Three years of conversations… and a new season ahead
Here's what you can expect....
Three years ago, I pressed publish on the very first episode of Life Beyond Clinical Practice.
I had a microphone, a mission, and a lot of questions. What I didn’t have was a three-year plan.
I simply knew there were conversations that needed to happen. Conversations about what comes after clinical practice, about the identities we build around our professions, and about the possibilities that can emerge when we begin to question whether the career we have built is still the career we want.
Three years later, those conversations have taken me further than I imagined.
There have been more than 150 episodes, conversations with people whose career stories have challenged my thinking, and listeners from around the world who have found something of themselves in the stories and ideas we have explored.
But the podcast has also changed me.
When I started Life Beyond Clinical Practice, much of my thinking was rooted in helping healthcare professionals see that there was life, purpose and possibility beyond the clinical roles they had trained for.
Over time, my questions became bigger.
What happens when we begin to see ourselves as more than the professional title we have spent years earning?
What possibilities might we be missing because we've learned to define our value too narrowly?
And how do we begin to expand what we believe is possible for ourselves professionally?
These questions have become the foundation of my work on Career Identity Expansion™.
They are also shaping the book I’m writing, the work I’m doing in this new professional season, and the ideas I want to bring into the world.
And that brings me to something I’ve been thinking about as the podcast enters its fourth year.
I think the conversation is ready to evolve.
My work and life look different today than they did when I started the podcast. With a new role, a book taking shape, and ideas that continue to develop through my work and everyday experiences, I want to create in ways that allow me to share more of that thinking with you.
That means making room for more personal reflections, ideas emerging as I write, insights from my work, and conversations that don't always need to be packaged into a formally produced podcast episode.
It also means being more intentional about creating content because there's something meaningful to share, rather than simply because another episode is due.
So, as we move into 2027, you may notice some changes in how and where I share my thinking. And I'll keep you posted as this evolves.
Life Beyond Clinical Practice remains an important part of the story. But I’m also making more room for the ideas, research, experiences and questions that are shaping what comes next.
The conversation isn't ending. It's expanding - and so are the programs I am designing to help YOU expand what's possible for your career!
So watch this space as I continue to develop what I believe will be transformational resources for you, and every accomplished professional secretly questioning what comes next.
If you've been listening to the podcast, reading my reflections, or following my work over the past few years, thank you.
Your attention and engagement have helped make this work meaningful. And I sincerely hope you'll coninue to be part of it.
As I enter this next season of redefining how I show up and share my philosophy, I'm excited to engage not just on what I've already learned, but what I'm still questioning, discovering and developing.
Because some of the most interesting ideas aren't the ones we have neatly figured out. They're the ones we're still working through.
And I have a feeling there are some important conversations ahead.
Until next time,
Dr Diane van Staden
P.S. As I continue writing my book, I'll be sharing more of the ideas and questions emerging along the way. If there's a particular career question you've been wrestling with lately, I'd love to hear it. It may be the beginning of a conversation worth having.
You can email me at [email protected]