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Career Coaching With John

Career Coaching With John

Written by: John Fialkowski
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About this listen

 Hosted by John Fialkowski This isn’t another feel-good career podcast—it’s a reality check with a roadmap. Join career coach and business fixer John Fialkowski as he dives into the messiness of work life—career pivots, toxic workplaces, entrepreneurial headaches, and everything in between. Drawing on real stories, cultural history, and the occasional hot take, John helps you rethink your relationship with work and take back control. To learn more , visit Career Coaching with John John Fialkowski Careers Economics Personal Success
Episodes
  • Episode Eighteen: Your Path in Life with Luca Volentir - Part Four

    Episode Eighteen: Your Path in Life with Luca Volentir - Part Four
    Jan 16 2026

    In Part 4 of the Your Path in Life series, Johncontinues his coaching conversations with Luca — and runs head-first into something unexpected.

    This episode isn’t about a breakthrough moment or a tidyrealization. It’s about what happens when the framework doesn’t land the way you thought it would, and when the coach’s expectations start getting in the way.

    Using a personal “needs” exercise, Luca identifies four coredrivers:

    • Make it happen
    • Consistency
    • Honesty
    • Clarity

    But instead of pointing outward toward an ideal workenvironment or future role, Luca turns the exercise inward — focusing almost entirely on personal accountability and standards he already holds himself to. That mismatch creates tension, hesitation, and discomfort — especially for John.

    Rather than editing around it, this episode stays with thatdiscomfort.

    Over the course of the conversation, the focus shifts:

    • From finding answers to learning when to stop forcing them
    • From being the hero to being the guide
    • From outcomes and advice to listening, presence, and relationship

    Later in the episode, Luca reflects on how the coachingprocess reshaped his own podcast — helping him move from vague conversationstoward more intentional, focused storytelling by identifying the one thingeach guest does particularly well.

    The episode closes with a question worth sitting with:

    What do the people around you come to you for — and whatkind of value do they already see in you?

    This is an episode about expectations, identity, culturaldifferences, responsibility, and the quiet work of paying attention — both in coaching and in life.

    Topics explored

    • The limits of coaching frameworks
    • Personal needs vs. environmental needs
    • Accountability without ideal conditions
    • Cultural differences in communication
    • Discomfort as a signal, not a problem
    • Letting go of the “hero” role
    • Coaching as listening, not directing

    Music Credits:

    Introduction

    For P by ilyatruhanov on Pixabay

    Intermission

    Roy – by JBlankedon Free Music Archieve, licensed under an Attribution4.0 International License.

    Free Enjoy your Life by Agerabeatz from Pixabay

    Outro

    Snowy Night by Delta-x Music from Pixabay
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    1 hr
  • Episode Seventeen - Your Path in Life Part Three

    Episode Seventeen - Your Path in Life Part Three
    Jan 7 2026
    In Part Three of Your Path in Life, John continues his ongoing coaching conversation with UK-based podcaster Luca Volentir, turning the focus toward discomfort, intention, and where real value actually comes from—in work, creativity, and conversation.The episode opens with a reflective side note on Yuri Gagarin, the first human in space, and the quiet tragedy of what happens when someone is celebrated, preserved, and prevented from evolving. From there, the conversation becomes deeply personal and practical: how expectations shape outcomes, why comfort can quietly stall growth, and how unspoken needs distort collaboration.Together, John and Luca unpack what it means to move from interviewing to real conversation, and why the most meaningful insights rarely come from polished résumés or surface-level success stories—but from moments of friction, uncertainty, and self-challenge.In this episode, we explore:Why growth almost always comes from discomfort, not confidenceThe difference between being supported and being displayedHow unclear expectations sabotage collaboration and creative workWhy conversations fail when we chase polish instead of presenceThe tension between comfort, safety, and ambitionWhat actually creates value in storytelling, coaching, and workHow intention—not preparation—often drives better outcomes The real tension in this episode:This episode isn’t about achievement — it’s about what happens after it, and whether you’re willing to stay uncomfortable long enough to keep growing.Using Yuri Gagarin as a cautionary example, John explores what happens when someone is celebrated so completely that they’re no longer allowed to evolve. The danger isn’t failure — it’s being preserved, protected, and quietly boxed in.In contrast, figures like Chris Hadfield, Roberta Bondar, and Mark Kelly treated discomfort as an invitation, not a threat — continuing to stretch, reinvent, and place themselves back into uncertainty.That contrast becomes the central challenge to Luca’s work:If discomfort is where learning lives, what happens when a podcast — or a career — is structured to avoid it?Is the goal to make conversations smoother…or to make them more honest?Path in Life Podcast – Luca’s show🎧 Want early access to the rest of this series with Luca?Become a Friend of the Show on Patreon💌 Have a story about work, identity, or creative struggle you want to share on the podcast?Use the contact form on the site to apply to be a guest.Full Show Notes at JohnFialkowski.comMusic Credits:IntroductionQuiet Bloom by Grand Project on PixabayIntermissionSoundwatch – Southside by Antipodeanwriter on PixabayLo-Fi Midnight Hip Hop by Grand Project from PixabayOutroKura – by Maarten Schellekens on Free Music Archieve, licensed under a Attribution 4.0 International License.
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    46 mins
  • Episode Sixteen - Your Path in Life Part Two

    Episode Sixteen - Your Path in Life Part Two
    Dec 5 2025

    In this second part of the Your Path in Life series, we pick up the conversation with UK-based software developer and podcaster Luca Volentir, host of Path in Life.

    We start with a detour into the alien abduction story behind Fire in the Sky — what happens when people invent a more comfortable reality instead of facing failure, fear, or unmet needs. From there, we dig into Luca’s own story: his podcast, his personal brand, and the tension between structure, success, and genuine emotional connection.

    This episode is less about “how to podcast” and more about authenticity, self-image, and the stories we tell ourselves when our needs aren’t being met.

    “How do you become the person who’s actually right for the content you’re trying to make?”

    Links & references

    • Full Show Notes at johnfialkowski.com
    • Path in Life Podcast – Luca’s show
    • 16Personalities Test – the personality test John has guests complete
    • Principles by Ray Dalio – the book that introduced Luca to “radical open-mindedness”
    • Fire in the Sky (1993) – the film adaptation of the Travis Walton story

    • 🎧 Want early access to the rest of this series with Luca?
      Become a Friend of the Show on Patreon
    • 💌 Have a story about work, identity, or creative struggle you want to share on the podcast?
      Use the contact form on the site to apply to be a guest.

    Music Credits:

    Introduction

    Night Rider Music by Saavane on Pixabay

    Intermission

    80s Robo Man by Kirk Osamayo on Free Music Archives Attribution 4.0 International License.

    Contemplation Part 1 by Danydory on Pixabay

    Outro

    Sunny Ocean Drive Citypop Beat by Noobehouse on Pixabay
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    58 mins
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