What if exhaustion isn’t a sign you’re doing too much - but a sign you’re doing the wrong things?

In this episode of Play It By Your Rules, I sit down with career strategist and licensed therapist Rachel Spekman, founder of Made for More Coaching, to explore what happens when success on paper no longer feels aligned in real life.

After building a thriving career in the startup world, Rachel reached a moment many high-achieving professionals recognize: she had the title, the trajectory, and the credibility - but something felt off. Instead of continuing to climb, she made what she calls “the largest adult calculated risk” of her life. She stepped off the ladder, retrained, and intentionally redesigned her career around her values.

This conversation dives into what career clarity requires at midlife - and why redefining success often takes more courage than chasing it.

We covered:

• Why midlife often triggers the quiet “Is this it?” moment
• The difference between refining, redefining, and restructuring your career
• The hidden cost of reputation fear in career transitions
• How to reverse engineer your ideal workday
• Why clarity alone isn’t enough - and where courage comes in
• What it means to design values-based, soul-aligned work

Practical Takeaways:

• Audit your current work - what energizes you and what drains you
• Experiment before making a radical move
• Redefine success based on alignment, not external validation
• Consider restructuring your work before abandoning your expertise

This episode is for leaders, high achievers, and midlife professionals who feel accomplished - but misaligned - and are ready to rethink the ladder without burning everything down.

Explore More: 🔗 Follow Rachel Speckman on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelspekman/

🌱 Made for More Coaching: https://www.rachelspekman.com/

Your life. Your rules. For more freedom, flow, and fun.

Playing it by your rules isn’t about getting your way at all costs. A mindful rebellion means recognising that our choices affect others - especially the people we love most.

Caring for aging parents is one of the most emotional, complex, and often unspoken challenges of midlife. In this deeply human episode of Play It by Your Rules, I sat down with gerontology expert, facilitator, and founder of Talk About Aging, Janice Goldmintz.

Drawing on both her academic background and her lived experience of supporting both parents through Alzheimer’s disease, Janice shares practical wisdom, compassionate insights, and grounded guidance for navigating aging, caregiving, and family dynamics - without losing yourself in the process.

🎧 In this episode, we explore:

• Why avoiding conversations about aging creates more stress later - and how to start them gently

• Early signs and “quiet red flags” adult children often miss

• How to approach tough topics like driving, autonomy, and end-of-life wishes without damaging relationships

• Why caregiving should never fall on one person alone - and how families can share the load

• How to care for aging parents and continue living your own life

Janice also shares simple, practical first steps - from normalising these conversations early to creating one central place for essential documents - that can make an enormous difference when life takes an unexpected turn.

✨ This episode is for anyone navigating midlife while supporting or worrying about the wellbeing of aging parents - or for those who want to be prepared before a crisis hits.

Because the goal isn’t perfection. It’s dignity, balance, and the highest quality of life - for everyone involved.

Your life. Your rules. For more freedom, flow, and fun.

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🌿 Join the Mindful Rebellion - let’s rewrite the success script. Keep your impact. Lose the exhaustion.

If this resonates: follow, repost, and add your voice in the comments.

What if career success didn’t mean climbing higher - but choosing how you spend your time?

In this episode of Play It by Your Rules, I sit down with Ani Filipova - former Citi COO turned portfolio career strategist - to unpack what it really means to step off the traditional career ladder and design a working life that fits your priorities.

Ani shares how she intentionally moved away from a single, full-time corporate role - not to work less, but to work differently: with more autonomy, flexibility, and control over where her time and energy go. For her, a portfolio career isn’t about chaos or juggling - it’s about choice.

We explore what portfolio careers look like in practice, who they’re for, and why they’re becoming a powerful alternative for experienced professionals who want freedom without starting from scratch.

• Why portfolio careers unlock freedom - especially around how, when, and with whom you work

• What Ani carried from corporate into her portfolio - and what she consciously left behind

• How she defines a portfolio career (and why it’s not just for entrepreneurs)

• Fractional work: what it is - and why it’s still emerging in places like Switzerland

• The mindset shift from “one role” to “multiple value streams”

• Why experimenting before quitting is smarter than making a clean break

• Audit how you spend your time - freedom starts with awareness

• Run small experiments (projects, advisory roles, fractional work) before committing

• Design your portfolio around energy and values, not just income streams

This episode is for anyone who feels successful on paper - but constrained in real life - and wants more freedom over their time without burning everything down.

🔗 Follow Ani on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anifilipova/

🌱 Change Is Possible Community: https://changeispossible.co.uk/

🚀 Portfolio Career Accelerator: https://simplebooklet.com/portfolio_career_accelerator#page=1

🎧 Listen to Ani’s podcast: Change Is Possible Podcast: https://www.youtube.com/@ChangeIsPossiblePodcast

Your life. Your rules. For more freedom, flow, and fun.