Welcome to episode 5 of the podcast! This week I am chatting to my friend, neighbour and life adviser Ellen Brewster (@ellenonthemake on IG). Ellen recently completed her PhD in English Lit at the University of Oxford. During her studies, Ellen worked as the Graduate Teaching and Careers Officerwhere she helped students identify their passions and find their path beyond Oxford. 

This episode is perfect for anyone who's stuck in a rut or uncertain about their future career or feeling demoralised by the COVID-19 employment shituation (not a typo).

We talk: 

• Doing a masters or a PhD- procrastinating with life.. or the right thing to do?
  
• Funding your studies, including financial independence from parents
  
• Parent pressure. Changing your mind during your degree and having a contingency plan
  
• Leaving university, feeling lost and deciding what to do next
  
• Making authentic career choices  and following your dreams
  
• The COVID-19 job market
  
• Sacrifices required for a career in academia
  
• Why work won’t love you back. Work to live, don’t live to work and the danger of treating work as our identity.
  
• Barriers facing PoC, women, trans, non-binary individuals, disabled people in the workplace. And the privilege of being ‘white passing’ during application processes
  
• Strengthening your online profile and harnessing the power of social media for creative exposure/ starting your own business
  

Resources: https://creativeaccess.org.uk/ (providing opportunities for PoC/ underrepresented groups in creative industries).

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