Ep.81 SWITCHTRACK FINALE - Lessons from 5 Rebels Who Dared to Change Their Lives

What happens when life demands a switch in tracks? When the script you've been following suddenly feels wrong? The SwitchTrack series finale brings together powerful lessons from five rebels who dared to pivot their lives toward greater alignment, freedom, and fulfillment. (You can listen to their individual episodes 75-80 to hear more about each of my guests' journeys).

From Clay Lowe's embrace of play over career obligation to Claire Alexander's courageous international move aligning business with values; from Hayley Dawson finding clarity through messy action to Kat Vandal celebrating creative progress over perfectionism; and finally, Kate Campbell's counterintuitive yet liberating shift from self-employment back to employment—each story reveals a different facet of the pivoting process.

The common threads weaving through these journeys? You don't need permission to redesign your life. Small, imperfect steps consistently outperform waiting for perfect timing. Clarity emerges from action, not endless contemplation. Your identity is fluid, and evolution isn't failure—it's proof you're alive. Sometimes quitting is the most rebellious act that sets you free.

This episode doesn't just tell stories—it offers practical reflection prompts and actionable exercises to spark your own 'switch-track' moment. Whether you're standing at a crossroads, feeling a growing sense of misalignment, or quietly plotting your next move, these insights invite you to show up messy, bold, and unapologetic in creating a life that truly fits.

Ready to explore your own potential pivot? Listen now, then take one small step this week toward your own mischievous rebellion. Your future self will thank you...

Chapters

• 0:00 Series Introduction and Concept
• 1:18 Clay Lowe: Play is Essential
• 4:27 Claire Alexander: Starting Over
• 7:47 Hayley Dawson: Clarity Through Action
• 11:30 Kat Vandal: Celebrate Your Progress
• 15:18 Kate Campbell: Quitting to Find Freedom
• 17:23 Final Reflections and Call to Action

Transcript

Zoe Greenhalf: 0:00

Welcome to Switch Track, a summer mini-series brought to you by the Mischief Movement podcast. These are the real-life stories of rebels who changed direction by choice or by force, and found freedom on the other side, because sometimes life plays a tune that doesn't quite fit and the most powerful thing you can do is flip the track entirely. I'm your host, zoe Greenhalgh, disruptive coach, mindset mentor and mischievous guide for quiet rebels and unconventional humans who are done settling and ready to redesign a life that actually fits. In this series, we're catching up with past guests who've dared to pivot, disrupt and create something more aligned to who they really are Short, snappy and full of insight. Each episode is a reminder that you're allowed to change, to evolve and to burn the old script if it doesn't serve you anymore. So, whether you're standing at a crossroads, itching for more or quietly plotting your next move, this series is for you.

Zoe Greenhalf: 1:15

Let's jump into today's SwitchTrack story. Hey, mischief Makers, welcome to the Switch Track series finale, where we pull together the wild, wonderful journeys of five incredible humans who dare to pivot, rebel and design lives that they truly love. So over this series, we've heard stories of courage, creativity, struggle and breakthrough, all showing us what's possible when you find the guts to make change. So today I'm wrapping it all up with some juicy reflections, bold lessons and actionable exercises that I hope will help you to ignite your own switch track moment. So grab your rebellious spirit and let's dive in Now. First up, I've come to Clay Lowe, and the theme of his episode was that play is not a luxury, it's essential. Clay's story is a reminder that life's too short to follow scripts that don't fit. He grew up in a structured, disciplined environment military followed by corporate but felt boxed in by expectations. His switch Prioritising curiosity and play over career obligation.

Clay Lowe: 2:42

Okay, well, if I was classifying it, you know, intelligent misfits essentially. But I think there's a couple of paths that we may have taken, one being like me, which kind of left corporate um, and just kind of did my own thing and kind of, you know, did that route, and others who stayed in still misfits but never felt like they quite fit in and probably do things a little bit different. But they stayed in because of a variety of reasons, whether you know, disability, family, any of those things. But now they're at that point where I've given a lot to the sort of the status quo kind of life and the one that we were sold when we were kids, and so they're like you know, when now can I get my life back? It's time for me to start reconnecting with the path that I may have diverged from that I was headed to.

Zoe Greenhalf: 3:33

The key takeaways from my episode with him are that you don't have to earn permission to be creative. It's part of being human. Pivoting doesn't have to be dramatic, because the micro shifts also count. Let curiosity be your compass, even when you don't see the full path yet. Your identity is fluid and evolving is a sign that you're alive. So maybe have a little think about this. When did you last give yourself permission to play? What's one curiosity that you've been ignoring because it doesn't fit your plan, and how might you rewrite your story if you saw your own identity as something fluid and changeable?

Zoe Greenhalf: 4:25

If you want to delve a little bit deeper, here's a mini exercise that you can do. It's called the curiosity compass. So pick something that you're really curious about, anything. It could be a theme, a hobby that you want to explore, a hobby that you want to explore anything really. Spend 15 minutes exploring it today, without judgment or a plan or any kind of objective, really, but just notice what feelings or ideas arise, because using curiosity as your compass could lead you somewhere really fun and unexpected. Another one of my guests was Claire Alexander, and the real theme from her episode was starting over and aligning with your values. So Claire uprooted her life and business, moving from London to Austin, texas, juggling two businesses and embracing the messy process of starting over socially and professionally.

Clare Alexander: 5:32

But then to put that into place it took a really long time. There was lots of things that happened, so the challenge was to get here and yeah, and the leap was I wanted to try something different here. And yeah, and the leap was I wanted to try something different. And you know me, I'm like okay, I want to try new experiences, I want to do different things, I want to try new businesses. I just think people like me are restless and we want to try new things. So that's why I did it.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:07

Her courage to embrace imperfection and align with values, like people and planet, before profit absolutely shines through. And here are some of my key takeaways from Claire's episode. Starting over is hard but possible. You'll be the new person again, and that's okay. Multiple income streams reduce the risk and open new doors. Your business choices must reflect your values to fuel passion and meaning.

Zoe Greenhalf: 6:33

Small, messy actions trump waiting for perfect timing, and community is a vital part of business and life. Here are some questions that might get you thinking differently on your own life. So what's one new start that you've been holding back on and why you can journal on this? How aligned is your work with your values? You might never have really thought about work in terms of what your personal values are, but when they don't line up, that's when we start to feel really unfulfilled and go to work with this sense of friction and resistance that maybe we can't put our finger on, but the real reason could be because it just doesn't line up with our values. What small, imperfect step could you take this week toward a change and how can you build community as part of your growth?

Zoe Greenhalf: 7:35

If you want to dive deeper on Claire's episode, here's a little exercise. So it's called the messy action list. You can write three imperfect but doable steps towards a goal that you want. Pick one and set a 15 minute timer this week to act on it. Remember that Claire is always saying feel the fear and do it anyway. So think about your goal. Think about three really small steps that you can take this week, and they can literally be tiny. Always talk about the micro mischief. This is a perfect example, without worrying about perfection. Another one of my guests was Hayley Dawson, and the theme from her episode was really that clarity comes from action and simplicity wins. Hayley learned that trying and failing is how clarity grows. Her initial business didn't connect, so she took a break, reassessed and then doubled down on her passion and expertise in human skills. It was simple, focused and hugely needed.

Hayley Dawson: 8:47

That's the problem that I had with the blocks and how the business was before, because the way I packaged everything up was not connecting with people. People couldn't see a need for it, and that was the curveball. I wasn't quite expecting, I think, and the way I responded to it was to stop, to take a break, to go back to the drawing board, get more clarity, take my time and then take more action, you know, and all of that action led to what it is now and what my career is now, which is all about, let's Talk, human Skills really.

Zoe Greenhalf: 9:20

Here's some of my key takeaways from Hayley's episode. You only know if something won't work by trying it, and stopping to reassess isn't failure. Successful businesses combine knowledge, enjoyment and market need. You need all of these different components in order to stand a fighting chance with a business. Simplify your offering, focus on the essentials and repackage that to fit different audiences. Hayley spoke about focusing in on her human skills, using these as pillars and the foundation for everything else that came afterwards, whether that be on social media, whether it's weekly newsletters or delivering workshops, small steps, consistently taken, build big visions.

Zoe Greenhalf: 10:15

I'm sure we all know that one and fear of failure loses its power when you expose yourself and learn publicly. Now I can't think of anything more scary if something is already putting the fear of God into you than doing it in a public way. But if the fear of stepping forward is holding you back, then this could be a great way to unlock it and get you going. Here are a couple of prompts that you could reflect on. So what project or idea have you been afraid to try, and what's one small step to test it? Where can you simplify your goals or offerings to focus on what really matters, and how can you make failure less scary by sharing your journey.

Zoe Greenhalf: 10:59

Now, if you need an exercise for this, you can create your own small steps map. So write down one big vision you have, break it into three smaller, manageable actions that you could take, and you could make that a monthly thing or a weekly thing. A monthly thing or a weekly thing. The key is to create your big vision and break it down into smaller, manageable chunks. And, as Hayley said, if you don't try, you don't get clarity. If you don't get clarity, nothing changes. Moving on then to Kat Vandal, who reminds us to celebrate what you've done and stop waiting for more time, kat's pivot from running a brand to focusing on her art came with a lot of impatience and self-doubt. She realised that actually she'd achieved quite a lot already, often without help, and the key was celebrating her wins. Stop waiting for perfect timing or more help and to just keep creating.

Kat Vandal: 12:04

It was a very hard decision, but I decided to call it off because I wasn't. Something in my guts was telling me that I was. It was a distraction from what I really wanted to do and and also, I guess the art was picking up. I've been picking up a lot in the last six, seven months since I had my first solo exhibition in Berlin and then the gallery, and a lot of things happened and being a little bit stuck in finding a way to save or relaunch Vandal Kids, yeah, I decided to basically call it off and focus full-time on the arts.

Zoe Greenhalf: 12:44

My key takeaways from my conversation with Kat are as follows. So it's easy to focus on what you haven't done, but you need to remember to celebrate your actual progress. Impatience can blind you to what's working, so it can lead you to think that you're just not moving fast enough or doing enough. Time is finite. More opportunities won't always mean more capacity. Remember that it's all about achieving some sense of balance between what you really want to be doing, what you feel like you should be doing, and also reminding yourself that you don't want to burn out. Stay true to your passion. Don't get caught up in all the business noise. Sometimes you have to say no to outside help to keep control of your own creative energy. You want some reflective prompts. Here you go. What's one win that you've overlooked recently?

Zoe Greenhalf: 13:45

I myself last year started recording my wins on a weekly basis. I just would write them all down on a page of my journal, and it really helped me to reflect back and see that even the tiniest things that I would have not thought about again were actually steps in exactly the right direction. How does impatience show up for you and how can you ease into your process? Now, that might look like beating yourself up for not doing enough. I know I've been there. We're just trying to cram in all the things and then burning yourself out. What would happen if you stopped waiting for the perfect moment and just started?

Zoe Greenhalf: 14:30

It's really easy to say, it's not so easy to do, but the tiny, messy steps that Claire spoke about most of my guests spoke about this actually it's the sense of stop waiting and start taking some action. So have a little think about that victory log I mentioned, recording your wins. Just spend five minutes writing down even just three things that you've done recently that you're proud of, and then keep it somewhere visible or where that you can go back to and look over it every week. Remind yourself that you are making the progress. Finally, then let's revisit my conversation with Kate Campbell, and I think the big theme for her episode was that sometimes you've got to quit to find what fits. Kate's journey flipped the typical narrative, which I loved, from self-employment back into full-time employment. It was scary, a major lifestyle shift, but it gave her energy, community and fulfilment that she hadn't found before. So sometimes quitting is exactly the rebellious act that sets you free.

Kate Campbell: 15:44

It was a long drawn out process and then me kind of thinking okay, what's actually happening here, or what's not happening that I would like to happen, and is there another possible direction that I might be happier? Going down and being open to that possibility took a while, I think, because I've been, I've worked for myself for over 20 years really Wow so to, because I'm actually now, I've now employed, and that's a massive, massive yeah, some of my key takeaways from this episode are that it's okay to quit something that no longer serves you, even if society says that winners never quit.

Zoe Greenhalf: 16:35

Shifting from self-employment to full-time can bring unexpected benefits. You get the routine, you get that sense of connection and maybe you even find more energy. Big lifestyle changes require emotional adjustment for you and your loved ones and listen to your needs for collaboration and belonging. It's no use maybe setting up on your own as a freelancer unless you can also find that sense of community from another source, because you're just going to wind up lonely and take the small steps you can dip your toe in before fully committing Now. Is there something that you're holding on to out of fear or obligation? What would quitting that open up space for? How could your energy shift if you found work or life that fits better? Do you want a little exercise to journal on? Okay, so if you research or explore one option that feels scary or against the grain, you could just spend 10 minutes gathering information or talking to someone about it. It could be a job hunt, it could be contacting somebody that's in a career that you love and having a chat with them. So here's the mischief moment for you. What is your switch track? What's that seed of change inside you, waiting for some water and sunlight? Maybe it's the curiosity you've neglected a new start that you've been scared to make? A simplified vision to clarify, a creative passion to celebrate or a quitting act to reclaim your energy? Whatever, whatever it is, remember rebellious truth bomb.

Zoe Greenhalf: 18:33

You don't need permission to design a life that makes you feel alive. Your story is yours, to write in perfect steps and all this week. Just pick one mini exercise from these stories and do it. Show up messy, bold and unapologetic. Share your wins, your fears, your leaps, because the world needs your mischief. Tag me on Instagram, send me a DM, let me know that you are doing this messy.

Zoe Greenhalf: 19:08

Thank you, switch Track Crew for joining in with this little mini-series. Stay wild, stay curious and please keep designing your badass life Until next time. Peace, power and playful rebellion. Thank you for listening to this summer mini-series. If you're already feeling that itch to pivot, or even just to pause and rethink, this is your reminder that you don't have to do it alone. Whether you're craving clarity, courage or just someone to say you're not crazy for wanting more, I'm here for that. You can book a free call with me using the link in the show notes. No pressure, no expectation, just space to explore what's next for you. So stay rebellious, keep making mischief, because changing course might just be the most powerful move you make. Thank you.