300: Celebrating 300 Episodes & Your Mid-Career Journey

Welcome to a major milestone—Episode 300 of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast! Only 2.6% of podcasts make it this far, and it’s all thanks to YOU—our dedicated listeners navigating the ups and downs of mid-career life.

In this special episode, host John Neral reflects on the journey that began during the pandemic and has grown into a go-to resource for mid-career professionals who feel stuck, undervalued, or uncertain about what’s next. 

Whether you’re burned out, frustrated with today’s job market, or questioning your career direction, this episode is your reminder that you are not alone—and you are not stuck.

As we look ahead to the future of the podcast, John announces a renewed mission: to help mid-career professionals not just change jobs—but find careers they truly love.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• What reaching 300 episodes means and why it matters to mid-career professionals
• How the podcast is evolving to focus more on career satisfaction, not just job search strategy
• Why today’s job market feels broken—and what you can do about it
• The biggest fears mid-career professionals face in 2025 (and how to move through them)
• How to take full ownership of your career journey with confidence and clarity

Free Resources to Help You Navigate What’s Next:

📘 Download: 10 Must-Listen Episodes to Help You Navigate What’s Next
👉 https://johnneral.com/resources

When you download the guide, you’ll get invited to a free Zoom call on Wednesday, June 25th at 7:00 pm Eastern, where we will celebrate the podcast, and I’ll be there to answer some of your career questions. 

❤️ Love the Show? Help It Grow:

If you’ve gotten value from this podcast, please:

1. Share it with three friends who feel stuck or burned out at work
2. Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify
3. Download the free guide and join the June 25th celebration!

Chapters

• 0:00 300th Episode Milestone Celebration
• 9:46 Podcast Direction and Special Resource
• 13:57 Reflecting on Podcast Journey
• 15:05 Future Format and Guest Changes
• 18:05 Today's Job Market Challenges
• 24:33 Taking Responsibility for Your Career
• 30:37 Thank You and Final Call to Action

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

Today is a milestone and I'm honored to share this with you. This is the 300th episode of the Mid-Career GPS podcast. I could not have done this without you and I'm taking some time in this episode to share some big news with you about the podcast, peel back the curtain on a few things and reflect on how this job market has changed over the last five years and what you need to know moving forward. So, for the 300th time, let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a career they love, or love the career they have, using my proven four-step formula. Did you happen to notice something a little bit different about that intro? Yeah, I changed it just a little bit. See, moving forward, this podcast is going to be focused more specifically on finding that career you truly love. Look, there's nothing wrong with finding a job you love, but finding a job can feel very transactional and understanding what's going on in this job market right now. And moving forward, I'm shifting this conversation around more career centered topics that are focused specifically for you as a mid-career professional. I'll talk a little bit more and back it up with some small little pieces of data to help share how I came up with that decision. But I want you to know right off the bat that this mid-career journey, more than ever, is dynamic and needs to be creative.

John Neral: 1:50

Now, to help celebrate this 300th episode, I'm doing something very, very special for all of you. All right, first of all, I've created a brand new resource it is called 10 Must Listen Episodes to Help you Navigate what's Next, celebrating 300 episodes of clarity, confidence and career direction. I went through my entire library and I picked 10 episodes that I believe every mid-career professional not only needs to listen to right now but will absolutely benefit from, and if you've been listening for a while, you've probably heard these episodes before. But here's where this lead magnet, or this resource, is even more important. I'm gonna be hosting a free call Think of it as an open office hour webinar meeting, whatever you want to call it on Wednesday, june 25th, at 7 pm Eastern on Zoom, and together we're going to celebrate 300 episodes of the Mid-Career GPS podcast. You have to download this resource in order to get the invite to the webinar, but on this webinar I'm going to be available for you to answer questions you have about your career path, answer some questions that you may have about the podcast in general or anything. It is my opportunity to be there for you, live on Zoom, for us to celebrate these 300 episodes and what we've got moving forward. So if you want to be a part of the Zoom and you want to go ahead and download that brand new resource, all you got to do is go to my website, go to johnnerrellcom, forward, slash resources and get it today. So come out and celebrate with us. Bring your questions. Okay. So here we are.

John Neral: 3:44

We got to 300 episodes and I was shocked to learn that, out of the over four and a half million podcasts that are out there, only 2.6% of us reach the milestone of 300 episodes. That's a big deal, but when I started this podcast and this was the second podcast I've had my first podcast was called Show Up 2020, and it was recorded during the pandemic. It was about meeting people and talking to them about how they were showing up during a time we had never really experienced before. I often said it was about talking to great people doing extraordinary things during the pandemic, but last week, when I sent out my weekly email to my free email community, someone responded and I'm not going to share their name for the sake of one. I don't know if they want to be mentioned or not and I didn't ask them before I sat down to record this episode, but if they're listening they're going to know it's them. But here's what they wrote. I just appreciate your sincere and honest tone throughout everything you produce. You have a wonderful way of encouraging your audience as well as delivering a few tough love moments as well. I went through a major job search last year and found a new role in February, and I am convinced that your work helped me in my interview process, especially the part about knowing your story. It gave me a helpful framework for practicing before my interviews. So to who sent that do and I thank you for that.

John Neral: 5:51

This podcast is not easy as a solopreneur and somebody who does everything, so please know I do not have a team that works for me. It is me myself and I, so I serve my private clients, I serve my membership community people and I do this podcast and I send out a weekly email to my free email community twice a week and for someone who started off his career as a middle school mathematics teacher, the whole idea about learning how to record and edit and write show notes and optimize and market this podcast and everything. That was never in the plan, but I am so glad that it is. I started this particular podcast because I wanted to put information out there for people who simply needed it. The goal was to never become a top-ranked podcast. It was never about generating a ton of money from the podcast or anything like that. It was about feeding people. It was about feeding people with relevant information to help them navigate one of the most dynamic, tumultuous, stressful times in their career, because mid-career bridges that excitement that you have when you're first starting out and it bridges what ultimately will become that path to retirement for you.

John Neral: 7:17

So when I was thinking about where this podcast was headed and some potential changes to it, I turned to the group that I knew would help me, and that was my email community. So a few weeks back, I sent them a survey and asked them if they would kindly take some time to fill it out, and I asked them a series of questions about what they liked about the podcast and what they would see moving forward. So for all of you who filled out the survey, thank you If you want to get on my email list again. You go to my website, johnnerrellcom. Forward slash resources. You can download any of my free resources that are there or you can purchase some of the low ticket offers that are there and you come right on into my email community. But your feedback was so helpful and it gave me some things to not only consider but to reconsider about where this podcast is headed Moving forward.

John Neral: 8:18

There absolutely needs to be a component to this podcast that at times will talk about job search and very tactical tips with things related to your resume, your LinkedIn, how you're networking, how you're interviewing, because that is a pivotal part and a vital part of finding that career you're going to love. So we will absolutely continue to talk about those job search tips and those tactical tips. I will tell you that I did consider changing the title of the podcast. Now I have looked at a potential title change. I've looked at a branding change and while there were some really good suggestions change, and while there were some really good suggestions, the overwhelming component of the survey results were keep the name the same. It's your brand. It highlights mid-career. We know that this podcast is not specific for students who are just graduating from college or university or students who are just graduating from college or university. They're also typically not topics related to retirement, okay, so I'm keeping the name the same, all right. That doesn't mean I may not change it down the road I don't know. But mid-career is the biggest and most popular search term from an organic reach standpoint and that is the key popular search term from an organic reach standpoint, and that is the key. So over the course of five years, I have only spent $70 in specifically advertising of the podcast, and you know what it got me? It got me nothing. So all of this has been organic. All of this has been organic because of how you support and share information about this podcast and me and how I connect with people. So title stays the same.

John Neral: 10:09

We're going to keep doing what we're doing, however, still going to keep the cadence at once a week. So I drop episodes every Tuesday at 3 am Eastern and I may, from time to time, drop a bonus episode or a special episode or series, because that's something I specifically want to do, right? That's something that is important for me, that I want to be able to share with you. Great example of that if you go back into the library. Episodes 110 through 119, it's an entire arc on interview preparation that I did in season two of the podcast and season two, maybe season three. It all kind of gels together right. But I did some very short mini episodes under 10 minutes. I had some amazing guests that were there and that series still continues to do well. I think about refreshing it and doing another one, so we'll see.

John Neral: 11:08

But my goal for you is to keep these episodes digestible. The feedback I got was overwhelmingly positive. That interview conversations around 30 minutes and solo episodes around 15 to 20 minutes is ideal for you as a listener base. So I'm going to continue to keep that. I also am going to continue doing this podcast. I have no reason or intention to stop it at any time soon. That is one of the ways I show up and serve for you. I come from this place of value and service on this podcast. But there is one big change and I will tell you I wrestled with this. This one was a little hard but after much research and conversations and reflection I am going to be scaling back on.

John Neral: 12:04

The number of guests on this podcast has been part of my marketing strategy for the last few years that I would showcase two or three guests per month and I got into a rhythm of having guests on the show and that becomes another component I have to juggle. So we have to juggle their schedules, we have to find time to record and sometimes they need to cancel or I need to cancel, and it is an extra layer of work in that. The other thing is, I get solicited a lot by podcast booking agents and other experts, if you will, who want to come on the show and they're like hey, I'd love to have so-and-so on your podcast and everything. I don't pay my guests, they don't pay me. It is solely an exchange of value in terms of the conversation and in a perfect world, they will help share the podcast as well. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

John Neral: 13:17

All that being said, I still have a few guest episodes in the can that I will be releasing as scheduled, but toward the end of the summer I am going to be one focusing on pretty much one guest episode a month and two bringing you stories from people who really are going to dig more deeply into their career journey and why they love the career that they have so many of you have shared with me that you enjoy the stories and the inspiration, but I have felt like the guest episodes have become a little more tactical in terms of providing some tips and strategies and things. And yes, that'll still happen, but I want to get back to being a storyteller. I want to get back to really helping people tell their part of that story. So, in terms of a balance and a cadence and a structure, for now, I'm going to be cutting back on the number of guest episodes. Before I move on, I just want to share this. I went back through the library. I have interviewed over 100 people on this podcast. I want to thank you for sharing your story, your expertise. Some of you have been on more than once, and you have been a huge part of me, helping to build my network. I am so grateful you are a part of it. I look forward to staying in touch and seeing you on LinkedIn and social media and seeing where your business and career and everything is progressing. So thank you for being a part of 300 episodes as well.

John Neral: 15:05

The other change to talk about, though, is what's happening in the job market. This podcast began in 2021, almost a year after the COVID-19 pandemic started, and while the podcast has focused on navigating job changes because the world had shut down and people were looking to get back to work. It was a scary time back then. It's a scary time right now. So many things are happening and, depending upon which job report you read, which industry you're in, your industry may be thriving or barely surviving. You might hear that there's plenty of jobs out there, and other times you hear that they aren't. Who's in your circle? Who are you talking to? How are they doing in terms of finding a new job, let alone simply getting an interview? How are they navigating all of the changes that are happening with AI and how it's impacting the job search process, let alone getting your resume or application in front of the right people?

John Neral: 16:11

And what we also need to acknowledge here, regardless of which side of the aisle you are on, what is happening in the federal government, especially with the federal workforce, is changing daily, and corporate is following. Nonprofits are being impacted in different ways than we've seen before. I'm not trying to create a catastrophic mindset here or anything, because it's not catastrophic in that regard, but it is challenging. There are people out there you may be one of them that hasn't landed an interview in six, nine or 12 months and you're sitting there wondering my bank account is draining. I'm trying to figure out what to do differently and I'm frustrated and upset and angry. I get that. What's going to happen with all the tariff situation? How is that going to impact your company's budget, your company's sales and revenue and bottom line? How is AI directly impacting the work you do? Are you looking five years from now and wondering whether or not your role is going to be automated and, essentially, ai will take it over?

John Neral: 17:30

I believe AI is a powerful tool and I know it's not going away. I believe there is a way to leverage AI very strategically in our careers and as we're navigating towards something else. But people still need people. People need to be able to not rely on an AI tool such as ChatGPT, for example, and think it's the be-all and end-all to give you all the answers. It's not. It's a tool. It's a pretty amazing tool at that.

John Neral: 18:04

But these are the things why connection is so important. It's why, earlier this year, as a byproduct of this whole mid-career GPS idea, is that I created a membership community and it's for people to come and get information but, more importantly, to connect and talk with each other, talk with me about what's going on in their career and what that all means for them. If you want to learn more, it's on my website, johnnarrellcom. Forward slash membership. But these are all the things that are offshoots of the podcast. Well, here we are in June of 2025. And it goes without saying that there probably were some things on your bingo card you didn't see or expect were going to happen by now, and there's probably a few things that will find their way under your bingo card later on in the year.

John Neral: 18:56

This year has been a lesson in navigating change and dealing with change in ways many people didn't think would either happen or happen to them. As I talk to my colleagues and friends in this space and we talk about what's happening, the biggest thing I will offer you right now is something I have always said from day one you are 100% responsible for your career. If you don't like where you are, change it. If you're afraid of losing your job, fix it. If you want to lead more impactfully or increase your visibility, find ways to make that happen. If you are 100% responsible for your career, then you are the one who knows to make the best decisions for you. I can never tell you what you should or shouldn't do. It's not my role, it's not my place and I certainly wouldn't appreciate it if you bopped in unsolicited and were like hey, john, here's how I think you should run your business. I didn't ask for it. You're coming to this podcast to listen and I feel like that's an invitation. I know that's an invitation because you're welcoming me in, but anytime you could turn off the podcast right now and go listen to something else.

John Neral: 20:22

I get that this year has been a tremendous amount of change and, as somebody who has navigated through budget cuts and restructurings and reorganizations, they are not fun and they are super stressful. They are super stressful whether you keep your job or you are let go. Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and be fearful that they're going to lose their their job. Unemployment is not fun. Unemployment is not a vacation, because, even if you have a wealth of financial resources set aside and you're fortunate enough to take a break for however long of a time it is, unless you are replacing that money in some way, that money gets depleted and eventually you will sit there and go.

John Neral: 21:14

I need to get back to work. I need to get back to work. How am I going to be able to do that? That's why change at mid-career is so hard, because for so many of us right and I say us because I remember my mid-career days fondly and I never want people to struggle so much through navigating their mid-career but part of the thing at mid-career is you may be thinking that you feel like you have to have everything figured out and you don't. You're not supposed to. Everything isn't supposed to be perfect at mid-career, because things happen, circumstances happen, some of them are outside of your control, but you will always be 100% responsible for your career. Right now in this job market, people are less likely to make a bold move in their career, and I get that to make a bold move in their career, and I get that.

John Neral: 22:15

Whatever reservations you may have about the economy, corporate climate, your job security, there is no question that there are some understandable benefits to investing in the job and career that you have. The saying it's so much easier to find a job when you have one yeah, it's still true. It's not impossible to find find a job when you have one. Yeah, it's still true. It's not impossible to find a new job when you don't have one, but yeah, it is a little bit easier. But if you're listening to me right now and you're currently unemployed, it's not a death sentence, it's a circumstance. It's something that happens and you will find a new job and you will continue to pursue your career sooner rather than later.

John Neral: 23:04

But if you're going to take time to invest in the job and the career you have, let's just take a moment and look at your career goals. Where are you going? What does staying in your current job do for you right now and how does it benefit you in the long term? What are the skills you get to gain on this job that set you up for what's next? If you're at the manager level and you want to be a senior manager, or if you're a senior director and you want to be a vice president, or if you're a senior director and you want to be a vice president, what do you have to do to get there? What do you get to learn right now in your current role to set you up for that success, whether it's inside your current organization or outside of it, my friends, I want to offer you survive and thrive where you can right now in this job market, find opportunities and take advantage of whatever you possibly can to benefit the growth of your career and where it's headed.

John Neral: 24:09

If you are between the ages of 35 and 50, the likelihood is you probably have at least one more job move in your future. You will probably go work for a different employer before you actually retire Maybe several moves, who knows? What does moving forward actually look like for you? Does moving forward actually look like for you? That's why building a mid-career GPS is so important, because you are constantly thinking about what's coming up, what's going to be next for you. More than ever in this job market, I see time and time again that mid-career professionals fear being stuck. They don't want to settle and the last thing they want to do is make a mistake. Let me say that again In this job market, more so than ever, mid-career professionals fear being stuck, don't want to settle and they don't want to make a mistake. You can put a lot of pressure on yourself, thinking you've got to be perfect. Mid-career is not perfect. Life is not perfect. Someday I will go back into the vault and share a few other stories with you about my own screw-ups professionally. They've happened, but you learn from them, you deal with them. You move on, but you learn from them, you deal with them, you move on right.

John Neral: 25:43

If you are desiring more, if you want more impact, more opportunities, more visibility, more leadership, more compensation, more confidence, all of that happens when you have more clarity, more clarity about where you are going. That is a powerful thing. When it comes to the coaching relationship, I have seen my coaching practice still stay in this idea about here's how we're going to help you find a new job. But so much of what I coach my clients on is how they can get more, how they can get more satisfaction, more impact, more clarity, more communication, a better relationship with their management, their leadership so much Oftentimes we think we can't have more. More means that we're being greedy. I don't believe that. Greed is one thing. Wanting something more to better yourself or make a better impact is something totally different. That's where, when you make these moves at mid-career, it sets you up for so much of your career moving forward, and you know I'm here to help you with that, whether it's by listening to this podcast.

John Neral: 27:05

Come into my free email community. You hire me as your coach. You come into the membership community. Whatever it is, I am here for you to support you in whatever you need, and if now is the right time for you to consider hiring me as a coach or interested in hiring me as your coach, we need to talk right. Reach out to me. You can email me at john at johnnerrellcom. Let's start a conversation, all right, so don't forget to celebrate these 300 episodes. I've got this brand new lead magnet. You can find it on my website at johnnerrellcom forward slash resources and when you download that lead magnet with these 10 episodes from the podcast, you are going to be invited to a free webinar on Wednesday, june 25th at 7 pm Eastern on Zoom. Love to see you there. Love to see you there.

John Neral: 28:03

But now I'm going to ask you for something very specific, because I need your help, my friends. 300 episodes is truly a milestone, but I want more reach, I want more impact. I want more people being aware of this podcast, and here's how you can help me. If you would be so kind, take the link to this episode in whatever platform where you're listening and text it or email it to three of your friends and say hey, love this podcast. Do me a favor, click the link to follow or subscribe and start listening If you have a favorite episode of mine that you've enjoyed, send that to them. Hey, you need to check out this podcast. Give it a listen, follow or subscribe wherever you listen.

John Neral: 28:53

A little over a year ago, apple Podcasts changed the algorithm for how podcasts were being distributed and how they were being sent out. Really kind of messed things up a little bit, in my opinion. My numbers got all wanky, so, in that regard, it was a little frustrating to see my weekly and my monthly downloads drop. But again, I still have ways to measure the impact of this podcast. But, more than ever, organic reach is important, so that's why I'm asking if you could just help spread the word.

John Neral: 29:30

This would be so grateful. Right, take a post that I do on LinkedIn and share it to your network, or, if it's on Instagram at JohnNarrowCoaching, send that. That would be really, really helpful. I would truly, truly appreciate it. If you want to tag me on Facebook or Instagram, it's at JohnNarrowCoaching. If we're on LinkedIn, it's just my name it's John Narrow. Okay, all right.

John Neral: 29:59

So, with a heart full of tremendous gratitude, I want to thank you, whether this is your first episode or you've been here for all 300,. Thank you for being a part of this. I never thought I would enjoy podcasting so much, but it's because of you and your feedback and your support. I truly appreciate it. So one more time, for the 300th time, my friends, remember this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. I'll see you next week for episode 301. Take care, make it a great rest of your day. I'll see you next week for episode 301. Take care.

John Neral: 30:45

Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment, I'd love to hear your comments on Apple podcasts. Visit johnnerrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS, or how I can help you and your organization-career GPS, or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Darrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.