Tamara Pitelen | Going green – how she retrained as a sustainability consultant to help tackle the climate crisis

What She Did Next

Tamara Pitelen had worked in the media industry for 25 years in jobs that took her all over the world, before her growing concern about the climate crisis led to a major career change.

The thought had been brewing for a few years as she started to tire of endless magazine deadlines. And looking back, she says, it was also around the time menopause was kicking in – a big transition time for many women.

The turning point came when Tamara’s best friend Erin phoned her with an idea to launch their own sustainability consultancy… and as the COVID pandemic sent the world into lockdown and everyone turned to Zoom, Tamara took the opportunity to throw herself into online study.

Tamara and Erin have since gone on to launch Greener Matters, a consultancy that helps businesses get started on their sustainability journey and takes them through the B Corp certification process.

In this episode, Tamara talks to host Jacqui Ooi about:

· Getting her start as a print journalist and working in different countries around the world

· The key steps she took to retrain as a sustainability consultant

· What it took to build a consultancy from scratch during a global pandemic

· How she managed the financial transition and her own self-doubt

· Her best tips and recommendations for aspiring career changers

For more inspiring career change stories, tips and resources, sign up to our newsletter: https://whatshedidnext.com.au/

TAMARA’S TIPS

Study:

Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership

IEMA (Institute of Environmental Management and Assessment)

Al Gore’s Climate Reality Leadership Corps

Read:

‘The Art of Happiness’ by The Dalai Lama

‘Your One Wild, Precious Life’ by Dr Maureen Gaffney

Watch:

‘Changing Your Life Is Easy with Marisa Peer’ on gaia.com

‘RuPaul's Drag Race’ on multiple streaming networks

Inspired by:

Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop

Cindy Gallop, founder of MakeLoveNotPorn

CONNECT WITH TAMARA

Visit her website: https://www.greenermatters.com/

CREDITS

Host and producer: Jacqui Ooi

Associate producer: Catherine Cavill

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What She Did Next acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the Land on which this podcast is made, the Wodi Wodi people of the Dharawal nation. We pay our respects to their Elders, past, present and emerging.

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