Career Transitions

Hosted by Vanessa Teo & Vanessa Iloste

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Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

We are HR leaders who are passionate about helping others achieve their full potential. Over the years, we have coached many people through life and career transitions, which has ignited our interest in the topic. We are fascinated with the science behind change, and curious to understand the trends and patterns of successful transitions. We will bring together guests from all walks of life who have been through crucial career stages. We hope that you will be inspired by learning from the experiences of others- business leaders, executive coaches, and experts.

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47 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 725 min

The Hybrid Leader: How Retail's Future Demands Breadth Over Specialisation

What does it take to lead a 250-year-old brand across eight Southeast Asian markets in an era of TikTok commerce, agentic AI, and fragmented consumer journeys? In this episode, we sit down with Evelyn Chua, Managing Director for Southeast Asia and Oceania at Birkenstock, who brings 15 years of retail leadership across luxury fashion, beauty, wines and spirits, and e-commerce.Evelyn shares how she has navigated some genuinely distinct career transitions: from DFS and the world of travel retail, to the fast-moving world of e-commerce at Synergy, to her current role shaping Birkenstock's regional strategy. Her career is a masterclass in what it means to build breadth without sacrificing depth.In this conversation, we explore:How the consumer journey has fundamentally shifted, and why there is no longer one dominant channelHow Birkenstock protects its premium positioning in a region as fragmented and fast-paced as Southeast AsiaWhy AI reinforces rather than replaces the importance of brand clarity and consistencyThe hybrid skills that retail leaders need today compared to five years agoWhat Evelyn tells her team when they are afraid to say "I don't know"Her three pieces of advice for anyone navigating a career in retail: stay positive and adaptable, build breadth, and stay groundedWhether you are a seasoned retail professional wondering how to stay relevant, or an early-career leader figuring out which moves to make next, Evelyn's perspective is grounding, practical, and genuinely generous.Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

June 1, 2026Episode 635 min

Identify, Meaning, and the Social Side of Success S6 I Ep 6

What if the feeling that your job isn't fulfilling enough isn't a sign you're in the wrong place — but an invitation to build meaning where you are?In this Season 6 episode of the Career Transitions Podcast, we sit down with Winnie Jiang, Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior at INSEAD Singapore, whose research sits at the heart of what this podcast is all about: how people make sense of their careers, find meaning, and navigate change.We explore why the "perfect job" myth can do more harm than good, and why meaning isn't something a job gives you — it's something you actively construct. Winnie introduces us to the concept of job crafting: the everyday, practical choices we make about tasks, relationships, and mindset that can transform how we experience our work right now, without changing roles.We also dig into the difference between meaning and purpose (and why it's okay not to have a grand "why"), the deeply social nature of career transitions — including what it really takes to claim a new professional identity — and how AI is reshaping meaning at work in ways that are more nuanced than the headlines suggest.Winnie's research on dancers navigating AI disruption offers a striking window into what meta agency looks like in practice: the shift from reactive adaptation to actively choosing how and where you grow.When was the last time you actively crafted your job — rather than waiting for it to feel more meaningful on its own?Connect with us on LinkedIn and let us know.Read more of Winnie's work:A Search for Daily Meaning: Building a Purpose-Driven CareerThree Lessons From Tech Layoffs on Building Career AgilityIs Working Yourself "To The Bone" Ever Worth It?Perceiving Fixed or Flexible Meaning: Navigating Occupational Destabilization (Administrative Science Quarterly, 2023)From Boundaryless to Boundary-Crossing: A Friction-Based Model of Career Transitions (Research in Organizational Behavior, 2024)Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

May 18, 2026Episode 522 min

The Outlier Advantage: Finding Your Weird and Wonderful S6 I Ep 5

What does it really mean to belong — not just to a team or an organisation, but to yourself?In this episode, hosts Vanessa Iloste and Vanessa Teo sit down with Judy Liu, Founder of The Outlier Mind, ICF Professional Certified Coach, Organisational Psychologist, and author of the newly published Beyond Belonging: Finding Home in Who You Are. After more than a decade building the Learning and Development function at Hays across Asia, Judy made a bold leap into entrepreneurship — and has never looked back.Judy's career path is anything but conventional. Starting with a double degree in Law and Psychology, she moved through recruitment, L&D leadership, and eventually into coaching and organisational psychology — not through a master plan, but by following a thread that only became visible in hindsight. In this conversation, she reflects on what it takes to reinvent yourself multiple times within one organisation, what finally pushed her to go out on her own, and why she believes the most powerful career transitions are not just about changing roles, but about coming home to who you really are.We explore the psychology behind career change — the fears, the hesitations, and the stories we tell ourselves that keep us stuck. Judy shares why she champions the art of slowing down in a world that celebrates relentless pace, and what it means to lead in genuine alignment with your values rather than the expectations of others. Drawing on her experience across Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, and China, she also unpacks how cultural context shapes the way people experience belonging — and what organisations often get wrong when they try to build it.Whether you are contemplating a career leap, leading a team through uncertainty, or simply trying to find your footing in a rapidly changing world of work, this episode offers both provocation and permission to embrace your own weird and wonderful self.Key themes: career reinvention, authentic leadership, organisational psychology, the future of work, belonging, cross-cultural leadership, entrepreneurship Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

May 4, 2026Episode 429 min

From Roles to Skills: Rethinking Careers in the Age of AI S6 I Ep 4

What does it really mean to future-proof your career — and is AI really coming for your job?In this episode of the Career Transitions Podcast, we sit down with Sankar Venkatraman, Global Evangelist for Talent Solutions at LinkedIn, to explore what the data actually tells us about how work, the workforce, and the workplace are being reshaped by AI.With nearly 14 years at LinkedIn and a front-row seat to global talent trends, Sankar brings both the numbers and the nuance. We dig into why organisations are hiring for potential over pedigree, what skills will truly matter in an AI-enabled world (hint: it's mostly human ones), and why the fear of AI displacing jobs is more headlines than reality.Sankar also shares his own career journey — from Silicon Valley startups to Cisco to LinkedIn — and the three pieces of advice he'd give anyone navigating a major career shift. Plus, his concept of ikigai and why finding that intersection of passion, mission, vocation and profession is the only real path to long-term fulfilment.Whether you're leading a team, reskilling yourself, or just trying to make sense of the moment we're all in — this conversation will leave you feeling more curious than afraid.Connect with Sankar: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sankarvenkatraman/LinkedIn Talent Blog: https://www.linkedin.com/business/talent/blogWEF Future of Jobs Report 2023: https://www.weforum.org/publications/the-future-of-jobs-report-2023/Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

April 21, 2026Episode 335 min

The New Reality of Leadership: Executive Transitions in a Complex World S6 I Ep 3

In this episode of the Career Transitions Podcast, we’re joined by Navid Nazemian, a globally recognised executive coach and trusted advisor to more than 250 C‑suite leaders across multiple industries and countries. With over two decades of senior HR leadership experience at organisations such as Vodafone, Roche and BAT, Navid brings a rare 360‑degree perspective on what it really takes to succeed at the highest levels of leadership. Together, we explore why today’s executives are facing unprecedented pressure — from shorter CEO tenures and rising board expectations to increasing organisational complexity and constant external disruption. Navid shares why many leaders now find themselves in a “polycrisis” state, and what this means for performance, resilience, and decision‑making in the modern enterprise. We also dive into what differentiates leaders who thrive from those who struggle. From earning the right to drive cultural change, to adapting leadership style to context, Navid offers practical insights drawn from both research and real‑world coaching experience. He outlines the six essential qualities of extraordinary leaders and explains why executive transitions so often fail — not because of strategy, but because of people, culture and timing. Whether you’re stepping into a senior role, working closely with the C‑suite, or designing executive onboarding for the future of work, this conversation is packed with thoughtful guidance, clear examples, and powerful lessons on how to go slow in order to go fast. A must‑listen for anyone navigating — or supporting — leadership transitions at the top.Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

April 5, 2026Episode 229 min

HR on Offense: Leading the Enterprise Through AI with Kyle Forest S6 I Ep 2

What does it mean for HR to go on the offense — and what happens if it doesn't?In this episode of the Career Transitions Podcast, Vanessa Teo and Vanessa Iloste sit down with Kyle Forest, US Future of HR Leader at Deloitte Consulting, to explore one of the most consequential questions facing people professionals right now: not whether AI will reshape work, but whether HR will lead that reshaping or be swept along by it.AI is accelerating task displacement. Demographics are squeezing talent supply. Volatility is rewriting strategy in real time. Kyle's argument: HR sits at the intersection of internal capability and external labour markets, uniquely positioned to lead — if it chooses to.The conversation covers why AI pilots stall when people aren't brought along, a practical framework for mapping how roles will shift, and why this moment calls for behaviour readiness rather than change management.Optimism with evidence behind it. That's the throughline.What is the next step you are willing to take — and what would it take to take it today?Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

March 23, 2026Episode 121 min

Navigating Work in the Age of AI and Polycrisis S6 I Ep1

What happens to careers when the rules that built them no longer apply?Season 6 of Career Transitions opens not with a guest, but with a conversation between your two hosts, Vanessa Teo and Vanessa Iloste. Two HR leaders, decades of experience between them, sitting with the questions they believe every professional needs to be asking right now.The framing is deliberate. Before the guest conversations begin, they want to name what is actually happening: not a single disruption, but a polycrisis. AI touching cognitive work for the first time. Demographic plateaus reshaping talent supply. Geopolitical volatility rewriting supply chains and strategy in real time. Leaders are being asked to navigate all of it simultaneously, and the divide between those who are moving and those who are waiting for the dust to settle is widening.On AI, the hosts resist the binary. Job displacement is smaller than headlines suggest; task displacement within jobs is already here. What gets left behind when the transactional is automated turns out to be deeply human: judgement, empathy, creativity, the ability to build trust across uncertainty. The more uncomfortable question is whether organisations, and HR functions in particular, are willing to claim the strategic ground this moment makes available, or whether they will automate the administrative and stop there.The episode also examines the shift from role-based to skills-based careers, the shortening shelf life of qualifications, and what it actually means to take ownership of your own development in a landscape that is updating faster than any training programme can keep pace with.At its core, this is an episode about the architecture of a working life: non-linear, context-dependent, and increasingly self-directed.Given everything you know today, how will you shape your career differentlyConnect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

July 7, 2025Episode 831 min

The Future of Work with Associate Professor Jimmy Wong S5 I Ep 8

This week on the Career Transitions Podcast, we’re joined by Associate Professor Jimmy Wong from the Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS). Jimmy heads the Master of Management programme and teaches the popular course “The Future of Work.”In this lively and candid conversation, Jimmy shares:Why being a polymath — someone who learns widely and curiously — is the edge you need for the futureHow to build healthy human-machine relationships and avoid becoming obsoleteThe mindset shifts necessary to navigate rapid change and automationHis personal journey from pharmaceutical rep to academic, and how burnout sparked a career transformationTips for HR and business leaders to redesign work and foster career agilityHis call to action: stop chasing money, embrace learning, and design the career you wantWhether you’re a leader, a learner, or someone feeling a little stuck — this episode is packed with practical insights, laughter, and some serious food for thought.🔗 Referenced in this episode:Book: The Polymath by Waqas AhmedJimmy’s course at SUSS: “The Future of Work”🎧 Tune in to hear why Jimmy says, “When there’s a willing student, there’s always a willing teacher — and that teacher is you.”Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

June 15, 2025Episode 720 min

On a mission to decode the Future with Julien Devaureix S5 I Ep 7

Join us as Julian Devaureix, founder of the Sismique Podcast, explores the evolving world of work and offers insights for navigating a rapidly changing career landscape. With a background in digital marketing and transformation, Julian shares his personal journey and discusses the critical shifts shaping the future, from environmental concerns to technological advancements and the search for purpose. Discover actionable strategies for staying curious, embracing ambiguity, and building a resilient, meaningful career in today's complex world.Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)

May 26, 2025Episode 616 min

Career Transitions and the Art of Networking S5 I Ep 6

In this episode, we unpack one of the most talked-about topics in career transitions: networking—and how to do it authentically.Whether you're a seasoned executive or exploring a new path, building meaningful connections can be a game-changer. But how do we move beyond transactional handshakes and LinkedIn connections to relationships that truly support and shape our careers?Vanessa T and Vanessa I share personal stories, practical tips, and candid reflections on:Why networking is more than just a numbers gameHow to reach out in small but meaningful waysWhat a strong, diverse network looks and feels likeCommon pitfalls to avoid (hint: don't wait till you need something!)Why introverts often make the best networkers💡 One of our favourite takeaways? Networking is about being intentional and valuing diversity—in backgrounds, viewpoints, and experiences.Whether you're rekindling old connections or starting new ones, this episode will leave you inspired to build your network with purpose and heart.Connect with us on LinkedIn: · Vanessa Iloste (Host)· Vanessa Teo (Host) · Aaron Wu (Producer)