Shameless Careers Podcast By Varia Pechurina cover art

Shameless Careers

Shameless Careers

By: Varia Pechurina
Listen for free

About this listen

Welcome to Shameless Careers - a podcast about building a career you love. In this podcast, Varia interviews guests who have made career changes (and absolutely love what they do!). We also meet career coaches to figure out what makes us tick, how to find a career that really gives us meaning, how to practically make a shift towards this career - what to do and what not to do.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Varia Pechurina
Economics Social Sciences
Episodes
  • 36: From Burnout to Superpower: Why Aligning Work with Your Strengths is the Real Career Hack - Hanan's Story
    Jul 2 2025

    Ever heard of inauthenticity burnout?


    It’s kind of exhaustion that creeps in when you push yourself really hard in something that looks impressive on paper, but is misaligned with your natural strengths (e.g. being an introvert who needs to be extraverted 80% of the time).


    This topic is at the heart of the new Shameless Careers episode featuring Hanan Baba.


    Early in her career Hanan was ticking all the “right” boxes - e.g. doing a technical degree (actuarial science), joining strategy and analytics at Deliveroo (a fast growing start up back then) - until Hanan faced a severe burnout that made her quit work for a year and totally reassess what fulfilling work actually means - for her.

    She realised her true superpower wasn’t technical skill - it was deep human connection. And when she finally gave herself permission to build a career around that, everything changed.


    In this episode we are talking about :

    • The cultural and societal pressure to choose “respectable” career - technical or prestigious - regardless of fit
    • Why many high-achievers dismiss their true strengths, especially when those strengths come easily or aren’t traditionally “valued” (like emotional intelligence or human connection)
    • The risks of driving yourself to succeed at any cost - even if something doesn’t come to you naturally and requires 10x effort
    • How accepting her true personality and values (rather than fighting them) can be the key of your career transformation
    • The power of running “small experiments” or prototypes to discover what energises you before making a big career leap (and one of such experiments was a proper light bulb moment for Hanan)


    I’m super excited to share this episode with you - and I hope it inspires you to accept and value your true (and unique) yourself, no matter what.


    #CareerAlignment #InauthenticityBurnout #StrengthsBasedCareer #CareerSuperpower #BurnoutRecovery #HighAchieverTips #CareerTransformation #SelfDiscovery #InnerCompass #FindYourStrengths


    =================================


    ⚠️Disclaimer: I do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening to any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research.


    Copyright Notice: This episode and my podcast channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Shameless Careers. You are authorised to share the episode link and channel and embed this episode in your website or others as long as a link back to my podcast channel is provided.


    © Shameless Careers



    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    50 mins
  • 35: The #1 Sign You’re in the Right Career: Loving Your Day-to-Day - Fernando’s Career Pivot from Strategy Consulting to Furniture Making
    Jun 18 2025

    What if the true measure of success isn’t your title or salary - but how you feel on an ordinary Tuesday?


    That’s the question at the heart of the new Shameless Careers episode.


    So often we chase future milestones - promotions, accolades, the next big thing - but it’s how we feel day to day that shapes our happiness much more than any title or status could (which, by the way, is an 'infinite ladder,' as we discuss in this episode).


    This is an episode I’ve been looking forward to for a long time: a raw and honest interview with Fernando Bignotto, who made a 180° career pivot from strategy consulting to fine furniture making.


    We talk about:

    • What it’s like to realise your career isn’t playing to your strengths
    • What it feels like to truly love your work (spoiler: you miss it on holidays and feel sad when projects end)
    • Why, for some people, corporate work can feel too abstract and not “real” - and what they crave instead is physical, tangible work
    • The tough financial trade-offs of leaving a high-paying job - and what the other side looks like


    I really loved our conversation with Fernando, and I hope you do too. And remember: the ultimate litmus test for career (and, I’d argue, a successful life) is simple - are you excited about your day ahead?


    =================================


    #careerchanger #midlifecareerchange #careercoaching #careertips #careersuccess #creativeentrepreneur #purposeatwork #lifeaftercorporate #redefinework #finewoodworking


    ⚠️Disclaimer: I do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening to any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research.


    Copyright Notice: This episode and my podcast channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Shameless Careers. You are authorised to share the episode link and channel and embed this episode in your website or others as long as a link back to my podcast channel is provided.


    © Shameless Careers

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    47 mins
  • 34: Why I Left Big Tech to Start a VC-Backed Startup - and Why I Came Back to Corporate
    Jun 4 2025

    What happens when you leave Big Tech to build a startup… and end up coming back?


    For a while I wanted to interview someone who went on to start their own business - but then came back to employment with a fresh new perspective… and finally I was lucky to meet Anna Buldakova:


    🚀 Ex-Big Tech product leader

    📈 Forbes Technology Council member

    🌍 Founder of a 40,000+ Product Management community


    Anna did what many dream of - left a stable product role, raised $2.5M in VC funding, launched her own startup - and embarked on a journey which had it all:


    ✔️The thrill of finding product-market fit

    ✔️The need to pivot

    ✔️The burnout, weekend work, pressure to scale - and the stress of shutting down the business due to factors no one could control

    ✔️The decision to return to Big Tech - having considered starting a new venture and becoming a Chief Product Officer at a startup


    Of course, it wouldn’t be a Shameless Careers episode if we didn’t deep dive into some practicalities like:

    ✔️ How to prepare a Plan B before taking the leap into entrepreneurship

    ✔️ What not to do when picking a business idea

    ✔️ Why taking VC money is not always the way to go


    Enjoy!


    ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ YouTube version of Shameless Careers:

    https://www.youtube.com/@ShamelessCareers


    ✅ Stay Connected With Me: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/varia-pechurina/


    🔔If you are a mid career professional in a high pressure industry - like finance, consulting, law, tech - who feels unfulfilled with what they do, and is wondering what's next - subscribe for interviews with people who have been in your shoes, took charge, and made career changes to become fulfilled again (within their existing career tracks or through career pivots). You will also hear from career coaches and other experts on the best practices of making those changes


    =================================


    #CareerChange #LeavingBigTech #StartupLessons #VCStartup #FounderJourney #CareerReinvention #ProductManagement #ShamelessCareers #WorkLifeBalance #EntrepreneurBurnout #ZeroToOne #CareerDecisions #HighAchievers


    ⚠️Disclaimer: I do not accept any liability for any loss or damage incurred from you acting or not acting as a result of listening to any of my publications. You acknowledge that you use the information I provide at your own risk. Do your research.


    Copyright Notice: This episode and my podcast channel contain dialogue, music, and images that are the property of Shameless Careers. You are authorised to share the episode link and channel and embed this episode in your website or others as long as a link back to my podcast channel is provided.


    © Shameless Careers

    Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    Show more Show less
    57 mins
No reviews yet