The Reframing Room

Dr. Stephanie Hills tells the story of leaving a 25+ year Fortune 500 technology career after personal loss to launch an executive coaching and consulting business. At 61 she has coached over 100 tech leaders and now teaches professionals how to use AI as a career advantage. The episode covers her leadership during a company acquisition, the loneliness and failures of entrepreneurship, practical steps for AI readiness, and her Career Freedom Accelerator focused on clarity, control, connections, personal brand and small daily improvements. Key takeaways: reframe setbacks into opportunities, focus on what you can control, celebrate small wins, and use AI as an enabler to expand career possibilities. Stephanie helps tech leaders navigate their next chapter. Pivot, promotion, your next career move with her Career Freedom Accelerator. Book a complimentary 1:1 advisory conversation here stephanieshills.com/conversation LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/stephaniehillsphd

Andy Lane, Professor of Sport and Exercise Psychology, shares his journey from boxer and lifeguard to academic leader and elite practitioner. He discusses working with athletes, navigating career transitions, and translating sport psychology tools into everyday resilience. Practical takeaways include identifying and regulating emotions, focusing on the next actionable step, using imagery and pacing techniques for performance, and reframing skills for life after sport — including retirement or redundancy.

Dr Ricardo (or Herb as he prefers to be called), grew up in the UK but moved to America at just 16. What followed was a 30-year journey across some fascinatingly different worlds — from consulting at Disneyland to mental health services, from his MBA and Doctorate to becoming a university business professor in Florida. In this episode, Herb shares the struggles of starting again in a new country as a teenager, the turning points that shaped his path, and what straddling two cultures has taught him about identity, resilience, community and purpose. A powerful conversation for anyone wondering what their next chapter could look like.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Reframing Room, a podcast for people facing major career transitions — redundancy, retirement, burnout or sudden change. Each episode features honest conversations with people who share the fear, doubt and identity wobble, plus what surprised them and what helped as they found a new sense of purpose. Hosted by leadership coach and former CEO Vicky Russ, episodes drop at least monthly and offer practical hope and real perspective for anyone standing at a crossroads and ready to discover what’s next.

Retired educator and coach Matt Haar, from Idaho, USA, reflects on 35 years in classrooms and locker rooms, sharing stories about culture, leadership, accountability, and the real work of shaping young people. He discusses choosing culture over talent, coaching parents as well as players, and why letting people fail is essential to learning. The conversation offers practical takeaways for leaders, teachers, and managers: prioritize respect and consistency, create environments that encourage growth, and value relationships—summed up as growth, accountability, culture, and relationships.

My guest Nicole Lancashire shares how two redundancies after a 20-year career as an executive assistant pushed her to build an online personal-development business and move from Australia to the UK. She explains how skills developed from supporting leaders—operations, project management and emotional intelligence—helped her become an entrepreneur, and how a daily routine of journaling, gratitude and study fuels her self-belief. Nicole also talks about home-schooling her children, developing audio stories for kids, setting boundaries, and practical advice for anyone facing redundancy: visualise two-year outcomes, commit to consistent action, and take the leap.