Pivot with Power - Unlocking Your Value Beyond Your Job Title
Dear ones,
Last week I stood on the stage at the British Film Institute, invited by dear friend Ria Hebden, founder of Wonder Women TV, to speak into a moment of deep change.
The talk was called Pivot with Power and aligned beautifully with topics we discuss within the Isumataq Collective community.
It was born out of what’s happening in the television industry right now, and the landscape we all find ourselves moving through in some way or another.
Streaming disruption. The rise of AI. Shrinking budgets and commissioning freezes.
The weight of freelance precarity, with so many women working contract to contract, without benefits, hustling for the next role, and often doing that work in isolation - which aids and abets burnout.
Industry consolidation, mergers and acquisitions that move commissioning decisions further away from local voices, while workforce cuts disproportionately impact mid-career women at the very point they should be stepping into leadership.
For many, these forces land as financial strain, uncertainty, and even loss of identity.
The question I hear most often is: Who am I, if I am not my job title?
And yet, beneath that question is something steadier.
Our value has never been a title.
It is the creativity we bring.
The resilience we embody.
The stories we know how to tell.
The ways we gather people, solve problems, and hold vision in complex times.
Despite structural changes, this is the ground that doesn’t move - this is what we need to remember.
On the day
We worked in pairs, loosening our grip on job titles. We asked: How would I describe myself if I could not use my role?
We built inventories of hidden skills, the ones we overlook because they come so naturally. We listened to our “wise counsel,” the voices of mentors and loved ones who see more in us than we see in ourselves.
Always the reminder: you are not starting again. You are translating.
Wisdom from the room
We were also gifted with wisdom and insights from women leading some of the most powerful spaces in the industry, including Warner Bros. Studios, Channel 5, Channel 4, Prime Video & Amazon, the BBC Studios Natural History, and leading independent production houses.
What they offered was not only encouragement but practical guidance from their lived experience, here are a few:
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Build a strong network. Mentors and supportive peers are essential. No one rises alone.
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Be curious and confident. Admit what you don’t know, and let curiosity drive your growth.
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Develop diverse skills. Move across roles and genres; versatility makes you resilient.
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Advocate for supportive infrastructure. Childcare, inclusive recruitment, better systems matter. Change happens when we push for it. (Warner Bros. Studios e.g. inspired us with the way they have led childcare provision)
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Believe in your unique value. You are not here by accident or quota. Own your skills, your ambition, your worth.
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Feedback is gold. Seek it, give it, learn from it. It sharpens your edge.
These are not only lessons for TV, but truths for any career: that networks sustain us, that curiosity keeps us alive, that our value is both individual and collective, and that ambition is nothing to apologise for.
A gentle invitation
To pivot with power is to remember.
To remember that who you are cannot be downsized, restructured, or automated.
So find time to nurture your essential nature, your gifts, your qualities, your imagination, as they travel with you, whatever stage you choose to stand on next.
So the invitation I left with the room, and now leave with you, is simple:
Take one step this month that widens the stage for your skills.
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Practise your introduction without the title.
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Reach out for a conversation outside your usual circles.
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Read a book on another field, noticing it with your own eyes, your own expertise.
There are plenty of options, one step is enough … I'd love to hear back from the community on ideas you have or what has worked for you as you navigate change.
What matters most is not the role we hold, but the truth we remember about what we are capable of individually and collectively.
Warmly,
Remi
PS If burnout from this industry or any other resonates, then you may be interested in my latest course, just out “She-Manic: From Burnout to Bliss”, a guided exploration of burnout and renewal - weaving sound, reflection and embodied practice to move you from depletion into balance, clarity and spaciousness.
If purchased before 15 October, you are welcome to join the two-hour LIVE session with me and the community held that night at 7:30pm BST.
