Chasing Waves

What do you do when your career no longer feels right, but you have absolutely no clue what you want instead?When you’re feeling stuck, it’s easy to think you need a massive 10-year plan or a sudden "lightning bolt" of inspiration before you’re allowed to make a change. But clarity doesn't come from sitting at your desk overthinking it—it comes from gathering real-world information.In this episode, I share how I left a 20-year corporate career at companies like Spotify and Meta without a perfect roadmap, and the exact step-by-step process I used to find my way next. We’re breaking down how to stop chasing fancy job titles and instead figure out what kind of ordinary working life you actually want.Plus, we tackle a major trap that trips almost everyone up: learning how to untangle whether you want to quit a new path because you genuinely dislike it, or if you’re just facing the uncomfortable "tax" of being a beginner.What we dive into:The Passion Myth: Why waiting for an "aha!" moment keeps you stuck, and what to do instead.The Ordinary Tuesday Test: How to design a career around the daily life you want to live two years from now.Fear vs. Dislike: A simple trick to tell if you’re resisting something out of fear or true misalignment (featuring my own messy video-editing rabbit hole).Your Experiment This Week: A low-stakes, real-world action step you can take today to get your first piece of honest evidence.📺 WATCH THIS EPISODE ON YOUTUBE Prefer to see the faces behind the mic? We are officially on camera! You can watch the full video version of this episode, complete with visuals and behind-the-scenes moments, on our YouTube channel. Click here to watch and subscribe: https://youtu.be/BvwyHARf4tALoved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know.buymeacoffee.com/chasingwaves **Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/Enjoyed the show? Hit "follow" and leave a review to help others find us!

If you are considering a career change after ten, fifteen, or twenty years in the corporate world, there is a specific fear that nobody seems to say out loud: What if everything I’ve built so far was for nothing?When you’ve spent years building your credibility, your expertise, and your entire identity around being "the marketing person," "the lawyer," or "the finance expert," leaving doesn't just feel like changing jobs. It feels like losing the person you worked incredibly hard to become. The sunk-cost anxiety creeps in, and you worry you'll be throwing away decades of hard work.But here is the truth: You are not starting from scratch.In this episode, I’m sharing how I completely pivoted my career in my thirties and again at 41, moving from New York to Germany, then Singapore, switching industries entirely, and landing leadership roles at companies like Spotify and Meta. I didn't do it because it was easy; I did it because it proved a point. The experience I thought I was leaving behind became the exact reason each move actually worked.We dive into:The Title vs. Skill Equation: How to separate your daily job title from your deep, portable skills (and how to translate what you actually do into skills that any industry will fight for).The 3-Element Rule: A simple strategy to safely navigate a pivot across location, industry, and seniority without blowing up your stability or overwhelming a hiring manager.Real-Life Proof: From my own leaps into tech and podcasting to Vera Wang’s pivot at age 40, why your past chapters are always the foundation for your next one.You might feel new to the next step, but you are not new. Your skills are coming with you. Let’s talk about how to unpack them.Loved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know.buymeacoffee.com/chasingwaves Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help others find us!

Leaving corporate doesn't have to start with a breakdown. Julie Verdugo, Global Fashion Director at Urban Outfitters and Free People, left at the top, on purpose.In this episode, Julie shares the exact mindset and strategy behind one of the most intentional career reinventions I've heard. She built a sustainability department from a pitch that got a no, went back with numbers, got a yes, and then spent eight years making herself redundant, deliberately. When the work shifted from growth to maintenance, she recognized the feeling. And she chose to go.In this conversation, you'll hear:How to pitch a role that doesn't exist yet (and what to bring to that meeting)The "grow or go" question Julie uses every time discomfort shows up at workWhat masking at work really costs you and what it took for Julie to stopHow she knew it was time to leave when everything was still going wellWhat the first year after corporate actually feels likeWhether you're deep in the corporate treadmill or quietly wondering if your season is up, this episode will help you name it.Sponsored by 90 Seconds, the global video production platform trusted by Lenovo, HSBC, and JP Morgan. We used them to film this very episode. Find out more https://www.90seconds.comConnect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help others find us!

This show is usually about career strategy. But this episode is about something bigger.A few weeks ago my daughter had a health scare. And in the middle of it, I caught myself thinking about work. That moment made me ask honestly: what am I actually optimizing for?Because we only ever track one type of wealth. Financial. But there are actually five. And you can be winning at one while the other four quietly decline without you noticing.In this episode I'm sharing the framework that woke me up and the 10-minute tool I now use to stay off autopilot.In 15 minutes, you'll learn:Why ambitious people keep hitting milestones without ever feeling like they've arrivedThe 5 types of wealth most high achievers are quietly neglectingHow to calculate the number of visits you have left with the people you love mostThe 10-minute wheel of life exercise that shows you exactly where you've been drifting📚 The 5 TYPES OF WEALTH by Sahil Bloom: You can get the book through my affiliate link here: https://amzn.to/4uaojwZFREE EPISODE GUIDE & THE WHEEL OF LIFE TOOL (Takes only 10 minutes.) https://chasingwaves.kit.com/wheeloflifeLoved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know.buymeacoffee.com/chasingwavesConnect with me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/ Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help others find us!

Ever find yourself awake at 2:00 AM wondering if you’re actually cut out for leadership? You can have every management book on your shelf, but the day-to-day reality of leading a team is rarely what they teach you in an MBA.In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on people management with 10 honest lessons I wish I had known before managing global teams across 12 countries.From escaping the "delegation trap" to why you should stop trying to win everyone over, we’re moving past the corporate jargon to talk about what it actually takes to lead with impact.In the next 15 minutes, we discuss:The Answer Myth: Why your job isn't to be the smartest person in the room.The Delegation Trap: How to stop doing your "old job" with a new title.Healthy Conflict: Why avoiding hard conversations is actually a disservice to your team.Hiring Secrets: Why you should never hire a "mirror image" of yourself.Imposter Syndrome: Why it doesn’t go away as you get more senior (and how to handle it).The Art of Quitting: Recognizing when you or your team members have outgrown a role.Whether you are a new people manager or a seasoned executive, this episode is a reminder that leadership is messy, human, and ultimately, incredibly rewarding.✨ FREE RESOURCE: Don't worry about taking notes! I’ve created a downloadable cheat sheet of these 10 lessons for you to keep at your desk. Download it here: https://chasingwaves.kit.com/10managerlessonsSUPPORT THE SHOW Loved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know. buymeacoffee.com/chasingwavesCONNECT WITH JOANNA 🔗 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/  📸 Instagram: @chasingwaveswithjo

You know you’re ready to lead people. Maybe you just got the promotion or maybe you’re building toward it. But nobody hands you a manual. In this episode of Chasing Waves, I’m getting into the part of management nobody really prepares you for. Not the strategy, not the targets, but the people.I’ll show you how to lead with an empathy-first approach that actually gets results, without going soft on expectations or losing your authority.In just 15 minutes, you'll learn: • What's really driving your team's behavior, and how understanding it changes everything• Five things that will change how you lead starting this week• How to lead with empathy without lowering your expectations• The five most common team personalities and exactly how to bring out the best in each one• Real scripts and lines you can use in your next one-on-one Grab the FREE REFLECTION & ACTION GUIDE that has the framework, the scripts you can use. (scroll to the bottom of the page)Loved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know. buymeacoffee.com/chasingwavesConnect with me: • LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/ • Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/ Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help others find us!

Thinking about a career change? I thought the hardest part of switching careers would be taking the first step. It's not.It's what happens after.. when there's no roadmap, no validation, and no one telling you if you're doing it right.In this episode, I’m pulling back the curtain on what a major career transition actually feels like. Not the highlight reel, but the real truth of leaving corporate to find your own path.I share my WAVES framework: five things nobody warns you about when you make a big leap, built from my own experience pivoting from Spotify to launching Chasing Waves. In this episode, we dive into: • [00:00] The Myth of the First Step: Why the "messy middle" of a career pivot is the part no one prepares you for.• [01:50] W: Watch Yourself: Why you might become the "worst boss you’ve ever had" and how to stop the high-achiever burnout.• [04:10] A: Anchor: Navigating the loss of professional identity and community when you strip away your corporate title.• [06:05] V: Vulnerability: The "independent woman" trap and why asking for help is a career growth strategy, not a weakness.• [07:25] E: Evolve: How to survive the ego hit of going from industry expert to total beginner overnight.• [08:45] S: Spark: Finding the unexpected joy and freedom that makes the career uncertainty worth it.• [11:15] Success Update: What happens when you keep going (How Chasing Waves hit #2 on the Apple Podcast charts!).If you are navigating a career change, or quietly wondering "is it supposed to feel this lonely?"... this one is for you. Loved this episode? You can buy me a coffee ☕️ It’s a small way to show your support and means more than you know. buymeacoffee.com/chasingwavesResources & Links: • Connect with Joanna on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/• Follow the Journey on Instagram: @chasingwaveswithjo Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help other career changers find us!

What does it actually take to leave a big tech career and bet on yourself?In this episode, I sit down with Maritza Bonano, Co-Founder of ChangePath and former leader at Meta, where she helped scale a new business line to over a billion dollars in revenue. Maritza has navigated four major career changes, from Deutsche Telekom to early-stage startups to Meta, and now back to founder mode. Her story is about more than a pivot. It is about knowing your non-negotiables, staying flexible on everything else, and having the courage to move even when the market is telling you to stay put. We’ll cover: • How she made bold career moves without having all the answers • The real reason high performers stay stuck in jobs they’ve outgrown • What actually goes through your mind when you leave a “safe” job • Why most people struggle to make a career change, and what to do instead • The mindset and tools that help you move from confusion to clarity Learn more about ChangePath here: https://www.changepath.ai/en Discover the career path and job that truly fits YOU with this pocket self-coaching app. Connect with Maritza on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/maritzabonano/ Connect with your host:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwavesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/chasingwaveswithjo/ Enjoyed the show? Hit "Follow" and leave a review to help others find us!