Lexi Radcliffe-Hart
Hannah has always had a portfolio career, in one way or another. Now as an Integrative Psychotherapist and Counsellor, she ensures she has kept her freedom to work across roles whilst always meeting a caring remit.
Reflecting on the different stages of her career, Lexi caught up with Hannah on our podcast series PortfolioCast to discuss how Hannah’s portfolio journey has developed and how it continues to be invigorating, no matter where she practices her work.
Q: What led you to start a portfolio career?
A: I’ve always been more of a free spirited person. I like change. I like variety. I found when I was old enough to work, and I did the usual kind of one role, nine to five thing, it never really fitted with who I was as a person. I always found that I would then try and balance out that kind of monotony in my career with hobbies and social life and things like that.
When I started University, it was studying that forced my experience of the portfolio kind of role because you have to study and so you can’t physically work full time in one job.
That motivated me to then try different roles. Really getting to experience the freshness of that meant that I then continued doing that after I graduated.
I made sure that whatever I did it fell within the caring field, but it was always in different part time roles, whether it was teaching or nannying or caring or tutoring.
Now I’m qualified and in a more specialised field, I’m going to and have been endeavouring to continue that variety in my more specialised field of psychotherapy and counselling.
Q: In light of the changes and challenges that COVID-19 has brought about with many of your roles, have there been any surprises to the ways you’re working?
A: The surprising element has actually been how happy my clients are now to stay online. They’ve been able to see beyond the misconception that we all had that in order to really understand a person, you’ve got to be there in the flesh.
With something as intimate as counselling, I had clients who, when they first contacted me, they would have never wanted to go online. Now having experienced it, the surprise has been how willing they are to actually continue online.
That’s been great for me, because then moving forward I can continue to have a variety of roles, and abroad as well, because I now don’t need to be in one place all the time. I can work a variety of roles online and in other countries.
Q: Is there anything that when you first started as a portfolio professional, that you would avoid if you were to start over again?
A: Yes, definitely. Lots of things come to mind. But really, if I were to pick, I would say that I probably wouldn’t settle as quickly as I did.
I think as a professional, there can be this fear of being without a job. And particularly, as we said, we’re kind of creating our own opportunities and our own roles. So it can be really easy at the beginning to just kind of take the first one. Take one that means that you’ve got something.
In hindsight, I’d tell my younger self not to settle, to actually not be scared to wait, and to really establish that self-patience, because good roles can come and will come.
I think that comes with having confidence in yourself, though. To believe that you are capable, to believe your worth, what you do deserve and with that belief, can come the ability to be patient.
I would definitely try and conquer that fear, get past that fear and just keep going and waiting until I found the one that was really right, not just the first one.
Q: Do you think the changing working practices will mean more medical professionals will feel able to take the chance or explore the possibility of a portfolio career going forwards?
A: Yeah, I really do. There’s just been this common belief that in order to be successful, you have to have this one role – a long houred job. The pandemic has meant that people in medical professions have been able to see what it’s like working in more than just one role and in more than just one way.
From experience, and from other fellow medical professionals that I’ve spoken to, they actually feel more invigorated when doing their work, because they’re not having to go through that kind of monotonous feeling that comes with having one role.
It can be mentally exhausting, and kind of mentally draining to have that monotony. Just getting that difference, that flexibility, can make them feel more invigorated, because each new role that they’re doing, it’s like having a break from the one that they had before. So when they go back to it, it feels fresh.
And so personally, I think, moving forward, the pandemic has definitely motivated that idea of not just having one role that you feel drained by, but rather that variety of roles, that you can be your best self in, you can give the best of yourself, because you’re getting those breaks, you’re getting that freshness. And that may be well-needed novelty, that I think just all human beings need.
Q: For anybody who’s thinking about starting a portfolio career, do you have any words of wisdom?
A: Just dive in.
Dive in headfirst, go for it, because there’s always this fear, this fear that holds you back. And actually, I would say if you just start, just get started, it doesn’t matter if it’s rubbish. It doesn’t matter if you’re bad at it for a while. It doesn’t matter if it all feels a little bit strange, a bit alien, a bit uncomfortable.
I think I’d definitely advise to sit in that uncomfortability for a while and just dive in. Because after a while, you will start to find your feet, you will start to feel more relaxed and more comfortable in the varied work that you’re doing.
Also, I would definitely advise to see what’s out there for support. You know, as you’re newly joining, beginning, building your portfolio career, there are things out there to support you with that, like The Portfolio Collective.
It’s been so incredible for the time that I’ve joined to be able to have that support with website building, how to start your own business and all those really core basic things that you just don’t have support with normally.
And so I definitely say to reach out to places like The Portfolio Collective to try and get that support, because it is out there. Always endeavour to find it, if you are struggling, to help you find your feet and to help you on your way.
Think this sounds like the right path for you? Come along to our monthly Get started event for new members to find out what a portfolio career could look like and how The Portfolio Collective can help you take those first steps towards professional success – and don’t forget to connect with our community!
