Meta-morphosis: Career Reinvention, Leadership Lessons & the Power of Quitting with Joanna Wong

Career reinvention is rarely neat, and it often starts with a quiet question you cannot unhear. In this episode, I’m joined by Joanna Wong, host of the podcast Chasing Waves, to talk about career transitions, leadership growth, and what it looks like to walk away from what is not working without treating quitting like failure. Joanna’s story spans three continents and global brands including Meta, Spotify, and The Trade Desk, and she shares the lessons that only come from doing the hard pivots in real time. We unpack what career reinvention actually requires, including the mindset shift from chasing status to chasing alignment. Joanna talks about the signals that it might be time to move on, the role values play in decision making, and why leadership is less about being the smartest person in the room and more about building a team where different strengths can do their job. We also discuss how some organisations create clearer pathways by recognising both individual contributor and people leader tracks. We then move into quitting with purpose and visibility, including Joanna’s Memento Mori exercise as a practical way to confront how finite time really is. We also talk personal brand in a way that is useful rather than cringe, how to be memorable for the right reasons, and why visibility inside organisations is often a leadership skill in disguise. If you are searching for career change advice, leadership development, or how to reinvent your career without burning everything down, this conversation will give you a grounded place to start. **CHAPTERS** 00:00 Introduction 01:29 Why Chasing Waves Exists 02:20 Letting Go of Corporate Identity 03:53 Burnout and Permission to Dream 07:05 Podcast Wins and Hard Parts 09:44 From Technician to Manager 14:01 Leadership Lessons and Conflict 18:13 Tough Conversation Example 20:33 Hard Talk Aftermath 22:33 Trust Built Over Time 24:09 Conflict Fuels Growth 24:49 Stop Hiring Clones 26:35 Personal Brand Visibility 30:24 Why Managing Matters 32:18 Chasing Waves Vision 34:11 Coaching vs Mentoring 38:02 Quitting and Life Dots 41:02 Where to Find Joanna **LINKS:** **Joanna**: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joannawong-chasingwaves/ Website: https://chasingwaves.co/ **More From Damien:** Website | LinkedIn | YouTube **WORK WITH ME:** Book a Mediation or a 15-minute Discovery call with Damien: https://www.evolveresolve.com/booking Website: https://www.evolveresolve.com/ LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/damien-van-brunschot YouTube: @evolveresolve Email: [damien@evolveresolve.com](mailto:damien@evolveresolve.com)