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Career Relaunch®

Career Relaunch®

By: Joseph Liu
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 Hear inspiring stories of career reinvention from professionals around the world who changed course to pursue more meaningful work. Hosted by career consultant Joseph Liu, with listeners in 170+ countries.©Joseph Liu, All Rights Reserved. JOSEPHLIU.CO. CAREER RELAUNCH trade mark registered in the US and UK. Career Success Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Personal Development Personal Success
Episodes
  • Uncovering Hidden Blessings with Ben Kuhl- CR109

    Uncovering Hidden Blessings with Ben Kuhl- CR109
    Dec 17 2025
    All sorts of setbacks can come up during your career. You narrowly miss landing your dream job. You get put on a project you don’t love. You have a horrible manager. You go through a round of budget cuts. You have a family emergency come up. You have a sudden health issue. Or you realise you’ve taken the wrong job. We all experience disappointments, stressors, or unexpected twists and turns in our career that test our resilience, patience, and fortitude. Career setbacks can’t be avoided. No matter how well you plan things out, stuff comes up, and your ability to navigate and manage those setbacks will make the difference between you getting stuck in a rut or bouncing back to find a better way forward. In this episode of the Career Relaunch® podcast, Ben Kuhl, a sports and events hospitality management professional turned woodworking, shelf-making craftsman shares his thoughts on his shift from white-collar to blue-collar work, and I also share some thoughts on the hidden blessings behind career setbacks. 💡 Key Career Insights We all experience setbacks in our careers, and your ability to accept, embrace, and manage them can make the difference between getting stuck in a rut and opening a new, more promising chapter in your career.While career disappointments are inevitable, sometimes, they’re blessings in disguise that enable you to recalibrate and relaunch yourself down a more fulfilling professional path.The past roles you’ve had, even those that felt like a poor fit, can play a critical role in your career evolution. You never know how your past experiences will show up again and assist you in your future career. 💪🏼Listener Challenge During this episode’s Mental Fuel segment, I talked about the importance of recognising and embracing career setbacks as an opportunity to shift your career in a new direction. Consider a situation in your own career you’ve found stressful, unsettling, or disappointing. Then, think about what this experience may be telling you about what’s truly important to you at this moment in your life and career. What’s one step you could take in the new year to honor that priority and move yourself in a more promising direction? 📖 Episode Chapters 00:00:00 Overview 00:01:07 Introduction: Career Setbacks 00:03:12 Ben Kuhl’s Career Journey 00:37:08 Mental Fuel®: Blessings in Disguise 00:45:03 Listener Challenge: Identify Career Setback’s Upside 00:45:32 Wrap Up 👤 About Ben Kuhl Ben Kuhl initially built his career in sport management and hospitality, gaining experience in operations, events, and client service. After getting laid off from his most recent role in product management, he launched Shelf Expression, a Charlotte woodworking brand specializing in custom, high-end floating shelves and mantels. His background gives him a unique edge in blending business strategy with hands-on craftsmanship. Today, his shelves ship nationwide while maintaining a focus on quality and design. Learn more about Ben’s work on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram, and be sure to check out Ben’s Etsy store. 👍🏻 Did You Enjoy This Episode? Please Let Us Know! Review: I’d also love for you to leave a positive review and rating for the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which helps my show reach more people who want to relaunch their careers.Follow: Be sure to follow the Career Relaunch® podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or Android so you can automatically get each new episode on your device. Full instructions.Stay in touch: Follow the Career Relaunch® podcast on Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also follow host Joseph on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, and Bluesky. 💬 Comments, Suggestions, or Questions? If you have any lingering thoughts, questions, or topics you would like covered on future episodes, record a voicemail for me right here. I LOVE hearing from listeners! Leave Joseph a Voicemail You can also leave a comment below. Thanks! 🙏🏻 Thanks to Vista Social for Supporting Career Relaunch Vista Social is a versatile, time-saving tool to manage all your social media accounts in one place. You can easily create, schedule, optimise, and publish content directly to multiple social media profiles from one simple dashboard. I actually use it myself to manage all my online profiles. 📄 Episode Transcript [00:03:22] Joseph: Okay, well let’s just start off by getting a lay of the land. What’s happening in your current life right now? Like what’s been keeping you busy both personally and professionally? [00:03:33] Ben: I own my own business. Started a woodworking business back in the beginning of 2020, right before Covid. And ever since then, things have just absolutely exploded with work. So my woodworking business, I primarily focus on floating shelves and mantles. And yeah, things in 2020 just exploded and it’s just snowballed from there. So my life right now is woodworking out of my little two car garage ...
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    47 mins
  • Escaping the Noise with Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan- CR108

    Escaping the Noise with Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan- CR108
    Sep 25 2025
    Electrical engineer turned plein air landscape artist Sangeetha Gopalakrishnan describes what it takes to pursue your unique career interests. In the Mental Fuel® segment, I'll describe how I step away from external distractions to reground myself in what matters.
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    56 mins
  • Adjusting Your Focus with Matt Oliver- CR107

    Adjusting Your Focus with Matt Oliver- CR107
    Jul 1 2025
    Have you ever thought about changing your work setup due to a change in your life circumstances, time constraints, or just stress? At some point in your career, you may face a moment of reckoning, when you realize you can’t continue to sustain your current career, and something has to give. But how do you choose whether to hang on to honor the investments you’ve made or let go to make room for something else? On Career Relaunch® podcast episode 107, Matt Oliver, founder of Oliver Co, describes his career journey to go from designer to company founder and eventual design consultant for Native Design. We talk about how to pace yourself when making a transition, balancing your side projects with your day job, and the importance of outsourcing and delegating tasks if you want to open up new opportunities in you career. 💡 Key Career Insights When you’re starting something new, you don’t necessarily have to cut things off completely with your current employer. There may be a way forward that enables you to balance both your current work and future explorations.Relinquishing control of a project and getting out of the way can open up new possibilities. When you let go, delegate, or outsource, other experts can step in and run things more efficiently to enable more growth.Focusing your efforts on a single goal in your career has its benefits, but ironically, sometimes adding more onto your plate and diversifying your professional endeavors can enable you to gain a healthier perspective and balance in your life. 💪🏼Listener Challenge During this episode’s Mental Fuel segment, I talked about the importance of releasing your grip on one aspect of your work to make room for another priority. My challenge to you is to decide on one thing you want more of in your career right now. Then, identify something you could spend less time on so you can make room for that. 📖 Episode Chapters 00:00:00 Overview 00:01:07 Introduction 00:03:21 Chat with Matt 00:42:45 Mental Fuel® 00:50:02 Listener Challenge 00:50:52 Wrap Up 👤 About Matt Oliver Matt Oliver is a design strategist with a background in product design who’s had to wrestle with this question himself. Matt’s career spans both consultancy and entrepreneurship. He started out designing in-house before moving to a design consultancy, working with global brands like Zenith and TAG Heuer. He later founded Oliver Co, a sustainable accessories brand that became B Corp certified, won international awards, and partnered with Virgin Atlantic. His experience has given him a strong blend of creative thinking and commercial awareness. And today, Matt helps businesses use design as a tool for innovation and growth. Learn more about Matt Oliver and Native Design. 👍🏻 Did You Enjoy This Episode? Please Let Us Know! Review: I’d also love for you to leave a positive review and rating for the podcast on Apple Podcasts, which helps my show reach more people who want to relaunch their careers.Follow: Be sure to follow the Career Relaunch® podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or Android so you can automatically get each new episode on your device. Full instructions.Stay in touch: Follow the Career Relaunch® podcast on Facebook and LinkedIn. You can also follow host Joseph on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Threads, and Bluesky. 💬 Comments, Suggestions, or Questions? If you have any lingering thoughts, questions, or topics you would like covered on future episodes, record a voicemail for me right here. I LOVE hearing from listeners! Leave Joseph a Voicemail You can also leave a comment below. Thanks! 🙏🏻 Thanks to Hosting.com for Supporting the Career Relaunch® podcast Hosting.com is the web host provider I use and trust for my websites, and they even offer 100% carbon neutral green hosting. For an easy, fast, and affordable way to get your website online today, visit careerrelaunch.net/hosting to host your website for as little as a couple of bucks a month. 📄 Episode Transcript Introduction and Guest WelcomeFrom Boats to WatchesEarly Interest in DesignDiscovering SustainabilityLaunching Oliver CoBalancing a Business and a JobGoing Full-Time with Oliver CoReturning to Full-Time EmploymentLessons and Advice Introduction and Guest Welcome [00:03:22] Okay, Matt. Well, thank you so much for taking time out of your busy day to join me here on the Career Relaunch Podcast. It is great to have you on the show. [00:03:30] Matt: Great to be here. Thank you very much for having me. [00:03:32] Joseph: All right. So we’re going to talk about a lot of different things today. The steps you took to launch all of your Co, some of the challenges you’ve faced along the way, and also why you’ve recently decided to return to full time employment. But before we get to all that, could you just kick us off by telling me a little bit about what you’ve been focused on in your professional and personal life lately? [00:03:54] ...
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    52 mins
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