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How and why Rachel swapped a career as a business director to retrain as a social worker specialising in mental health.
Rachel Johnson's career was going swimmingly. In the two decades since graduating from University of Leeds, she had worked her way up through various early careers and student research organisations, such as Milkround, Not Going to Uni, UCAS and Cibyl at Group GTI, an independent market research agency specialising in student research projects across the UK and Ireland. She was a business director, owned her own flat and when holidays came around, Rachel was ticking off a bucket list of places to see. Rachel was continuing with the running she had taken up during the pandemic and quietly, in her spare time, she volunteered at Samaritans, the charity that offers 24/7 listening support to people struggling to cope.
Then in 2024, Rachel handed in her notice to take up a place as a trainee mental health social worker. And while that might have been a mic-drop moment for people she worked with, it was something Rachel had been considering for some time.
In this episode Rachel explains:
Think Ahead
Cibyl, Group GTI
Samaritans
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Season 2 Episode 1: Lydia Carrington, sustainability manager, Edgbaston Stadium
Season 1 Episode 1: Rae Wilkinson, award-winning sustainable garden designer
Season 3 Episode 5: Jo Faulkner-Harvey, head of charity fundraising
