Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Control Your Career is a career strategy podcast for professionals who want to make better career decisions, navigate workplace challenges, and take an active role in shaping what's next.Hosted by Julia Toothacre, career strategist and creator of the Control Your Career framework, the show explores career growth, workplace dynamics, leadership, career transitions, and the trends shaping today's world of work.Drawing on more than 15 years of experience in career development, Julia combines practical career strategy with a real-world perspective to help listeners navigate today's workplace and build careers they don't leave to chance.Topics include:→ Career strategy and long-term career growth→ Career advancement, promotions, and increasing your influence at work→ Workplace relationships, office politics, organizational dynamics, and difficult managers→ Leadership, executive presence, visibility, and sponsorship→ Career change, career crossroads, and major career decisions→ Alig

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals is a business podcast hosted by Julia Toothacre, with 172 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

Julia Toothacre hosts Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals, a business show with 172 episodes published.

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  Episode #174

  Your Career Decisions Need Context

  Sep 29, 202641 min

  Career advice can sound universal until it collides with the realities of your actual life. A recommendation to leave a job, accept a promotion, take a pay cut, negotiate, or change careers may be perfectly reasonable for one person and completely inappropriate for someone facing different financial obligations, professional circumstances, or market conditions. In this solo episode, Julia Toothacre introduces Realistic Reality, the first stage of her Control Your Career process. She explains why career clarity should begin with an accurate understanding of three areas: your personal reality, your current career reality, and the external conditions affecting your options. Rather than using these factors as reasons something cannot happen, Julia shows how they can provide the context needed to make more informed decisions about timing, risk, opportunity, and what comes next. What Julia Discusses Why Julia begins her career decision-making process with reality before moving into identity, strengths, values, and interests How finances, caregiving, location, capacity, lifestyle, and risk tolerance influence career choices Why two people can face the same opportunity and reasonably make very different decisions How to assess your experience, qualifications, reputation, network, compensation, and advancement opportunities using evidence rather than assumptions Why professionals often underestimate or overestimate where they currently stand How organizational conditions, industry trends, hiring activity, technology, geography, and the labor market affect career options Why broad statements about the job market rarely describe every profession, industry, level, or location accurately How the three realities can help you evaluate a decision such as whether to leave your current job Why generalized career advice needs context before you decide whether it applies to you The Realistic Reality Framework Personal Reality Your personal reality includes the circumstances in your life that affect what is reasonable or possible right now, including finances, caregiving responsibilities, location, time, capacity, lifestyle, risk tolerance, and other commitments. Career Reality Your career reality reflects where you currently stand professionally, including your experience, skills, qualifications, compensation history, career stage, reputation, network, responsibilities, and available opportunities. External Reality Your external reality includes conditions you may need to account for even though you cannot directly control them, such as organizational decisions, labor-market conditions, industry trends, technology, hiring activity, economic conditions, and geography. Resources Mentioned Related episode on promotion and advancement: Episode 172, When a Promotion Isn't Available: How to Keep Growing Your Career Related conversations with Tank Rhodes: Julia references her discussions with Tank about hiring, networking, and current job-market conditions. Julia's upcoming book: Realistic Reality is the first stage of the five-stage Control Your Career process Julia is developing in her upcoming book. Control Your Career Resources Read The Blog: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/09/29/why-career-advice-needs-context/ Explore all episodes: https://ridethetidecollective.com/podcast/ Connect with Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliakrussell/ Visit the website: https://ridethetidecollective.com Get career resources: https://ridethetidecollective.com/free/

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  Episode #173

  Purpose, Burnout, and Career Clarity with Jen Margolis

  Sep 22, 202654 min

  Meaningful work can provide a strong sense of purpose, but it can also make career decisions more complicated when a person begins to equate the mission of an organization with their own identity. In nonprofit and mission-driven work especially, commitment to the cause can influence what someone is willing to accept around compensation, workload, emotional demands, boundaries, or long-term sustainability. In this episode, Julia Toothacre speaks with executive coach and consultant Jen Margolis about the relationship between personal purpose and organizational mission. They explore why an organization's purpose should not become an employee's entire identity, whether everyone needs to find meaning through work, and how professionals can clarify what they uniquely contribute without assuming that contribution must be expressed through one employer or career path. Jen also shares practical ways to create separation from emotionally demanding work, reconnect with what matters now, and reconsider a career that may still feel meaningful but no longer fits the person you have become. ep173 Jen Margolis 4k.txtTXT What Julia and Jen Discuss Why mission-driven work can provide meaning while also creating complicated career trade-offs The distinction between an organization's purpose and an individual's personal purpose Why purpose is broader than a job title, role, or employer Whether everyone needs to find purpose through their career How strengths, interests, values, and life circumstances contribute to career clarity Why caring deeply about the work can make burnout harder to recognize How boundaries and recovery practices can help create healthier separation from work What to consider when the work still matters but the career you are building no longer feels sustainable About Jen Margolis Jen Margolis is the founder of Amberwood Practice, where she works as an executive coach and consultant helping leaders build purpose-driven futures, create meaningful impact, and find greater alignment between work and life. Her work draws on experience in organizational design, positive psychology, leadership development, strategy, and planning. Jen holds graduate degrees in social work and positive organization development from Case Western Reserve University, a certificate in Positive Psychology from the Whole Being Institute, and an ICF Level 2 coaching certificate from the Center for Executive Coaching. She lives in Cleveland, Ohio, with her husband, two children, and rescued cattle dog. Connect with Jen Amberwood Practice: https://www.amberwoodpractice.com/ LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jennifer-margolis-0247803 Purpose in Practice workbook: Mentioned in the episode. Add the direct link when available. Control Your Career Resources Read The Blog: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/09/22/purpose-burnout-career-clarity-jen-margolis/ Explore all episodes: https://ridethetidecollective.com/podcast/ Connect with Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliakrussell/ Visit the website: https://ridethetidecollective.com Get career resources: https://ridethetidecollective.com/free/

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  Episode #172

  How to Grow Your Career Without a Promotion

  Sep 15, 202645 min

  A lack of promotion opportunities does not necessarily mean your career has stopped moving, but it does require a more deliberate approach to growth. Before taking on additional responsibilities or immediately beginning a job search, it is important to understand whether advancement is being limited by the organization, by a gap in your readiness for the next level, or by some combination of the two. In this solo episode, Julia Toothacre explains how to evaluate what is preventing advancement and identify forms of career growth that can strengthen your position even when a title change is unavailable. She examines eight areas of development, including skills, scope, visibility, relationships, leadership, authority, and business knowledge, while also addressing how to avoid the common trap of accepting more work without receiving meaningful development in return. The episode concludes with a practical question professionals often postpone for too long: how long are you willing to wait for an opportunity that may or may not materialize? What Julia Discusses How to distinguish organizational barriers from gaps in your own readiness for advancement Why flat structures, budget constraints, limited turnover, weak internal mobility, and talent hoarding can restrict promotion opportunities The importance of communicating your career goals and seeking specific feedback about readiness Eight areas of career growth that can matter even without a title change How stretch assignments, cross-functional projects, lateral moves, sponsorship, and strategic visibility can support future advancement Why additional responsibilities should provide development, compensation, authority, or another meaningful return How to establish a timeline for reassessing your situation rather than waiting indefinitely Research and Resources Mentioned Gallup, One in Four U.S. Employees Lack Advancement Opportunities Gallup's 2025 American Job Quality Study found that 25% of U.S. employees reported having no opportunities for promotion or advancement in their current roles. Gallup advancement research ADP, People at Work 2025 ADP found that limited career opportunities were the most commonly reported barrier to career advancement globally. Among employees who struggled to find advancement opportunities with their current employer, 34% were actively looking or interviewing for another job. ADP career growth research Gartner, Talent Hoarding and Internal Mobility Gartner identifies talent hoarding by managers as a barrier to effective internal mobility, particularly when managers are reluctant to lose employees who perform strongly on their teams. Gartner research on talent hoarding LinkedIn, 2026 Talent Velocity Advantage Report LinkedIn's 2026 research incorporates internal career movement and leadership skill development into its analysis of how organizations develop and move talent. LinkedIn Talent Velocity Advantage Report Control Your Career Resources Read The Blog: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/09/15/how-to-grow-your-career-without-a-promotion/ Explore all episodes: https://ridethetidecollective.com/podcast/ Connect with Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliakrussell/ Visit the website: https://ridethetidecollective.com Get career resources: https://ridethetidecollective.com/free/

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  Episode #171

  How to Shape Workplace Culture Without Being the Boss with Natalie Johnson

  Sep 8, 202651 min

  Workplace culture is often treated as something leadership or HR creates and employees either enjoy or endure. Natalie Johnson sees it differently. Culture exists anywhere people are working together, and every person contributes to it through how they communicate, respond to conflict, support colleagues, handle disagreement, and show up when things get difficult. Natalie joins Julia Toothacre to discuss workplace culture as a career skill. They explore how much influence individual employees actually have, why culture can vary dramatically between teams inside the same organization, what happens when a leadership change alters an environment you once loved, and how to recognize when you have done what you can and it may be time to leave. They also examine a difficult workplace problem that organizations sometimes avoid: the high performer whose behavior damages everyone around them. What We Discuss Why workplace culture is created through relationships and behavior, not perks or company initiatives How team culture can differ significantly from the broader organizational culture What it means to treat culture awareness and influence as a career skill How your "inner operating system" affects the energy and behavior you bring into a workplace What employees can do when a new leader changes a previously healthy team culture How to know when discomfort is part of growth and when staying requires becoming someone you do not want to be Why protecting a toxic high performer can send a damaging message to the rest of the organization About Natalie Johnson Natalie Johnson is the Chief Visionary Officer of ViDL Work and co-author of Leading the Culture Journey. She leads business development, strategy, and innovation while also working directly with organizations through keynotes, training, coaching, and culture-change initiatives. With 30 years of experience in human performance, resilience, and leadership development, Natalie brings a practical, human-centered approach to workplace culture. She holds a master's degree in Wellness Promotion and is an industry-recognized performance coach, keynote speaker, Certified Dare to Lead™ Facilitator, and Wellcoaches™ Certified Coach. Connect with Natalie LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/natalie-johnson-speaks/ Instagram: @culture_speaker @ViDLWork YouTube: ViDL Work Natalie Johnson Speaks: www.nataliejohnsonspeaks.com ViDL Work: www.vidlwork.com Leading the Culture Journey Book: www.vidlwork.com/culturejourneybook Control Your Career Read The Blog: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/09/08/shape-workplace-culture-without-being-the-boss/ Explore all episodes: https://ridethetidecollective.com/podcast/ Connect with Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliakrussell/ Visit the website: https://ridethetidecollective.com Get career resources: https://ridethetidecollective.com/free/

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  Episode #170

  Career Compromise: What Are You Giving Up and What Are You Getting Back?

  Sep 1, 202651 min

  Every career involves trade-offs. You may take a longer commute for better pay, give up flexibility for a promotion, accept fewer responsibilities for more stability, or stay in a role because your life requires predictability right now. A compromise can be a reasonable decision when you make it and still stop working for you later. In this episode, Julia Toothacre looks at how career compromises accumulate, how to distinguish a preference from a genuine non-negotiable, and what can happen when a temporary trade-off quietly becomes permanent. She also explains why feeling frustrated at work does not automatically mean you need a new job. The more useful question is what you are compromising, what you are receiving in return, and whether that exchange still makes sense for who you are now. What Julia Discusses Why some level of compromise is inevitable in almost every career decision How values, preferences, personal priorities, and life circumstances affect what you can reasonably trade Why a compromise that worked five years ago may no longer work now How career compromises can accumulate without you noticing Signs that you may be spending more energy tolerating your work than doing it Why high achievers often assume they are the problem when the environment may also be contributing Three questions to determine whether your current career trade-offs still make sense Resources Get Julia's career resources and values assessment: https://ridethetidecollective.com/free/ Explore all episodes: https://ridethetidecollective.com/podcast/ Connect with Julia on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliakrussell/ Visit Ride the Tide Collective: https://ridethetidecollective.com Read The Blog: https://ridethetidecollective.com/2026/09/01/career-compromise-what-are-you-giving-up/

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