Eloise Skinner: Corporate Lawyer to Psychotherapist & Author
She joined a monastery while working as a full-time, Cambridge-educated lawyer in London.
For a whole year.
What I found remarkable is the discipline around this commitment. She spent her leave on silent retreats and in poverty, not on fancy vacations.
A decision that you won’t typically experience of a high-flying corporate lawyer.
Yet in retrospect, that experience proved pivotal for Eloise Skinner, as it forced her to recognize that while she loved the technical precision of law, she was becoming increasingly disconnected from her ‘real’ identity.
This culminated in her decision to quit law in 2021, during the Great Resignation.
Since then, Eloise has trained as an existential psychotherapist, founded The Purpose Workshop, and written two books, including "But Are You Alive?".
Her work focuses on the philosophy of existentialism, anchored by a single, haunting question she poses to all her clients:
“Are you alive, not just breathing, but truly, deeply alive?”
All of which we explored in the latest episode of the Clocking Out podcast.
Other things we covered:
→ Why spending a year in silence can be the most transformative career move you ever make
→ The power to decide, choose and experience your own life
→ The “16 exercises” Eloise uses to help others find meaning
→ How Eloise created a financial safety net for herself after leaving law
→ What she’d tell a 23-year-old trying to figure out their next move
Personally, I’m fascinated by Eloise’s ability to not just recognize her disconnect from law early on, but also find the courage to pivot.
Most are unable to do that.
Instead, they dig deeper into the career they no longer find fulfilling, escalating their commitment in the hopes that more work or promotion would eventually bring reconnection (it rarely does).
If you’re looking to pivot and want to learn more about building a purposeful career for yourself, this is the episode for you.
Let me know what you think!
Listen to Eloise’s episode here:
