Hello and welcome to a very special milestone – Episode 100 of the podcast!

I made it to 50, then 75 episodes, and here we are today at the 100th episode. In fact, one of my early guests, I think it was Mark Williams, Mr LinkedIn, said that it takes 100 episodes before you know what you’re doing. As a podcaster. Thanks, Mark. He should know, great podcast, heading towards 500.

I think I know what I’m doing …

Anyway, in less than four years, the podcast has achieved thousands of plays and cultivated a truly global audience. It’s not a huge audience, but I’m okay with that. It is a widespread audience though. Listeners span across continents, with a strong presence in English-speaking countries.

Top locations are of course:

1. UK

2. US

3. Ireland

4. Australia

5. Canada, etc.

The podcast also has a growing listenership in Germany, the United Arab Emirates, Denmark, Singapore, Spain, France, and many more countries. It's incredible to see how career advice transcends borders!

I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to each and every listener. Your support is so important. Whether you've been here since episode one or just joined me recently, thank you for making this podcast a part of your career journey. Also, a special shout-out to those who've taken the time to leave reviews on Apple Podcasts or send me messages. Your kind words and feedback have helped me immensely.

Today’s Episode:

Well, I wanted to do a brief retrospective and also tell you what might be coming up in the future. Additionally, I want to talk about some of the guests I’ve had on the podcast. And you might be interested to know what the most popular episodes have been, from the official listener stats.

Guests:

Of the 100 episodes, about a third have been guest interviews. And a few people have been on more than once. Kate Trafford has been a guest a few times on the podcast and of course, Kate interviewed me in the 75th episode. So, if you don’t know my backstory, you might want to check out that episode. In episode 54, I interviewed Kate about her stand-out book – "Get There, Love Here." The book is an alternative route map to career success and is well worth checking out. I will link to the book in the show notes. And Mary Beth Hazeldine and Sarah Brooks have both been on the podcast twice.

Recently I’ve had some standout interviews. Guests have included:

1. Suzy Hunt (Episode 95): Empowering Your Career

I enjoyed my conversation with Suzy. We talk about a lot of career and work and life-related stuff. Suzy’s insights on developing and maintaining self-confidence are particularly useful for anyone looking to change career paths.

2. Asad Husain (Episode 93): From Stuck to Unstoppable

Asad talks about the four critical mindsets for career success. I highly recommend Asad’s book, "Careers Unleashed."

3. Tom Grundy (Episode 91): The Inner Path to Career Fulfilment

Tom’s episode is very popular. Tom's professional path took a dramatic turn after leaving his corporate banking role in 2021 due to exhaustion. He had the courage to step away and rethink the deeper questions around happiness, fulfilment, and the role our own thinking plays in shaping our lives. This exploration led him back to banking … but with a revolutionary approach to work and life. It’s a fascinating conversation.

4. Ran Young (Episode 87): Innovative Job Hunting

Ran Young joined me in episode 87 to talk about innovation in job hunting and, in particular, the back door method of finding job opportunities.

5. Claire-Marie Boggiano (Episode 85): Unlocking Career Success

Claire-Marie focused on those who maybe feel ‘unseen’ in the company they work for. If you can’t seem to progress at work and feel somewhat stuck, Claire-Marie talks about how you can change all that and progress in your current organisation without leaving.

6. Sarah Gregg (Episode 80): The Psychology of Flow and Career Success

Sarah is an expert in the psychology of flow, and we discuss how tapping into this state of mind can supercharge your career journey. Sarah believes that you have all the answers within you. And of course, she’s right.

Finally, in my last podcast, I interviewed a previous client of mine, Jason Harvey, about the coaching work we did together and what he’s up to now. I encourage you to have a listen to those episodes if you haven't already – they're packed with practical advice and inspiration for your career journey.

Podcast Data:

You might not know, but podcasters have access to a lot of data about their show. So, you might be interested to know what the most popular episodes are.

What does the data tell us?

Well, these are the most played episodes:

- Episode 53: How to Get a Pay Rise Step by Step

- Episode 69: Unlocking the Secrets to Salary Negotiation – so two podcasts there about the dosh!

- Episode 66: Revisiting the Career Mindset: A Guide to Success

- Episode 32: How to Make a Great Start in a New Job – this was a collaboration with Kate Trafford. I recommend this to all my clients who end up changing jobs or careers, and so does Kate, so it’s no surprise that it’s so popular.

- Episode 37: How to Start Your Own Business with guest Inbal Rahav

- Episode 94: Navigating Your Career Path: Top Books, Podcasts, and Sites to Guide You

Pathways to Career Success:

Let’s move on to the pathways …

In Episode 74, I introduced the concept of career pathways to help navigate your professional journey and to help you to find and navigate all the podcast content. Because there’s a lot of it – 100 episodes. I want to briefly revisit these pathways, highlighting a recent episode in each case to support you in your career development.

Pathway 1: Taking Stock

This pathway is all about self-assessment, making informed decisions, and finding fulfilment in your current role. There are half a dozen or so episodes that belong in this pathway, but a classic episode to explore is Episode 73: "Should I Stay, or Should I Go?" – Practical guidance on evaluating your current job. This episode is the perfect accompaniment to the “Should I Stay or Should I Go” guide, which is free to download from my website.

Pathway 2: Unlock Your Career Potential

This pathway is designed to empower you, ignite your motivation, and propel you towards reaching your full professional potential. Don't miss Episode 98: "Your Career Possibilities" – this episode helps you to explore the many new career possibilities you have and shows you how to map out your potential paths.

Pathway 3: Empower Your Voice and Overcome Challenges

This pathway includes half a dozen or so episodes that provide actionable strategies for conquering fear, building confidence, excelling in job applications and interviews, and mastering effective communication. An essential episode in this pathway is Episode 83: "Speak to Succeed: Mastering Workplace Communication" – This podcast discusses essential skills for effective communication in the workplace.

Pathway 4: Mastering New Beginnings and Career Success

This pathway focuses on starting a new job, planning your career, and achieving long-term success. A must-listen episode for mastering new beginnings here is Episode 90: "Envisioning Your Future: A Simple Exercise for Career Exploration" – This episode provides practical exercises to help you map out your future career path.

Do check out all those suggestions. And all these episodes will be listed in the show notes which you can find on the bravocoaching.co.uk website. Just click on the Podcast section of the website or go direct to bravocoaching.co.uk/podcast.

Looking Ahead:

I want to spend a few moments now looking ahead and talking about the future of the podcast. As it happens, I’ve got lots of exciting stuff in the pipeline.

So, the podcast is at 100 episodes today! An important milestone, and a perfect opportunity to look forward to what’s next. It will be the 5-year anniversary of the start of my coaching business coming up soon – listen out for that one! It’s been an amazing five years of helping people love their jobs and build great careers. I’ll be sharing some insights and lessons learned over these years, so stay tuned for a special episode.

Next in the pipeline, I have the publication of my new book, "Mid-Career Change - A Path to Hope, Clarity, and Action," which, if you are a regular listener, you will know that I have been working on. I’m hoping the book will help those in mid-career find new direction and fulfilment. I’m very excited to share more about this in the coming months.

Finally, I’ve got some changes coming to the podcast later this year, which I think you are going to appreciate. I’m planning a bit of a re-brand to refresh the look and feel of the podcast. Expect a few format tweaks to keep things interesting and engaging.

As I draw this episode to a close, I want to thank you for your continued support and for joining me on this podcast adventure. I couldn't have reached this magical milestone without you. And of course, even the production of the podcast is just me - I do the research, planning, booking guests, writing and scripting episodes, interviewing, recording, and then doing all the editing and show notes.

It isn’t just me …

I have a lot of close support in the form of Andrea, my wife, and my Friday Mastermind group – Ingrid, Rene, and Mary (and Leo before he left the group). The International Coach Hub, which I’m part of – Mary Beth, Jeanet, and Gill. Also, the Association for Coaching (I hosted a series for them), the AC Manchester Co-coaching forum, my coach supervisor, Julia, my coaching supervision group led by Kirsty over at CCS, and Andrew Dinely who gave me some good advice when I set up the podcast. And many more who have supported me on this journey.

I also want to take a moment to acknowledge and thank some of the other fantastic guests who have been on the podcast but haven't been mentioned yet:

- Richard Williams

- Chris Wood

- Peter Sylvester

- Anouska Taylor

- Chris Delaney

- Beth Pipe

- John Dawson

- Lucy Hargreaves

- Sonja Price

- Paul Smith

- Courtney Kirschbaum

- Emma Sue Prince

- Melanie Cotton

- Christine Coulson

- Michael Phillips

- Grant Duncan

- Lisa Scully

- Jessica Chivers

These guest interviews – the insights and stories – have greatly enriched the podcast and have helped me to become a better coach. That has always been one of the aims of the podcast – to improve my craft as a coach so I can better support you, the listener, and to be a better coach to support my clients.

If you'd like to message me about any aspect of the podcast, don't hesitate to reach out. Your feedback and suggestions are always welcome, and I love hearing from you.

Until next time, keep pursuing your dreams, embracing challenges, and carving your path to success. Here’s to continuing this journey together, learning, growing, and achieving our career goals. Thank you for being a part of the community. Stay inspired, stay motivated, and remember, your career is a journey, not a destination. Let’s make it an extraordinary one!