WeAreTheCity’s Rising Star Awards are now in their tenth year.
The Rising Star Awards are the first to focus on the achievements of women below Senior Management or Director level – representing the female talent pipeline and the next generation of future leaders.
In this ongoing series, we speak to our winners about life after winning a Rising Star award.
We spoke to Soma Ghosh, who won a Rising Star Award in Professional Services, in 2023.
I am a careers adviser and podcaster and founder of The Career Happiness Mentor who has previously worked in education helping young people with career advice and job hunting. I now run my own career mentoring business where I support ambitious women and help them find career happiness.
I have written for Thrive Global and Happiful magazine. My podcast “The Career Happiness podcast” has been featured on the best career podcasts on bestpodcasts.co.uk and recently been featured on Apple Podcasts Career moves 2023 careers moves section. The podcast has over 190 episodes and I have recently been a filter judge for The British Podcast awards.
I have been featured in BBC work life, Yahoo Finance, Stylist magazine, All Bright collective, Asian voice, Metro, BBC Asian network and On BBC Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour.
How did winning a Rising Star award influence your perception of your own achievements and potential?
It made me reevaluate the impact of my work. I was shortlisted whilst recovering from a major operation and when I won I really didn’t expect it. It made me reflect and realize how much more I wanted to do. As well as rethink why I do what I do in with a renewed sense around careers advice and career happiness.
It also made me think how I can think about new things I could talk about that my clients were struggling with like chronic illness, burnout and why people are still unhappy at work three years after the pandemic.
Plus it helped give me the confidence to put myself forward for other awards. As later on this year I was nominated for 4 other awards 2 for my podcast and one for best career coach and careers advocate.
Have there been specific opportunities or doors that opened for you as a result of receiving the award?
In terms of the opportunities I think it helped give my brand and what I do creditability. I feel being an award winner allows people to see you in a different light and actually take you more seriously.
How has winning the award affected your professional network and relationships within your industry?
Again the amount of connections I have made have not necessarily expanded but they have formed in a way where I am working on collaborations that align more with my brand. I feel it’s helped improve the visibility of what I do and people have invited me to talk on their podcasts and be more willing to have connection calls with me. Plus remember me because I was a rising star.
Have you had the chance to mentor or inspire others based on your experience?
I have honestly shared and tried to encourage others to put themselves forward for awards like this. I have also nominated other colleagues who are doing amazing things that need to be celebrated more.
With the work I do with clients it’s helped me realize that some of them need mentoring in different ways.
I hope by showcasing my business and some of my personal struggles which I have spoke up it inspires them to keep going.
What advice would you give to someone else thinking of nominating themselves or others for the awards?
Try not to overthink it. We all have a habit of comparing to others and overthinking decisions like this. As well as feeling not good enough to apply or self-nominate. I think this is all about our ego stopping us. If you know this award could help your work or what you do so that helps others don’t hesitate just do it because you never know what could happen.
With regards to nominating others we all know someone doing something impactful. They may not realise how much of difference they make and I feel everyone should be celebrated for their work. The different categories signify this and it’s likely you may know someone who really needs that acknowledgement and celebration so just nominate them.
What advice do you have for individuals aspiring to achieve success in their careers?
As a careers adviser this is a question I often get asked a lot and what I will say is that success and your definition or ideal of success will different to others you know. This isn’t a bad thing. In fact I would start with understanding what your version of success is first. For example for some this could be maintaining flexibility in their work due to being a mum or carer. Or they may need this flexibility because of a chronic illness. A hybrid role for all three would be different. Yet the objective of success and being happy at work will have a different role in their lives.
So understanding what success you want is what I would firstly say. Then looking at what you want in your career. Do you want a new job because your current one isn’t fulfilling you. Or do you need to change your career? Are you interested in starting a business.
Also the fallacy of career success happening overnight isn’t helpful. Social media has also contributed to this. Success in your career can sometimes take time so it’s important to understand that but also realize it’s ok to do things differently too and not feel like you have to follow what others are doing.
What is next for you?
I am hoping to branch into having online masterclasses as finding that more people need content like this. So they can fit this around their busy lives. The podcast has helped me realize that people want content in a different ways not just 1-1 work.
Plus I will continue to support clients next year and talk about how things are continuing to change in the world of work and also have some exciting podcast guests and episodes coming up.
Where can others follow you?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/soma-ghosh-26086638/
X: https://twitter.com/sgcareers27
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the_careerhappinessmentor/
Website: www.somaghosh.com
