Returning to work after a career break — the psychology of luck, neuroplasticity, and starting again in midlife.

Julianne Miles knows what it takes to return to work because she's done it herself. After stepping away from marketing when her children were small, she spent over a year asking herself "can I really start again?" — a question many of us will recognise. The answer was yes: she retrained as a psychologist and went on to co-found Career Returners, a social enterprise that has changed how employers and policymakers think about career breaks.

In this episode, Julianne shares the science behind why it's never too late, including the encouraging research on neuroplasticity, work-family enrichment, and the psychology of luck. Her advice? Stop overthinking and start doing.

Summary

Julianne Miles MBE spent a year going in circles — "shall I, shan't I?" — before signing up for an evening psychology course that changed everything. That small step led to a conversion course, a career as an occupational psychologist, and eventually the founding of Career Returners, one of the world's largest return-to-work platforms. In this conversation, she shares the research that underpins her book Return Journey, including neuroplasticity (your brain never stops making new connections), work-family enrichment (the idea that work and family can be allies, not competitors), and the psychology of luck — Richard Wiseman's finding that "lucky" people simply see the world differently. It's a masterclass in why confidence comes from action, not the other way around.

About Julianne

Julianne Miles MBE is an occupational psychologist and co-founder of Career Returners, a social impact enterprise and community dedicated to making career breaks a valued part of a lifetime career. A former marketer who retrained as a psychologist after her own career break, she has shaped how employers and policymakers think about return-to-work practices. She brought the concept of "returnships" — pioneered by Goldman Sachs — to the UK, and is the author of Return Journey: How to Get Back to Work and Thrive After a Career Break. She was awarded an MBE for services to career returners.

Key Topics

1. The "shall I, shan't I" phase — and how to break the cycle of indecision
2. Why confidence comes from action, not from having the perfect plan
3. Neuroplasticity: your brain makes new connections at any age — the science says it's never too late
4. Work-family enrichment: why going back to work can give you more energy, not less
5. The psychology of luck — Richard Wiseman's research on why "lucky" people create their own opportunities
6. How Career Returners grew from kitchen table workshops to a national platform
7. Navigating recruitment bias against career gaps — and what actually works
8. Building your return-to-work support team and the power of community
9. Why "every no gets me closer to a yes"

Links

1. Julianne's book Return Journey: https://careerreturners.com/return-journey-book/
2. Career Returners Professional Community (free or pay-if-you-can): https://community.careerreturners.com/
3. The Wobbly Middle on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-wobbly-middle/id1767850643
4. The Wobbly Middle on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4YhwsBch8Q9vAOUBBfusIv
5. Subscribe to the newsletter: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep23-julianne-miles
6. Find out more about The Wobbly Middle: https://thewobblymiddle.substack.com/about?utm_source=podcast&utm_medium=show_notes&utm_campaign=ep23-julianne-miles

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If You Enjoyed This Episode

You might also love our Season 3 Episode with Carri Simmons From Teacher's Desk to Psychologist's Sofa with Carri Simmons. Where Julianne shares the science behind career returns, Carri tells the deeply personal story of walking away from teaching, going back to university as a mother of three, and retraining as a psychologist. Together, they're two sides of the same coin: the evidence that it works, and the courage to try.

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