You can spend decades getting good at your job without ever really understanding yourself at work.

That’s what Bridie discovered after 20 years in corporate roles. Through her work with Lucia, she began to see things about herself that had been hiding in plain sight: she was an introvert who could happily command a room, a natural networker who built relationships one person at a time, and someone whose time was far more valuable than she had been treating it.

Those discoveries didn’t just give Bridie a better understanding of her past. They changed what she wants from her work going forward.

In this episode, Bridie shares the three things she never wants to forget about herself at work—and why knowing how you work best can change the choices you make about your time, your relationships, and the environments where you can truly be yourself.

If you’ve spent years learning how to do your job but aren’t sure your work still fits who you are, explore the ways Lucia can help you design what comes next:

https://www.midlifeunstuck.com/work-with-me

It feels like you should have that understanding of yourself after 20

years in X, Y, and Z industries.

But you get to a point where it's less about you and more about the

productivity and feeling that you're doing a good job if you meet your

numbers or whatever else it might be.

But somewhere in that you lose you and your time is the first thing

to go and it's hard to get it back.

Hi, I'm Lucia Knight and this is the Joy At Work podcast.

Today I'm joined by one of my former clients, someone who, like so many

of us, had a moment of "Wait! Is this what work is supposed to feel like?"

And instead of brushing it off and cracking on, they paused and they chose

to design their work life differently.

I've asked each guest to share the three most important insights they

learned about their future work life that they never ever want to forget.

And these aren't just light reflections.

They're the result of three, six, or 12 months of deep work together, and now

they're in a position to capture those timeless notes to their future selves.

Let's dive in.

I'm wondering what the very first thing you've learned about your future work life

is that you never, ever want to forget.

the fact that I'm an introvert that was the first thing that really stood

out to me when I started the course.

The context is that the pandemic hit, and I'd been in various corporate roles

for about 20 years, and it was the most perfect opportunity to press reset.

And in the process of doing that, going through the course.

Lucia, you worked out that I was an introvert and it came as a bit of a shock.

Throughout my career, I'd, attended various sort of insights courses to

get an understanding of how I worked.

I've been in big teams, so an understanding of what I brought

to a team as opposed to others.

And the whole introvert side of me just had never really occurred to me until

you start to look back at your career.

A really important tool for me through the course was the career sculpture.

And through that you start to look at your decision making, your path.

You kind of understand from the decisions you made at the time and where you were

in life, where you did certain things.

But I'd never really looked at me and thought about.

Why, why was I thinking that then, which led to this now?

So I would say I'm an introvert with jazz hands because I can go to large

meetings or corporate days or whatever it might be and integrate very well.

And that kind of, supports the second point, which was if I am an introvert,

how I never thought I was a networker.

And then through the course I realized that actually I'm a

natural networker, however, I have to do it one person at a time.

And I didn't think that made me a networker.

I thought that made me a different person.

So being able to understand that actually I was networking all the time.

Doing it one person at a time.

And also the nature of how I would network.

So I'd be, I've worked for these big companies and I would, if I

needed to get something done, I'd understand that it was a relationship

that I'd need to build over time.

I would take that person to the canteen and we would sit and have a conversation

and that's how I would network.

And then the next time we would sit and have a conversation, you'd realize

that technically we were doing this every two or three weeks and realizing

it, building that relationship and,

Yeah.

but I'd

And, introverts can be magnificent networkers as you are.

Yeah.

It's just, we have to do it in a way that feels.

Real to us, which is ideally one-to-one, and deep.

Yes.

good at any of that.

What's it called?

We're not very good at that.

Soft talking.

What is that soft talking called?

Small talk,

small talk.

the small talk side of it.

good at.

And I thought after I became a mom that I'd lost my ability to do small talk.

I remember Our daughter was a, just a couple of months old or something, and

going to put the bins out and we had new neighbors where we lived at the time.

And it didn't even come to my brain to say hello.

I just, I didn't even know how to start the conversation.

And yeah.

And I remember that being a moment that I came away from and thought, wow, I

really, what is this baby brain thing?

Is this gonna last forever?

Or how does it work?

Or, but I just remember that being a really poignant moment

of not taking it for granted.

That, that just, that being able to, in that very human moment, just say hello.

It doesn't matter what comes next.

Brilliant.

Okay.

And what.

What's the final that you've discovered about you or your career

or your future work life that you also never want to forget?

So if you put those two things together, the fact that I'm an introvert,

but I'm also a natural networker,

Yeah.

the thing that I didn't appreciate, so I took the course.

Was that my time is valuable.

And if you don't appreciate that your time is valuable.

And I remember you describing as you are giving all of this away for free,

Yeah.

really how does that impact your personal life?

How do you come home of an evening and feel like exactly to the point

you've had a good day, you felt productive you achieved something,

you made some really good connections.

So for me, that was really important to understand that I have to make it count.

So being able to put those three things together.

Having a better understanding of the way that I just conduct myself.

It seems like you should know.

It feels like you should have that understanding of yourself after 20

years in X, y, and Z industries.

But you get to a point where it's certainly if you've been in a corporate

environment for a long time where it's less about you and more about probably

the productivity and feeling that you're doing a good job if you meet your

numbers or whatever else it might be.

But somewhere in that you lose you and your time is the first thing

to go and it's hard to get it back.

So that's the one thing for my future for my future careers, I value my time and

it's important to spend it with people, whether it's personal or corporately

with people who think the same as you and want the same things as you and that

you get on with, that you actually like,

Yeah.

because that's how you, that's the best way to get the job done.

I think just bring your authentic self be an introvert and and all

the great things that come with That

Lovely, lovely.

I'm curious about what does Joy at work look like and feel like, or

sound like, if I was watching bride at work and bride's feeling joyful,

what would I notice about her?

I'm laughing.

My role is all about people and it's highly stressful.

So it's taking that stress and it's managing it in a way that you don't

pass it on to others, but you do need to tell them the information

that you need to tell them.

Yeah.

But its

about doing it in a way that you solve a problem together.

So problem solving teamwork has always been important to me.

So for me, it's, you'll find me laughing.

You'll find me Taking problems to a table where I can discuss them and solve them.

So I, I think it's important to be able to work somewhere you can be yourself.

Bridie and I work together on the six week work life redesign

programme called The Fierce Emporium.

Check out the episode notes to get details of the three programmes I

offer so you can choose the right one to fit with your appetite for change,

your desire for speed of change, and of course, your budget so you can

find the joy at work that you deserve.