Happen To Your Career - Meaningful Work, Career Change, Career Design, & Job Search
How do you find meaningful work that pays really well? How do high performers find purpose and happiness in their career? The hope that there is more out there than feeling anxious, burned out, unfulfilled and stuck in your career has led you here! If you’re ready to find work you love that allows you the flexibility and autonomy to prioritize the things most important to you, then you’re in the right place! This kind of work not only exists, but there’s a better way to get there (and it’s not scrolling through job boards). This podcast will challenge you to reconsider what meaningful work looks like and expand your beliefs on what is truly possible for your career & life (and even your job search). Join Scott Anthony Barlow, CEO of Happen To Your Career (HTYC), as he brings you weekly learnings through conversations with successful career changers and experts in psychology, negotiation, signature strengths, happiness, work culture, and unconventional career change. Past guests include Daniel Pink, Gretchen Rubin, Marshall Goldsmith, Jen Sincero, Jenny Blake, Nir Eyal, Vanessa Van Edwards, J.J. Sutherland, Mac Pritchard, Lauren McGoodwin ( Career Contessa ), Dave Stachowiak ( Coaching For Leaders ) Work doesn’t have to suck. You truly can find work you freaking love! Let us show you how you can “happen to your career.”
Episodes
You’re not stuck because you lack ambition—you’re stuck because something big has shifted. How Burnout, Breakups, and Babies Trigger Career Change.
In this episode, Scott walks through 3 of the 16 powerful life events—what we call Career Change Catalysts—that often trigger career transformation. You’ll hear real stories from people who faced burnout, identity shifts, and quiet career misalignment… and how they used those moments to...
What if quitting isn’t the answer? Jill’s journey proves that experimenting with your career while still employed can create powerful ripple effects and open new possibilities.
What you’ll learn
What happens when burnout, a toxic work environment, and an unaligned life all hit at once? For Jackie, the answer was a bold, full-life transformation. She left a toxic job, ended a long-term relationship, and made a career change that finally felt aligned with her values, her energy, and her purpose.
What you’ll learn
- How to identify when a “better” job still isn’t the right...
The way you communicate could be the reason you're stuck, OR the reason you get ahead. Charles Duhigg shares the Supercommunicator framework that helps you nail interviews, lead better meetings, and have the career-defining conversations that actually get results.
What you’ll learn
- How to shift from “saying the right thing” to actually connecting
- How top performers approach im...
What happens when career growth pulls you away from the work that you actually love? Dan Ruley’s car...
Your strengths aren't just what you're good at—they're your career compass. When you ignore your signature strengths, even great opportunities become draining. Discover how one IO psychologist used her strengths to break free from the "great opportunity trap" and find work that truly energizes her.
What you’ll learn
- Why your signature strengths should guide your career experim...
Tired of sending dozens of applications into the void with no response? The real problem isn't your resume or the job market, it's that most people use job boards like slot machines, hoping to get lucky. Discover how one person went from months of rejected applications to landing their dream job in just one week by changing their entire approach to job searching (and how you can too!)
Thinking about returning to work after a career break, but feeling paralyzed by the gap on your resume? After years in a demanding executive role, Caroline found herself burned out, unfulfilled, and wondering if this was really “success.” Find out how she gave herself permission to walk away, take a two-year career break, and rebuild a work life that finally fits her life and her values.
...
Maybe you have a “great job” where you’ve been extremely successful. But does any of that matter if you dread going to work? Nope, you’re not ungrateful if you feel this way. When your career no longer aligns with your life, it's often because your identity has become too tightly wound around your job title, creating what feels like an inescapable trap. Learn how Karen stepped away from her all-encompassing job as a Dean and redesi...
As human beings, when we get stuck, we tend to focus on one thing that we latch onto as the “reason” why. Or one thing that if we could only do, it would solve all of our problems.
It’s never just one thing. It’s always more nuanced than that.
There is one thing that is very clear though. The reasons why you think you’re ...
Have you ever heard of career coaches use a ranking system for career change difficulty?
As the difficulty goes up, these career coaches would have you believe it’s impossible… except it’s not. I’ve talked to career experts and career coaches that will try to talk you out of it.
It’s difficult to imagine how career changes actually work without starting over if you’ve never done it yourself.
So, in today’s episode, we’re revealin...
Are your skills transferable to your dream career?
Many people don’t believe that their skills can apply to the career they are desiring to move into. People tend to put their skills and experience into boxes and can’t see how the skills of one box can apply to another box.
The truth, though, is that most of your skills and experience CAN transfer, even if you don’t yet know what your dream career is.
We’ve developed an entire pro...
Wondering if you have to choose between another degree and staying in the comfortably-miserable job you’re in right now?
There’s a third option: A more unconventional way to get unstuck without starting over from the bottom.
It uses the experience you have in your career while allowing you to find a role that you love. What...
Feel trapped by decades of success in a career that no longer fulfills you? This episode challenges everything you think you know about career change at 50, featuring three professionals who found fulfillment without throwing away decades of expertise. You'll discover whether you need a complete pivot or strategic shift, and how to make the transition while managing real-life responsibilities.
Read more
Society calls a career change during your 40s a midlife crisis, but society is often wrong :) In this episode, you'll hear from five professionals who made successful career transitions in their 40s, proving that this decade offers unique advantages for creating work that truly fits who you've become. Discover why exhaustion and family responsibilities don't have to stop you, and learn the specific strategies that turned their "mid...
Ever felt like your specialized career has become a prison - that you're "too far in" to do anything else? Criminal prosecutor Jenna felt exactly the same way, convinced her legal background would only lead to more litigation roles that no longer fit her life as a new mother. But what happened next challenges everything we believe about specialized careers and transferable skills - within six weeks of her career transition, she was...
The biggest career networking myth says to "tell everyone you're looking" - but that rarely works unless you do this one crucial thing. Travis discovered this game-changing approach and transformed his career by focusing on strategic conversations instead of collecting random connections. In this episode, he shares how embracing "awkward connections" helped him transition from cabinet making to his dream job in playground design - ...
Feeling stuck in career transition uncertainty? When scientist Edna quit her unfulfilling job without another lined up, she used her analytical skills to collect strengths feedback from 25 colleagues worldwide. This episode reveals how understanding her core strengths helped her navigate uncertainty to find the perfect innovation leadership role.
What you’ll learn
- How to use a s...
Turn your unexpected layoff into the career transformation you've been waiting for. In this episode, discover how Kristen's layoff became the catalyst that propelled her toward work that truly fulfills her (and how you can too!) especially when you've already laid the groundwork for what you really want.
What you’ll learn
- How to recognize when you're truly stuck and need a caree...
The guilt of wanting more from a "good job" weighs heavier than the job itself. "Who am I to complain?" you wonder, as your creativity withers and Sunday nights fill with dread. What if your dissatisfaction isn't a character flaw but your internal compass screaming that you've wandered off course?
Vivi spent 12 years at a financial services company with great benefits and flexibility, but ultimately discovered that her need for cre...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.