Meet Jenny, a career crafter

Jenny’s story runs all the way through my book, Smart Careers. She has just started working with a coach to explore her thoughts and feelings about her work. This blog provides an exclusive extract of the first time we meet Jenny. To find out what happens next, get yourself on the pre-order lists at the bottom of this page!

“I just feel… stuck, I guess. It’s like… it’s like I’m at a crossroads, but I have no idea where the different paths are going.

“In fact, I can’t even make out where the paths begin. I’m pretty sure they exist, but I couldn’t tell you where they start, where they go, or whether I’d actually want to follow them in practice.

“I’m not even sure that my current path – my current career – isn’t the right one for me. Maybe it is. Maybe I just need to re-connect with it somehow, and throw myself back into it…

“You see, I told you it was all a big old mess!”, Jenny laughed.

“I guess it’s a question of whether this job is the right thing for me, or not. That’s the bit I’m no longer sure about.”

“Go on…”, Jenny’s coach replied.

“Well… I’ve just been feeling this growing sense of…”, Jenny made a gripping motion with her hands in front of her chest.

“Something’s not right. I’m feeling trapped, I guess. Stuck… But also, like something’s missing. The day-to-day feels increasingly like a grind, a trudge. I still enjoy bits of what I do, but it’s as if those good moments – those peaks – are less regular. And also, less satisfying. It feels like there’s always more and more I have to slog through, to get back to those peaks.

“Is that normal? Maybe this is just how it is, and I should suck it up…? I don’t know. I guess my instincts are saying something’s not right. That I could be happier at work, and more fulfilled by it.

“I can’t remember when I first started feeling this way, but it’s definitely been growing over the last couple of years. Initially I tried to just push through it. I got a promotion, and I think I assumed that would help me re-find some energy, my mojo…

“But that hasn’t happened. And in the last six months these feelings, this dissatisfaction, has become much more intense. I’m thinking about it more often, and I can’t snap out of it anymore. I guess I’m here because I don’t think I can ignore it any longer.

“But I don’t know what to do about it either. It’s doubly annoying: I can’t ignore it, but at the same time I also don’t know what to do about it.

“It’s not like I have an alternative version of life that I’m daydreaming about. I wouldn’t know where to start in terms of thinking about different jobs. And that’s before thinking about whether it’d even be possible to make a big change at this stage. We’ve got two young kids, a sizable mortgage, a dog that eats us out of house and home.” Jenny laughed. “I wouldn’t say we have a flash lifestyle, but we need enough to keep us in school shoes, dog food, and ideally the occasional holiday.

“And as I said before, I’m also not certain that a different role would be a better solution either. Deep down, I know I’m good at what I do. And they seem to like me where I am. It feels a bit crazy to be considering chucking all that in. Particularly when I have no clue what would be better…” Jenny paused.

“Sorry, that was all a bit of a stream of consciousness!”

“No need to apologise”, her coach said softly. Then, after a pause, “So, deep down, you know you’re good at what you do?”

“Yes! I love leading my team. I get a real satisfaction from seeing people develop, seeing them grow, do things they’ve not done before... I still like the creative challenge of coming up with a new campaign. But I guess I feel a bit remote from that nowadays, unless it’s a really big initiative. I’m quite a long way from the action.”

Jenny paused to think.

“I also really like spending time with our customers. It doesn’t happen often enough, but I like sitting in on focus groups and even complaint calls. Sometimes they’re a bit of a nightmare because we’ve messed up somehow, but it does remind me of what we’re ultimately here to do, which I like.

“On the flip side, it all feels a bit same-y. Each year blurs into the next, and I feel a bit less energised, a bit more tired each time. And cynical, too. Sometimes I catch myself thinking ‘yeah, yeah, we’ve been here before, it didn’t work last time, and it won’t work this time’. Being cynical isn’t me… Or at least, it never used to be me. I never used to feel jaded like this."

After a pause, Jenny’s coach gestured gently for her to continue.

“It’s funny, because as I’m saying all this, I can feel myself, my chest and neck, getting warmer.” Jenny held her hand to the base of her neck. “It’s stressing me out just thinking about this cycle I seem to be in” she said with a small laugh. “And I guess, the prospect of being stuck in that cycle indefinitely.”

“It’s stressing you out...”

“Hmm… I’m definitely less energised at work. I’m going through the motions, to be honest. I’ve not thought about this before, but I’m probably operating some way below my best. I’m not as creative as I could be… it’s hard to think differently when you’re feeling stuck. I’m still doing enough, I’d say. Still meeting expectations. But not achieving what I could be achieving, what I’d like to be achieving.

“It’s also rubbing off on how I am at home too. I feel guilty about that too. Even more so, in fact.

“At home I’m often a bit grumpy… frazzled, probably. Working longer hours, too. I’ve never been good at switching off, literally or metaphorically. But I’m definitely noticing myself being less present when I really ought to be in Mum mode. Tea-times, bath-times, bedtimes... When the children are chatting about what they’ve done at school, and I really ought to be paying attention.”

“So, what would you like to be different as a result of us working together?”

“Hmm… that’s a good question…. I guess, I want to explore what’s really happening and why. And then, what I can do about it. I want to think through what my options are a bit more systematically. Come up with some new options, maybe test them out somehow? And as a result, work out what I want to do. Ultimately, I want to be a bit more intentional about my career, for once.

“To be honest, nothing’s off the table. I know something’s got to change, even if I stay in my current job. I’ve felt like this for a couple of years, and I don’t want to feel the same in another year’s time. I’ve just turned 42… isn’t 42 supposed to be the answer to the meaning of life?! Basically, I’d like to know what I want to be when I grow up by the time I’m 43, if that’s not too ambitious!” Jenny said, with a smile.

Jenny’s coach smiled too, and then played this back to her: “So, being intentional about your career? Exploring what’s happening for you, coming up with some options – including staying where you are... And then testing these out, so you can find the right way forward?”.

“It sounds so easy when you put it like that”, Jenny joked.

“Oh, it may not be easy”, her coach replied with a smile, “But I do think it’s likely to be worthwhile. And few things in life are both easy and worthwhile”.

“True”, Jenny smiled. “OK, let’s do it”.

Smart Careers: how to turn a mid-career crisis into a rewarding work life will be published by Bloomsbury Business at the end of August 2025 in the UK, and in November 2025 around the world. You can pre-order your version at Waterstones and Amazon.

Text and illustrations are copyrighted to Jess Annison, 2025