Why Not Risk It? A STEM Career Change Story About Building Before You Feel Ready with Shilpa Agarwal

What if feeling “not ready” is not a sign to stop, but a sign you are waiting for certainty that career reinvention never gives you?

🔍 What You’ll Learn: If you are a STEM professional sitting on an idea, a side path, or a career move that does not fit the traditional box, this episode is for you. Shilpa Agarwal is a clinical operations professional who built a portfolio career across clinical research training, coaching, publishing, and entrepreneurship. Her story is a real look at what it means to build while still figuring it out. In this episode, you’ll learn how to: Stop waiting for your whole career path to make sense before taking the next step Spot the “random” skills that may become the raw material for your next chapter Listen for market signals and shape an offer people actually want Challenge the story of “I have not made it yet” and start showing up anyway

Press play if you are tired of waiting to feel ready and want a real example of what it looks like to build a STEM career change one brave, slightly messy step at a time.

🧠 About the Guest: Shilpa Agarwal is the founder of Clin EQ Training and Chapter One Publishers. With around 20 years of experience in clinical research and pharmaceutical training, she now brings together science, emotional intelligence, leadership development, coaching, and publishing. Through Clin EQ Training, she supports clinical research professionals, biotechs, CROs, and individuals with leadership and GCP training that includes the human skills often missing from technical training. Through Chapter One Publishers, she helps aspiring authors turn their ideas into books.

📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 Why this episode is for STEM professionals who feel they need the whole plan first 02:10 Shilpa introduces Clin EQ Training and Chapter One Publishers 03:30 Living two professional identities: clinical research and coaching 05:50 Redundancy as the trigger for building something new 06:45 Why clinical research needs more emotional intelligence 10:20 The long “brewing time” before the pieces made sense 12:00 Serve the people in front of you, not the imaginary perfect client 16:10 Listening to market signals before building an offer 17:00 Know, like, trust, try, buy, refer, repeat 18:10 “What have you achieved to talk about?” 20:50 Is “enough” a mindset or a milestone? 22:20 Who gets to write a book? 24:30 Why your story does not need to be completely unique to matter 31:40 Outsourcing, collaboration, and building as a solo founder 34:00 How volunteering and networking helped Shilpa get early traction 35:30 Why STEM professionals need visibility before they need a job 40:30 Why “my work will speak for itself” is a dangerous myth 42:00 Starting before you have all the resources 47:30 What if it does not work? 50:00 You do not need permission to try something new

🔗 Resources Mentioned: Clin EQ Training Shilpa’s clinical research training company focused on leadership, GCP, and emotional intelligence. Chapter One Publishers Shilpa’s publishing business helping aspiring authors become published. ARCS Australia Mentioned in relation to Shilpa’s training collaboration and workshops. One Solution, There’s Always One Shilpa’s book, written from her coaching work and mindset models.

🤔 Reflection Time: Where are you waiting to “feel ready” before taking a step you could actually test now? What parts of your career patchwork have you been keeping separate, even though they might belong together? What is one pain point people already ask you about that could become your next offer, article, project, or career move?

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 Careers If you enjoyed this episode, please: ✅ Leave a quick ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ review on Apple Podcast