loader from loading.io

Writing A Career Book: Updates, Breakthroughs & Lessons Learned

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Release Date: 02/17/2026

Are Lateral Career Moves Good for Your Career? show art Are Lateral Career Moves Good for Your Career?

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Career growth is not always vertical. For a long time, professionals were told to climb the corporate ladder, stay loyal, take the promotion, and keep moving up. But that advice does not always reflect how careers actually evolve today. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre explores the value and complexity of lateral career moves. She explains why some professionals resist them, why a move without a higher title can feel risky, and how lateral opportunities can quietly build long-term career leverage. A lateral move may not look impressive right away. It may not come with a...

info_outline What Is Career Sponsorship? Why Advocacy, Not Just Hard Work, Gets You Promoted show art What Is Career Sponsorship? Why Advocacy, Not Just Hard Work, Gets You Promoted

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

A lot of professionals still believe career growth mostly comes from working hard, doing good work, and eventually being recognized for it. But inside organizations, opportunities often begin forming before jobs are officially posted. Conversations happen early. Leaders compare notes. Someone’s name comes up because trust already exists. That is where sponsorship starts to matter. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down the difference between mentorship and sponsorship and explains why sponsorship is one of the strongest forms of career leverage inside...

info_outline The difference between authority and influence at work show art The difference between authority and influence at work

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

If you’ve ever wondered why some people get pulled into decisions at work while others are told after the fact, this episode is for you. In this episode of Control Your Career, I break down how influence actually works at work and why it has very little to do with your title, even though that’s what most people focus on. You can be experienced, capable, and respected in your role and still find yourself left out of key conversations, and that gap usually has nothing to do with effort and everything to do with influence. We’ll talk through what it looks like to move from executing...

info_outline The Truth About Workplace Reputation and Career Advancement show art The Truth About Workplace Reputation and Career Advancement

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Workplace reputation plays a direct role in career advancement, promotions, and the opportunities you’re considered for long before any formal conversation happens. In this episode, career coach and strategic career consultant Julia Toothacre breaks down how reputation at work actually forms and why it often matters more than your performance. If you’re doing strong work but not getting promoted or pulled into bigger opportunities, your reputation may not reflect the level you’re operating at. In this episode, you’ll learn: How workplace reputation is built through repeated behavior ...

info_outline 5 Skills That Build Trust With Leaders show art 5 Skills That Build Trust With Leaders

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Building trust with leaders at work is what drives career growth, influence, and access to more responsibility. In this episode of Control Your Career, career strategist Julia Toothacre breaks down the five skills that build trust with leaders and shape how you’re perceived at work. You can be reliable, do good work, and still not be the person leaders turn to when it matters. That’s because trust isn’t built through execution alone, but through how you think, how you communicate, and how you make decisions. In this episode, you’ll learn: How judgment influences trust and...

info_outline How to Manage Yourself During Organizational Change show art How to Manage Yourself During Organizational Change

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

If you are navigating a leadership change, reorganization, strategy shift, or internal restructure, you are probably wondering how to manage yourself during organizational change without damaging your reputation. This episode breaks down how to stand out at work during uncertainty, how to build influence inside your company, and how to grow your career without waiting for a promotion. Organizational change creates instability when your reporting lines shift, priorities change, and projects lose owners. In those moments, most professionals focus on frustration or job security. Fewer people...

info_outline How to Position Yourself for Promotion show art How to Position Yourself for Promotion

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

If you want to get promoted, create more career options, and stop feeling stuck at work, you need more than strong performance. In this episode of Control Your Career, Julia Toothacre breaks down how to position yourself for promotion by building real career leverage. Promotion decisions are rarely based on effort alone. Leaders evaluate trust, visibility, judgment, and risk. This episode explains how to build the five forms of career leverage that determine whether you are seen as promotable or simply dependable in your current role. You’ll learn how to strengthen: Skill range that...

info_outline Hard Work Isn’t Enough to Grow Your Career show art Hard Work Isn’t Enough to Grow Your Career

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

Why do high performers get stuck in their careers? If you feel like you are working hard but not getting promoted, you may be experiencing a mid-career plateau. In this first episode of Season 13, Julia Toothacre explores why performance alone stops driving career growth and what actually moves professionals forward. Hard work gets you established, but it is not what grows your career long term. Julia Toothacre introduces a more accurate model for how careers evolve once you are established. Early career rewards effort and execution, but at a certain point, advancement needs positioning,...

info_outline Writing A Career Book: Updates, Breakthroughs & Lessons Learned show art Writing A Career Book: Updates, Breakthroughs & Lessons Learned

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

I'm pulling back the curtain on my book-writing journey! In this bonus episode, I'm sharing an honest update on my upcoming book based on the Control Your Career process: what I've written so far, what I've learned, and why writing a book is WAY harder than I expected. Part 1 is for anyone curious about the book itself: what it's about, who it's for, and why I think it's different from every other career book out there. (Spoiler: it actually meets you where you are, not where some career expert thinks you should be.) Part 2 is for my fellow writers, authors, and coaches: I'm getting...

info_outline Financial Control Beyond Your Paycheck and 401(k) show art Financial Control Beyond Your Paycheck and 401(k)

Control Your Career: Career Growth and Strategy for Ambitious Professionals

This bonus episode of Control Your Career is a little different, and very intentional. Julia Toothacre is joined by financial professional and podcast host Natalie Kime for a real, grounded conversation about money, career decisions, and life transitions. This is not a tactical breakdown of investments or retirement accounts. It is a conversation about how money actually shows up in real life. Natalie brings a deeply human perspective to financial planning, shaped not only by her professional experience, but also by her role as a caregiver to her mom. Together, Julia and Natalie talk about...

info_outline
 
More Episodes

I'm pulling back the curtain on my book-writing journey! In this bonus episode, I'm sharing an honest update on my upcoming book based on the Control Your Career process: what I've written so far, what I've learned, and why writing a book is WAY harder than I expected.

Part 1 is for anyone curious about the book itself: what it's about, who it's for, and why I think it's different from every other career book out there. (Spoiler: it actually meets you where you are, not where some career expert thinks you should be.)

Part 2 is for my fellow writers, authors, and coaches: I'm getting real about the writing process, why I needed a writing coach to stop procrastinating, and the breakthrough that changed everything about how I approached writing the first section of my book.

Whether you're a potential reader or a writer in the trenches, this episode is for you.

What You'll Learn:

FOR READERS/POTENTIAL CLIENTS:

  • What the Control Your Career book is about and how it's structured (two-part format!)
  • Why Stage 1 (Realistic Reality) is the foundation of everything
  • How this book is different: it meets you where YOU are, not where career advice thinks you should be
  • Why I'm not using AI to write (and what I AM using it for)

FOR WRITERS & AUTHORS:

  • Why I wrote more in 1.5 months than I did in 8 months last year (hint: accountability)
  • The content breakthrough that changed my entire writing approach
  • How to balance book writing with running a business (still figuring this out!)
  • Progress over perfection: why a bad first draft is better than no draft
  • The role of AI in my writing process (spoiler: planning yes, writing no)

Resources Mentioned:

A Note on This Episode:

This is a transparent, behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to write a book while running a business. If you're considering writing a book, working with a writing coach, or just curious about the creative process, I hope this gives you some insight (and maybe some motivation).

And if you're excited about the Control Your Career book, subscribe and stay tuned, more updates coming soon!