What Now? Series wrap-up
Every so often work asks you a question you didn't plan for. The family you imagined doesn't arrive. The country you live in changes. The job disappears. And you're left standing there with the same two words: what now?
In this solo episode, Alice and Dan wrap up the What Now? mini-series and pull together what three very different guests revealed about that moment.
Chloe Alana Williams asked what we're working for if family is no longer the plan, and landed somewhere unexpected: it's not about family, it's about people, and the communities we build around our work. Christer Berggren lifted the lid on digital nomad life, from the Instagram version to the gritty reality, and made the case that the place you work infuses the work itself. And Emy Cragoe took on redundancy, arguing for stillness first, then momentum.
From there, the conversation opens out into the big idea Alice has been circling since the podcast began: the shift from professionals to obsessionals. If job titles no longer describe us and careers no longer run in straight lines, the question becomes: what is the thing you keep returning to, no matter what you do? Alice shares her own answer, and why finding it changed how she sees everything from journalism to brand strategy to this podcast.
Also in this episode:
Certainty maxxing: Chloe's term for our craving for solid ground, and why employers may need to reinvent how they provide it
Why certainty ultimately comes from within, not from a job, a place, or a plan
Dan gets asked for her CV for the first time in two years, and why the CV itself might need reinventing as something built around your obsession rather than a linear list
Why innovation depends on people feeling secure, and what businesses moving too fast to decide anything are costing themselves
Some news: the Work is Weird Now trademark is in, a new (as yet unnamed) series is booking, and a smoothie delivery makes an unscheduled guest appearance
If you've ever stood at a cliff edge in your career asking "what now?", this episode's conclusion might surprise you: the real goal is building enough certainty into your life that you never have to ask.
