STEM Career Change Without Starting Over: Make Room for the Parts Your Job Leaves Out

What if feeling restless in a perfectly respectable STEM career does not mean you chose the wrong path, but that too much of you has been left outside it?

🔍 What You'll Learn: STEM careers tend to reward the rational, analytical and credible parts of us. After years of training, those qualities can become our whole professional identity, while the writer, artist, teacher, founder or curious beginner quietly waits in the background. This episode explores how to make room for more of yourself without resigning dramatically by Tuesday.

Recognise which parts of yourself have been rewarded, and which have been neglected because they did not fit the sensible career box. Identify three ways to expand your career: revive something that was always there, combine two existing strengths, or discover a new direction through experimentation. Choose one small action that gives an underused part of yourself room, without forcing it to become a job or business immediately.

Play this episode to identify which part of you needs more room and choose one concrete action you can take this week.

🧠 About the Guests: Dr Anupama Hariharan began her career as a dentist before moving into clinical research. Writing had been part of her life since childhood, but she placed it on the back burner while building a serious STEM career. Once she returned to it, she wrote six books in about a year. Dr Sue Pillans is a marine scientist, artist, children's author and graphic recorder. Through Picture Your Ideas, she combines science, strategic thinking and visual storytelling to help people understand complex information. Dr Chloe Lim has a PhD in medical science and works in regulatory science. After volunteering to make balloon animals at a community event, she discovered an unexpected creative skill and built Twisty Science, using balloon art to explain scientific concepts to children and families. 📌 Episode Highlights: 00:00 When a sensible STEM career becomes the only version of you 03:35 What it means to contain multitudes 05:15 The psychology behind our many selves 08:00 Psychosynthesis, Voice Dialogue and Dialogical Self Theory 11:50 Anu's story: returning to the writer who was always there 16:40 The conversation with her mother that brought writing back 18:45 Completing a 21-day poetry challenge in eight days 21:20 Sue's story: building a bridge between science and art 25:15 Discovering that graphic recording was a real profession 26:45 How visual storytelling makes complex science understandable 29:40 Chloe's story: discovering a new direction by trying something unexpected 31:55 Turning balloon art into Twisty Science 34:20 Why some parts of yourself can only be discovered through experimentation 35:25 Three patterns: revive, combine or discover 37:30 Why every interest does not need to become a business 39:05 Finding the part of yourself that needs more room 40:30 One concrete act of permission to take this week

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

Listen to Dr Anupama Hariharan: The Scientist and the Storyteller Listen to Dr Sue Pillans: Combining Marine Science, Art and Graphic Recording Listen to Dr Chloe Lim: Building a Portfolio Career in STEM Song of Myself by Walt Whitman The Gifts of Imperfection by Brené Brown An introduction to Psychosynthesis Voice Dialogue and the Psychology of Selves The International Society for Dialogical Science What Makes You Unique by Dr Chloe Lim

🤔 Reflection Time: Which part of you has been well rewarded by your STEM career, and which part has been left waiting outside the room? Is the part asking for attention something you once loved, something you could combine with your scientific skills, or something you will only discover by trying? What is one concrete act of permission you can give that part this week, without asking it to prove its commercial value?

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