Following the pandemic, Lisa Thompson found herself at a pivotal moment in her career. She had emerged with new skills, experiences, and qualifications but didn’t know how to position her career story.
Despite an outstanding CV and a bucket-load of skills, she was unsure how to make sense of her professional life. Thanks to female-led communities, she turned that challenge into an opportunity.
Now, she’s on a mission to empower everyone to pursue a fulfilling career. As a Career Development Mentor, Portfolio Advocate, Founder of Your Career Space, and host of Career Story Nights, Lisa leaves no stone unturned in her quest to make her clients’ career dreams happen. We interviewed her to learn more.
What is the story behind Your Career Space?
I spent my whole career working in corporate, starting at the bottom and having a very progressive and fulfilling career, moving up in my roles. I worked for The Gap, Selfridges, Burberry and Nike. I climbed the corporate ladder, and my work spoke for itself. I had relocated to the United States to work for Nike and had been there for four years, but I didn’t love the job they offered me, so I returned to Europe and took some time out with my family. I set up my first company, The Space Atelier, in October 2019, offering the same services I’d honed throughout my twenty-year career: all-around space design, retail marketing, and consumer experience design. But then came the pandemic, and we went into lockdown in March 2020. Suddenly, there was no need for my services because everything was closed.
Throughout lockdown, I started training in areas I had always wanted to – digital marketing, copywriting, social media management, interior design and architectural drawing. I also applied for jobs, thinking it would be wise to secure a permanent role; things were uncertain and we didn’t know what was happening or for how long. It was the first time I’d applied for a job, and I couldn’t get one because I was “mid-career”: either too old or too expensive to hire. So, I carried on up-skilling, and by the end of those two pandemic years, I thought: “Okay, I’m not the same person I was when the lockdown happened. How do I package what I do now?”
Mid-career usually happens between the ages of 35 to 45. As someone who was at the end of mid-career, I recognized that women are impacted – statistics show that many women leave the workplace around this time. And, of course, mid-career is also a time in a woman’s life when other changes are happening, hormonally. As a rule, society tends to write women off at this stage. It impacts women my age and those who’ve had an extended career break, for example, or taken time out to be parents.
“Career challenges don’t just impact women my age, but also those who’ve had an extended career break, or taken time out to be parents. How do we get back into the marketplace?”
How do we get back into the marketplace? I struggled with this, and I struggled with how to tell my story. In June 2023, I read an article that … it sounds dramatic, but it changed my life. The article was called Why You Should Build a Career Portfolio and Not a Career Path and was all about how those with a career portfolio are much more investable and set up for success. The article said: don’t just think about your paid work, think about your volunteer work, what you do at home, how you show up as a parent, as a friend, awards you have won, and so on. And I thought: finally, someone is speaking my language! I knew I had to teach and share this concept with other people.1
“I can’t witness more women lose their self-belief around this mid-career time, because there is so much more to give!”
I can’t witness more women lose their self-belief around this mid-career time because there is so much more to give! Your Career Space was born out of that.
Tell us a little more about Your Career Space. Is it aimed solely at women?
When I launched my company, it was initially called Her Career Space. I wanted to empower women. But I found that not just women were coming to me, but men as well. I realized it’s not a man-woman thing; it’s a patriarchal society thing. Men also face these mid-career challenges or barriers to returning to work after a break. So, I pivoted and renamed my business Your Career Space.
I was mainly going to work with women my age, but not only am I working with men, but I’m working with women of all ages. My generation was impacted, and now we’re changing it together. Younger women can see what’s happening, want to get ahead and be proactive with their careers. As women, we’re becoming increasingly aware that we must create a more welcoming and inclusive job market. I called this phenomenon “The Glass Wall”, where we can’t seem to move forward because the barriers to entry are invisible. Someone is gatekeeping and not being honest about why they won’t hire or invest in a woman over 45.
I’ve created programs, workshops, and classes focusing on career storytelling. Through these programs, I support and guide people to reach their career goals. Each person is unique, and I tailor the program to the individual; there are guiding principles and frameworks I use. But the real magic happens when the person gets to the core of what they want in their career; this is embodiment work, and when they “feel” rather than intellectualize what they wish to do, they make it happen.
Your mission is to empower individuals to rediscover their professional identity – why is that important to you?
Somewhere, I lost myself, my voice, and perhaps even my identity because I had experienced a workplace that didn’t value women over the age of 45. Ageism is real, like every marginalization we experience in society today. I’ve thought about this a lot. Was I, and did I experience shame that I was “no longer a success or relevant” in the eyes of the corporate world? Without that, who was I? You don’t process this quickly; it’s unconscious and creates a block, which is why I coined the phrase “The Glass Wall”. Through self-help work, coaching, mentoring, and having great people in my corner, I was able to make sense of it and find myself again. And then I was able to turn that into something meaningful. I’ve learnt that when others see you as “less than,” it eats away at your self-worth.
This experience gave me the life force to create something new. Re-inventing yourself at any stage of life is not easy, and I know I have so much more to give at this mid-career stage. I never want anyone to feel like I did, and I’m yet to have a client sit in front of me who isn’t incredible and inspiring. Societal conditioning wants to keep people small, but we’re not here to play small; we’re here to make an impact.
“Societal conditioning wants to keep people small, but we’re not here to play small; we’re here to make an impact.”
Is there anything you wish someone had shared with you when you were changing careers?
I wish there had been more awareness and more conversations about the challenges. I was blissfully unaware. I thought, “I’m a great employee, I’ve always been successful, I’ve always been promoted.” And then you’re offered a role that doesn’t excite or challenge you anymore, and you’re like, “Oh my god, it’s happened!” A few organizations like Female Ventures and other networking groups have popped up in the last few years. Today, there’s an awareness of the challenges we face, and this helps bring in more balance, more equity. I see it with my clients – young women are much more on the front foot and can drive some of those conversations.
Who inspires you? Is there a particular teacher, writer, or public figure whose teachings support you?
Many people inspire me. It’s really important to surround yourself with people whose voices are elevating, amplifying, and supportive. My own list includes women who are doing inspirational things in the wellness space, pioneers of empowerment around women’s health, women in the investing space, and women in business. I’m a massive fan of Indra Nooyi, the first female CEO of Pepsi. She is full of life, wisdom and insight, and doesn’t take herself too seriously.
I’m part of a vast network of entrepreneurs called Business Class, Founded by Sophia Amoruso. It’s a business training, like an accelerator program. I joined in 2022 and now I’m part of the alumni.
We have weekly calls and masterclasses. I believe we have to keep learning. Others on my list include Arianna Huffington, Alex Elle, Maria Forleo, Emma Grede, Jasmine Star, Oprah Winfrey, Sopha Amoruso, Alyssa Nobriga, Melinda French Gates, Codie Sanchez, Dr Tara Swart, Terri Cole, Dr Mary Claire Haver, and Tamsen Fadal. I’ve taken courses and trained with Marie Forleo in copywriting, Jasmine Star in Social Media Management, Sophia Amoruso in business, and Alyssa Nogriba in coaching.
Could you tell us a little more about how Your Career Space gives back to the community through mentoring early-stage career individuals?
We live in a society where everything is so expensive and things are inaccessible. As I’m growing my company, I knew I wanted to build in an element of giving back right from the beginning with the long-term view of one day being a B-Corp [Editor’s note: A B-Corporation is a for-profit corporation certified by B Lab for its social impact]. I created an initiative in collaboration with Equals. It’s called Career Start for women who have recently graduated. Maybe they’ve completed an internship, are highly educated, and are challenged by the job market. Mid-career is tough, but women in their 20s face challenges too, like competing with 600 applications for a job, AI reading CVs and cover letters, and never getting to speak to an actual person.
I offer mentoring to help them position themselves and their career story, how they show up, what they talk about, how they present their ideas, and what makes them different. I look at alternative ways to reach recruiters and hiring managers. Recently, one of my mentees landed her dream job. Your Career Space is all about success stories like this one.
How can women support and empower each other in the workplace?
That’s a super interesting question. I think that we all have to do the inner work because we’ve grown up in a patriarchal society where we think that if someone has something then it means there’s less of that for the rest of us. As opposed to the mentality of more is more and your success is my success, and everyone can be successful.
“We support and empower each other by having more honest dialogue, talking about our shadow sides, being open about uncomfortable feelings.”
We might witness someone being successful but instead of celebrating this, we might try to find something wrong, because we feel terribly insecure about ourselves. And that’s where we have to get really honest – we support and empower each other by having more honest dialogue, talking about our shadow sides, and being open about uncomfortable feelings.
What are your thoughts on the future of women in business?
When I was preparing for my accelerator program, I researched the UN’s sustainable development goals. SDG 5 is about gender equality for women and girls. We were supposed to achieve gender equality by 2030, but the way things are going it looks like we won’t get there before the end of this century.
“The future of women in business is that we have to keep passing the baton, again and again until we get there. Let’s keep it moving. Let’s support female leadership.”
The future of women in business depends on us repeatedly passing the baton until we get there; we have to keep it moving. We have to amplify the voices of those without the same rights and privileges as other women. We have to listen and not make assumptions based on our own experiences.
Let’s get behind those at the front regardless of our political leanings. We are at an inflexion point, about to witness the first black female president getting elected. The world will shift quickly because the power will shift, and we can see a brighter, more equitable, and just future. Let’s support the women who are underrepresented because of age, race, ethnicity, religion, education, and sexual identity. We must be proactive; sitting around talking is one thing, and contributing to change is another level.
What do you think of the role men can play in this quest for gender equality?
I think it’s not an “us versus them” situation, we have to work together. Right now, we have a situation where men are going in two directions. One path is towards frightening toxic masculinity, and the other path is one of advocating for women. There are plenty of men speaking up for equality. We have to see them as allies. To make a kinder, more inclusive world for everyone, we all need to be involved. So, let’s be collaborative, rather than confrontational.
How do you navigate work-life balance as a business-owner?
Well, the truth is that I’ve not really had a day off in a while – I don’t have holidays, I don’t have day trips. I’m not able to, time wise, and I’m bootstrapping my business. But it’s important for me to have creative outlets, art is particularly important to me and I’m part of an art group, a writing group and book club.
I take care of myself – physical health, mental health. I’m a big fan of Pilates, I love the outdoors, I eat well, and I meditate. Basically, just like the inspiring women I follow, it’s about balance, it’s about taking a holistic approach that hits the physical, mental, and spiritual, that kind of holds you up and forms those three pillars. It’s a toolkit.
I’ve volunteered with De Regenboog Group since April 2023; I have a buddy I work with once a week. This time is essential for me; it helps me with my perspective on life and what’s going on in society. The work I do there is rewarding and empowering.
What are you particularly grateful for on this journey? What helped you as you set up your business?
Female-led communities are spaces that are supportive and collaborative.
Take Equals, for example, which is a clubhouse for women. I joined in January 2023 at the time when I was wondering: “Who am I? What is my voice? How do I position myself?” It was thanks to Equals’ community that I was able to find myself again. I joined their accelerator program, Momentum, and that helped me launch Your Career Space. Equals featured me alongside fifteen women from the community in their International Women’s Day campaign, which gave me a lot of visibility.
And something must be said about these communities’ interconnectedness and synchronistic nature. When we connect, amazing things happen. For instance, I pitched my idea at a networking lunch and collaborated on a LinkedIn workshop with two women who were there too. We hosted a workshop entitled Mastering Your LinkedIn Profile, which ended up propelling one of the participants into becoming the first woman Chief Executive in her division.
Through the Equals Accelerator Program, Tessa de Flines was my mentor and one of the board members of Female Ventures. By the way, she has no idea we’re having this conversation, and here we are, collaborating on an event happening in October and doing this interview.
It was thanks to the supportive spaces these women-led communities provide that I was able to start my business, and now I’m paying that forward with Your Career Space and Career Start. It’s a beautiful full circle kind of thing; we can support each other, grow together, and from there create the kind of workspace, and world, where we can all thrive.
Thank you, Lisa, for this inspiring conversation.
Connect with Lisa:
- Come to Career Story Nights by Lisa Thompson – Female Ventures Edition on 9 October in Delft
- Check out the Your Career Space website
- Connect with Lisa on LinkedIn
Footnotes:
1 The founder of this idea is a workplace and organizational philosopher, Charles Handy, and he writes about this concept in a book called ’The Empty Raincoat’.