MULTIPLE HATS: STEM Careers | Reinvention | Entrepreneurship |Thought Leadership

Hosted by Angelique Greco | Biotech & Health-Tech Expert | STEM Thought Leadership Coach

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Aug 2026

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Multiple Hats is a STEM career podcast for professionals who want more than the 9–5. Hear real stories of STEM professionals reinventing their careers — from scientists turned founders to biotech consultants and entrepreneurs. Hosted by Angelique Greco, a biotech and health-tech expert with 15+ years across the drug development lifecycle, this show explores how STEM careers can evolve into entrepreneurship, thought leadership, and portfolio work that truly matters. Through in-depth conversations with entrepreneurial STEM professionals, you’ll discover: Where a STEM degree can take you (career possibilities are infinite). How to embrace your unique “patchwork” of skills and experiences. Practical tactics to reinvent, transition, or leap into new opportunities. Mindset shifts from “Can I?” to “Here’s how!” You will hear: Indepth interview to hear the whole story Quick wins episode with key takeaways and actionable insights for you Practical tips to help you change your self limiting mindsets and grow further For who: Scientists, PhDs, engineers, clinicians, biotech consultants, tech pros including women balancing STEM careers with motherhood while fighting stereotypes. Why listen: Representation and role modelling matter. Bold and brave STEM professionals share how they carved their own paths — so you can too. 🎙 New episodes weekly. Follow now to reinvent your STEM career and design work on your own terms. STEMM = Science Technology Engineering Mathematics Medicine Visit my website https://angeliquegreco.com.au/ for short bite insights and on how to start crafting your message to set you on track for the career your want. bumper-verify-280239a7 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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August 17, 202649 min

From Nurse to Medtech Founder: How Clinicians Can Turn Everyday Observations into Healthcare Innovation

How a nurse turned a recurring healthcare problem into NeedleCalm, and what ten years of building taught her about medtech entrepreneurship. What happens when you keep seeing the same problem at work and decide to solve it yourself? Lauren Barber spent years as a nurse watching patients struggle with needle fear, sometimes avoiding healthcare altogether. After a distressing procedure ended in a needle-stick injury for Lauren herself, she decided there had to be a better way. That decision became NeedleCalm. But the idea was the easy part. Lauren had no business background and no commercialisation roadmap. Over the next ten years, she learned about patents, prototypes, grants, clinical trials, manufacturing, funding, procurement and one of the hardest parts of medtech, getting healthcare systems to adopt something new. fileciteturn0file0 🔍 What You'll Learn: If you are a STEM professional sitting close to a problem you understand deeply, Lauren's story shows why that proximity can become a real entrepreneurial advantage. You'll hear: How clinical experience helped Lauren identify a problem others had accepted as normal. What happens between an idea and a medical device reaching patients. Why proving that a product works is only part of the challenge, adoption, reimbursement and workflow matter too. How grants, the R&D Tax Incentive, clinical trials and early manufacturing helped move NeedleCalm forward. Why advice from well-meaning people is not always useful advice. If you have ever looked at a problem in your lab, clinic or workplace and thought, "Someone should fix that", play this episode to see what taking the first step can actually look like. 🧠 About the Guest: Lauren Barber is a registered nurse and founder and CEO of NeedleCalm, an Australian medical device company focused on reducing pain and anxiety during needle procedures. She developed NeedleCalm after years of seeing the impact of needle fear on patients and has spent the past decade building the product while continuing to work clinically. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 Why proximity to a problem can become an entrepreneurial advantage 03:20 What NeedleCalm is and why needle fear matters 07:15 The science behind the device 13:15 The needle-stick injury that changed everything 17:00 Starting with Google, a drawing and a provisional patent 21:30 Grants, prototypes and the first clinical trial 24:00 Learning the business side of medtech 28:30 R&D funding and manufacturing in Australia 30:00 Why product development is only half the challenge 33:00 Reimbursement, economics and healthcare adoption 38:15 The difficulty of scaling medtech in Australia 40:00 Ten years of sacrifice and founder burnout 42:00 What Lauren would do differently 43:00 Whose advice should you actually listen to? 45:00 Awards, self-nomination and running your own PR campaign 47:00 Why you do not need the whole plan before you start 🔗 Resources Mentioned: NeedleCalm NSW Minimum Viable Product Grant R&D Tax Incentive Radium Capital NDIS Diabetes Australia 🤔 Reflection Time: What problem do you understand better than most because you see it repeatedly in your work? Who are you taking advice from, and have they actually walked a similar path? What is one small step you could take to test an idea instead of waiting until you feel ready? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

August 2, 202634 min

STEM Career Change Without Starting Over: Make Room for the Parts Your Job Leaves Out

What if feeling restless in a perfectly respectable STEM career does not mean you chose the wrong path, but that too much of you has been left outside it? 🔍 What You'll Learn: STEM careers tend to reward the rational, analytical and credible parts of us. After years of training, those qualities can become our whole professional identity, while the writer, artist, teacher, founder or curious beginner quietly waits in the background. This episode explores how to make room for more of yourself without resigning dramatically by Tuesday. Recognise which parts of yourself have been rewarded, and which have been neglected because they did not fit the sensible career box. Identify three ways to expand your career: revive something that was always there, combine two existing strengths, or discover a new direction through experimentation. Choose one small action that gives an underused part of yourself room, without forcing it to become a job or business immediately. Play this episode to identify which part of you needs more room and choose one concrete action you can take this week. 🧠 About the Guests: Dr Anupama Hariharan began her career as a dentist before moving into clinical research. Writing had been part of her life since childhood, but she placed it on the back burner while building a serious STEM career. Once she returned to it, she wrote six books in about a year. Dr Sue Pillans is a marine scientist, artist, children's author and graphic recorder. Through Picture Your Ideas, she combines science, strategic thinking and visual storytelling to help people understand complex information. Dr Chloe Lim has a PhD in medical science and works in regulatory science. After volunteering to make balloon animals at a community event, she discovered an unexpected creative skill and built Twisty Science, using balloon art to explain scientific concepts to children and families. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 When a sensible STEM career becomes the only version of you 03:35 What it means to contain multitudes 05:15 The psychology behind our many selves 08:00 Psychosynthesis, Voice Dialogue and Dialogical Self Theory 11:50 Anu's story: returning to the writer who was always there 16:40 The conversation with her mother that brought writing back 18:45 Completing a 21-day poetry challenge in eight days 21:20 Sue's story: building a bridge between science and art 25:15 Discovering that graphic recording was a real profession 26:45 How visual storytelling makes complex science understandable 29:40 Chloe's story: discovering a new direction by trying something unexpected 31:55 Turning balloon art into Twisty Science 34:20 Why some parts of yourself can only be discovered through experimentation 35:25 Three patterns: revive, combine or discover 37:30 Why every interest does not need to become a business 39:05 Finding the part of yourself that needs more room 40:30 One concrete act of permission to take this week 🔗 Resources Mentioned: Listen to Dr Anupama Hariharan: The Scientist and the Storyteller Listen to Dr Sue Pillans: Combining Marine Science, Art and Graphic Recording Listen to Dr Chloe Lim: Building a Portfolio Career in STEM Song of Myself by Walt Whitman The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown An introduction to Psychosynthesis Voice Dialogue and the Psychology of Selves The International Society for Dialogical Science What Makes You Unique by Dr Chloe Lim 🤔 Reflection Time: Which part of you has been well rewarded by your STEM career, and which part has been left waiting outside the room? Is the part asking for attention something you once loved, something you could combine with your scientific skills, or something you will only discover by trying? What is one concrete act of permission you can give that part this week, without asking it to prove its commercial value? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 26, 202610 min

Expand Your STEM Career: Add a New Path Before You Feel Ready | Firechat with Dr Anupama Hariharan

A 10-minute Fire Chat on transferable STEM skills, perfectionism, working smarter and making space for creative work. What if the biggest barrier to your next step is not a lack of time, money or skills, but the belief that you need more of all three before you can begin? 🔍 What You'll Learn: Many STEM professionals assume their technical skills only matter inside their current field. Then they work longer, wait to feel ready and quietly hope their work will speak for itself. This episode challenges those assumptions. Recognise how analytical thinking, problem-solving and perseverance can transfer beyond the technical work you were trained to do. Stop confusing longer hours with better results, and put your effort into the action most likely to change the outcome. Use one small, finished action to test an idea, build confidence and move past perfectionism. Play this 10-minute episode to identify what is really holding you back and choose one practical step you can take this week. 🧠 About the Guest: Dr Anupama Hariharan began her career as a dentist before moving into clinical research. Alongside her STEM career, she has become a published poet and fiction author. In this Fire Chat, she explains how scientific discipline supports her creative work, why perfection is overrated and how completing an eight-day writing challenge gave her the confidence to publish her first book. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 The beliefs that quietly hold scientists back 01:20 From dentistry and clinical research to becoming an author 01:45 The scientific skills that transfer beyond technical roles 02:20 What working smarter actually looks like 02:50 Why the book cover deserved focused attention 04:15 Is done really better than perfect? 05:00 What nature teaches us about beauty and imperfection 06:40 What is good enough to start? 07:40 Turning existing work into a practical first step 08:10 Completing a 21-day writing challenge in eight days 09:20 Facing rejection without giving away your creative voice 10:05 How science and creativity can strengthen each other 🔗 Resources Mentioned: Listen to the full conversation: The Scientist and the Storyteller The Sound of Your Name: Chiang Mai Saga by Dr Anupama Hariharan Explore Antoni Gaudi's architecture in Barcelona 🤔 Reflection Time: Which ability do you dismiss as "just part of being a scientist", even though it could help you in a different role, business or creative project? Where are you working longer because you have not decided which action will make the biggest difference? What could you finish within the next eight days to prove to yourself that you are ready to begin? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

July 13, 202651 min

The Scientist and the Storyteller: Unleashing Your Creative Alter Ego with Dr. Anupama Hariharan

What if your scientific career and your creative life were never competing identities? What if one could make the other stronger? Dr. Anupama Hariharan has built a long career across dentistry and clinical research. She is also a published poet and fiction author. For years, the writer in her stayed mostly in the background. Not because the talent was missing, but because the scientific path looked safer, more serious and easier to explain. Once she gave that creative identity a real place in her life, everything shifted. In this episode, you will learn: Why being analytical does not make you less creative How scientific skills such as research, structure, discipline and project thinking can support creative work How to stop treating your creative identity as less legitimate than your professional one Why you do not need to leave your career to take another part of yourself seriously How grief, frustration and difficult experiences can be channelled into meaningful work What can happen when you stop waiting for permission and give an idea a proper chance Why creativity still needs strategy, visibility and commercial thinking if you want the work to reach people How small acts of confidence create evidence that you are capable of more Anu’s story is not about abandoning science to become an author. It is about recognising that the scientist and the storyteller can exist in the same person. Your creative side is not necessarily a distraction from your serious career. It may be the part of you that brings back energy, perspective and a stronger sense of self. The question is not always, "Which identity should I choose?" Sometimes the better question is, "Which part of me have I kept hidden because it did not look sensible enough on paper?" Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 21, 202628 min

From Burnout to a Multi-Million Dollar Business: How Rachel Service Turned Her Breaking Point Into a Launchpad

What happens when “there has to be more than this” becomes the start of a completely different career. 🔍 What You’ll Learn: Many STEM professionals assume career reinvention starts with a perfect plan, a business idea, or a dramatic leap. The reality is usually much messier. In this episode, Rachel Service shares how a period of burnout and depression eventually led her to build a multi-million dollar training business, despite having no business plan, no roadmap, and no idea what “corporate rates” even meant when she got her first client. You’ll discover: How to recognise when you’ve outgrown a version of your life and what to do about it Why you don’t need the full picture before taking your first step toward a new career or business Practical ways to build momentum, find your first opportunities, and test ideas without taking reckless risks If you’ve been sitting on an idea, craving something more, or wondering whether you could build a different future, this episode will give you permission to start before you’re ready. 🧠 About the Guest: Rachel Service is the founder and CEO of Happiness Concierge, a workplace training company that has worked with more than 200 organisations and trained thousands of employees and leaders. After experiencing burnout, anxiety, and depression, Rachel slowly rebuilt her life, eventually creating a business that allows her to work on her own terms while helping others create healthier workplaces. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 The moment “there has to be more” becomes impossible to ignore 03:00 Burnout, depression, and crying through a Beyoncé concert 04:30 Why Rachel called her business Happiness Concierge 06:30 Starting without a master plan and following curiosity instead 07:30 The power of nurturing an alternative reality before taking action 08:30 How Rachel discovered she wanted to become a speaker 09:00 The first free talk that unexpectedly led to paid work 10:30 Building momentum through visibility and borrowing audiences 12:00 Why nobody is waiting to discover you 14:00 Working for free, building credibility, and finding your first customers 16:00 Different pathways to entrepreneurship depending on your risk profile 18:30 How to handle family members who don’t understand your ambitions 22:00 Why people struggle to imagine future versions of you 25:00 Rachel’s biggest business mistakes and lessons learned 27:00 The role of tiny experiments in career reinvention 🔗 Resources Mentioned: There Has To Be More by Rachel Service Squarespace Beyoncé 🤔 Reflection Time: What is the “there has to be more” feeling trying to tell you right now? If you removed the pressure of having the perfect plan, what tiny experiment could you run this month? Are you seeking advice from people who have actually walked the path you want to take, or only from people who understand your current path? One idea from Rachel that stayed with me: “Show them because they can’t imagine.” People cannot support, hire, promote, or buy from a version of you they’ve never seen before. Sometimes the next step isn’t becoming something new. It’s giving people evidence that you’re already becoming it. This is ultimately an episode about permission. Permission to explore. Permission to test. Permission to imagine a different future before you know exactly how you’ll get there. Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 15, 20268 min

4 Career Myths Keeping STEM Professionals Stuck, and What to Do Instead | Rachel Service

What if the biggest thing holding your career back isn’t a lack of skills, experience, or opportunity, but a belief you’ve been carrying for years? 🔍 What You’ll Learn: Many STEM professionals underestimate the value of their skills, overestimate the need for perfection, and assume hard work alone will create opportunities. In this quick-fire episode, Rachel Service tackles four common beliefs that keep scientists playing small and offers practical ways to think differently. You’ll discover: Why your scientific training gives you highly transferable skills that employers desperately need Why working hard stops being enough as your career progresses, and what replaces it How perfectionism disguises itself as professionalism and keeps talented people stuck If you’ve ever thought “I’m just a scientist”, “I’m not ready”, or “I just need to work harder”, this episode will challenge those assumptions in under 10 minutes. 🧠 About the Guest: Rachel Service is the founder and CEO of Happiness Concierge, a workplace training company that has worked with more than 200 organisations. Following her own experience with burnout and depression, Rachel built a business helping people improve communication, leadership, workplace culture, and career satisfaction. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 The beliefs that quietly hold STEM professionals back 02:30 Rachel’s accidental entrepreneurship story and the burnout that started it all 03:15 “I’m just a scientist” and why that’s completely wrong 04:00 The scientific skills that transfer into almost any career 04:30 Does your work really speak for itself? 05:00 Why career growth eventually becomes a PR campaign 05:30 Done versus perfect, and the real fear underneath perfectionism 06:45 The question to ask when you think you don’t have enough time, money, or resources 🔗 Resources Mentioned: There Has To Be More by Rachel Service Previous long-form episode with Rachel Service on motivation and the “whinge phase” 🤔 Reflection Time: Which belief have you been carrying: “I’m just a scientist”, “I need to work harder”, “My work speaks for itself”, or “I’m not ready yet”? What skill do you use every day that you underestimate because it comes naturally to you? What’s one small action you could take this week if you stopped waiting to feel completely ready? One of my favourite insights from Rachel was this: “It’s not about being perfect. It’s about learning to live with the idea that someone might see your incompetence.” That’s uncomfortable. But it’s also where growth starts. Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

June 8, 202655 min

Stuck, Bored or Burnt Out? How to Find Motivation at Work Again and Design a Career That Fits You with Rachel Service

Have you ever looked around at the career you worked so hard to build and thought, “Surely there has to be more than this?” 🔍 What You’ll Learn: Many STEM professionals spend years building expertise, only to find themselves feeling flat, bored, frustrated, or disconnected from their work. The challenge is not always burnout. Sometimes you’ve simply outgrown the role, environment, or version of yourself that got you there. In this episode, leadership coach and Happiness Concierge founder Rachel Service shares a practical framework to understand what motivates you, recognise when something is off, and start creating a career that better aligns with who you are today. You’ll discover: How to recognise the signs that you’ve entered the “whinge phase” before it turns into burnout The nine workplace motivation factors and how understanding yours can help you make better career decisions A practical roadmap for moving from frustration and feeling stuck to meaningful action, without blowing up your life overnight Play this episode if you’re feeling restless, uninspired, or trapped in a career that no longer fits, and want practical tools to start creating a better path forward. 🧠 About the Guest: Rachel Service is the founder and CEO of Happiness Concierge, a leadership and workplace training company that has worked with more than 200 organisations. After experiencing anxiety, burnout, and depression herself, Rachel built a business dedicated to helping people create healthier, more fulfilling working lives. Alongside running her company, she is studying psychology at the University of Melbourne and continues to explore the science of motivation, wellbeing, and human behaviour. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 Why feeling flat at work is often a motivation problem, not a capability problem 04:00 Rachel’s burnout story and the moment she realised there had to be more 08:30 What motivation really means and why willpower alone isn’t enough 12:00 The “whinge phase”: recognising when you’ve outgrown your work 16:00 The 9 workplace motivation factors that drive career satisfaction 18:00 Angelique’s experience with autonomy, creativity, and feeling boxed in 23:00 Can work meet all your needs, or should motivation come from multiple parts of life? 28:00 The hidden cost of staying stuck 30:00 Why permission and identity are often the biggest barriers to change 35:00 Creating an alternative reality and nurturing new possibilities 43:00 Tiny actions that build momentum toward career change 46:00 How to have honest conversations with your manager before it’s too late 51:00 A practical roadmap for moving from frustration to action 🔗 Resources Mentioned: There Has To Be More by Rachel Service Adam Grant Give and Take James Clear Atomic Habits Beyoncé Michelle Obama 🤔 Reflection Time: Which of the nine motivation factors matter most to you today, and are they being met in your current role? If you knew you didn’t have to act on it immediately, what would your ideal work-life setup look like? What is one small action you could take this week to explore a different possibility, without committing to a major change? If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who seems permanently stuck in the “whinge phase”. Sometimes awareness is the first step toward building a career that actually fits. Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 25, 202622 min

Want to Start Something New? The Safety Net STEM Professionals Already Have

What if starting something new in your STEM career is less risky than staying stuck in a path that no longer fits? 🔍 What You’ll Learn: When STEM professionals think about career change, entrepreneurship, or starting something on the side, we often treat it like a one-way door. As if trying means burning the whole house down. But after interviewing multiple STEM founders, one pattern keeps coming up: many of us already have a safety net. Not a perfect one. Not a magical one. But a real one, built from our skills, experience, networks, adaptability, and ability to get another job if we need to. In this solo episode, I unpack what founders like Shilpa Agarwal, Dr. Lorien Parker, Natalie Chapman, Catherine O Mahony, Viv Allen, Sue Pillans, Cassie Leonard and others teach us about taking risks without being reckless. You’ll learn: • Why your STEM skills may give you more fallback options than you think • How founders use timeframes, milestones, and financial boundaries to make risk manageable • Why entrepreneurship does not need to replace your whole income from day one • How to think about money honestly without letting fear make every decision • Why “I haven’t made it yet” is often a moving target, not a useful rule • How to give yourself permission to test an idea before waiting for everyone else to approve it Listen to this episode if you have an idea, a side project, or a career move sitting in the “too risky” basket, and you need a more practical way to think about what the real risk is. 🧠 About This Solo Episode: This is a reflective takeaway episode from Multiple Hats, where I pull one theme from multiple founder conversations and ask what it means for STEM professionals designing their own path. This one is about the safety net we often forget we already have. It is not about pretending money does not matter. It does. Annoyingly, very much. But it is about asking better questions: What can I test? What is my fallback? What is the timeframe? What money can I touch, and what is off limits? And what might it cost me if I never try? 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 The idea that stuck after Shilpa Agarwal’s interview 01:45 Why STEM professionals often underestimate their own safety net 02:30 Risk is not just about courage, it is about scaffolding 03:20 Shilpa’s three-year promise to keep showing up 04:00 Dr. Lorien Parker on milestones, boundaries, and not touching home money 06:00 Natalie Chapman on getting her first client through a former boss 07:30 Catherine O Mahony on leaving well and turning trust into opportunity 08:30 Viv Allen on staying lean and building through word of mouth 09:30 Sue Pillans on the financial reality of self-employment 11:30 Why life stage changes your risk profile 12:00 Cassie Leonard on accepting a lower income for a more aligned life 13:30 Shilpa Agarwal on family values, spending, and living within the experiment 14:20 The mistake of pretending money does not matter 15:00 The bigger mistake of letting money fear stop you completely 15:40 What Sue Pillans asks: what is the worst that can happen? 16:00 Shilpa’s advice to serve the person in front of you 17:30 Why you do not need permission from your peers, manager, parents, or LinkedIn network 20:00 The “I haven’t made it yet” trap 21:00 Why enough might be today, not some future milestone 🔗 Resources Mentioned: • Shilpa Agarwal, founder of ClinEQ Training and Chapter One Publishers • Dr. Lorien Parker, founder of SciencePlay Kids • Natalie Chapman, founder of gemaker • Catherine O Mahony, founder of On Q Recruitment • Viv Allen, founder of Vivacity Health • Sue Pillans, graphic recorder and founder of Dr Suzie Starfish • Cassie Leonard, aerospace engineer turned author, coach and founder 🤔 Reflection Time: What safety net do you already have that you keep dismissing? What would make your idea feel safer to test: a timeframe, a money boundary, a milestone, or a fallback plan? What are you waiting to feel “ready enough” for, and what would change if today was already enough to begin? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 18, 202617 min

Stop Waiting to Be Ready: 4 Career Myths Holding STEM Professionals Back with Shilpa Agarwal

What if the biggest thing holding back your STEM career change is not your skills, your experience, or your resources, but the beliefs you keep treating as facts? 🔍 What You’ll Learn: This Firechat episode challenges four common beliefs that keep STEMM professionals stuck in the same lane for too long: “I’m just a scientist,” “I need to work harder,” “my work will speak for itself,” and “I’m not ready yet.” Shilpa Agarwal, founder of ClinEQ Training and Chapter One Publishers, brings a grounded view of what it actually takes to move from clinical research into entrepreneurship while still being realistic about family, money, risk, and responsibility. She shares how collaboration, human connection, asking for help, and showing your work can create traction long before everything feels perfectly figured out. In this episode, you’ll learn: • Why your STEMM skills do transfer, especially when you stop dismissing people outside your technical field • Why asking for help is not weakness, it is one of the fastest ways to work smarter • Why your work will not speak for itself until people know what you do and why it matters • How to think about starting before you feel fully ready, without pretending risk does not exist • Why having a safety net does not make your career move less brave, it makes it more practical Listen to this short Firechat if you need a sharp, practical nudge to stop overthinking your next career move and start testing what could be possible. 🧠 About the Guest: Shilpa Agarwal is the founder of ClinEQ Training and Chapter One Publishers. Through ClinEQ Training, she works with pharmaceutical companies, small biotechs, CROs, and individuals across leadership and GCP training. Through Chapter One Publishers, she helps aspiring authors move from secretly wanting to write a book to actually becoming published. Her work sits at the intersection of science, mindset, leadership, and communication, which makes her a brilliant example of what happens when a STEMM career stops living in one neat little box. Honestly, the box was getting crowded anyway. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 Challenging the beliefs that hold scientists back 01:20 Shilpa introduces ClinEQ Training and Chapter One Publishers 02:45 Myth 1: “I’m just a scientist and my skills don’t transfer” 03:15 Collaboration, human connection, and staying open to people outside your field 05:30 Myth 2: “I just need to work harder” 06:20 Why asking for help is working smarter 07:15 Myth 3: “My work will speak for itself” 08:00 Why visibility matters before people can trust your work 08:30 Myth 4: “I don’t have enough time, money, or resources to start” 09:30 Mapping the numbers, family support, and realistic timelines 11:20 Choosing priorities that reduce pressure and unnecessary spending 14:00 Plan A, fallback options, and staying flexible 15:30 Why STEM professionals often have more safety nets than they realise 16:10 Where to hear the full conversation with Shilpa 🔗 Resources Mentioned: • ClinEQ Training • Chapter One Publishers • Full conversation with Shilpa Agarwal, linked in the show notes • Architecture is a Determinant of Health, mentioned as an example of what happens when clinical research and design thinking meet 🤔 Reflection Time: Where are you still telling yourself “I’m just a scientist” when your skills are clearly broader than that? What is one thing you are currently trying to figure out alone that could be solved faster by asking someone for help? What would be “good enough to start” for the idea you keep parking for later? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

May 11, 202652 min

Why Not Risk It? A STEM Career Change Story About Building Before You Feel Ready with Shilpa Agarwal

What if feeling “not ready” is not a sign to stop, but a sign you are waiting for certainty that career reinvention never gives you? 🔍 What You’ll Learn: If you are a STEM professional sitting on an idea, a side path, or a career move that does not fit the traditional box, this episode is for you. Shilpa Agarwal is a clinical operations professional who built a portfolio career across clinical research training, coaching, publishing, and entrepreneurship. Her story is a real look at what it means to build while still figuring it out. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: Stop waiting for your whole career path to make sense before taking the next step Spot the “random” skills that may become the raw material for your next chapter Listen for market signals and shape an offer people actually want Challenge the story of “I have not made it yet” and start showing up anyway Press play if you are tired of waiting to feel ready and want a real example of what it looks like to build a STEM career change one brave, slightly messy step at a time. 🧠 About the Guest: Shilpa Agarwal is the founder of Clin EQ Training and Chapter One Publishers . With around 20 years of experience in clinical research and pharmaceutical training, she now brings together science, emotional intelligence, leadership development, coaching, and publishing. Through Clin EQ Training, she supports clinical research professionals, biotechs, CROs, and individuals with leadership and GCP training that includes the human skills often missing from technical training. Through Chapter One Publishers, she helps aspiring authors turn their ideas into books. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 Why this episode is for STEM professionals who feel they need the whole plan first 02:10 Shilpa introduces Clin EQ Training and Chapter One Publishers 03:30 Living two professional identities: clinical research and coaching 05:50 Redundancy as the trigger for building something new 06:45 Why clinical research needs more emotional intelligence 10:20 The long “brewing time” before the pieces made sense 12:00 Serve the people in front of you, not the imaginary perfect client 16:10 Listening to market signals before building an offer 17:00 Know, like, trust, try, buy, refer, repeat 18:10 “What have you achieved to talk about?” 20:50 Is “enough” a mindset or a milestone? 22:20 Who gets to write a book? 24:30 Why your story does not need to be completely unique to matter 31:40 Outsourcing, collaboration, and building as a solo founder 34:00 How volunteering and networking helped Shilpa get early traction 35:30 Why STEM professionals need visibility before they need a job 40:30 Why “my work will speak for itself” is a dangerous myth 42:00 Starting before you have all the resources 47:30 What if it does not work? 50:00 You do not need permission to try something new 🔗 Resources Mentioned: Clin EQ Training Shilpa’s clinical research training company focused on leadership, GCP, and emotional intelligence. Chapter One Publishers Shilpa’s publishing business helping aspiring authors become published. ARCS Australia Mentioned in relation to Shilpa’s training collaboration and workshops. One Solution, There’s Always One Shilpa’s book, written from her coaching work and mindset models. 🤔 Reflection Time: Where are you waiting to “feel ready” before taking a step you could actually test now? What parts of your career patchwork have you been keeping separate, even though they might belong together? What is one pain point people already ask you about that could become your next offer, article, project, or career move? Want to craft a career story that opens doors? I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you . 📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏 ♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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