Squiggly Careers

How close are you to yourself, your team and the people you serve? In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from the concept of zero distance, a philosophy championed by brands like e.l.f. Beauty, and turn it into one of the most honest and practical self-reflection exercises they've done on the podcast.

Using Post-it® Notes and a simple scale, they plot themselves live on six different dimensions of distance, from how well they know their own strengths and feelings, to how much feedback they really get from their team, to how close they are to the people they're there to help.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down - find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly

🎯 What You'll Learn

– What zero distance means and why brands like e.l.f. Beauty have made it their entire philosophy

– How to use the zero distance framework across three areas: distance from yourself, your team and your customers

– Why knowing your strengths isn't enough if you're not spending time on them

– What Helen's "I'm fine, it's fine" taxi moment reveals about emotional distance at work

– How to make feedback unmissable rather than occasional, and why rhythm matters more than quantity

– What zero distance from your customers or learners actually looks like in practice (including a story about a credit card in a glass of orange juice)

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In a world that keeps telling you to learn faster, what if slowing down was actually the smarter move?
In this Squiggly Shortcut, Sarah makes the case for slow learning, and shares three questions and three actions to help you get started.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why slow learning and fast learning aren't competing, they're complementary
– Three questions from the beautiful Slow Learning website to help you zoom out and reflect on how you learn
– Why asking one "why" question every day is one of the simplest ways to slow down your thinking
– How to take a more intentional (and less overwhelming) approach to learning AI
– A slow reading idea for Learn Like a Lobster that makes one chapter feel very doable over seven weeks

📚 Resources Mentioned
SlowLearning.com

Episode 524 - Spaciousness: https://www.amazingif.com/listen/spaciousness-how-to-manage-your-attention-not-your-time/

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the key to navigating uncertainty wasn't a better plan - but a better experiment?

In this episode, Sarah borrows brilliance from Anne-Laure Le Cunff, author of Tiny Experiments. Together they explore what it means to have an experimental mindset, how to design a tiny experiment using the PACT framework, and why the only experiments that fail are the ones you don't learn from. If you've ever felt stuck waiting for the perfect plan, this episode will give you possibilities you'll be energised by.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why a linear mindset is like climbing a ladder, and why an experimental mindset is a loop that keeps moving you forward

– What makes a tiny experiment "tiny", and why keeping the duration short is the whole point

– How to use the PACT framework (Purposeful, Actionable, Continuous, Trackable) to design experiments that actually teach you something

– Why you should only track outputs while running an experiment — and save the outcome reflection for the Plus Minus Next tool afterwards

– How to apply tiny experiments to career change, team culture, and the moments when you feel most stuck

📚 Resources Mentioned

Tiny Experiments — Anne-Laure Le Cunff

Ness Labs Newsletter

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most people wait until they're ready to make a career move before having career conversations.
In this Squiggly Shortcut, Helen shares the only script you need to make curious career conversations feel less daunting and a lot more useful.

🎯 What You'll Learn

– What a curious career conversation actually is, and why having them regularly (not just when you're ready to move) makes a real difference
– How to make the ask in a way that's low pressure and easy to say yes to
– Three questions to structure the conversation: one to get people talking, one about strengths, and one about future-proofing your skills
– What to listen out for in each answer, and how to use it to work out whether an opportunity is actually a good fit for you

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com
Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/
2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/
3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod
4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Emma Grede has some strong opinions about careers, and not everyone will agree with all of them. In this episode, Helen and Sarah borrow brilliance from Start With Yourself, Emma's new book, picking out six of her most provocative statements and asking the question: do we agree?

Emma Grede, co-founder of Skims and Good American, is refreshingly unfiltered about what it takes to build a career on your own terms. Helen has curated the statements most relevant to squiggly careers, and Sarah hasn't seen them in advance. What follows is honest, at times uncomfortable, and occasionally results in a rewrite.

This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Post-it® Brand. If today's episode sparked an idea, stick it down, find out where to buy Post-it® products at go.3M.com/squiggly

🎯 What You'll Learn

– Why guilt might actually be a useful signal (and when it isn't)

– What "you can do all things, just not all at the same time" really means for how you prioritise at work

– Whether an extraordinary career always requires extraordinary effort, and why the word "extraordinary" is more personal than you think

– Why pushing off difficult conversations is costing you more than you realise

– The difference between networking and actually building a network

– Why you can't build anything of value by yourself (and where Helen respectfully disagrees)

📚 Resources Mentioned

Start With Yourself: Emma Grede

For questions about Squiggly Careers or to share feedback, please email: helenandsarah@squigglycareers.com

Need some more squiggly career support?

1. Download our free career tools: https://www.amazingif.com/toolkit/

2. Sign up for our Skills Sprints: https://www.amazingif.com/squigglysprints/

3. Sign up for our Squiggly Careers Newsletter, a weekly summary of the latest squiggly career tools: https://bit.ly/squigglynewsletter_pod

4. Order our new book Learn Like a Lobster: https://www.amazingif.com/books/
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices