Want to Start Something New? The Safety Net STEM Professionals Already Have

What if starting something new in your STEM career is less risky than staying stuck in a path that no longer fits?🔍 What You’ll Learn:When STEM professionals think about career change, entrepreneurship, or starting something on the side, we often treat it like a one-way door.As if trying means burning the whole house down.But after interviewing multiple STEM founders, one pattern keeps coming up: many of us already have a safety net. Not a perfect one. Not a magical one. But a real one, built from our skills, experience, networks, adaptability, and ability to get another job if we need to.In this solo episode, I unpack what founders like Shilpa Agarwal, Dr. Lorien Parker, Natalie Chapman, Catherine O Mahony, Viv Allen, Sue Pillans, Cassie Leonard and others teach us about taking risks without being reckless.You’ll learn:• Why your STEM skills may give you more fallback options than you think• How founders use timeframes, milestones, and financial boundaries to make risk manageable• Why entrepreneurship does not need to replace your whole income from day one• How to think about money honestly without letting fear make every decision• Why “I haven’t made it yet” is often a moving target, not a useful rule• How to give yourself permission to test an idea before waiting for everyone else to approve itListen to this episode if you have an idea, a side project, or a career move sitting in the “too risky” basket, and you need a more practical way to think about what the real risk is.🧠 About This Solo Episode:This is a reflective takeaway episode from Multiple Hats, where I pull one theme from multiple founder conversations and ask what it means for STEM professionals designing their own path.This one is about the safety net we often forget we already have. It is not about pretending money does not matter. It does. Annoyingly, very much.But it is about asking better questions:What can I test?What is my fallback?What is the timeframe?What money can I touch, and what is off limits?And what might it cost me if I never try?📌 Episode Highlights:00:00 The idea that stuck after Shilpa Agarwal’s interview01:45 Why STEM professionals often underestimate their own safety net02:30 Risk is not just about courage, it is about scaffolding03:20 Shilpa’s three-year promise to keep showing up04:00 Dr. Lorien Parker on milestones, boundaries, and not touching home money06:00 Natalie Chapman on getting her first client through a former boss07:30 Catherine O Mahony on leaving well and turning trust into opportunity08:30 Viv Allen on staying lean and building through word of mouth09:30 Sue Pillans on the financial reality of self-employment11:30 Why life stage changes your risk profile12:00 Cassie Leonard on accepting a lower income for a more aligned life13:30 Shilpa Agarwal on family values, spending, and living within the experiment14:20 The mistake of pretending money does not matter15:00 The bigger mistake of letting money fear stop you completely15:40 What Sue Pillans asks: what is the worst that can happen?16:00 Shilpa’s advice to serve the person in front of you17:30 Why you do not need permission from your peers, manager, parents, or LinkedIn network20:00 The “I haven’t made it yet” trap21:00 Why enough might be today, not some future milestone🔗 Resources Mentioned:• Shilpa Agarwal, founder of ClinEQ Training and Chapter One Publishers• Dr. Lorien Parker, founder of SciencePlay Kids• Natalie Chapman, founder of gemaker• Catherine O Mahony, founder of On Q Recruitment• Viv Allen, founder of Vivacity Health• Sue Pillans, graphic recorder and founder of Dr Suzie Starfish• Cassie Leonard, aerospace engineer turned author, coach and founder🤔 Reflection Time:What safety net do you already have that you keep dismissing?What would make your idea feel safer to test: a timeframe, a money boundary, a milestone, or a fallback plan?What are you waiting to feel “ready enough” for, and what would change if today was already enough to begin?Want to craft a career story that opens doors?I help STEMM professionals speak with clarity, confidence, and purpose and show up as thought leaders —so the right opportunities find you.📬 Let’s connect: angeliquegreco.com.au | LinkedIn  ⭐️ Help More People Reinvent Their CareersIf you enjoyed this episode, please:✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify 🙏♻️ Share it with a friend who's questioning their path in STEM Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.