Career Change & Business Advice for Women | Second Act Success Podcast
Welcome to the Second Act Success Podcast, a top 2% globally ranked podcast for women ready to make a career change, quit their job, start a business, and become their own boss.
Hosted by Shannon Russell, business coach for women, author, and entrepreneur, Second Act Success helps women transition from employee to entrepreneur and build a business using the skills, experience, and ideas they already have.
If you're wondering how to start a business, considering a career change after 40, growing a side hustle, or planning your exit from corporate, you'll find practical business advice, inspiring stories, and actionable strategies to help you build your next chapter.
Listen and learn how to:
• Quit your job and start a business
• Navigate a career change or midlife career transition
• Find and validate the right business idea
• Turn your skills and experience into a profitable business
• Create a business plan and find your ideal clients
• Build your personal brand and market your business
• Turn a side hustle into a full-time business
• Transition from employee to entrepreneur
• Become your own boss without starting over from scratch
You'll also hear real-life success stories from female entrepreneurs and women who have changed careers, left corporate jobs, started businesses, and created more flexibility, freedom, and fulfillment in their lives.
Is this podcast for you?
Are you dreaming about quitting your job to start your own business?
Do you have a business idea but aren't sure where to begin?
Are you wondering how to use your corporate experience to become an entrepreneur?
Do you want more flexibility for your family and the things that matter most to you?
Are you ready to turn your side hustle into a business or finally become your own boss?
If you're ready to stop wondering "what if?" and start building your second act, you're in the right place.
🎧 Listen to new episodes every week for career change strategies, entrepreneurship advice, business tips for women, and inspiration to help you build your second act.
🔗 Book a free Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon Russell and find free resources at secondactsuccess.co.
Subscribe to Second Act Success and start building the career, business, and life you want next.
Episodes
271 episodes
Career Burnout? How to Make a Midlife Career Change Without Starting Over | #271
Do you need to completely change careers to create a second act? Not necessarily.In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, Shannon Russell talks with Marianne DeMello-Smith...
Leaving Corporate to Start a Business: How to Navigate a Messy Career Change | #270
What happens when the career and life you've carefully built suddenly fall apart?In this episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, business coach and host Shannon Russell sits down wi...
How to Overcome Self-Doubt and Go After Big Goals: 3 Lessons From My TEDx Talk | #269
What happens when you finally do the thing that scares you?After dreaming about giving a TEDx Talk, applying to numerous events, getting accepted, and spending six months preparing for the TEDx stage, I finally stepped onto that red circ...
How to Turn Your Skills and Strengths Into a Business You Love | #268
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Are you underestimating your skills, experience, and potential? You may be able to see the possibilities for everyone around you, ...
How to Start a Business While Working Full-Time with Jesikah Wells | #267
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Do you need to quit your job to start your second act? Not necessarily.In this episode of the Second Act Success...
How to Turn Your Corporate Experience Into a Business with Allison Lane | #266
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What if changing careers didn’t mean starting over?In this episode...
Career Change After 40: How to Figure Out What's Next | #265
Are you thinking about a career change but have no idea what you want to do next?Maybe your current career no longer fits the person you are today. Maybe you’ve experienced an “aha moment” that made you question your work, your prioritie...
When to Hire Your First Employee: What to Outsource First to Grow Your Small Business | #264
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Are you trying to do everything in your business yourself?One of the biggest mistakes new entrepreneurs make is ...
How to Choose the Right Business to Start | #263
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.How do you know which business is the right one to start?If you've been thinking about starting a business but feel overwhe...
Turn Your Career Experience Into a Coaching Business with Sairan Aqrawi | #262
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What does it take to become a confident leader, build a successful career, and create a business you're passionate about?In...
How to Reinvent Your Career at Any Age with Kay Paschal | #261
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Have you ever wondered if it's too late to change careers, start a business, or even write a book? Think again.In this insp...
It's Never Too Late to Pivot: Finding Purpose and Creating a Career You Love with Siena Dean | #260
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What if the key to a successful career transition isn't starting over, but connecting the dots of everything you've already done?<...
Why Start a Business? How Entrepreneurship Can Give Women More Freedom & Flexibility | #259
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What if the real reason you want to start a business isn't about money?What if it's about freedom?In this heartfelt ...
Pivot Your Career and Find Your Purpose with Rebecca Bloom | #258
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here. What if the career skills you've spent decades building could become the foundation for a completely different and mo...
Mini-Retirement in Midlife: Can a Career Break Help You Find What's Next? | #257
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What happens when life forces you to slow down?In this powerful epi...
What Your Kids Learn From Watching You Chase Your Dreams | #256
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What are your children learning from the way you approach work, stress, ambition, and dreams?In this heartfelt <...
Midlife Career Change: How to Start a Business From Scratch with Betty Galvan | #255
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What does a successful career transition really look like?In this epis...
Feeling Stuck in Your Business? How to Turn Roadblocks Into Breakthroughs | #254
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Building a business is exciting, but it’s not always easy.In this epis...
How to Become a Published Author While Working Full-Time | #253
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Have you ever dreamed of becoming a published author but told yourself you don’t have the time?
Afraid of What People Will Think? How to Overcome Self-Doubt in Business | #252
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Have you ever stopped yourself from starting a business or changing careers because you were worried about what people ...
Stay-at-Home Mom to Financial Advisor: How to Start a Business and Reinvent Your Career | #251
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.Are you a stay-at-home mom thinking about going back to work, starting a business, or navigating a career transition?
Mini Retirement: Why Women Are Taking Career Breaks to Reset | #250
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What if retirement didn’t have to wait until you were 65?In this episo...
She Got Laid Off… Then Built Her Dream Business Instead | #249
👉 Start Your Second Act Strategy Call with Shannon here.What would you do if you were laid off tomorrow?In this episode of...
Mentorship Matters: How Big Brothers Big Sisters Gives Youth a Second Act Start | #248
In this special episode of the Second Act Success Podcast, Shannon Russell participates in Podcastathon 2026, a global initiative where podcasters dedicate an episode to highlight a ch...