful career changer, Liz Clarke, to find out how this mother of 4 young children managed to find the time to go back to University, get a first class degree and start up a pioneering business teaching people how to cycle safely... More

Video interview: Jon Cunningham tells of how he left a highly paid job in the City to take a chance on a new career as a photographer that people warned him was too competitive. Ten years on, he is now a successful lifestyle photographer and owns a company that runs courses for wannabe photographers and writers... More

The man behind Careershifters, Richard Alderson, talks to Selina about his vision for Careershifters, how the business came into being, and the future of careers... More

Paul was formerly a lawyer in an international law firm, but found himself itching to find a job which had the intellectual rigour of law while also satisfying his desire to make a difference.  He had seen a lot of people in the City of London who said they would make their money first and then do good later, who got stuck in jobs that they hated.  So, Paul decided to do an MBA in Chicago and became fascinated in the blurring between business and charity. He is now an Investment Manager working for the UK's first private social investment funds. More

Kimberely Pledger was a commercial manager in interative media, woring for ITV Digital and then BSkyB, but she always felt like a square peg in a round hole. The chance to take voluntary redundancy gave her the opportunity to retrain and become a massage therapist. Read her inspiring story about how she found a career that she loved and how she made the change... More

James Miller 32, married and with one child, was doing well in the corporate world of retail and property for some ten years, reaching a senior level and a salary to match. But as he reached 30 he felt increasingly uncomfortable at the direction his career was taking with a primary focus on profit and money and far removed from his childhood dreams of working with the natural world and making a difference.

Here he tells his career change story, how he figured out his new career path and how he's now moving with a wife and baby to Edinburgh so that he can go back to University to study for an MSc in Ecological Economics... More

This month Howtomakeadifference.net brings us the story of Venetia, a former  lawyer who, after having children, decided to make a career change and start up a cafe that is now transforming her neighbourhood... More