Embracing Change - Hannah Campbell, Founder of Journey Ahead

Times of transformation and change can feel daunting and unsettling - but they don't have to! Hannah Campbell has experienced a lot of change in recent years, and has now dedicated her career to help women navigate through times of uncertainty and transformation.

She spoke with us to discuss her own experiences of change, and how embracing change can be transformative.

Hannah Campbell - Coach, Consultant, and Founder of Journey Ahead

Hannah has worked in the advertising industry for over a decade with brands such as the BBC, English Heritage, Poundland to build their brands, engage consumers and achieve big results. Nowadays, through her work as a consultant, she provides guidance and support on a variety of different aspects including: communications strategy, media planning, customer lifecycle planning, commercial growth, people development, new business and content.

She also has her own coaching and hypnobirthing business, and works with expectant and new parents to build their confidence, help them overcome mental barriers and support them as they evolve through big moments of transition.

Hannah is passionate about nurturing talent, working collaboratively and achieving meaningful relationships.

If you’d have told me five years ago that I’d not only be working for myself, but trying to balance motherhood with two of my big career passions I would have laughed. A lot.

Where it all started...

It’s interesting because about five years ago, I was selected to attend the Femme Forward Leadership programme. It was a massive accomplishment and I remember being wracked with imposter syndrome as I sat amongst the other brilliant women, most of which were several ranks higher than myself.

Throughout the programme, we were invited to engage in a visualisation exercise where we met our future selves. We stilled our conscious minds and allowed ourselves to speak directly with our subconscious minds. What do we want? Where will we see ourselves in five years’ time?

If you’d have asked my conscious mind, I’d have given you a lengthy list of my ambitions. Most of which revolved around my job title and my earnings.

My subconscious future self knew different. She showed me a brilliant image of a more relaxed way of life. A life that was full of children, of understanding of myself and of creativity and excitement. She was calmer, she wasn’t on the treadmill endlessly trying to reach.

How strange that when I reflect on the big changes over the last three years, they’ve very much brought me to that place. I couldn’t see it at the time, but she was guiding me to understand there was more to life than just getting up to the top of the ladder.

Big changes

I had my first baby in the height of the pandemic, and just as I headed into my third trimester, the world began to shut down. After what felt like a very long time of trying to get pregnant, I was so excited to welcome this little human into the world. I was also so excited to keep ‘work Hannah’ alive and well, and the prospect of coming back to work filled me with excitement too. My maternity leave  with Samson passed by very quickly despite the isolation of lockdowns, and I returned gradually back to work with an insatiable enthusiasm.

I discovered hypnobirthing in preparation for my birth, and instantly connected with the way we worked with our subconscious minds to unpick and undo years of fear, worry and lack of trust that I had in my capabilities. It proved so useful on the return to work too, whilst I navigated the mum guilt and the pumping and the sleep deprivation!

Fast forward 18 months and I was pregnant again, but then had the gut wrench of suffering a miscarriage. I didn’t really know how to navigate this whilst working. Whilst Covid kept me isolated at home for ten days (with a toddler no less), I still tried to plough through the heartbreak and carry on.

We luckily got pregnant again shortly after, and in June of 2022 brought little Rowan into the world after nine anxious months. Rowan caught sepsis on day 3, and so we spent the next four weeks in hospital getting him the treatment he needed to get fighting fit.

Again, the hypnobirthing work I had done provided invaluable as I spent 24 hours a day staring at the same four walls, taking solace in visits from family and small bits of good news from our amazing NHS team.

Processing it

By November 2022, the initial trauma of Rowan’s rough few months earth side had started to subside, and I found myself unable to stop thinking about how amazing the Hypnobirthing practices we’d learnt had been. It really is a life skill!

I felt called to learn more about it and signed up to complete a qualification as a Hypnobirthing teacher. I already worked with lots of women as a coach when they returned to work, alongside my day job as a senior director in an agency, and so it felt like another way to make a difference to people.

The course completely opened my eyes to the possibility of supporting people in an exciting and innovative way. Thirsty for more knowledge, I then trained to be a doula, fascinated by the work that doulas do and the benefit they bring to expectant families.

As I started to practice teaching and supporting people ‘for fun’, I found it felt much like breathing. The pull to support expectant families from bump all the way through to the end of the fourth trimester was hard to ignore.

The big challenge

As the end of my maternity leave inched closer, I was faced with a big decision. How could I find a way to keep ‘media me’ thriving, whilst bringing the brilliant birth work I got so much satisfaction out of into my life? How also to balance these two passions alongside those two little boys who still are so young?

The memory of the visualisation exercise I did several years ago came back to me, and so I thought I’d give it a go!

Each day, I’d find five minutes of quite time and just sit with ‘future me’ and ask her questions, trying to figure out the best course of action.

A decision made

The path ahead was scary, but so exciting! I came to the realisation that working for myself gave me the flexibility to work with agencies and clients I felt passionate about, alongside doing this brilliant birth work.

It also allowed me the opportunity to raise my children and spend more of the week with them rather than sinking all my wages into extortionate childcare (although sometimes that’s ten times harder than any media job I’ve done!)

As I’ve embraced this big change, I’ve learnt so many lessons. I’ll end by sharing the five biggest:

1. Following your gut instinct and listening to your intuition is one of the most powerful things you can do.
2. Being honest and genuine will get you far
3. Sometimes we tell ourselves stories about what we can and can’t do, but only when we take the leap of faith do we realise what we are capable of
4. There’s a lot of power in community. Community versus competition enriches your life beyond measure.
5. Life is short – so do the bloody thing!

Thank you so much for sharing your experiences and advice with us, Hannah!

If you'd like any advice on making a change in your career, then get in touch with us today!

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