# Intro: Why Millennials Are at a Career Crossroads

- **Episode:** [117](https://agents.truthliesandwork.com/episodes/117.md) (2024-07-23)
- **Type:** intro
- **Tags:** millennials, career, crossroads
- **Time:** 0:33–5:02 (start 33s)
- **Listen:** [https://truthliesandwork.com/117?t=33](https://truthliesandwork.com/117?t=33)

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[0:33] Al Elliott: Nice
[0:37] Leanne Elliott: Hello and welcome to Truth, Lies and Work, the award-winning psychology podcast brought to you by the HubSpot Podcast Network, the audio destination for business professionals. My name is Leanne. I'm a chartered psychologist that specialises in workplace culture
[0:59] Al Elliott: My name is Al. I'm neither chartered nor educated, but I have studied some business and I specialise in growing businesses
[1:05] Leanne Elliott: And we're here to help you simplify the science of work
[1:07] Al Elliott: If you're a, if you're a medium-term listener, if you listen the last few weeks, you'll realise I've been struggling over our intro. Not sure if that's better or worse. We'll work on it
[1:14] Leanne Elliott: Bit more wordy
[1:15] Al Elliott: Little more wordy. Yeah, Leanne went and ruined it all by becoming chartered. If you don't know what that is, look it up or go back to episode, I think it's about 112, where we explain what chartered Um, psychologists do. They're big and fancy. Anyway, Lee, I think what we're going to talk about today is just quickly remind everyone that July is all about interview and guest stories. In August, which is next week— I'm looking forward to that, not doing 2 episodes a week— we're just going to be doing 1 episode a week to give you a break from us and us a break from you, even though we love you. Uh, but give us a break in August. It'll be the more lighthearted format, you know, this, this week in work, the ones we used to do on a Tuesday. So every Tuesday in August, we're gonna be chatting about the latest news around workplace culture, the world-famous Weekly Workplace Surgery, where I put your questions to Leanne, and usually Leanne's got some kind of surprise segment in the middle
[1:59] Leanne Elliott: Yes, we did pick a good time to have a little break from the news roundup. Not much going on in the world the last few weeks. Hopefully it'll pick up in August
[2:08] Al Elliott: Yeah, I heard there was a surprise resignation somewhere in America, but I didn't catch who it was
[2:12] Leanne Elliott: Let's not get into that, shall we?
[2:14] Al Elliott: Let's just—
[2:14] Leanne Elliott: It's just as well. It's just as well we're not talking about, about the news at the minute
[2:18] Al Elliott: Yes, absolutely. So just, just a quick shout out to, um, a guy who I follow on LinkedIn. I don't think he even knows who I am, but I think he's a cool guy. Dan, I'm sorry, I don't know how to say your surname. I've seen written it down, but I think it's Dan Sondergran, um, and he's a big guy in workplace culture. Um, and he was the guy who— oh, if you're on YouTube, you'll notice that one of our, one of our lights just run out of battery. There you go. That's gonna be a continuity nightmare, isn't it? We've just discovered. And anyway, so poor Dan was doing a piece to, uh, to camera for BBC when he was faded down and the breaking news came in. So Dan, if you're listening—
[2:47] Leanne Elliott: Which break? Which bit? Which one?
[2:48] Al Elliott: Which one?
[2:49] Leanne Elliott: Breaking news
[2:50] Al Elliott: Oh, uh, Biden
[2:50] Leanne Elliott: Ah, oh, oh, yeah, sorry, Dan
[2:55] Al Elliott: Leah, we are talking interviews. Who have we got today?
[2:58] Leanne Elliott: I'm really looking forward to this one today, really, really looking forward to it, and I'll tell you why in a moment. Um, but I want to start by telling you that I am what is called a geriatric millennial, and whilst I'm not happy with the term, I, I accept that I am an old millennial. Uh, what it basically means is that I was born in the early 1980s, which makes me at the top edge of the millennial bracket. Our guest today is an expert in helping millennials, even old ones like me, really question their career choices so far, and if necessary, navigate career transitions. As we'll find out, something very unique has happened to millennials in work, and this has led to a significant number of us lifting our heads in our 30s and asking devastatingly important question: is this it?
[3:43] Al Elliott: I'm Gen X, so I am approaching 50 years old now. Oh my God, I'm approaching 50 years old now, and I remember in my 30s going, oh, Is this it? And I wasn't even— I'm not even a millennial. Yes, our guest today is a millennial from the UK who had a fancy job in HR as talent manager for Lloyds Bank and then HSBC. It seemed like she'd built herself the perfect career path, and many of her friends and family believed she was destined for the top. But something happened that changed everything, and in 2023, she left her comfy HR job. I'm not sure she's gonna like me describing it as comfy. It's had a bit special
[4:16] Leanne Elliott: Is any HR job comfy?
[4:18] Al Elliott: I don't know. But anyway, so I'm gonna— I stand by what I said and set up shop helping millennials just like herself unlock their potential and unstick their careers. Our guest today is the calm and collected career coach Louise Kershaw. Maybe you haven't been happy at work for some time. Maybe something just feels off or out of alignment. Perhaps you dread going to work each morning, or maybe you just know that you have potential for more but don't really know what that might look like. If any of that resonates with you, listener, then this is the only woman you need. to talk to. Leanne interviewed Louise a few weeks ago, and I think it's genuinely one of the most important conversations millennials need to hear. So let's join the interview with Louise Kershaw and find out why millennials need career coaching more than ever