Hi, I’m Soma
I am a qualified Career Advisor with over 13+ years of experience helping young people and adults in developing their careers.
I have supported 100s of people in identifying what they really wanted from their work and life and redefining what career satisfaction means to them.
My role and the people I work with has evolved throughout the years but happiness and the idea of being happy at work and in life have always played a huge part in how I work with my clients.
In 2016, I started specialising in working with professional women who were burned out and unhappy at work. My role has been to give clients tools, careers advice and an impartial ear to counsel them through their career challenges. Especially when they felt alone and had lost hope of what to do next. With my support, they have applied for new jobs, got promotions and got out of toxic workplaces and work-related relationships.
In 2019 I launched my podcast, which has recently been listed on Feedspot blog as number 29 in “The Top Career Minded Working Women Podcasts” and listed as no 2 in The UK Best 20 UK Career Podcasts.
In 2019 I started getting requests from parents who needed guidance for their teenagers aged between 14-18, to help them with career planning, post-16 options and degree information. I also currently work freelance with schools to provide careers advice to students too.
Why should you work with me?
I am a qualified careers adviser who has more than 10 years experience in careers advice and has run this current business for 5 years.
I am a registered professional of the CDI (Careers Development institute) and am listed on their professional directory see link here
I continue to learn and grow as part of my own professional and personal development am part of two online communities called AWMB (Asian Women mean business) and Allbright.
I have been recognised as a Career Expert in Stylist Magazine, BBC Worklife, Thrive global, Yahoo Finance, Happiful and Metro. Where I talked about career and work-life happiness as well as difficult topics like mental health and workplace bullying.
My Career Happiness Story
No one career is the same and to find a place truly happy place sometimes this takes some trial and error.
My own career is a good example of that:
I became a shy introverted child after my dad died when I was 6 years old. I always wanted to do something creative and loved singing but was encouraged to study and work hard.
I went on to study Psychology at university. I developed a real interest in helping others when I worked as a volunteer at the charity Mind.
That experience made me go back to university and train as a Careers Adviser. I gained my Postgraduate Diploma in Careers Advice and Guidance.
For a number of years, I worked in schools and within the education sector. However, I always felt something was missing. When I became redundant and was redeployed in 2010. I was starting to feel confused about my career choices. It made me question what I really wanted from life and my career.
I decided to leave that role and take a year off to reflect and travel. It was an emotional time. At the same time my cousin was suffering from terminal cancer and passed away in 2011.
After some time off and getting married in 2013 I decided to start my own business and set up a freelance business called “SGCareers and Job Coach”. I run a regular blog where I gave advice to people who were struggling to find their next job.
Then in 2015, I lost my father-in-law, who was like a second dad to me. I decided to go back to Careers Advice work in schools. I didn’t feel fully aligned with my business and freelance work and felt I needed to contribute in some way. This job turned out to be a turning point in my career.
I was working in a really holistic work environment and was being bullied by a senior member of staff. It was during that time I experienced really bad anxiety and had other health issues. I decided to leave that role and I realised when I was sitting in my office one day that if I didn’t my health would continue to suffer.
After I handed in my notice I started my business “The Career Happiness Mentor” in 2016. I started to work with women who wanted to feel happier at work and find something they loved.
The business has evolved over time with me supporting women get out of bad environments and counsel them to go on career changes, job changes and so much more.
The business has been running for 5 years and I have supported many women through 1-1 work, my podcast and appeared in had a lot of PR coverage.
I also spoke about supporting young people on TRT world and made a radio appearance on BBC Asian Network.
I now feel that I am finally thriving in my business by doing what I love. I’d like that for you too.
Remember your career story is also a journey and it keeps evolving.
So I hope reading this reminds you that you can do so much more than you realise.
Please listen to Episode 11 if you want to hear a more detailed version of my story
