In this episode, BBB community member, Fiona Partington, shares the story behind a major career transition, after being made redundant from her banking role and deciding not to return to corporate life. She reflects on how the change has accelerated her timeline and what she wants next.

She talks about joining Better Bolder Braver in July 2024 after discovering it through an AoEC alumni session, and why the community model matters more to her than consuming marketing content alone. She describes trying to work through The Coach’s Marketing Journey alongside a demanding job, and how the live sessions, chapter-based check-ins, and confidence focused reflections have helped her stay connected and keep moving.

Fiona outlines the coaching work she is building, including her role with Future Dreams, a breast cancer support charity in North London. She explains the two client groups she is most drawn to, people navigating work life balance decisions and people making big life changes around career, family, and location. The common thread is rebuilding confidence during transition.

She also addresses her relationship with marketing, moving from discomfort about self-promotion to a clearer view that marketing is simply how people find out a safe space exists. She shares her preference for one-to-one, human centred coaching over personality based approaches, and her belief in word of mouth rather than chasing vanity metrics. Fiona is active on LinkedIn and is currently building her presence without a website.

Finally, Fiona speaks candidly about integrating her own health experience as a breast cancer survivor into her work, including what she has learned about acceptance and the reality of “never going back to normal”. She closes with her next steps for 2026, including joining the January Coach’s Marketing Journey sprint and building a sustainable balance between cancer related coaching and wider transition work.