From Discovery's Animal Planet to Full-Time Potter
From on‑air promos to handmade pots, Emma Puddick proves that creativity doesn’t vanish when you change direction, it just finds a new medium. After years crafting campaigns at Discovery and Fox, she swapped fast‑turnaround deadlines for slow‑turning clay, trading broadcast buzz for the calm rhythm of the potter’s wheel.
Emma talks through the highs and headaches of on‑air creative, a detour into teaching, redundancy and burnout, and how moving to Bristol helped her rediscover joy in making. It’s an honest look at identity, pace, and why the next chapter sometimes begins by slowing down.
** TRIGGER WARNING: This show contains discussion around mental health **
Welcome to Creative Moves: Left Career, Right Path, the podcast where our host, Kabir Malik, explores career pivots and unexpected second, third or even fourth, acts. Each episode features him in conversation with someone who made a mark in their chosen profession, before stepping away to pursue something entirely different. These are stories of reinvention, risk and reward.
We start by diving in to what drove their initial success, hearing about the professional highs and personal challenges of their first career, to the moment they realised it was time for a change, and how they made the transition into their next role.
Whether you’re starting out and wondering how to get your ideal job, or you’ve felt the pull of a new direction and wondered what it might involve to take the first step, we hope you’ll be inspired by the conversations we have, as we hear about the creative moves each guest made that led them to the path they’re on.
EPISODE 1 DROPS 14.08.25
HERE AND ON ALL THE USUAL PODCAST PLATFORMS
Season 1, Episode 1
Meet Emma Puddick who started out in TV in On-Air promotions, (the things in between the programmes to you and me), and learn about her journey into teaching and how she set up her own successful business as a potter.
Season 1, Episode 2
Jo Yeldham had a successful career at the BBC as a Producer and worked in Live TV as well as well as the commercial team of Red Bee Media. After a sabbatical to Africa, where she experienced different cultures, she also found her passion to help people and retrained as a psychotherapist.
Season 1, Episode 1
Meet Emma Puddick who started out in TV in On-Air promotions, the things in between the programmes to you and me, learn about her journey into teaching and how she set up her own successful business as a potter.
From Book-keeping to Beat Counting
In the final episode of Creative Moves, things come full circle as our host Kabir Malik steps into the guest chair. This time, it’s his old boss and friend, Joce Capper, asking the questions. From his early days working at the Passport Office to becoming the go-to sales guy for post-production houses across Soho, Kabir’s career has been anything but ordinary.
He shares stories from along the way, in a candid chat about resilience, self-retraining and how his love of music, and his gift for really listening, have led him into a whole new chapter where he’s finally following his true passions.
** TRIGGER WARNING: This episode contains discussion around mental health, addiction and childhood trauma **
From Statutes to Stories
Manish Chauhan works as a Finance Lawyer specializing in Derivatives and always had a passion for writing. At 17, he was told by his creative writing teacher to go and live life before he should even think about writing a novel.
Now his first book is slated with Faber (Jan 2026), he talks community and critique circles. His is the story of someone who took the ‘sensible’ path, all the while making space for the work he truly loved, that wouldn’t let go.
From tour bus to mixing desk
From sixth‑form fan to touring keys, Benjy Giddings lived the musical dream as a member of Morning Parade, who released two albums on major labels and toured all over the UK, Europe and the US supporting bands like The Smashing Pumpkins and The Wombats.
Benjy shares the truth about momentum, collaboration, and keeping the creative tap open, as we learn from the inside how harsh the music business can be and how Benjy rediscovered his love of music, and is now pursuing a career as a sound engineer.
From promoting VFX royalty to propagating queen bees
Daniel Sapiano’s route wasn’t linear: city jobs, temp gigs, post‑production, and then a two‑part life he actually loves: postman by morning, professional beehive installer/keeper by afternoon.
He talks about neurodiverse learning, walking away from a high-flying career generating new business, and finding meaning in steady service. Pounding the streets as a postman, where he found absolute job satisfaction, he also tells us about his latest passion; bees. A gentle manifesto for designing your own day.
From Promo Producer to Storyteller Cook
From SOAS to suites to scripts, Zuza Zak talks through her creative moves from Uni to post bookings, to promo producing. After which she rewired her storytelling as a food & culture author and broadcaster.
Zuza unpacks transferable creative skills, DIY learning (editing, design), and how culinary heritage can carry the same narrative charge as a 30‑second trailer. Learn how her passion for her homeland and it’s cooking inspired a journey which led to the publication of 4 cookbooks. Deliciously inspiring.
From Mad Men to Mobile Wine Experience
Jack Milligan left school early, learned management the hard way at Waitrose, and rode that work ethic into radio ad sales and agency life. Then he pivoted, launching a roaming pop‑up that blends wine, dining and a soundtrack you actually want to talk about.
Jack explains hospitality lessons that transfer to brand‑building, why curation beats hype, and how to craft nights people remember. A spicy bouquet of graft, flavour and sound.
From TV Producer to Psychotherapist
After years in production across the BBC and in Manchester media circles, Joanna Yeldham shifted from producing stories to holding them, retraining as a psychotherapist.
Jo guides us through early detours (languages, shorthand, secretarial routes), on‑set coordination, and the emotional intelligence that bridges production and practice. A thoughtful conversation about care, boundaries and burnout recovery.
From Insurance Broker to Musical Innovator
In the run-up to starting Uni, Declan Cosgrove took a ‘practice’ interview and walked out with an insurance job, becoming the youngest qualified pro in his firm by the age of 21. Decades later, he blended that discipline with lifelong musicianship to launch a company that helps adults learn piano quickly.
Music has always been part of his life but it wasn’t until he sold his successful internet marketing company that he decided to pursue it full-time. His attitude of making things simpler led to the development of DecPlay, a technique that helps people play a song on the piano in 20 minutes.
From Britain's Got Talent to Nurturing Young Talent in the Classroom
A Soho runner turned bookings lead, then senior at The Farm (leading high-end TV facility), Karen Smith had a front‑row seat on the UK’s post‑production boom. When the adrenaline wore thin, she chose purpose over pace, taking her people skills into an inner‑city London school.
Karen unpacks 90s/00s post culture, client wrangling, and the switch to education, as her passion for all things TV waned, and she decided it was time to do something different. A refreshingly practical take on reinvention and values.