So What Next Events?
Join us for So What Next? - our Monday evening events in central Bristol, designed to help you explore new opportunities and build the skills and confidence to take your next step.
Each evening begins with an inspiring talk from a guest speaker, followed by structured networking sessions using a conversation menu designed by our guest speaker and us. No awkward small talk here – just meaningful conversations to help you on your journey.
No two events will be quite the same. And if we're not covering what you need to know, then tell us!
So What Next? Events Diary
28 Apr 2025, 19:00 – 21:00Artist Residence Bristol, 28 Portland Square, St Paul's, Bristol BS2 8SAWhat stories do we tell ourselves & should we believe everything we think? Co-founder of The Story Lab, Amanda Sloan, leads an interactive workshop on how we can shift our inner stories to support a career change!
19 May 2025, 19:00 – 21:00Artist Residence Bristol, 28 Portland Square, St Paul's, Bristol BS2 8SAStuck in the wrong job? Don't fit the mould for any job? Dr James Gough shares insights on forging a career path when you feel like a square peg in a round hole, or can't find where you fit.
More to come
There will be plenty more events to come! We'll be covering a myriad of subjects that relate to mid-career change with the aim of supercharging your confidence and skills.
We want to be as useful as possible, so if you have something you need help with, then we're all ears. We can't promise to cover every topic, but we'll do our best!
Past Events
From Newsroom to Novel: Following Your Passion and Finding Success With Emily Koch
24th March 2025
Emily gave us an enthralling talk about the trials and tribulations during her journey from journalist to becoming a successful author. She explained how the MA at Bath Spa in Creative Writing helped build her confidence and allowed her to meet other like minded people. We all gave our writing skills a go by imagining we were 80 years old and writing a short letter to ourselves as we are now with some advice. Thank you to those people who read out parts of their letter!
Is It Time To Move On? With Carla Thomson
24th February 2025
Carla gave an honest and insightful talk about deciding when it is time to move on. She guided us through considering whether it’s ‘the work, the workplace or you’ and weighing up the consequences of staying put or making a move. Sometimes a radical change is needed, but equally sometimes a small pivot can make all the difference to our happiness and fulfilment in work.
Navigating Change with Melissa Nash
20th January 2025
We welcomed 30 guests to our first ever event with an intriguing talk regarding the decisions we need to make when navigating change. With the use of the 'Wheel of Life' we were able to see what our priorities in life are and how much we actually prioritise these! It was a lovely atmosphere and lots of conversations were being had between those in attendance about how they are looking to navigate a career change or the experiences they have had of doing so.
'The most difficult thing is the decision to act; the rest is merely tenacity' Amelia Earhart