This month, on The Career Change Diaries podcast, we hear from career changer, Paul Carreo, a fiction writer and founder of PC Studios, an indie publishing company promoting emerging Dublin writers. Paul spent more than 20 years in senior leadership at major tech companies, including Google, before making the leap to pursue his first love, the short story. He joins us to talk about The Stoney Collection, a book featuring essential stories and poems from 22 rising writers, hitting shelves this November.
If you have ever felt the pull to leave a “good” job, questioned whether anyone will judge your next move, or wondered how to turn a creative calling into a real business, this conversation will hit home. You’ll discover how 20+ years in sales, coaching, and leadership at companies like Google became unexpected training for publishing; the role writing groups, peer support, and “finding your tribe” played in helping Paul commit to his craft; and why execution, discipline, and self-belief matter just as much in creative work as they do in corporate life.
Paul also shares the practical side of making a leap most people only daydream about, including the financial planning, the soft landing, and the mindset shift that made leaving feel less like a risk and more like a natural next step. This episode is essential listening if you’re standing at the edge of a career change, building a creative business, or trying to figure out whether you’re chasing success or actual fulfilment.
Listen on Spotify below, Apple Podcasts, etc, or watch the interview on YouTube.
Alice offers Career Coaching for those in their 30s & 40s designed to help professionals feel less stressed (through somatic and nervous system regulation tools), as well as helping career-changers gain a clear vision of what career is right for them, and how to achieve it. She is also an accredited Coach Supervisor, and host of The Career Change Diaries podcast.
