The Adventures After Teaching Podcast

"It's really hopeful, it's really positive - and it's so much better than teaching."

After 11 years in the same secondary school - training as an RE teacher before moving through humanities and eventually leading PSHE - Rachael hit the burnout so many teachers recognise: slow-building, then impossible to ignore. As a noise-sensitive introvert, she realised the problem wasn't ability, but fit - and that the parts of the job she loved (leadership, communication, managing people) didn't require staying in a classroom.
Now a Suicide Prevention Officer with Papyrus, Rachael has her evenings and weekends back - closing her laptop Friday and not thinking about work until Monday. With control over her own calendar and meaningful work that doesn't consume her, she's found something unexpected: excitement about the week ahead.
In this episode, we also talk about:
The personality mismatch she didn't see coming in teaching
How leading PSHE opened the door to a completely different career path
Turning job hunting into a structured, focused process
Learning to trust flexibility after years of rigid routine
Why foundational work - values, finances, a skills audit - speeds everything up
How the Academy community kept her going through the hardest parts
An interview that felt right from the start
The variety that comes with the new role
Feeling connected in a national organisation ("it doesn't feel like it's as big as it is")
Content warning - this episode discusses suicide prevention as part of Rachael's professional role. Please contact Papyrus for support if you're worried about a young person.
⛺ Next Step Fest 2026 is coming! FREE online event for teachers ready to leave ~ released 23rd July. Register here now 🩷

After years as a primary class teacher and PE leader, Lauren knew it was time to leave. The decision came down to her health and wellbeing, and stepping away from teaching meant stepping into real uncertainty - trying different things, juggling multiple roles at once, and figuring out what she actually wanted.
Now working with young people as a Programme Manager across the creative industries, Lauren has found a role that gives her everything teaching couldn't - variety, creative thinking, and the feeling that she's finally using her brain in the way she always wanted to.
In this episode, we also talk about:
Navigating a "squiggly" exit from teaching
Working as a chaperone in TV and film - and what it revealed
When task-switching gives you energy
Attending our free summer event before joining the Academy
Putting theory behind practice with the Project Management Fundamentals course
Using mindset resources to make the transition well
Growing in confidence on LinkedIn
Using the interview booklet to reframe transferable skills
Early worries - and how they played out
Highlights from the first year
Moving from fixed-term to permanent - and what's next
Links:
Project Management Fundamentals Training
⛺ Next Step Fest 2026 is coming! FREE online event for teachers ready to leave ~ released 23rd July. Register here now 🩷

"Two emotions can exist at the same time. The grief can exist with the relief."
Bex went into teaching straight out of university with her identity firmly attached to it. Quickly finding the environment ‘all-consuming’ and ‘energy depleting’, she spent 12 years in and out of the classroom - always getting pulled back in as she struggled to separate from a career she’d worked so hard for. Following a period of self-reflection, and taking some time to ask who she actually was outside of the job, Bex decided it was time for a new adventure.
Now a Junior L&D Adviser at an accountancy firm, Bex has found something she didn't expect: calm. She works hybrid, has time for yoga, her dog Percy, and the people who matter to her - and with CIPD Level 5 on the horizon, she's excited about what comes next rather than feeling trapped.
In this episode, we also talk about:
Why leaving doesn't mean you've given up
Getting caught in the "part-time teaching trap" and why it doesn’t work for everyone
Living for the holidays whilst in teaching
Finding structure during a career break
Using LinkedIn to make purposeful connections
Variety in an L&D role
Enjoying a less hectic work environment
Adjusting to desk-based work after years of being on your feet
Asking the right questions at interview - including the ones that feel scary
Shifting away from the "job for life" mindset that teaching can instil
Getting to know yourself
⛺ Next Step Fest 2026 is coming! FREE online event for teachers ready to leave ~ released 23rd July. Register here now 🩷

"I don't think I would have been out of teaching by now had I not joined.”
After 20 years in the classroom - 13 in secondary and 7 in primary - Steph had reached a point where she was really ready for a change. She felt stuck, and not for the first time; she'd tried to leave eight years earlier and given up, resigning herself to staying put in the classroom. This time, with the right support around her, it was different.
Now a Learning Designer in the civil service, Steph is five months in and already feels like a different person. Her friends have all said it - her confidence is back. With hybrid working, flexi time, and the ability to close the laptop and actually switch off, she's no longer using every holiday day just to recover.
In this episode, we also talk about:
Community support - and why it makes the difference
Why it’s not ‘just’ about the CV
Uncovering your values - and using them to filter your job search
Translating your teaching experience 
Targeting roles that value equivalent experience over specific qualifications
Upskilling opportunities once you're in the role
What a Learning Designer actually does day-to-day
Stakeholder management in L&D roles
“But what about the holidays?”
Building project management skills
Changing your environment as the fastest route back to confidence

Links & Resources: 
Project Management Fundamentals
⛺ Next Step Fest 2026 is coming! FREE online event for teachers ready to leave ~ released 23rd July. Register here now 🩷

"I just think you're not trapped. You have options." 
Kate left teaching after 23 years in the secondary English classroom - not with a plan, but with the certainty that something had to change. Long-term supply work gave her breathing space but not direction, and by the time she found the Adventures After Teaching Academy, she was no longer burnt out, just lost. Having already invested time, money and energy into courses that hadn't moved the needle, she wasn’t sure about joining at first. But hearing others further along the journey made her feel, for the first time, that this is where she needed to be.
Now a Learner Success Coach, Kate spends her days supporting apprentices through deadlines, personal crises and everything in between - all entirely remotely. With control over her own calendar and holidays where she's truly switched off, she's built a working life that actually fits around her family. Losing the subject expert identity was an adjustment, but she's gained something she hadn't had in years - time to read for pleasure, go to the theatre, and follow her own interests again. 
In this episode, we also talk about:
Supply teaching as your lifeboat
Why CVs aren't one and done
The project management course that changed everything
Feeling in limbo - and the power of seeing others make it out
Resilience in the career change process
What an AI-driven interview actually looks like
The pastoral heart of a Learner Success Coach role
What genuinely supportive workplace feedback feels like
Taking time to unpick your identity outside of teaching
Enjoying flexible working!

Links & Resources: 
Kate’s LinkedIn Profile
⛺ Next Step Fest 2026 is coming! FREE online event for teachers ready to leave ~ released 23rd July. Register here now 🩷